Where to Buy
The Great Engine cover: Elijah in a blue T-shirt peers through octagonal glasses that reflect brass gears and a clawed shadow, holding a screwdriver at his workbench, under the bronze title The Commons Adventures.

The Commons Adventures · book one

The Great Engine

by B. R. Bryan

Step inside The Commons, where every big question leads to an epic adventure.

Out on
Formats
Paperback and ebook
ISBN · paperback
979-8-9823749-0-5
ISBN · ebook
979-8-9823749-1-2
Where to buyExtras & activities

The Great Engine

Eleven-year-old inventor Elijah is sure of two things: his automated snack-delivery drones are going to be epic, and the universe is just a giant machine perfectly explained by science—no Creator required.

But when Elijah and his friends stumble across a mysterious teal shipping container in the middle of an old orchard, they are swept into a journey that challenges everything they thought they knew.

Accompanied by an eccentric archaeologist and her robotic assistant, Apollo, the children are transported into a clockwork universe in need of repair, and the only way out is through.

Trapped in a dangerous cosmic maze of towering brass gears and glowing data streams, the crew must race to the engine's core to find their way home. With decaying sectors collapsing around them and a towering, spark-spitting Clockwork Monster blocking their path, Elijah is about to find out that surviving will take more than just scientific theory.

A pair of brass-rimmed octagonal glasses with glowing amber lenses.

The Adventure Query

Does science make God obsolete?

The kids can’t get home until they run all five Diagnostic Protocols. Each one turns the big question into a puzzle they have to work out for themselves.

  1. Primary Initialization
  2. Structural Unity
  3. Foundational Integrity
  4. Counterfeit Builds
  5. Design and Purpose

Who’s in it

Pick anyone to open their file.

Meet all the characters

In their own words

A few lines from the book. No spoilers.

  • “There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to see how things work. In fact, that’s what The Commons is all about! Asking the big, hard questions and searching for the truth. The whos, whats, wheres, whys, and hows are the lifeblood of this workshop. And I would never tell you to stop looking for answers.”

    Sister Maddox

  • “I’m an inventor, not a dreamer.”

    Elijah

  • “You can’t go through life being scared of everything.”

    Jada

  • “Oh, sweet, beautiful, solid ground. You have no idea how much I missed you.”

    Benny

  • “Getting to the truth isn’t a race—it’s a journey.”

    Sister Maddox

  • “Would you like me to provide you with a bowl of rice?”

    Apollo Jet X

Where to get it

Coming November 17, 2026 in paperback and ebook. Store links show up here as each one goes live.

  • Paperback soonAmazonThe Kindle edition is on Amazon now. The paperback joins it soon.
  • Coming Nov 17Barnes & NoblePrint and Nook, online or at your local store.
  • Coming Nov 17IngramSparkLibrarians and booksellers can order through their regular distributor.

Ebook

For families and classrooms

Talk it over at the dinner table, in the car, or in class.

Talk it over

Questions to start with

  1. Elijah says, “I’m an engineer, not a dreamer.” Can a person be both? Which character is more of each?
  2. Elijah’s drones are “perfectly programmed.” Does a well-programmed machine show that there’s no programmer, or that there is a good one?
  3. Why can’t a frozen gear start itself, even if there are a billion gears in the chain?
More for families

Sample chapter

Sample chapter coming soon

The opening pages of Chapter 1 will show up right here once they’re ready.

Until then, you can meet everyone who’s in it.

Meet the characters

Verses to Remember

In Psalm 119:11, we are encouraged to hide God’s word in our heart. In Hebrews 4:12, we are told that the word of God is ‘living and active’ and that it’s sharper than a sword. Memorizing verses is one of the best ways you can defend yourself against the world’s attacks. Below are just a few suggestions for you from the story you just read. But, don't stop there, you can choose some of your own! If you're not already reading the Bible every day, now is a great time to start, and you can pick out great verses to memorize as you go. God loves you, and the Bible is His all true, action-packed, epic adventure story of bringing that love to you.

  1. Colossians 2:8

    A warning to guard yourself against deceptive teachers.

    See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

  2. Hebrews 11:3

    Sister Maddox uses this to explain that visible things were not made from visible materials.

    By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

  3. Psalm 102

    Sister Maddox quotes this passage to show that the earth’s physical foundations will wear out, but the Creator remains the same.

    In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.

    Psalm 102:25–27

  4. Romans 1:20–21

    God’s invisible qualities are clearly seen in creation, and ignoring this truth leads to confused, darkened thinking.

    For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

  5. Psalm 19:1

    Reminds you to look for the Creator’s signature in all of nature.

    The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

  6. Colossians 1:16-17

    Explains that all things were created by God and held together by him.

    For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

  7. Proverbs 3:19

    Reminds us that only one as wise as God could have created the universe.

    By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place;

Practice them in the Verse Engine

Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The series

One big question per book. Save room on the shelf for what comes next.

All the books

Apollo Jet X

Gear hunt

Seven brass gears are hiding on this site

Find all seven and Sister Maddox signs you a Commons Workshop Pass. Your finds are saved in this browser.

  1. The home pagenot yet
  2. The extras pagenot yet
  3. Meet the charactersnot yet
  4. The book pagenot yet
  5. The character quiznot yet
  6. A lost sectornot yet
  7. The footernot yet

Apollo Jet X · Diagnostic Protocol

Logic cross-reference initiated.

  1. Primary Initializationstanding by
  2. Structural Unitystanding by
  3. Foundational Integritystanding by
  4. Counterfeit Buildsstanding by
  5. Design and Purposestanding by

Five protocols loaded. How each one turns out is in the book.