Veronica Roth is writing a new series

Best-selling young-adult author Veronica Roth is taking a divergent path for her next two-book series, announced today by HarperCollins Children's Book.

Roth, whose dystopian Divergent series has been a smash hit, is writing "in the vein of Star Wars" about a boy who "forms an unlikely alliance with an enemy," according to the publisher.

The first, so far untitled book, will arrive in 2017, with the sequel due in 2018.

In the new books, the boy and his enemy, "desperate to escape their oppressive lives," help each other attain redemption in one case, and revenge in the other.

"I'm really enjoying working on this new series. I can't wait to share it with readers," Roth said in a statement.

Her Divergent books, about a post-apocalyptic society divided into personality "factions," have been huge best sellers. Divergent and Allegiant both hit No. 1 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list; Insurgent has been as high as No. 2.

They also have been spun off as a successful movie franchise starring Shailene Woodley and Theo James. The adaptation of Insurgent opens nationwide on March 20.