New Release: Operative, a YA SF Novella by Teen Author Adam Quinn

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know that Dark Omen (aka my son Adam Quinn) has been publishing his novels and novellas since he penned his first novel at age 12. Now, at age 16, he has a completed trilogy and, with today’s release, two novellas under his belt.

Makes me wonder how I spent my time as a kid. (Hint: I was nowhere near as productive as Adam).

I’m especially proud of this latest work – it veers closer to YA than his previous MG work (let me tell you how fun it is as a mom to watch your child grow in craft as well as in real life), and Operative is told from the POV of two strong female characters (Shicca and Taylor) in this high-adventure SF tale. All of Adam’s works have his personal brand of humor, but this latest story dives a little deeper into character, making it more young adult than middle grade. Here’s a snippet:

“I’m sorry,” Shicca said.

“Sorry?” Taylor had hardly expected thanks from Shicca, unless they were couched in a claim that Shicca could have escaped the GG herself, given enough time. The apology, though, caught her completely off-guard.

“Sorry for falling for a stupid trick.” Shicca sunk into one of the seats adjacent to Taylor. “Sorry for getting captured and forcing you to come out here and rescue me. Sorry putting the whole investigation at risk because I didn’t see an obvious double-cross coming.”

Taylor winced internally—she had never seen this side of Shicca, but perhaps that was because Shicca had never tripped up like this back when they worked together as Cavalieri. “Believe me, it was no big deal. You were only out of action for a few days, and they could not have interrogated you while you were asleep. It only cost five hundred Galactic dollars to free you, and I think you are worth a lot more than that to the Order.”

“Not if I get us captured,” Shicca said. “Or killed.”

“Which you will not.” 

I’ll let Adam tell you more about it… then see below for a summary of all his works. Or check out Adam’s blog here.

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     Amazingly, it has only been four months since the release of The Columbus Initiative and the completion of the Order of the Sky trilogy, and yet here I am, releasing my second novella, Operative:

     When the Order of the Sky’s top operative is caught while undercover in the capital of the galaxy, Taylor Ghatzi is tasked with rescuing her and recovering the intelligence that led to her capture.

     As can be guessed from the short description above, this novella (which, at ~20,000 words is slightly shorter than Project Exibluar) focuses on Taylor Ghatzi, a character who featured prominently in The Columbus Initiative. Within the chronology of the Orderverse, Operative takes place at the same time as the first half of The Undercover War—in fact, some of the events of The Undercover War impact the plot ofOperative and vice-versa. For those new to the Orderverse, I suggest that this novella be read betweenThe Undercover War and The Columbus Initiative, but it can be read as a standalone work as well.

     Aside from the novella itself, this ebook also contains two Orderverse short stories, which are unrelated to the main plot of the novella. “The GR’s War” takes on the perspective of a Cavalieri serving on Eekompski during the Order War, while “Eleven-Day Boom” tells the story of a Meltian day-trader in the wake of the Order War. Both contain Columbus Initiative spoilers.

     To obtain Operative FREE as an ebook, please follow this link to my “Books” page.

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