Soldier of Fortune

GENRE
SCI-FI ACTION ADVENTURE COMEDY FANTASY MYSTERY LGBT
Core Theme
HONOR
TIME PERIOD
Future
COMPARABLE TITLES
WATERWORLD, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, THE FIFTH ELEMENT
CHARACTER LIST
• GIDEON QUINN: 42, LEAD, HEROIC, BADASS
• MIA: 13, SCRAPER, DODGER, GIDEON’S SIDEKICK
• ELVIS: EMPATHETIC, LOYAL, GIDEON’S PET
• CELIA RAND: 38, ICY, CRUEL, SEXY, GIDEON’S NEMESIS
• JESSUP RAND: 50S, DECEPTIVE, FRAMED GIDEON
• DANI SOLIS: 42, FAITHFUL, GIDEON’S LOVE INTEREST
Logline
Wrongly convicted of treason, Colonel Gideon Quinn seeks revenge against the man who framed him. Instead, he finds is a streetwise dodger, a city steeped in corruption, and a menace buried deep in the heart of the Corps that condemned him. Think: Jack Reacher meets Charles Dickens meets Killjoys.
Target Audiences
Age: 13-17,18-34,35-54,55+
Target Gender: Universal
Setting
City of Nike on the planet Fortune, thousands of years in the future.
Based on a True Story
No
Publishing Details
Status: Yes: self-published
Publisher: Fadge Press
Year Published: 2015
Starting Description
After six years labor in the Morton Barrens, Gideon Quinn is offered his freedom by the general who condemned him, with the caveat he find a traitor in the Corps. With his pet draco Elvis on his shoulder, Gideon sets out to the city of Nike in search of the truth, and revenge.
Ending Description
Gideon, with help from his newly-formed crew, uncovers the traitor, prevents an abduction, ends a protection scam, and saves a group of young dodgers from a sadistic master. Walking away with Mia, Elvis, and a friendly cop, he considers a career as a private facilitator.
Group Specific
Information not completed
Hard Copy Available
Yes
ISBN
978-0996910231
Mature Audience Themes
Nudity
Plot - Other Elements
Happy Ending,Twist
Plot - Premise
Overcoming Monster/Villain
Main Character Details
Name: Gideon Quinn
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Badass,Honorable,Sarcastic,Sexy,Blunt,Selfless,Leader,Complex,Heroic
Additional Character Details
Name: Mia the Dodger
Age: 13
Gender: Female
Role: Sidekick
Key Traits: Adventurous,Confident,Engaging,Skillful,Uneducated,Outspoken
Additional Character Details
Name: Celia Rand
Age: 38
Gender: Lgbt
Role: antagonist
Key Traits: Charming,Complex,Educated,Narcisstic,Sexy,Seductive,Manipulative
Additional Character Details
Name: Indani (Dani) Solis
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Role: emotional
Key Traits: Adventurous,Badass,Complex,Empathetic,Educated,Romantic
Development Pitch
Soldier of Fortune is a sci-fi adventure set on the planet Fortune, and first book of The Fortune Chronicles. Readers are already asking for the screen version of Gideon Quinn, the tarnished rogue who, with his pet draco, Elvis, comes to Nike in search of revenge, only to find a city in need of a hero. Or at least someone with a twisty mind who doesn't give a swarm about the status quo. Or rules. Or throwing the occasional punch. Clearly a job for Gideon. But his journey is more than a romp, being built on the underlying theme of "How can we do better?" Like Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek, Soldier lends itself to a series that explores just how that one question can be applied to the multitude of issues we are currently facing. Soldier also possesses a core of optimism and appeals to ages 13 and up. If optioned to series, Soldier is the sort of show families could sit down and watch together. But appealing to all ages doesn't mean Soldier is simple. Good guys make mistakes, not all antagonists are evil, and even the truly bad guys have motivations that make sense. The world itself combines steampunk elements with a melange of Earth cultures as well as new, Fortune-specific, idioms. Dracos and airships fill the skies and battles are fought over crystal, the native power source. Soldier is also overtly diverse, in all elements, so it's like Star Trek met Killjoys met Leverage, and they all set up shop in Dickens' London.
Brief
Wrongly convicted of treason, a Colonel seeks revenge against the man who framed him. Instead, he finds a streetwise dodger, a city steeped in corruption, and a menace buried deep in the Corps that condemned him.
What We Liked
- It has great characters, a fast paced plot, exceptional dialogue and an incredibly marketable concept;
- It is extremely cinematic in nature, has violent visuals, empathetic characters, and is perfect for a franchise;
- Adapting this book into a television series would needed a feature level budget. Perhaps the investment of a high end producer would be appropriate;
- Key points: Fast-paced; Great concept; Franchise potential; Genre bending; Fun action movie style dialogue.
Synopsis
The planet Fortune, on which this story takes place, is similar to Earth, but has some interesting differences. There are multiple suns, colloquial slang and crystal is the native power source. Former United Colonies Corps officer, Gideon Quinn, has been wrongfully convicted of treason and framed for the deaths of the other members of his team. He is now serving a life sentence at Morton Barrens. He has been there harvesting crystal for six years and has resigned himself to spending the rest of his life there. However, his life is turned upside down when he gets a visit from General Satsuke. She is the Corps general who convicted him at court martial. She offers him a chance to get out of jail and clear his name if he can find and reveal a spy within the Corps. Gideon decides to accept the challenge and is briefed on the spy who is called Odile. He packs up his pet draco, Elvis, and they fly in to the city of Nike to begin his quest.
Soaking in his newfound freedom and enjoying a rainstorm on the outside, he can’t help but think of Dani, the woman he let go before he went off to serve his life sentence at Morton Barrens. He hadn’t wanted to drag her down when he went away. Now that he is out he misses her more than ever. Gideon has plans to seek revenge on Jessup Rand, the man who framed him for the murder of his mates. Before embarking on that, Gideon decides he needs a bath and some food. Gideon is relaxing in a bathtub and eating the dinner that was delivered to him by the keeper of the hotel. The next thing he knows, he is being shaken awake by a thirteen year old girl as an extremely agitated Elvis looks on. His dinner was drugged with Morph and when he passed out, he slipped under the water and was drowning. The girl broke into the second story window to get inside to save him. She introduces herself as Mia. Gideon is grateful to her for saving his life, but he soon realizes that she wasn’t just passing by when she discovered him drowning. She must have been stalking him. She confesses to being a dodger sent by her Fagin, Erasmus Ellison, to steal Elvis, a unique pet in the district. He used to be a dodger himself and can see that her heart isn’t in it. Since she saved his life, it seems only natural to take her under his wing. She wasn’t the one who had him drugged. They soon discover that it was Nahmin, but they aren’t sure who sent him. Gideon also has to sidestep triplets Ulf, Rolf and Freya Ohmdahl who have also been hired to come after him. The triplets are impressed by his strength and cunning as he is able to quickly give them the slip.
Mia takes Gideon and Elvis to a diner where her pregnant friend Jinna is working. The father of Jinna’s baby is dead and now his father, Killian Del, wants her to give him the baby when it’s born. She is refusing to give up her child so Killian plans to abduct her and steal his grandchild when it’s born. When Killian arrives at the diner, Gideon fights him off. With the help of Rory, who is secretly in love with Jinna, and his boat, Gideon, Elvis and Mia help get Jinna to safety far away from Killian. Twins Rey and Ronan are hired to come after Gideon. Mia and Elvis are safely hidden away, but Gideon is delivered to Celia Rand, Jessup’s seductive and cunning wife. She told her husband previously that Gideon made advances on her and that prompted Jessup to have Gideon in his sights. She confesses to being the one who hired Nahmin to drug Gideon the first time. Celia takes Gideon to her boudoir where she tries unsuccessfully to seduce him. The next thing he knows, he awakens to find himself holding a knife and Jessup’s murdered body in a pool of blood. He realizes that he was drugged again and is now being framed for Jessup’s murder. Celia plays the part of the grieving wife well and the police are hot on Gideon’s trail. Celia keeps Gideon’s coat as he escapes. Gideon soon reunites with Mia and Elvis. The two have become fast friends much to Gideon’s delight. He shares with them his plans to confront Celia and get her to confess to Jessup’s murder. Knowing he has the Ohmdahls’ respect, Gideon hires them to work with him to break into Celia’s, force a confession and retrieve his stolen coat. He confronts Celia while she is in the bath. She confesses to everything, including that she is an empath and that she is Odile, the actual spy for whom he has been searching. She unleashes Nahmin on him, but Gideon kills him in self-defense. Celia threatens Gideon, but the Ohmdahls have heard the confession and she is caught dead to rights.
In their travels to get to this point, Mia, Elvis and Gideon have stolen an Edsel comet, spent all his government issued Starbucks, encountered the Shakespeare Circus, visited the Old Man and the Sea bar and stolen a compost lorry. Now, with Mia’s help, Lt. Hama and the rest of the police are no longer after Gideon. He is now free to help Mia spring her fellow dodgers from the Fagin’s sadistic employ. As the kids are taken to safety, Hama’s son Tiago, who is a doctor, goes along to ensure that the kids get care should the need arise. When Gideon is finally able to deliver the news to Satsuke that he has discovered Odile’s identity, she tells him that he can’t tell anyone. The entire mission was a secret. He isn’t thrilled that he won’t be able to formerly clear his name, but he understands and is grateful for his freedom. As a consolation prize, Satsuke returns Gideon’s coat she retrieved from the crime scene. When Satsuke takes her leave, she gets into the car with her partner. Unbeknownst to Gideon, Satsuke’s partner happens to be his lost love Dani keeping an eye on him. Gideon and his companions Elvis and Mia are talking with Lt. Hama after all is said and done. In their conversation, Gideon contemplates a new career as a private facilitator.