Amazon has picked up Charlie Jane Anders’ latest YA novel Victories Greater than Death, reports Variety. The publication says that Michael B. Jordan’s production company Outlier Society is developing the project, which has a first-look deal with the online retailer and streaming service.
Anders’ novel came out earlier this year and follows a high schooler named Tina Maines, who has a secret: she’s not really a mild-mannered kid trying to etch out a teenage existence on Earth—she has an rescue beacon that’ll one day activate and bring her out into space to help save the world and go off on all the adventures that she’s dreamed of.
There’s a little more to the story: She’s a clone of Captain Thaoh Argentian, a brilliant tactician and commander of the Royal Fleet, which is engaged in an interstellar war, and it’s losing. It’s up to Tina to take on the job of her predecessor, and surrounded by her crew and friends, she has to figure out how to lead them to victory.
According to Variety, Amazon and Outlier Society has yet to line up a writer for the project. Jordan will serve as an executive producer, as well as Elizabeth Raposo (of Outlier Society). Anders, Dan Halstead, and Nate Miller will also serve as executive producers for the project. On Twitter, Anders explained that the project would be a TV series, and that she was excited about the conversations she’s had about it with the folks involved.
Buy the Book
Never Say You Can’t Survive
This is an ambitious project with the potential to uplift characters who don't always get a chance to save the galaxy. It's about valuing chosen family over a single chosen one, and working together. I've loved everything Elizabeth Raposo, Kevin Jarzynski et al have had to say.
— Charlie Jane Anders (EVEN GREATER MISTAKES 11/16!) (@charliejane) September 13, 2021
This isn’t the first project of Anders’ to be optioned: way back in 2013, NBC optioned her Tor.com story Six Months, Three Days for a series, and back in 2019, Sony TV picked up her novel The City in the Middle of the Night for a series.
