An Elusive Eden

Paladins of Distant Suns, Book 2

By: Olan Thorensen

Narrated by: Scott Aiello

After ten years serving in the Earth's government's military, Everett Cole wasn't exactly sure what he'd signed up for when he left his birth planet.

Clarity came on the colony planet Astrild after teaming with an enigmatic colleague named Edgar Millen. Their agency employer works to influence colony planets to eventually join the Federation, the largest human political entity. But there are opponents: individuals, parties, criminal enterprises, and competing interstellar dominions. Astrild lacked the planetary government needed for development in preparation for Federation membership. Although the agency used various strategies, Cole and Millen were tasked with removing obstacles hindering that development—obstacles not amenable to diplomacy and reasonings—the methods left undefined by their employer.

Their first assignment had been to rouse citizens to expel a criminal gang that had taken over a small town named Justice. After success at Justice, their second assignment on Astrild was merely to observe and report on an area settled largely by religious sects—an area named Edna whose original purpose was to show sect colonists living in peaceful harmony—an Eden of tranquility. Unbeknownst to Millen and Cole, Justice and Edna were part of a larger conspiracy to keep Astrild from joining the Federation.

In Edna, a serpent lay in wait for them, an evil that, if left unchecked, could infect all of human civilization. Millen and Cole's capacity for violent solutions, when needed, would be put to the test.

©2023 Olan Thorensen (P)2024 Podium Audio

If you like sci-fi, you’ll like all of Thirenson’s books

Fun read. Second book in the series. I also loved his Destiny’s Crucible series. Check it out.

very dull

I love this author and have listened to all of his books. This is the first that wasn't worth listening to.

Seems like a rough draft. Not as good as the first.

It is drawn out with too much - we have no leads for chapter after chapter and just feels like a rough draft.

It's... OK

The audio is good, with various voices, etc.
The main characters are well written, and I slowly got to like them over the previous book and this one. The scenes, including the fights, are also well written in general.
The problem is the story itself. The author gave himself a lot of freedom with a SF setting, two men with enormous resources and little oversight, but at the end of the day it's a pretty ordinary special ops-style adventure with a sprinkle of technologically advanced items. The SF aspect is underwhelming: it really doesn't feel like it's hundreds of years in the future - could be next year or last month.

Hold on there hoss, check out this audiobook

If you loved the first book then you must absolutely check out this sequel. Millen's western antics are back and his attempts at broadening Cole's horizons continue. The narration was great.