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Destiny's Crucible #1
Cast Under an Alien Sun
What if you were thrown into a foreign society, never to see home again? What would you do and could you survive?
A story science fiction in premise, adventure in execution. A cross-genre adventure with elements of science fiction, history, hard science, epic fantasy, time travel, romance, alien contact, and space colonization.
Joe Colsco boarded a flight from San Francisco to Chicago to attend a national chemistry meeting. He would never set foot on Earth again.
On planet Anyar, Joe is found unconscious on a beach of a large island inhabited by humans where the level of technology is similar to Earth circa 1700. He awakes amidst strangers speaking an unintelligible language, and struggles to accept losing his previous life and finding a place in a society with different customs, needing a way to support himself, and not knowing a single soul. His worry about finding a place is assuaged when he finds ways to apply his knowledge of chemistry—as long as he is circumspect in introducing new knowledge not too far in advance of the planet’s technology and being labelled a demon.
As he adjusts, Joe finds that he has be dropped into a developing clash between the people who cared for him, and for whom he develops an affinity, and a military power from elsewhere on the planet, a power with designs on conquest.
Unaware, Joseph Colsco has been poured into a crucible, where time and trials will transform him in ways he could never have imagined.
A story science fiction in premise, adventure in execution. A cross-genre adventure with elements of science fiction, history, hard science, epic fantasy, time travel, romance, alien contact, and space colonization.
Joe Colsco boarded a flight from San Francisco to Chicago to attend a national chemistry meeting. He would never set foot on Earth again.
On planet Anyar, Joe is found unconscious on a beach of a large island inhabited by humans where the level of technology is similar to Earth circa 1700. He awakes amidst strangers speaking an unintelligible language, and struggles to accept losing his previous life and finding a place in a society with different customs, needing a way to support himself, and not knowing a single soul. His worry about finding a place is assuaged when he finds ways to apply his knowledge of chemistry—as long as he is circumspect in introducing new knowledge not too far in advance of the planet’s technology and being labelled a demon.
As he adjusts, Joe finds that he has be dropped into a developing clash between the people who cared for him, and for whom he develops an affinity, and a military power from elsewhere on the planet, a power with designs on conquest.
Unaware, Joseph Colsco has been poured into a crucible, where time and trials will transform him in ways he could never have imagined.
329 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 9, 2016
About the author
Olan Thorensen
14 books495 followersOlan is a long-time science fiction fan who has jumped into independent publication with all its pitfalls and unknowns. He thinks all colors go together: clash, what clash? A fan of Dilbert, Non Sequitur, Peanuts (even if old strips), and still think the end of The Far Side was a tragedy. Loves fireflies, rain, thunderstorms, is eclectic in music (classical, western, oldies, smattering of all other), and thinks four seasons are better than one. Gardens, plays piano poorly, used to jog until broke hip, now walks (to be honest, his jog was about as fast as his quick walk).
A sampling of favorite movies include Avatar, Master and Commander, The Last Mimsy, Six Days and Seven Nights, Aliens, Jumanji, The Big Short, Trading Places, World War Z, and A Miracle on 34th Street (original). If you can figure out a common theme, let Olan know. :>)
Born in Louisiana, but mainly grew up in a less populated part of Northern California. Played football in high school but did minimum studying so as not to interfere with his reading novels. Ironic is that he studiously avoided learning things like details of grammar and good writing. He knows how ironic that is now.
Worked as a forest firefighter several summers. In his youth, served in the US Special Forces (one year in Vietnam; SOG, running recon patrols in Laos and the DMZ). Attended university before and after the Army. Has a Phd in Genetics, with around 200 science publications as author and co-author on genetics, molecular biology, and bioinformatics, and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Worked with people with all the education and no common sense and knows people with little education and a world of smarts.
Retired now in the Blue Ridge country of Virginia and has time to pursue his avocation of writing books – mainly science fiction plus one police/action/character book writing as Kelsey Robicheaux. Thinks it's totally cool someone can read his stories and enjoy them. Loves hearing from readers from all parts of the US and international (his favorite of the latter was from Nepal).
His web page is olanthorensen.com, which has news updates, an occasion blog posting, and downloadable maps (by clicking on them) to help orient readers to the planet Anyar (highly recommended). He’s on Facebook, which also has maps, reader/listener comments, and his responses. He can be emailed at [email protected]. He reads all emails, though he may not be able to respond to them all. Readers can request to be on a mailing list for news of releases. Advantages of the mail list also include Christmas short stories, new maps, and a coming novella not otherwise available elsewhere.
A sampling of favorite movies include Avatar, Master and Commander, The Last Mimsy, Six Days and Seven Nights, Aliens, Jumanji, The Big Short, Trading Places, World War Z, and A Miracle on 34th Street (original). If you can figure out a common theme, let Olan know. :>)
Born in Louisiana, but mainly grew up in a less populated part of Northern California. Played football in high school but did minimum studying so as not to interfere with his reading novels. Ironic is that he studiously avoided learning things like details of grammar and good writing. He knows how ironic that is now.
Worked as a forest firefighter several summers. In his youth, served in the US Special Forces (one year in Vietnam; SOG, running recon patrols in Laos and the DMZ). Attended university before and after the Army. Has a Phd in Genetics, with around 200 science publications as author and co-author on genetics, molecular biology, and bioinformatics, and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Worked with people with all the education and no common sense and knows people with little education and a world of smarts.
Retired now in the Blue Ridge country of Virginia and has time to pursue his avocation of writing books – mainly science fiction plus one police/action/character book writing as Kelsey Robicheaux. Thinks it's totally cool someone can read his stories and enjoy them. Loves hearing from readers from all parts of the US and international (his favorite of the latter was from Nepal).
His web page is olanthorensen.com, which has news updates, an occasion blog posting, and downloadable maps (by clicking on them) to help orient readers to the planet Anyar (highly recommended). He’s on Facebook, which also has maps, reader/listener comments, and his responses. He can be emailed at [email protected]. He reads all emails, though he may not be able to respond to them all. Readers can request to be on a mailing list for news of releases. Advantages of the mail list also include Christmas short stories, new maps, and a coming novella not otherwise available elsewhere.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 294 reviews
November 18, 2021
I finished this days ago but honestly my brain cells had perished while reading it so it took me a while to actually write a review. I can't even make it a funny review because I'm so annoyed with everything about it.
This has got to be the dumbest book I've ever read. The most illogical, unlikely, unrealistic story ever. We follow a guy, Joe, or Joseph, who is saved from a plane crash by some unnamed Observers of the universe, regenerated for a couple of years, and then transplanted onto a completely different planet to live out the rest of his life. This planet is a sort of alternative Earth, also populated by humans.
We aren't told what age this is supposed to be, but Joe refers to it as a 17th century New England. Joe is found on the beach and ends up living in a monastery among religious brothers (even though they are not explicitly Christian, they refer to the Great Book (that would be the Bible), so let's just assume they're Christians). This race of human beings cannot pronounce Joseph's name, so they call him... Yoseph. Which is THE SAME NAME. That's literally how you pronounce it anywhere else in the world than America? Does the author know the origin of the name? I guess not.
Joe then proceeds to learn this alien language pretty quickly and then continues a series of completely ridiculous events:
Joe observes a man who dies in an accident but probably more from shock than his wound so he decides to invent ether. After testing it on a couple of animals and ONE PREGNANT WOMAN who needs a c-section, they deem it safe to use, problem solved. Nothing about any of the side effects like skin and respiratory irritation or vomiting is ever mentioned.
He asks about bacteria and they look really confused and when he asks why they wash all their surgical instruments if they don't know about contagions they say it's just an old ritual they've always done. Oh wow, how incredibly luck!
Joe then starts a production of ether and earns so much coin the bottom of his drawer falls out and when he asks for a bank they look at him blankly because no one has heard of a bank. Suuure. Never mind that banks existed at the time of Jesus, 1300 ago in this world's timeline, never mind that the concept existed in Babylonian times. You're saying a society with trade (he goes to buy clothes in a shop that actually takes his measurements - like a normal 50s shop) and they have nowhere to put their money? Not buying it.
Joe invents soap, because they only have one soap and it's uncomfortable to use. I'm guessing he means lard but who knows. But here's the thing. They had lots of soap in the middle ages. They had scented soaps, too! In fact they loved soap and had whole public bath houses because they generally liked bathing a lot. It's not very likely they didn't have soap but eh, Joe starts a soap production because Joe can do it all.
Joe then invents guano as fertilizer. Yes. Again, never mind that historically this has existed for hundreds of years, I'm to believe that this fairly well off society that he lives in which has farming and lots of it doesn't use manure? Oh please.
He also goes to court to learn about their justice system, and we are shown two cases that are so mindbogglingly simplistic a child could have thought it up. One is a guy who can't prove he bought a horse because he has no receipt, so the other guy can resell the horse. That's it, that's the case. The next is a woman who is limping, has a broken arm, two black eyes and is covered in 47 bandages. She gets up and completely unsurprisingly pronounces that her husband beats her and their kids, whereto the husband proclaims he only beats her when she deserves it. No subtlety at all here, despite the fact that most domestic violence is hidden. This is just... not representative of domestic violence AT ALL.
Then Joe's lamp goes out and the remembers that maybe he should invent something else as fuel than animal fats which they are for some reason using. He can't remember which plant based oils they have on this planet, which is a lie because earlier when he was extracting ether he used the burning temperature of olive oil, magically available on this planet, as a marker for 410F degrees, but that knowledge has apparently left his brain in the meantime.
So he wants to make kerosene and of course this society quickly has the means to be able to extract this. Honestly this sounds less like the middle ages and more like a present-day, lazy country town. Oh and he also makes gun powder now that he's at it because why not, maybe it would come in handy (it does).
Meanwhile we also hear about some army that's planning an attack on their country and has allied themselves with bandits of some sort, who have vague, Middle Eastern names, and I honestly just stopped paying attention to this part of the story.
It just goes on and on in a completely unlikely way. There is nothing believable about this universe the author is trying to portray, it has no internal logic whatsoever. Plot points are brought up once, never to be mentioned again, like Joe briefly worry that he will be burned at the stake for knowing all the science stuff he does but that takes two lines and at NO point in the book does anyone ever doubt him but they all eat up everything he says without any question.
This book also has the worst representation of women I have seen in a LONG time. His friend in this new world has a wife, who is only there to serve them food where after she disappears so the men can talk. When his other friends wonder if Joe shouldn't perhaps start boinking someone they point out various women, some underage ("but you can just wait a few years"), and one whose name they can't really remember because that's not important, of course.
We are treated to one chapter exactly of two women and guess what they talk about - getting married and having babies. And then we never hear from them again. I have absolutely no idea why this chapter was included, like, at all.
There are about a hundred other ridiculous discrepancies in this story. Apparently no one could do anything at all, until Joe the wonderboy appeared. I get that this is fiction, but this is such a little boy's fantasy where he gets to be the hero in his own dreamworld that I wish Thorensen's editor had dumped it in the shredder like the trash it is and asked him to stop sharing his self-insert fanfiction with the rest of the world.
An absolute waste of time and space.
This has got to be the dumbest book I've ever read. The most illogical, unlikely, unrealistic story ever. We follow a guy, Joe, or Joseph, who is saved from a plane crash by some unnamed Observers of the universe, regenerated for a couple of years, and then transplanted onto a completely different planet to live out the rest of his life. This planet is a sort of alternative Earth, also populated by humans.
We aren't told what age this is supposed to be, but Joe refers to it as a 17th century New England. Joe is found on the beach and ends up living in a monastery among religious brothers (even though they are not explicitly Christian, they refer to the Great Book (that would be the Bible), so let's just assume they're Christians). This race of human beings cannot pronounce Joseph's name, so they call him... Yoseph. Which is THE SAME NAME. That's literally how you pronounce it anywhere else in the world than America? Does the author know the origin of the name? I guess not.
Joe then proceeds to learn this alien language pretty quickly and then continues a series of completely ridiculous events:
Joe observes a man who dies in an accident but probably more from shock than his wound so he decides to invent ether. After testing it on a couple of animals and ONE PREGNANT WOMAN who needs a c-section, they deem it safe to use, problem solved. Nothing about any of the side effects like skin and respiratory irritation or vomiting is ever mentioned.
He asks about bacteria and they look really confused and when he asks why they wash all their surgical instruments if they don't know about contagions they say it's just an old ritual they've always done. Oh wow, how incredibly luck!
Joe then starts a production of ether and earns so much coin the bottom of his drawer falls out and when he asks for a bank they look at him blankly because no one has heard of a bank. Suuure. Never mind that banks existed at the time of Jesus, 1300 ago in this world's timeline, never mind that the concept existed in Babylonian times. You're saying a society with trade (he goes to buy clothes in a shop that actually takes his measurements - like a normal 50s shop) and they have nowhere to put their money? Not buying it.
Joe invents soap, because they only have one soap and it's uncomfortable to use. I'm guessing he means lard but who knows. But here's the thing. They had lots of soap in the middle ages. They had scented soaps, too! In fact they loved soap and had whole public bath houses because they generally liked bathing a lot. It's not very likely they didn't have soap but eh, Joe starts a soap production because Joe can do it all.
Joe then invents guano as fertilizer. Yes. Again, never mind that historically this has existed for hundreds of years, I'm to believe that this fairly well off society that he lives in which has farming and lots of it doesn't use manure? Oh please.
He also goes to court to learn about their justice system, and we are shown two cases that are so mindbogglingly simplistic a child could have thought it up. One is a guy who can't prove he bought a horse because he has no receipt, so the other guy can resell the horse. That's it, that's the case. The next is a woman who is limping, has a broken arm, two black eyes and is covered in 47 bandages. She gets up and completely unsurprisingly pronounces that her husband beats her and their kids, whereto the husband proclaims he only beats her when she deserves it. No subtlety at all here, despite the fact that most domestic violence is hidden. This is just... not representative of domestic violence AT ALL.
Then Joe's lamp goes out and the remembers that maybe he should invent something else as fuel than animal fats which they are for some reason using. He can't remember which plant based oils they have on this planet, which is a lie because earlier when he was extracting ether he used the burning temperature of olive oil, magically available on this planet, as a marker for 410F degrees, but that knowledge has apparently left his brain in the meantime.
So he wants to make kerosene and of course this society quickly has the means to be able to extract this. Honestly this sounds less like the middle ages and more like a present-day, lazy country town. Oh and he also makes gun powder now that he's at it because why not, maybe it would come in handy (it does).
Meanwhile we also hear about some army that's planning an attack on their country and has allied themselves with bandits of some sort, who have vague, Middle Eastern names, and I honestly just stopped paying attention to this part of the story.
It just goes on and on in a completely unlikely way. There is nothing believable about this universe the author is trying to portray, it has no internal logic whatsoever. Plot points are brought up once, never to be mentioned again, like Joe briefly worry that he will be burned at the stake for knowing all the science stuff he does but that takes two lines and at NO point in the book does anyone ever doubt him but they all eat up everything he says without any question.
This book also has the worst representation of women I have seen in a LONG time. His friend in this new world has a wife, who is only there to serve them food where after she disappears so the men can talk. When his other friends wonder if Joe shouldn't perhaps start boinking someone they point out various women, some underage ("but you can just wait a few years"), and one whose name they can't really remember because that's not important, of course.
We are treated to one chapter exactly of two women and guess what they talk about - getting married and having babies. And then we never hear from them again. I have absolutely no idea why this chapter was included, like, at all.
There are about a hundred other ridiculous discrepancies in this story. Apparently no one could do anything at all, until Joe the wonderboy appeared. I get that this is fiction, but this is such a little boy's fantasy where he gets to be the hero in his own dreamworld that I wish Thorensen's editor had dumped it in the shredder like the trash it is and asked him to stop sharing his self-insert fanfiction with the rest of the world.
An absolute waste of time and space.
February 14, 2017
What did I think?
If you make a world where a human is being transferred from Earth to another planet, where some aliens, some x-thousands of years ago already planted other humans and several Earth fauna and flora have alredy been transplanted, kindly avoid that they could possibly have had the same evolution:
- Monotheism
- Indo-Germanic language
- Minutes as a unit of measuring time while the complete calender is different
- Abbeys with real abbots
- Miles as units of measuring distance, for god's sake
- European names
- A substitute for coffee as in "nobody is actually able to get out of bed and something done without
having one first"
- Actual christian marriage with only the occasional exception of more than one wife/husband
This is all the more grating, since the author tried very hard (and repeteadly) to describe a somewhat different world/planet.
Also, once said is enough. There's no need to describe MC's eyes over and over, neither his history, neither his "never home again" dilemma etc. etc. etc.
I'm giving the next one a try. Why with only 2 stars? I had a clear view of where this is all going halfway through the first volume and now I want to know, if I was right.
If you make a world where a human is being transferred from Earth to another planet, where some aliens, some x-thousands of years ago already planted other humans and several Earth fauna and flora have alredy been transplanted, kindly avoid that they could possibly have had the same evolution:
- Monotheism
- Indo-Germanic language
- Minutes as a unit of measuring time while the complete calender is different
- Abbeys with real abbots
- Miles as units of measuring distance, for god's sake
- European names
- A substitute for coffee as in "nobody is actually able to get out of bed and something done without
having one first"
- Actual christian marriage with only the occasional exception of more than one wife/husband
This is all the more grating, since the author tried very hard (and repeteadly) to describe a somewhat different world/planet.
Also, once said is enough. There's no need to describe MC's eyes over and over, neither his history, neither his "never home again" dilemma etc. etc. etc.
I'm giving the next one a try. Why with only 2 stars? I had a clear view of where this is all going halfway through the first volume and now I want to know, if I was right.
July 27, 2017
Let's jump right in, there is a lot of exposition and very little story. Long before you are intrigued , you will receive lectures about various subjects and characters in the story, peppered with an occasional "as you all know" and the narrator going "this would not be the last time" or "at the time X did not know how right/wrong they were" killing tension and whatever tiny interest you had. The book does not try to make you care, it assumes you do. I expected an updated version of "John Carter of Mars" so that could have colored my judgment. I found this story to be a mangled attempt at Slice of life, not an adventure. Raving reviewers that for some reason have been added to the description of this book must be for a the series as a whole, because if that is not the case I wonder where they found "Romance" or why it's an "entertaining read for anyone who loves action adventures" while other aspects maybe subjective I can firmly say their is no romance in this book and very little action or adventure.
Story
Despite a lot of guesswork Yozef's projects always succeed and never face any interesting obstacles. In months he is ruining multiple business while your average science protagonist would still be trying to find the right mix for penicillin, with even the most devoted of his followers losing faith in it ever work. Sometimes Yozef will just drop a concept and a craftsman off screen will make it happen with Yozef deliberately not questioning how it was made, so the technical aspects that others have praised is greatly exaggerated. The author avoids predictable developments like Yozef being captured upon arrival or the other general adventure fair but in exchange offers nothing but stationary existence(from a story standpoint).None of the POV characters stories intersect with each other or contribute anything to each other. Its possible and even likely they will be relevant in later books but here a lot of them are a waste of time.
When pirates finally attacked I wondered what Yozef would lose, would his house or businesses burn down, would he have to use his knowledge to kill, maybe with unintended casualties? none of it happened. When he first arrived we have 1 conservative monk saying he is of the devil, Does that monk become a more immediate antagonist since Narthani are sitting this one out anyway? nope. What about all the old school craftsmen, do they rise? nope, I guess they all re-skilled. What about political figures threatened by Yozef's rising power and wealth? nope. Whenever there is a chance for intrigue the story avoids it with something more mundane like Yozef taking a cart ride to an office in a nearby city to get a land permit, doing so with no complications, buying some wine and cheese and walking back home because he was in the mood for hiking, arriving exhausted and going to sleep.
Pacing and Focus
Approximately 40% into the book, only 5 things had happened 1.Yozef got to the world 2.made a friend 3.learned the language 4.Narthani interviewed and hired a pirate captain
5.Narthani exposited about their past endeavors(far away from Yozef). Important months can pass by in a blink with no focus given to the events happening during them, while a boring day can drag for pages. In 1 page 1.Yozef could find out his partner is embezzling from him 2.be told their is no legal solution because he did not make a contract as previously recommended 3. build a different soap factory 4.undercut prices and run the man out of town when he comes groveling, all in 1 page while some minor thing can take up 10 times more time.
Characters
Yozef
Who is Yozef? Chances are that by the end of the story you will know as much about Yozef as you do about Maera Keelan's best friend(minor character). Yozef lacks vitality, being balding and having hunched shoulders is the only thing missing. Whenever I feel like the book is not aimed at me I usually try to pictured the target audience and think on whether or not they would like it. Im having a hard time picture a person who would enjoy Yozef as a protagonist. Yozef is what people would call "a very human" character but since we don't know if and to what level his mind has been modified we don't know if Yozef is the type of person who can move on from his family in 9 months and be warmed by the thought of his enemies dead bodies being dumped at the garbage heap or if its alien influence. I think the answer would color peoples judgment of him.
Others
most characters could be summed up in 150 characters but it takes forever to drag that information out of them. With one we are teased with a tragic past but when was the last time that was enough to make you pick up a second book? 95% of the time you can foresee the characters trajectory the second they are introduced. There is also a kid who disappears after his first appearance and does not show back up until the finally where we get told about his potential
Semi related thoughts: Most of my opinions are presented as facts because I did not want to start every sentence with "I feel like"/"it seems". Book came with a preview of book 2, I do not know how they pick what goes into previews but mine consisted of book 1 recaps, a hint that Yozef would become a grizzled confederate general type and scene where Maera Keelan agrees to visit Yozef's area and evaluate him(thing that was already stated in book 1 and would not really need a scene in book 2) If these are the prime cuts that are supposed to get me interested in book 2 I guess its no surprise that I don't plan on picking up book 2. I found my "review" long winded so I removed some parts, it may have affected overall cohesion but I think my point still comes across.
Story
Despite a lot of guesswork Yozef's projects always succeed and never face any interesting obstacles. In months he is ruining multiple business while your average science protagonist would still be trying to find the right mix for penicillin, with even the most devoted of his followers losing faith in it ever work. Sometimes Yozef will just drop a concept and a craftsman off screen will make it happen with Yozef deliberately not questioning how it was made, so the technical aspects that others have praised is greatly exaggerated. The author avoids predictable developments like Yozef being captured upon arrival or the other general adventure fair but in exchange offers nothing but stationary existence(from a story standpoint).None of the POV characters stories intersect with each other or contribute anything to each other. Its possible and even likely they will be relevant in later books but here a lot of them are a waste of time.
When pirates finally attacked I wondered what Yozef would lose, would his house or businesses burn down, would he have to use his knowledge to kill, maybe with unintended casualties? none of it happened. When he first arrived we have 1 conservative monk saying he is of the devil, Does that monk become a more immediate antagonist since Narthani are sitting this one out anyway? nope. What about all the old school craftsmen, do they rise? nope, I guess they all re-skilled. What about political figures threatened by Yozef's rising power and wealth? nope. Whenever there is a chance for intrigue the story avoids it with something more mundane like Yozef taking a cart ride to an office in a nearby city to get a land permit, doing so with no complications, buying some wine and cheese and walking back home because he was in the mood for hiking, arriving exhausted and going to sleep.
Pacing and Focus
Approximately 40% into the book, only 5 things had happened 1.Yozef got to the world 2.made a friend 3.learned the language 4.Narthani interviewed and hired a pirate captain
5.Narthani exposited about their past endeavors(far away from Yozef). Important months can pass by in a blink with no focus given to the events happening during them, while a boring day can drag for pages. In 1 page 1.Yozef could find out his partner is embezzling from him 2.be told their is no legal solution because he did not make a contract as previously recommended 3. build a different soap factory 4.undercut prices and run the man out of town when he comes groveling, all in 1 page while some minor thing can take up 10 times more time.
Characters
Yozef
Who is Yozef? Chances are that by the end of the story you will know as much about Yozef as you do about Maera Keelan's best friend(minor character). Yozef lacks vitality, being balding and having hunched shoulders is the only thing missing. Whenever I feel like the book is not aimed at me I usually try to pictured the target audience and think on whether or not they would like it. Im having a hard time picture a person who would enjoy Yozef as a protagonist. Yozef is what people would call "a very human" character but since we don't know if and to what level his mind has been modified we don't know if Yozef is the type of person who can move on from his family in 9 months and be warmed by the thought of his enemies dead bodies being dumped at the garbage heap or if its alien influence. I think the answer would color peoples judgment of him.
Others
most characters could be summed up in 150 characters but it takes forever to drag that information out of them. With one we are teased with a tragic past but when was the last time that was enough to make you pick up a second book? 95% of the time you can foresee the characters trajectory the second they are introduced. There is also a kid who disappears after his first appearance and does not show back up until the finally where we get told about his potential
Semi related thoughts: Most of my opinions are presented as facts because I did not want to start every sentence with "I feel like"/"it seems". Book came with a preview of book 2, I do not know how they pick what goes into previews but mine consisted of book 1 recaps, a hint that Yozef would become a grizzled confederate general type and scene where Maera Keelan agrees to visit Yozef's area and evaluate him(thing that was already stated in book 1 and would not really need a scene in book 2) If these are the prime cuts that are supposed to get me interested in book 2 I guess its no surprise that I don't plan on picking up book 2. I found my "review" long winded so I removed some parts, it may have affected overall cohesion but I think my point still comes across.
July 13, 2017
It isn't often that a series grabs me by the short hairs and drags me into its world. This is one of those. Prepare to loose sleep until you have finished the book/series. I highly recommend this book series.
December 18, 2019
This is a review for the complete first series that takes place on Anyar and follows the destiny of Yozef Kolsko (formerly known on Earth as Joseph Colsco) from his (litetally) naked arrival there (and the events leading to it which are in the usual vein, aliens under stealth observing Earth, accident caused by them leading to the destruction of a plane, a dying Colsco is saved and "rebuilt" but cannot be returned to Earth etc) to the end of the storyline on Anyar in which he becomes a major character.
The series has 4 volumes - Cast Under an Alien Sun, The Pen and the Sword, Heavier than a Mountain and Forged in Fire and they form a complete (very) long novel with a definite ending though of course, the story continues in more books.
The books generally start with a fast recap of what came before and a little more detail about that than in the previous volume, and they have a fairly large cast, though the action generally is presented from Yozef's perspective and from the perspective of the main antagonist, the Narthani general and colony governor Okan Akuyum, though there are many other pov's, not least, the one of Maera Keelan, the super-smart elder daughter of Caedellium clan leader Cullich (Keelan), who is the main (unofficial - as the society is fairly patriarchal, though not exclusively with many women in important roles) advisor of her father and from whose sons (once she is married of course) the new clan hetman is to be chosen (as Culich has 4 daughters), but the problem is that once she threw out a few potential suitors as dumb and conceited, nobody is brave enough to court her, while the younger daughters usually cannot marry first by tradition, so she needs an unusual husband...
Caedellium is an island the size of a large European country and divided into 21 clans which are fiercely independent, though due to the existence of an all-clan conclave do not generally war against each other (they actually do not have the term for war, just for battles and fights in their common language), but skirmish occasionally along the borders. The society and technology on Caedellium is about a mid-1700's one, though there are somewhat more advanced states on the continents of Anyar - there is no steam power or electricity, so all are still preindustrial with muskets, pikes and guns.
However, a few years previously, the Narthani empire - an aggressive empire descending from steppes people, who enslave and absorb anyone they can, put Caedellium in their sights as a base to attack some of their main enemies - pretty much all the other major countries of Anyar on a few but close landmasses (all are in one hemisphere, though the humans of Anyar have sailing ships capable of circumnavigating the globe, with the other hemisphere being all ocean), are now semi-allied against the Narthani who dominate the main landmass and are very brutal but have been checked by various alliances on each land border, so now look at invading the other smaller continents. Using the usual "pretend to come to trade" tactic, the Narthani were welcomed into the main island port of Preddi, capital of the clan with the same name, slowly expanding their presence there and fomenting attacks from the Preddi' stupid clan neighbors, the Eywell and Selfcell, which leade to the Preddi requesting Narthani help for defense, the Preddi being conquered and either enslaved or kept as workforce, while tens of thousands of Narthani civilian colonists were shipped in to populate the towns and farms of the Preddi, while the Eyewell and Selfcell saw the writing on the wall and accepted Narthani as overlords, with the Selfcell hetman appealing in vain for help to the all-clan alliance. And now, the Narthani are ready to start the full conquest, though they still have to proceed slowly since the conquest has been planned to be done "on the cheap", so slow and careful with relatively few soldiers and the goal of exploting the divisions of the clans...
But Yozef (as the natives pronounce his name) doesn't know anything when he washed out naked out of the sea on the fringes of the Keelan province in the village of Abersford and is taken in by Sistian and Diesa Beynom, Abbott and Abbess of St Sidryn's abbey, who nurse him to health, tutor him in the language and later help him integrate in the Abersford society and put his ideas in practice (on Earth, Joseph was a Chemistry PhD student who invented, with an upcoming patent and lucrative job offers) starting with ether for surgeries, to soaps, hard liquor and slowly much, much more.
As Yozef finally comes to term with his new life and becomes quite content and ready to live as a dutiful Caedellium man, expand his businesses, the Narthani start their next phase of invasions with pirate attacks (led by paid mercenary pirates from across the sea for deniability) and to no reader's surprise one of the targets is St Sydrin and Abersford in general... And so it goes for 4 not to be put down volumes until the conclusion of the storyline; much will happen of course but I recommend to read the books and find out what.
The style is straightforward, but the books general read fast and easy, no clunky prose and overmuch info-dumps (there are some by necessity, but they get fewer as the series advances); the characters are very intriguing and the storyline which alternates between action and the life of Yozef 9obviously they will converge eventually) is extraordinarily captivating.
Highly, highly recommended - one of the best series I've read in recent times
The series has 4 volumes - Cast Under an Alien Sun, The Pen and the Sword, Heavier than a Mountain and Forged in Fire and they form a complete (very) long novel with a definite ending though of course, the story continues in more books.
The books generally start with a fast recap of what came before and a little more detail about that than in the previous volume, and they have a fairly large cast, though the action generally is presented from Yozef's perspective and from the perspective of the main antagonist, the Narthani general and colony governor Okan Akuyum, though there are many other pov's, not least, the one of Maera Keelan, the super-smart elder daughter of Caedellium clan leader Cullich (Keelan), who is the main (unofficial - as the society is fairly patriarchal, though not exclusively with many women in important roles) advisor of her father and from whose sons (once she is married of course) the new clan hetman is to be chosen (as Culich has 4 daughters), but the problem is that once she threw out a few potential suitors as dumb and conceited, nobody is brave enough to court her, while the younger daughters usually cannot marry first by tradition, so she needs an unusual husband...
Caedellium is an island the size of a large European country and divided into 21 clans which are fiercely independent, though due to the existence of an all-clan conclave do not generally war against each other (they actually do not have the term for war, just for battles and fights in their common language), but skirmish occasionally along the borders. The society and technology on Caedellium is about a mid-1700's one, though there are somewhat more advanced states on the continents of Anyar - there is no steam power or electricity, so all are still preindustrial with muskets, pikes and guns.
However, a few years previously, the Narthani empire - an aggressive empire descending from steppes people, who enslave and absorb anyone they can, put Caedellium in their sights as a base to attack some of their main enemies - pretty much all the other major countries of Anyar on a few but close landmasses (all are in one hemisphere, though the humans of Anyar have sailing ships capable of circumnavigating the globe, with the other hemisphere being all ocean), are now semi-allied against the Narthani who dominate the main landmass and are very brutal but have been checked by various alliances on each land border, so now look at invading the other smaller continents. Using the usual "pretend to come to trade" tactic, the Narthani were welcomed into the main island port of Preddi, capital of the clan with the same name, slowly expanding their presence there and fomenting attacks from the Preddi' stupid clan neighbors, the Eywell and Selfcell, which leade to the Preddi requesting Narthani help for defense, the Preddi being conquered and either enslaved or kept as workforce, while tens of thousands of Narthani civilian colonists were shipped in to populate the towns and farms of the Preddi, while the Eyewell and Selfcell saw the writing on the wall and accepted Narthani as overlords, with the Selfcell hetman appealing in vain for help to the all-clan alliance. And now, the Narthani are ready to start the full conquest, though they still have to proceed slowly since the conquest has been planned to be done "on the cheap", so slow and careful with relatively few soldiers and the goal of exploting the divisions of the clans...
But Yozef (as the natives pronounce his name) doesn't know anything when he washed out naked out of the sea on the fringes of the Keelan province in the village of Abersford and is taken in by Sistian and Diesa Beynom, Abbott and Abbess of St Sidryn's abbey, who nurse him to health, tutor him in the language and later help him integrate in the Abersford society and put his ideas in practice (on Earth, Joseph was a Chemistry PhD student who invented, with an upcoming patent and lucrative job offers) starting with ether for surgeries, to soaps, hard liquor and slowly much, much more.
As Yozef finally comes to term with his new life and becomes quite content and ready to live as a dutiful Caedellium man, expand his businesses, the Narthani start their next phase of invasions with pirate attacks (led by paid mercenary pirates from across the sea for deniability) and to no reader's surprise one of the targets is St Sydrin and Abersford in general... And so it goes for 4 not to be put down volumes until the conclusion of the storyline; much will happen of course but I recommend to read the books and find out what.
The style is straightforward, but the books general read fast and easy, no clunky prose and overmuch info-dumps (there are some by necessity, but they get fewer as the series advances); the characters are very intriguing and the storyline which alternates between action and the life of Yozef 9obviously they will converge eventually) is extraordinarily captivating.
Highly, highly recommended - one of the best series I've read in recent times
August 4, 2016
I really love the cover of this book. It's super unique and it really caught my eye. The synopsis starts with
"What if you were thrown into a foreign society, never to see home again? What would you do and could you survive?"
I didn't need to read much more after that, I knew I wanted to check this book out. Joe is basically given the choice of death, or go live on a new planet, after he's rescued from a crazy plane crash by something or someone unknown to him, otherwise known as aliens.
I loved the fact that Anyar is similar to Earth from the seventeen hundreds. He has to get used to a whole new life, on a whole new planet. Joe transforms amazingly as a character, and I really enjoyed the adventures he took me on.
This is a great intro to the Destiny's Crucible series by Olan Throensen. This book is overall fun to read, it certainly kept me highly entertained. I was instantly hooked from the very beginning. Descriptive enough for imagining the whole new world Thorensen has created, without being overly done or tiresome to read. It seemed to me the spelling and grammar was on point, and I read through it with ease.
There's enough of a small cliff hanger at the end to make me crave more! I can't wait to read the next sequel. I already know quite a few sci-fi readers that will absolutely love this book! I give it 5/5.
"What if you were thrown into a foreign society, never to see home again? What would you do and could you survive?"
I didn't need to read much more after that, I knew I wanted to check this book out. Joe is basically given the choice of death, or go live on a new planet, after he's rescued from a crazy plane crash by something or someone unknown to him, otherwise known as aliens.
I loved the fact that Anyar is similar to Earth from the seventeen hundreds. He has to get used to a whole new life, on a whole new planet. Joe transforms amazingly as a character, and I really enjoyed the adventures he took me on.
This is a great intro to the Destiny's Crucible series by Olan Throensen. This book is overall fun to read, it certainly kept me highly entertained. I was instantly hooked from the very beginning. Descriptive enough for imagining the whole new world Thorensen has created, without being overly done or tiresome to read. It seemed to me the spelling and grammar was on point, and I read through it with ease.
There's enough of a small cliff hanger at the end to make me crave more! I can't wait to read the next sequel. I already know quite a few sci-fi readers that will absolutely love this book! I give it 5/5.
December 27, 2016
I've got two big quibbles with this book, and one minor one.
1. There are a lot of sections that are excellent example of how to tell, and not show. At one point, a minor but important character rehashes five years of recent history to a room full of people who know it, who lived it, who literally made it happen. It felt incredibly forced, and I skimmed through most of it, and continued skimming through most of that faction's point-of-view. (I don't think I lost much. They're bad guys, obviously so, but with some portrayals of family life thrown in to make them a little more relatable. Meh.)
2. This book is really, really eurocentric. Which would be fine if the character traveled back in time to an alternate version of Europe, but he didn't - the people of Anyar haven't been on Earth for (as far as I can tell) a few thousand years. And yet, they all have vaguely European names, speak a language that's close enough to English that the character points out similarities and hypothesizes that it has its roots in some proto-Indo-European language, they've got a European-style of government, they've got abbeys and monotheism that's basically golden-rule flavored Christianity without the Christ figure, they've got European marriage rites - the list goes on.
3. The minor quibble - the book spends a few chapters having Joseph hanging out with an alien AI that eventually ships him off to Anyar, but this has zero bearing on the story. We never hear about them or from them again, even in the second book, except in passing as a justification for Joseph not telling anyone about his true origins.
Overall, though, not a bad version of a "guy from future brings technology and knowledge" novel. If you like those types of books, you'll probably like this.
1. There are a lot of sections that are excellent example of how to tell, and not show. At one point, a minor but important character rehashes five years of recent history to a room full of people who know it, who lived it, who literally made it happen. It felt incredibly forced, and I skimmed through most of it, and continued skimming through most of that faction's point-of-view. (I don't think I lost much. They're bad guys, obviously so, but with some portrayals of family life thrown in to make them a little more relatable. Meh.)
2. This book is really, really eurocentric. Which would be fine if the character traveled back in time to an alternate version of Europe, but he didn't - the people of Anyar haven't been on Earth for (as far as I can tell) a few thousand years. And yet, they all have vaguely European names, speak a language that's close enough to English that the character points out similarities and hypothesizes that it has its roots in some proto-Indo-European language, they've got a European-style of government, they've got abbeys and monotheism that's basically golden-rule flavored Christianity without the Christ figure, they've got European marriage rites - the list goes on.
3. The minor quibble - the book spends a few chapters having Joseph hanging out with an alien AI that eventually ships him off to Anyar, but this has zero bearing on the story. We never hear about them or from them again, even in the second book, except in passing as a justification for Joseph not telling anyone about his true origins.
Overall, though, not a bad version of a "guy from future brings technology and knowledge" novel. If you like those types of books, you'll probably like this.
September 25, 2017
The main plot idea is very original but the execution is lacking. You can tell that the writer is a real nerd's nerd, which isn't a bad thing, but there are these long, dry, passages. I started to play a game where I'd replace some of these passages in my head with like, a single, short sentence.
The other thing that bothered me is that the "alien" world is basically 1700s Europe, with abbeys/abbots, similar language, culture, etc.. While that sounds kind of trippy, the author doesn't "sell" this in a way that makes it believable. We don't get a reasonable explanation for why this is so.
I was listening to the audiobook and stopped some way through it when I realized I didn't care what happened to the characters.
The other thing that bothered me is that the "alien" world is basically 1700s Europe, with abbeys/abbots, similar language, culture, etc.. While that sounds kind of trippy, the author doesn't "sell" this in a way that makes it believable. We don't get a reasonable explanation for why this is so.
I was listening to the audiobook and stopped some way through it when I realized I didn't care what happened to the characters.
December 18, 2016
Joseph Colsco, bound for a chemical society meeting, is traveling on an airplane involved in a mid-air collision with an alien spacecraft. Barely surviving the crash, Colsco, physically repaired by alien technology, is given a choice. He can be released on another planet also populated by humans, but at a much earlier stage of development, or die. Not much of a choice, but one from which Colsco was determined to do his best to adapt and survive.
Now called Yozef Kolsko, he becomes a resident of the large island of Caedellium on the planet Anyar at a time in human development roughly corresponding to the seventeenth century on Earth. What follows is his struggle to learn the language, social skills, and to learn to fit into the indigenous society. The author has skillfully and imaginatively detailed most of the issues that would confront a person in such a situation to include simple technologies he could teach the residents to better their lives.
But all is not rosy in paradise; the aggressive Narthani Empire (the Anyar equivalent of Earth’s Roman Empire) has begun to subvert the clans of Caedellium with the goal of seizing Caedellium’s resources and enslaving its people. Learning of the Narthani threat shocks Yozef, but he is able to find the inner resolve necessary to help the people of Abersford and his benefactors at St. Sidryn’s Abbey in their struggle against Narthani mercenaries, the Buldorians.
Cast Under an Alien Sun is built upon a large cast of well developed characters who are believable in their roles and circumstances. The reader can easily identify with Yozef’ and I felt his actions and responses were reasonable within the circumstances of the scenes. The other characters were likewise reasonable and fit their roles. I would have expected more suspicion of Yozef, but his ability to produce simple products and strategies and provide limited but rational explanations keep effectively protect his status and prevent fear among his neighbors.
Cast Under an Alien Sun is s thoughtful and entertaining read for anyone who loves action adventures. While it is science fiction in concept, it crosses the line into political drama and historic fiction as well. It should be well received by a variety of readers.
Now called Yozef Kolsko, he becomes a resident of the large island of Caedellium on the planet Anyar at a time in human development roughly corresponding to the seventeenth century on Earth. What follows is his struggle to learn the language, social skills, and to learn to fit into the indigenous society. The author has skillfully and imaginatively detailed most of the issues that would confront a person in such a situation to include simple technologies he could teach the residents to better their lives.
But all is not rosy in paradise; the aggressive Narthani Empire (the Anyar equivalent of Earth’s Roman Empire) has begun to subvert the clans of Caedellium with the goal of seizing Caedellium’s resources and enslaving its people. Learning of the Narthani threat shocks Yozef, but he is able to find the inner resolve necessary to help the people of Abersford and his benefactors at St. Sidryn’s Abbey in their struggle against Narthani mercenaries, the Buldorians.
Cast Under an Alien Sun is built upon a large cast of well developed characters who are believable in their roles and circumstances. The reader can easily identify with Yozef’ and I felt his actions and responses were reasonable within the circumstances of the scenes. The other characters were likewise reasonable and fit their roles. I would have expected more suspicion of Yozef, but his ability to produce simple products and strategies and provide limited but rational explanations keep effectively protect his status and prevent fear among his neighbors.
Cast Under an Alien Sun is s thoughtful and entertaining read for anyone who loves action adventures. While it is science fiction in concept, it crosses the line into political drama and historic fiction as well. It should be well received by a variety of readers.
November 23, 2019
Rating 4.0 stars
I'm hooked. I really like stories of people being transported to another world or time and this one is better than most. There are certain things I didn't like about the story (which I will get into later), but the good heavily outweighed the bad.
The main character, Joseph is a grad student in chemistry that gets on a plane to get back to his fiance. The plane is hit by a UFO and crashes though he is saved and brought aboard the ship to be healed. Joseph is only allowed to speak to an AI and is told that the purpose of the ship is to watch earth and not interfere, but a malfunction lead to the crash. Now that Joseph knows about them though, he won't be allowed to go back to earth. It turns out that someone transported humans to other planets a long time ago, so there are planets out in the universe with humans living. Joseph is given a choice: pick one of these planets to live on or die. He chooses to live.
I loved Joseph's part of the story. Coming to terms with never seeing his home again. Coming to terms with being on a world with different culture and technology (this world has 1800 level technology). He has to learn the language, then he has to figure out what he will do with his life. Can he use the information he has to build a life for himself. It is not as easy as one would think. Despite knowing how things are supposed to work with chemistry, he has never actually had to do them himself. He was always just given chemicals to work with. He never had to find them himself or produce them. Despite how much we know is possible now, if we had to go back and start again, I wonder how that would go?
The other part of the story is the politics of the world that Joseph is now living on. This is the part that I didn't care for as much. Politics just isn't my thing. Another "issue" I had with the story was the names. There were so many people introduced in this story that didn't relate to Joseph that I had a hard time keeping track. Each person had a couple of names and a title, which made it even harder to keep track when the author switched from title, to last name or first name. Took a while to figure out it was the same person. Toward the end, the whole thing started to interconnect and there was foreshadowing how those characters would interact with Joe in the upcoming story, but for the first half of this book I didn't care about anything that didn't deal specifically with Josephs story line.
I have already started reading the next book
I'm hooked. I really like stories of people being transported to another world or time and this one is better than most. There are certain things I didn't like about the story (which I will get into later), but the good heavily outweighed the bad.
The main character, Joseph is a grad student in chemistry that gets on a plane to get back to his fiance. The plane is hit by a UFO and crashes though he is saved and brought aboard the ship to be healed. Joseph is only allowed to speak to an AI and is told that the purpose of the ship is to watch earth and not interfere, but a malfunction lead to the crash. Now that Joseph knows about them though, he won't be allowed to go back to earth. It turns out that someone transported humans to other planets a long time ago, so there are planets out in the universe with humans living. Joseph is given a choice: pick one of these planets to live on or die. He chooses to live.
I loved Joseph's part of the story. Coming to terms with never seeing his home again. Coming to terms with being on a world with different culture and technology (this world has 1800 level technology). He has to learn the language, then he has to figure out what he will do with his life. Can he use the information he has to build a life for himself. It is not as easy as one would think. Despite knowing how things are supposed to work with chemistry, he has never actually had to do them himself. He was always just given chemicals to work with. He never had to find them himself or produce them. Despite how much we know is possible now, if we had to go back and start again, I wonder how that would go?
The other part of the story is the politics of the world that Joseph is now living on. This is the part that I didn't care for as much. Politics just isn't my thing. Another "issue" I had with the story was the names. There were so many people introduced in this story that didn't relate to Joseph that I had a hard time keeping track. Each person had a couple of names and a title, which made it even harder to keep track when the author switched from title, to last name or first name. Took a while to figure out it was the same person. Toward the end, the whole thing started to interconnect and there was foreshadowing how those characters would interact with Joe in the upcoming story, but for the first half of this book I didn't care about anything that didn't deal specifically with Josephs story line.
I have already started reading the next book
February 14, 2017
A very good book
It starts slow and kind of dry and kind of well not confusing per se, but busy. But then it gets very good very fast. Suddenly you suddenly start caring about the characters and the conflict. The world is pleasantly built and the inventing and evolutions are fun to watch, and basically if watching someone go back in time and modernise and old world is your thing you'll probably enjoy this book.
It starts slow and kind of dry and kind of well not confusing per se, but busy. But then it gets very good very fast. Suddenly you suddenly start caring about the characters and the conflict. The world is pleasantly built and the inventing and evolutions are fun to watch, and basically if watching someone go back in time and modernise and old world is your thing you'll probably enjoy this book.
October 8, 2016
What a great surprise!
Not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't a book that grabbed me like this one did and I didn't want to put it down. Can see how the book doesn't easily fit into usual categories. A science fiction premise, with shades of time travel/alternate history, and straight out adventure/epic. Reasonably average kind of guy gets dumped into a foreign society and has to adapt. The hook is that it's on another planet where someone/somethings transplanted humans thousands of years ago and the societies have developed independent from earth, but still with the same issues of different cultures and wars.
One thing that was so great was the main character is not some superman that can solve all issues with a wave of his hand. The main character is well developed and you get invested in his fate. This guy is scared at first but adapts and finds a new life and hints of depth to himself that he didn't know existed.
The other characters are also well fleshed out. Even the bad guys are real - not the slavering baddies of too many books. Shades of good and bad on all sides. Loved it!
Finished the book and immediately bought book 2. Just as good and now impatient for the next one. What more can you say about a book and author when you're sorry one book ended and can't wait for the next one.
Not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't a book that grabbed me like this one did and I didn't want to put it down. Can see how the book doesn't easily fit into usual categories. A science fiction premise, with shades of time travel/alternate history, and straight out adventure/epic. Reasonably average kind of guy gets dumped into a foreign society and has to adapt. The hook is that it's on another planet where someone/somethings transplanted humans thousands of years ago and the societies have developed independent from earth, but still with the same issues of different cultures and wars.
One thing that was so great was the main character is not some superman that can solve all issues with a wave of his hand. The main character is well developed and you get invested in his fate. This guy is scared at first but adapts and finds a new life and hints of depth to himself that he didn't know existed.
The other characters are also well fleshed out. Even the bad guys are real - not the slavering baddies of too many books. Shades of good and bad on all sides. Loved it!
Finished the book and immediately bought book 2. Just as good and now impatient for the next one. What more can you say about a book and author when you're sorry one book ended and can't wait for the next one.
July 25, 2016
Cast Under an Alien Sun is my kind of book. I personally don’t like books that involves only one battle after another but prefer ones that engross me in a new world. This one definitely did that. I felt that I was learning how to navigate a new environment along with the main character, Yosef. All the characters are brought to life with wonderful details. The events in the story build logically and compellingly to a believable ending that leaves me wanting more. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series to see what happens to Yosef.
March 4, 2020
I can't recall a book that was rated over 4 stars on Goodreads that I disliked so much. It is even in my favorite genre. I tried really hard to like it. I thought that perhaps the writing would get better as the story progressed and the author felt more comfortable. This should be a textbook case of contrived writing.
YIKES
YIKES
July 25, 2016
A book with a colorful and attractive cover will immediately catch a reader's attention, and the blurb is as seducing as well. But its what's inside the book that will be a source of delight and entertainment to many readers. A story about a man who is thrust into an unfamiliar world and with no hopes of ever seeing home again becomes intriguing. Joe Colsco is about to attend a Chemistry event in Chicago, but his plane never lands at his destination. Awakened on a foreign soil, he has to adjust, become creative and ingenious in his efforts to survive in an alternate planate where ways of life are different. But that isn't all: he'll have to fight, alongside others, a power that could invade his new community and make them all slaves. Is he well prepared for the task?
Cast Under an Alien Sun by Olan Thorensen is a stunning opening into the Destinys Crucible series. It is a well-crafted story that leaves the reader with enough questions to have him or her looking forward to the next book in the series. I loved the well-developed characters and the originality of the concept. The story is fairly fast and gripping. Olan Thorensen is a writer that sci-fi fans should pay attention to. A good entertainer!
Cast Under an Alien Sun by Olan Thorensen is a stunning opening into the Destinys Crucible series. It is a well-crafted story that leaves the reader with enough questions to have him or her looking forward to the next book in the series. I loved the well-developed characters and the originality of the concept. The story is fairly fast and gripping. Olan Thorensen is a writer that sci-fi fans should pay attention to. A good entertainer!
February 12, 2017
Best I have read in years
Wow. So glad I found this series. A regular guy, finding himself in a land several hundred years before his current time. How he survives and adds to the the knowledge of the people who rescue him is such an interesting story. The characters are beautifully developed. Having devoured each of the three books written so far I find myself anxiously awaiting book four. I cannot recommend this series highly enough. It deserves more than five stars.
Wow. So glad I found this series. A regular guy, finding himself in a land several hundred years before his current time. How he survives and adds to the the knowledge of the people who rescue him is such an interesting story. The characters are beautifully developed. Having devoured each of the three books written so far I find myself anxiously awaiting book four. I cannot recommend this series highly enough. It deserves more than five stars.
May 21, 2019
This book was more of an alternative history. The initial premise was good but it failed to deliver for me. In this series, Joe Colsco is a PhD student on his way to Chicago to deliver a groundbreaking lecture. However, life takes a markedly different turn and Joe finds himself on an alien planet. The planet is humanoid, resembling life in the seventeenth century on earth.
This is basically a set-up book which tackles history with a smash-up of modern science which Colsco uses to benefit the town where he ends up. The author does tackle the concept of loss and learning a new language. But when it comes to culture things fall to particular default of European. There was an attempt to create tension with another culture who is seeking world domination. But this ended up being disjointed and seeming to putter out. Despite some good elements, the overall effect was a bit bored. Mainly as everything was too easy for the protagonist. It definitely required more tension and drama.
This is basically a set-up book which tackles history with a smash-up of modern science which Colsco uses to benefit the town where he ends up. The author does tackle the concept of loss and learning a new language. But when it comes to culture things fall to particular default of European. There was an attempt to create tension with another culture who is seeking world domination. But this ended up being disjointed and seeming to putter out. Despite some good elements, the overall effect was a bit bored. Mainly as everything was too easy for the protagonist. It definitely required more tension and drama.
August 9, 2017
Was looking forward to reading a sci-fi book.. instead I got a poorly re-hashed "Gulliver's Travels" where Thorensen plays out, what seem to be his own, fantasies of a world where men have no responsibility for children. Seemed like a long-winded way of getting at that point. Not much else here to critique, it's just a guy who goes from being average in an innovative world to being above-average in a world stuck far behind his scientific knowledge. Snooze. There is almost nothing in this book about aliens, the edge of science knowledge (quite the opposite) and it fits on the shelf closer to Game of Thrones, than it does to Three Body Problem.
The main battle is fought with spears... Where is the sci-fi? Where is the story?
The main battle is fought with spears... Where is the sci-fi? Where is the story?
July 29, 2016
An exciting page turner throughout, with great dialog and well drawn characters. Looking forward to the future volumes
January 19, 2020
Too much details and too much talk! I just passed all the unnecessary and boring details.
June 18, 2017
Good start to an empire building type book. The main protagonist is chemist which is a good choice for this type of scenario...not a warrior like most other books of this genre. He isn't really a strong character, unique or particularly likable for that matter. These type of books tend to create legends who have extraordinary character, abilities and foresight b/c they face long odds and they need whatever advantages they have. Joseph is average joe with average joe needs, however he is a trained chemist with augmented memory helps him create place for himself and circumstances forces him to do other things to survive. Thus he is relatable, Joseph isn't the next Alexander the Great, or the "chosen one" with overpowered abilities.
The only other thing in my opinion is that the "alien" world is too much analogous to early Earth history. There is no mystery or awe and that leads to my eyes glazing over sometimes during the long political chapters b/c it isn't very interesting. It would have been more interesting in my opinion if it stayed exclusively from Joseph pov instead of wasting pages on the antagonists and use his perspective and pov to slowly reveal who and what the Narthani are. Instead we have bland chapters from the Narthani high command pov that takes all the mystery and awe out of the situation.
That is the choice of the author though so it is just my opinion. These type of books are fun to read and this is one of the better book in this genre that I have read. My criticism are relatively minor so you won't regret pick up this series if you like this genre.
The only other thing in my opinion is that the "alien" world is too much analogous to early Earth history. There is no mystery or awe and that leads to my eyes glazing over sometimes during the long political chapters b/c it isn't very interesting. It would have been more interesting in my opinion if it stayed exclusively from Joseph pov instead of wasting pages on the antagonists and use his perspective and pov to slowly reveal who and what the Narthani are. Instead we have bland chapters from the Narthani high command pov that takes all the mystery and awe out of the situation.
That is the choice of the author though so it is just my opinion. These type of books are fun to read and this is one of the better book in this genre that I have read. My criticism are relatively minor so you won't regret pick up this series if you like this genre.
October 5, 2017
3.5 rounded to 4 - Imagine flying in your average passenger plane when out of nowhere an alien spaceship appears and crashes into your plane. That is what happened to Joe, soon to be Yosef. But the same aliens saved him for some unknown reason, and they offered him death or relocation to a planet with other humans. Since our hero chooses the latter, the book continues. There is a lot more world and character building in this book than actual plot. Fortunately, there are two more books in the series...unfortunately, there are two more books in the series. It's interesting enough learning about Joe assimilating into his new society which resembles something like medieval Europe with both Romans and Vikings knocking at the door. I was continually reminded of Ash from the Army of Darkness and waiting for some corny one liners (Shop Smart...shop S Mart!) Yes, Joe brings technological ideas and improves the local ways of doing things, but to what end? I don't know. I will probably read #2, just to see what happens (if anything)
January 8, 2018
This book was such a disappointment, it had an excellent start and it's moments, but there was so much tedious 'telling' it was grating. Combined with long overwrought expositions that didn't really matter, it made me wish that it's initial premise was returned to, and that a good editor had cut out the boring parts. Better writing - show us that somebody's ____ (anything), don't tell us! and a tighter story would've made this a good read.
The other thing that grated was the off hand reference to a 'common' laborer being surprisingly smart. It was rather clear this was written from an academic perspective, which is fine, I enjoyed the Chemist 'sent back in time' approach, it worked. But it's ill informed to think that there aren't smart people everywhere at all times. The tools unique to every craft and profession make it manifest that people are 'smart' at every craft, and seasoned experts are better at it then outsiders ever expect.
The other thing that grated was the off hand reference to a 'common' laborer being surprisingly smart. It was rather clear this was written from an academic perspective, which is fine, I enjoyed the Chemist 'sent back in time' approach, it worked. But it's ill informed to think that there aren't smart people everywhere at all times. The tools unique to every craft and profession make it manifest that people are 'smart' at every craft, and seasoned experts are better at it then outsiders ever expect.
May 3, 2018
4/5 stars
April 20, 2020
Notes:
4 Stars for the Audio, 3.5 Stars for Story
A promising start to the series. Interesting ideas but I'd like a little more depth to the alien world, cultures, etc. The overall story progression was a bit jumpy. Joe is introspective & spends a good portion of the story in his own head. I'd like to see more happening because of the mental time outs. Moving on to book 2!
4 Stars for the Audio, 3.5 Stars for Story
A promising start to the series. Interesting ideas but I'd like a little more depth to the alien world, cultures, etc. The overall story progression was a bit jumpy. Joe is introspective & spends a good portion of the story in his own head. I'd like to see more happening because of the mental time outs. Moving on to book 2!
August 20, 2017
if I was transported to another world I would have built an armada of steel ships and gatling guns and be on my way to world domination.And this guy has a chemistry degree.
It's a bit slow going but if you like world building and engineering you might like it.
It's a bit slow going but if you like world building and engineering you might like it.
February 12, 2021
I found this one not so bad as some of the reviews here.
It`s true that it`s a little slow at times and some of the events aren`t fully exploited, but I enjoyed it so far.
It`s true that it`s a little slow at times and some of the events aren`t fully exploited, but I enjoyed it so far.
June 12, 2017
The basic theme or trope of this book would seem familiar to anyone who's read or seen A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. In this story John Colsco, a 26-year-old married chemist, boards a flight to Chicago for a conference. There's a sudden explosion on the plane and John finds himself falling to earth. He wakes up in a strange room where a mechanical voice explains that an alien observation craft was flying invisibly over the earth on an observation mission, but there was a computer glitch that put it into a collision with the jet where John was a passenger.
The voice goes on to explain that his injuries have been repaired and that he has been injected with nanotechnology to keep him healthy, but he no longer has the option of returning to earth. The aliens are afraid that if John returns that he'll tell about his experience and alter earth's culture. Instead, he's given the choice of being left on one of the many planets that some earlier beings seeded with humans or being eliminated. John chooses the relocation.
He's left naked on the shores of an island country not entirely unlike medieval England. There he must learn a new language, learn about the distinct culture, and generally find his place in an alien if human culture.
If you read Twain's comparable book, one of the earliest examples of time travel and being trapped in an ancient culture, you probably see the similarities. Twain's Hank Morgan, however, is a different character from the John Colsco of this book. Morgan approached the medieval culture he was dropped into with a snide sense of superiority. He was a Yankee engineer and he liked showing off his prowess with machinery and in many ways turns on the culture in which he landed. John, on the other hand, knows that this is not a temporary tourist in this new land but a permanent resident. He works hard to learn the language, makes friends, and cautiously introduces new ideas into this culture. One of his first introductions is ether (diethyl ether) so that surgery can be done without pain and he also introduces germ theory. This brings him new wealth which he uses for other purposes such as introducing banking (there goes the mercantile neighborhood) and the use of fertilizers. He's always cautious to try to introduce these new ideas within the cultural context and to avoid clashing with the religious beliefs that have evolved over time.
Like medieval England, this island country faces a threat from the north, a race something like a cross between Vikings and Mongols who have invaded neighboring countries and now has its eyes on John's adopted country. John is instrumental in helping them find innovative methods for defense.
John Colsco is a great character, as are the locals with whom he develops friendships. He's a wise Edison bringing new ideas to those who need them. Along the way he has a romance or two, has frustrations trying to do business in a world where contracts are rarely used, and finds himself in a position of having to help defend his new friends.
There are now three books out in the series: The Pen and the Sword and Heavier Than a Mountain which are both going into my "to be read" list.
The voice goes on to explain that his injuries have been repaired and that he has been injected with nanotechnology to keep him healthy, but he no longer has the option of returning to earth. The aliens are afraid that if John returns that he'll tell about his experience and alter earth's culture. Instead, he's given the choice of being left on one of the many planets that some earlier beings seeded with humans or being eliminated. John chooses the relocation.
He's left naked on the shores of an island country not entirely unlike medieval England. There he must learn a new language, learn about the distinct culture, and generally find his place in an alien if human culture.
If you read Twain's comparable book, one of the earliest examples of time travel and being trapped in an ancient culture, you probably see the similarities. Twain's Hank Morgan, however, is a different character from the John Colsco of this book. Morgan approached the medieval culture he was dropped into with a snide sense of superiority. He was a Yankee engineer and he liked showing off his prowess with machinery and in many ways turns on the culture in which he landed. John, on the other hand, knows that this is not a temporary tourist in this new land but a permanent resident. He works hard to learn the language, makes friends, and cautiously introduces new ideas into this culture. One of his first introductions is ether (diethyl ether) so that surgery can be done without pain and he also introduces germ theory. This brings him new wealth which he uses for other purposes such as introducing banking (there goes the mercantile neighborhood) and the use of fertilizers. He's always cautious to try to introduce these new ideas within the cultural context and to avoid clashing with the religious beliefs that have evolved over time.
Like medieval England, this island country faces a threat from the north, a race something like a cross between Vikings and Mongols who have invaded neighboring countries and now has its eyes on John's adopted country. John is instrumental in helping them find innovative methods for defense.
John Colsco is a great character, as are the locals with whom he develops friendships. He's a wise Edison bringing new ideas to those who need them. Along the way he has a romance or two, has frustrations trying to do business in a world where contracts are rarely used, and finds himself in a position of having to help defend his new friends.
There are now three books out in the series: The Pen and the Sword and Heavier Than a Mountain which are both going into my "to be read" list.
July 18, 2018
This could have been a great book, but instead I got really bored. The setting is an alien planet, with humans that have had the chance to evolve different cultures than those we are familiar with. However, this new world isn't new at all. There is no sense of wonder or exploration, no challenging concepts and ideas. Much of the interesting things happen "off page" and the author does a lot of telling instead of showing. I should have loved the story of Joseph the chemist stranded on an alien planet, gradually finding his place and starting to care for the people around him. Waring tribes and the intrigues of invaders should have lent the story urgency and excitement. But no, this isn't that kind of story and instead I was too bored to finish it even though I was close to the end.
April 28, 2021
While the story has potential and the style is engaging, the book as a whole suffers from a very slow pace and a wandering point of view. I get the distinct impression the author wants to avoid the tell by showing the foreign cultures by telling part of the story from there perspective. Most of these are not necessary for the main story, and there are too many off them. If you are looking for a fast paced action packed book, this story is not for you. On the other hand, if world building and a thought out consequences of a man from modern day earth landing in a more or less 17th century setting, you probably will like it.
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