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Olan Thorensen

Goodreads Author

Born

Louisiana, The United States

Website

http://www.olanthorensen.com/

Genre

Science Fiction, Crime

Member Since

August 2016

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/darrell137

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Olan 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, a Olan 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 olanthorensen@gmail.com. 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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Olan Thorensen’s books

Average rating: 4.27 · 18,837 ratings · 1,060 reviews · 14 distinct works • Similar authors

	Cast Under an Alien Sun (Destiny's Crucible, #1) 4.17 avg rating — 4,087 ratings — published 2016 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Pen and the Sword (Destiny's Crucible, #2) 4.28 avg rating — 3,238 ratings — published 2016 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Heavier Than a Mountain (Destiny's Crucible, #3) 4.28 avg rating — 2,887 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Forged in Fire (Destiny's Crucible, #4) 4.32 avg rating — 2,495 ratings — published 2017 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Passages (Destiny's Crucible, #6) 4.42 avg rating — 1,317 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tales of Anyar (Destiny's Crucible, #5) 4.09 avg rating — 1,403 ratings — published 2018 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Dubious Peace (Destiny's Crucible, #7) 4.36 avg rating — 1,087 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Fearful Symmetry (Destiny's Crucible, #8) 4.46 avg rating — 856 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	An Ancient Enemy 4.07 avg rating — 429 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Harbinger 4.26 avg rating — 395 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Olan Thorensen…

1 post
Olan Thorensen's Blog

A blog? What's that?

Okay. I know what a blog is. I just didn't know about this Goodreads feature. Giving it a try and see how it works.

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Published on July 31, 2020 14:49

Series by Olan Thorensen

Destiny's Crucible (9 books)
by

Olan Thorensen (Goodreads Author)

4.27 avg rating — 18,127 ratings

Paladins of Distant Suns (3 books)
by

Olan Thorensen (Goodreads Author)

4.17 avg rating — 311 ratings

Olan is Currently Reading

Olan Thorensen is currently reading

Cast Under an Alien Sun (Destiny's Crucible, #1)

by Olan Thorensen (Goodreads Author)

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Jun 27, 2021 03:19AM

Quotes by Olan Thorensen (?)

“A child worries about what would make him happy, but a man does what is necessary.”
― Olan Thorensen, Forged in Fire

3 likes

“Duty is what we expect of others, only to find out the other is yourself.” ― Culich Keelan, Caedelliium, Planet Anyar”
― Olan Thorensen, Heavier Than a Mountain

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“He awoke. Not the instant awareness of being jolted by an alarm or the gentle rising from dozing in and out, but a gradual recognition of existence.”
― Olan Thorensen, Cast Under an Alien Sun

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See all Olan Thorensen's quotes »

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