To Face the Whirlwind: The Janus Harbinger, Book 2

by Olan Thorensen, Jonathan Davis (Narrator)

Step into a world of existential choices.

An alien Entity had waited megaannum, millions of years, for sentience to emerge on a planet with an ecosystem vibrant enough to foster the evolution of complexity. Impervious to impatience, dispassionate, and deliberate, the Entity's patience was rewarded with a promising species—humans.

When the time was right, the warning was "The tenure of sentience is ephemeral." The Entity had borne witness to the extinction of civilizations and their species, an outcome that must not be repeated. Not this time. Not with a species of such potential.

Yet, it faces familiar apathy, complacency, dereliction, hesitancy, paralysis of will, and aversion to taking decisive action—a common constellation in records it possessed of sentient species headed for civilizational collapse. If governments do not act, what other avenues exist?

Thus, it reaches out to a small group with an offer requiring them to choose either action that might prevent catastrophe or inaction that preserves moral purity and personal safety. Before them lies an uncertain future that might demand they step beyond the safety of theoretical debate into a landscape where moral clarity might dissolve, where every ethical principle might clash with another equally valid claim, where philosophical frameworks threaten to crumble under the weight of real consequences and irreversible choices, and where courage clashes with self-preservation.

The future swirls before them like a vortex of possibility and peril. Step forward or step back?

Audible Audio

Published April 21, 2026

About the author

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.