“Eternum” by Callan J Mulligan - Book Review

Callan J Mulligan’s Eternum is the final part of “The World Settlers” duology (read the review to Book One, Astraeus, here). The story starts several days after the remaining passengers of The Astraeus were rescued by another, much older colony ship, The Gaia. 

Cassian Abner, now Prime Minister of the remaining members of The Astraeus; Lizabeth Denning, who joined The Astraeus to flee her troubled past, only to come face-to-face with a cold-blooded killer; Carron Riddell, the brilliant engineer who discovered what damaged The Astraeus, set out to find the truth behind the sabotage that destroyed their former starship. Peta Winters, a pilot from The Astraeus, and Darcy Booker, a member of The Gaia with a secret, join them. Soon, the group realizes they are a pawn of political forces outside their colony. In the end, they have to rise above themselves to survive their merciless enemy.

While Astraeus was set exclusively on the titular colony ship, Eternum has several settings. Next to The Gaia, the group of misfits spends time in different classes of spaceships and even on a planet.

The author assumes knowledge of various classes of starships and gives just enough information for the reader to understand and picture the craft they are on.

The characters and their developments are coherent—especially Cassian, Lizabeth and Carron grow beyond who they were when The Astraeus started their journey into the depths of the Milky Way.

While we get background information about the political situation in the Galactic Commonwealth, at times, I felt blindsided by new developments of the various factions.

Nonetheless, Eternum is an exciting and entertaining space thriller. It satisfactorily explains the motives of the Astraeus saboteurs, and finishes “The World Settlers” duology with a mind-blowing twist I didn’t see coming.

4.5 Stars