The novel “Descent” by Marko Kloos was published for the first time in 2024. It’s the fourth book in The Palladium Wars series and follows “Citadel“.
Color Sergeant Idina Chaudhary leads an unofficial military operation to find the people wreaking havoc on planet Gretia. What turns out to be an arsenal brings progress to the investigation on Odin’s Wolves. Solveig Ragnar is conducting her own investigation, with the complication of having to do it without her father’s security personnel noticing.
Commander Dunstan Park has his mission, but before he can return to space, he crosses paths with Aden Jansen again. As he continues his search for enemies in space, a trace leads him and his crew to chase a spaceship.
If you have read the previous novels in the series, “Descent” begins in a rather predictable way in the subplot that follows the story of Aden Jansen, or Aden Robertson, depending on which name he’s using. That’s not a problem, in the sense that it’s just a moment in this protagonist’s story and the subsequent developments are the really interesting part.
The situation on planet Gretia was important from the beginning of the series and is more central than ever in this fourth book. It’s an important part of the actions of very well-armed and organized groups that had led to growing instability in what is called the Gaia system.
The ones who call themselves Odin’s Wolves are fighting an undeclared war in which there are many victims even among civilians on planet Gretia. Marko Kloos uses “Descent” to offer glimpses of life on Gretia in a situation of continuous tension. Through the protagonists present on Gretia, it’s possible to see different points of view of what has now become a crisis that has affected different segments of the population in different ways.
The exploration of the increasingly serious problems on Gretia concerns different aspects in which different characters are involved. It continues to be clear that most Gretians want peace, and young people, who are paying the consequences of a wicked war wanted by previous generations, often see their own military in a negative light.
Most Gretian cops would like peace as well but everything indicates that someone among them is passing information to Odin’s Wolves. This undermines the trust built with difficulty between them and the allied forces that control the planet. It’s another source of tension on a planet whose native population started suffering seriously, in some ways even more than the occupation forces.
Marko Kloos offers a level of tension that grows further compared to the previous novel, and that wasn’t easy to achieve. Dunstan Park’s mission adds to that bringing him and his crew into a situation where the potential dangers are all to be discovered.
In general, the various subplots have now fully come to life. Marko Kloos had progressively started the various subplots in a way that in my opinion, was very good, and I think that the new developments present in this fourth novel are already keeping their promises with new interesting twists.
“Descent” also ends with important events that promise developments, confirming that the series will continue. The individual novels aren’t very long by today’s standards, being around 300 pages each, but by the end of the fourth novel, the end of the big story still seems far away. Overall, the series is getting quite long, and the fact that it’s getting more and more engaging by the fourth novel is definitely positive.
“Descent” is another part of a great story I’m finding very well constructed. The subplots seem well thought and the main characters act in ways that are consistent with their personalities. Once again, I recommend the Palladium Wars series to readers who appreciate series with great stories that unfold over multiple novels and have the patience to read them all to reach its ending. It’s available on Amazon USA, UK, and Canada.
