Loved by the son. Pursued by the father. Chosen by the planet-spirit.
Benefactor or invader? Messiah or anti-Christ? Descendant of the Son of God or emissary of Satan? Emperor Tohmazz Zarr is on a mission to save his nation from extinction and has found new followers on Earth. While Earth prepares for invasion by Zarr's enemies, Latter-day Saint Sara Alexander defies her parents and the leaders of her church to join a colony led by world-renowned organizational psychologist Dr. Benjamin Carroll, whose goal is to create Zion on an uninhabited planet named Eden.
Before Sara leaves Earth, her father reveals that they are from the planet Novaun and gives her his arelada, the mysterious crystal that makes telepathy possible. Devoted to Dr. Carroll's son, Sara is unaware that Carroll, himself, has developed an attraction to her. Sara's relationship with Carroll ignites passion that throws the colony into chaos. When Eden's planet-spirit begins reacting violently to what it perceives as the colonists' unrighteous behavior, even Sara's Novaunian knowledge and arelada may not be enough to save the colony from destruction.
The Last Days' quest for Zion promises to be so glorious, so challenging, and so extraordinary that stories speculating on it in a literal way have difficulty doing it justice. Apply a generous dose of fantasy, and what results are novels for Latter-day Saints by Katherine Padilla that will transport readers to a harrowing but hopeful alien future.
From the author:
The idea for this novel came from a simple but provocative question: If the earth lives the law of a celestial kingdom, fills the measure of its creation, and doesn’t break the law (D&C 88:25), what might a planet that doesn’t meet that standard be like? What might happen if natives of the earth attempted to colonize a law-breaking planet? Under such conditions, would they be able to rise to the measure of their creation? Would they even be able to survive?
A seemingly benevolent race from one of God’s “worlds without number” (Moses 1:33) sponsors the colony. These brothers and sisters from the other side of the galaxy claim that Jesus Christ visited their ancestors and that their nobles are direct descendants of Him. Many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rejoice in this “proof” that the Book of Mormon is true and join with others around the world in supporting the alien nation. Some of Earth’s natives, including Church leaders, consider the claims blasphemous and teach that the newcomers are dangerous and should be avoided. How might these differences of opinion divide families? Communities? Nations? How might these conflicts play out on a law-breaking planet?
