Reviewed by Michelle Randall for Readers' Favorite

Exiles of Gaia is aptly titled. As humans in this future world, we are exiled from Earth. We did not take care of the planet and it could no longer support life. Everyone now lives in space stations or colonies on the moon. Only one mission to Earth has taken place in the time they have lived in space. That mission ended badly, now another is in the works. H.R. Olsen does a wonderful job of weaving together the flight crew, the movements, political intrigue, and murder to create a captivating story. As there are grass root movements today, there are groups that want to return to Earth, some that want to stay in space, and still others that love the Earth but don't want to return to it. As each of these groups plot against each other, and political rivals face off over the planned Earth trip, we follow the story, twisting and turning until the end.

H.R. Olsen is a wonderful writer in that I started reading this book and just couldn't put it down. I wanted to keep reading to find out who and where. As you turned each page in Exiles of Gaia and got further into the story, what once seemed like random characters started to come together. They are crossing paths and being connected to each other, making for unplanned twists in the story line. It is a great science fiction book, even for young adults and teens, as well as the older crowd. Everyone would get enjoyment out of this book.