The Alloy Era Series
by S. B. Divya
Reviewed by Galen Strickland
Posted February 11, 2023
Edits and Addendum on August 20, 2024
1. Meru / 2. Loka
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Based on my reaction to Divya's debut novel, Machinehood, I pre-ordered Meru as soon as I learned of it, about six months ago. Even before it was published I became aware of its sequel, Loka, which I've already ordered even though its release is a year away. I am glad I did, but disappointed I can't start reading it now. I am very anxious to continue with the story. Even though I know the title of the second book, I have refrained from searching for information about it. Meru is a newly discovered extra-solar planet which is possibly habitable by humans. Loka might be another planet, it might be a character name. Since it will be a book series, and while I don't know how many we can expect, they do have a collective name which I've used in the URL for the page, the Alloy Era.
As much as I enjoyed Meru, I have to admit it was slow going through the first few chapters, in fact I had to re-read several. Divya drops us into a confusing future where the solar system, and other systems, are wholly transformed from what we are familiar with. In several ways it echoed themes, but not plot, from another new book I read last month, Annalee Newitz's The Terraformers. That was set much further into the future, and humanity was still at the top of the social heirarchy, but they had uplifted (to use David Brin's term) multiple animal species to higher levels of sentience, along with robotic constructs. In Meru, humanity has dropped down in the heirarchy, with their activities restricted by alloys. In the beginning I had a notion that alloys were either animal-like, or machine-like, but they are post-human entities, their DNA originating from humans, but they had undergone centuries of evolution, most of which was by their own design. Most alloys think of themselves as superior to humans, somewhat like parents to their children. They felt humanity had mismanaged the ecology of Earth, as well as that of a potentially terraformed Mars, so now humans are restricted to Earth under alloy supervision, although there are groups of people who chafe at that, and wish to advance humanity's position in the cosmos. Among them is the book's main character.
Jayanthi is a human woman with a unique history. Her 'parents' are alloys, although it wasn't clear if they had used any of their own DNA in Jaya's design, or if in fact they had been the ones to design Jaya's DNA. Even between human parents, genetic design and artificial wombs for gestation were the norm. Jaya's alloy parents live on Earth in human-appearing "incarn" bodies, their true alloy bodies remaining in orbit. They are anthropologists fascinated with human history, and in a sense they were experimenting with Jaya, retaining some historical genetic anomalies, including sickle cell disease. Jaya had been offered the choice of further genetic manipulation to alleviate her SCD, but instead chose to undergo frequent blood transfusions, the use of certain drugs, and periods in a high oxygen environment. Jaya knew she was unique, and her high intelligence also led her to believe she might one day be able to add a new discovery into the Nivid, a repository of knowledge compiled and organized by alloys, something that no human had ever done before. She wanted to be a tarawan, a genetic designer, and was being tutored by another alloy, Hamsa. After the discovery of Meru, which had a very high oxygen content in its atmosphere, Jaya thought she would be a perfect candidate to test whether or not it would be suitable for other humans. If the alloys who oversaw the Constructed Democracy of Sol were satisfied with her assessment, any future human émigré to Meru would have to be designed with sickle cell disease.
I don't know how far into our future the Alloy Era began, but it was not until 187 AE that the Declaration of Conscious Beings (DCB) was enacted, and that may have also been the beginning of the Constructed Democracy of Sol (CDS). Several other governing bodies are mentioned, most often using their acronym: TESC, the Tarawan Ethics and Standards Council; MEC, the Meru Exploration Committee. I may be mistaken, but I think the story is taking place at least 500 years following the formation of the CDS, but alloys use different measures of time. A varsha is approximately 3.3 Earth years, a masan about 3.5 months. Kaals and kilas are probably equivalent to days and hours, but there was never a comparison of them to Earth terms. The term alloy is one of the reasons I first thought of them as machine-like, since that is usually used to describe something that is a mixture of different metals, or metal with other substances. There are different types of alloys, with different appearances and sizes, and all are long-lived. Later in the book, the first time Jaya saw Hamsa in his true alloy body, she was surprised he was not as big as expected. A reason I thought they might have been derived from animals is that most have wings and tails, or other animal-like features. Other than Hamsa and Jaya's parents, the alloy most important to the story is Vaha, a pilot. Pilots have cargo and passenger carrying areas within their bodies, and my first visualizations of Vaha was like a whale. Then the author posted some art for Vaha online, where zie looked more like a mermaid, sleek and streamlined, which made me alter my visualization, particularly zir size and how cargo and passengers were taken inboard.
Hamsa had been in the process, for many varshas, of trying to amend the DCB to allow more freedom for humans, including leaving Earth for other colonies within the solar system, even to other systems. Up to that point, alloys and constructs did all of the work off Earth, but had to rely on Earth for some of their supplies, including water and a replenishing drink called bhojya. Alloys did not eat any solid foods. A vote is pending when Jaya's test on Meru is authorized, with Vaha being the pilot who will take her there and oversee the project. They have about eighteen months to determine the suitability of Meru for humans. The second stage of the project, if approved, would send other humans for longer stays. I have to skirt around several plot points to get to when Jaya takes it upon herself to accelerate to stage two. Using the medical facilities within an artifical womb taken to the planet, the purpose of which was to help Jaya maintain her SCD treatments, and for emergency use by Vaha's incarn, Jaya creates an embryo which she implants in her own uterus. At that point I thought the story would be about Jaya giving birth on Meru, with her and Vaha's incarn raising the child to prove the viability of humans on the planet. That was the plan, at least, but several things intervened.
If I was to reveal much more of the plot it would either confuse you, as some early things did for me, or spoil too much. Suffice it to say, Vaha and Jaya are separated, Jaya not knowing where zie was or whether zie was still alive. With the aid of a mega-construct, Jaya leaves Meru, is unable to find information of Vaha's whereabouts, but manages to get transport on two different constructs, the second of which was the size of a small moon. Chedi is encased in a layer of ice to guard against radiation, its human and construct passengers content to roam the known universe, although they occasionally have to return to Sol for resupply. Jaya was surprised to find other humans off Earth, but the creation of Chedi dated back centuries, perhaps even before the CDS, and in fact its creation had been authorized by Hamsa. They vote to return Jaya to Sol ahead of their schedule, but instead of her going to Earth, she meets Hamsa, and together they go to the Primary Nivid, where her activites will be judged. It is at that point her pregnancy is revealed.
Jaya desperately wants to find Vaha, and with the aid of a sympathetic alloy guide, she meets Kaliyu, another pilot, who at least at one point had been Vaha's best friend. Kaliyu was very anti-human, and had parted with zir friend when zie contracted to transport Jaya to Meru. Several other factors had caused Kaliyu to alter zir opinion of humans, and together they escape the Nivid and head back to Meru to search for Vaha. What I had expected to be a somewhat idyllic, but still challenging, life on Meru, with Jaya and Vaha forming a unique bond to accomplish the task, turned into so much more. It's an exciting adventure, clearly within the sub-genre of space opera. The story traverses two different solar systems multiple times, as well as the relativity corridor between them. Using modern day sensibilities as to gender, identity, and sexual expression, it is just as mind expanding as anything from the Golden Age. It's about a passion for knowledge, about perseverance and strength, of body, mind, and spirt. But most of all about loyalty and friendship. And love. Hamsa's amendment passes, even though it's possible Jaya might not be allowed to return to Meru. She gives birth back on Chedi, and that's where the story ends. For now.
To use a frequent exclamation from the book: By the Nivid! This is highly recommended!.
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Posted August 20, 2024
Scroll up if you haven't read my comments on the first book in this series, where I said I didn't look ahead for information on Loka. I thought it might be either another planet, or possibly the name of Jayanthi's child. It is a planet, or rather select areas of a planet, it just happens to be Earth. Loka consists of two regions circling the globe, ranging from about 15°-45°, both North and South latitudes. The region either side of the equator, and the area north and south of 45° are known as the Out of Bounds. Alloys control everything in Loka, from the weather to the ecological balance between land, plants, and animal life. It was implied that Loka would be expanded over time. Humans have to conform to alloy laws in order to prevent the species' previous periods of enviromental destruction. Most humans are okay with that, content to just survive, and are receptive to alloy created technologies, including for health care. People do live in the Out of Bounds, some keeping clear of alloy interference, others near the border may go back and forth for trade. Anyone in Loka who chafes against alloy interference is subject to censure, perhaps banishment to the OOB. That condition has been labled Aspiration and Avarice Disorder, since being too ambitious was deemed to be the pitfall of humanity.
Jaya's child's name is Akshaya (Aks), who was born on Chedi, the moon-sized space construct. Jaya and Vaha had been exiled back to Chedi for sixteen years as punishment for their actions on Meru. Jaya had engineered Akshaya's DNA to include sickle cell disease, since at that time she thought she and Vaha would be staying on Meru. Now she hopes to be allowed to return to Meru, and wants her child to be with her. Akshaya is now sixteen, and she has ideas of her own, a different agenda from her mother's. Most chapter headings are a day designation, starting with negative numbers, the first being Day -46. Akshaya wants to go to Earth to try something she had read about, the Anthro Challenge. I assume that derives from the term anthropocene, a geological epoch we are in now, where human actions have begun affecting the ecological balance of the planet. A man named Rune created the challenge and wrote a book about his travels around the world, the first time of which failed, but he didn't give up, completing the trip on his second attempt. Akshaya, and her friend (her heartsib) Somya, propose to circumnavigate Earth using Rune's adventures as a pattern, the challenge part being to refrain from any alloy help or interference. She makes a deal with her mother. If they succeed she will be allowed to stay on Earth rather than go to Meru. Jaya fears for Aks, mainly for health reasons, knowing sickle cell will pose great dangers. Aks had yet to suffer from that as much as her mother, mainly due to the health measures onboard Chedi, including a high-oxygen sleeping berth.
Day -14 was their arrival on Earth, which allowed Aks time to acclimate. Somya had been born on Earth, so her adjustment from Chedi was easier. On Day 1 they leave Vaksana, which according to a provided map is probably current-day New Delhi. Many of the places they travel through have diferent names than we are familiar with, while others remain the same, such as the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans, and some cities in the OOB. I had previously guessed the first book was taking place about 500 years after the Declaration of Conscious Beings was enacted, almost 200 years into the Alloy Era. That may be pretty close to the mark. One of the first places they see is near Dandur (Jaipur?), the Amber (Ajmer) Fort/Palace, which Somya says was built over 1500 years before, around 700 HE (Human Era). HE dates are in reverse in the same way our BC years are, so 700 HE would be 700 years before the Alloy Era began. The palace was built in 1592 by our calendar, and if Somya's statements are correct, then these events are taking place in what would be our year 2992, with the Alloy Era about 268 years into our future. Alloys had preserved some HE structures deemed to be historically significant, but most human buildings had been destroyed, replaced with others of their design.
I don't want to detail many of their adventures, some of which were idyllic, others perilous. There were accidents and illness, detours, delays, and setbacks, but also some serendiptious happenings. They are travelling on solar-powered bikes, one of them towing a trailer. Considering the terrain, it surprised me how many kilometers they covered per day, on average at least. They had talked to Rune via video conference, and he had agreed to provide his boat, the Svapna, for the water crossings, but they missed their rendezvous at Alanya, on the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Rune had to have the Svapna towed all the way to Nuberia (maybe Albufeira) in southern Portugal. A friend of his takes them on a smaller boat into the Adriatic, then they travel overland, into the OOB, gaining some friends, then losing them later due to something I would rather not reveal. They do eventually meet up with Rune in Nuberia, where they board the Svapna and sail toward Cabo Verde, which is at the northern border into the equatorial OOB.
There are delays due to calm seas, then storms, one of which damages the boat, but they are able to make it to port at Oloubera (Trinidad). Rune has to negotiate for repair parts, but Aks and Somya take advantage of 'hoppers,' large canoes, probably more like catamarans, heading north toward Nitaynoa (Puerto Rico). One of their options had been to go through the strait of Cueva (Panama), but they discover a large aqueduct system which dated from late in the HE, by which they get to Cubao (Cuba), then Tequestran (Miami). They are joined by another traveller, who happens to be from their destination of Tongvana (Los Angeles area, Long Beach?), where they hope to find other sailors willing to take them across the Pacific. One stop along the way is Jadnut-Udebiga, which is the Mescalero Apache name for Carlsbad Caverns. One of those serendiptious happenings? Rune had been able to repair his boat, went through Cueva, and is at Tongvana when they arrive. From there they go to Hawai'i, then south across the equator, to Samoa and other islands, eventually to Australia. The book could have had an alternate title: "Around the World in 175 Days." Day 175 sees their return to their starting point, Vaksana. There were several times along the way that Aks was ready to end the challenge, mostly because of the pain from sickle cell, but Somya continually talked her out of it, even though they had a deadline to make it back before the last shuttle back to Chedi. Aks and Somya were heartsibs, but just best friends, nothing romantic between them. Both met people along the way where those feelings came to the surface, but in all cases they had to leave those people behind. One tragically by death.
At once a travelogue of a beautiful planet, one which Aks is experiencing for the first time, it is also a personal struggle between her and her mother. In real life, no one is able to choose their parents or the conditions in which their lives begin, and it is a struggle that has to be faced every day. Aks didn't ask for sickle cell. She loves her mother but hates the burden placed on her, and the supposed destiny of living on Meru. She had previously studied Earth's flora and fauna, and had become a very good artist, keeping a journal and sketch book of all she saw. She surprised Rune, and his companion Halli, several times with her knowledge of animals and plants, fish and birds. Aks could not understand why humans didn't care enough about their planet to cherish it, rather than letting alloys do everything. She definitley suffered from Aspiration and Avarice Disorder. She was ambitious, and so was Somya. Together they wanted to create a self-sustaining community in the Out of Bounds, but they eventually decided others in the OOB probably wouldn't cooperate. No matter how much she wanted to stay on Earth, Aks knew Loka was not the place for her either. She toyed with the idea of gene therapy to remove sickle cell from her system. I won't say what her eventual decision is, nor where she is at book's end, but the last chapter is "Year 2." I don't know if there will be a third book, but I hope there is. If not, this is still an enjoyable and satisfying read. It is beautifully written, very ambitious in its world-building, character development, and emotional impact. Highly recommended.
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