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The Alloy Era #1
Meru
One woman and her pilot are about to change the future of the species in an epic space opera about aspiration, compassion, and redemption by Hugo and Nebula Award finalist S. B. Divya.
For five centuries, human life has been restricted to Earth, while posthuman descendants called alloys freely explore the galaxy. But when the Earthlike planet of Meru is discovered, two unlikely companions venture forth to test the habitability of this unoccupied new world and the future of human-alloy relations.
For Jayanthi, the adopted human child of alloy parents, it’s an opportunity to rectify the ancient reputation of her species as avaricious and destructive, and to give humanity a new place in the universe. For Vaha, Jayanthi’s alloy pilot, it’s a daunting yet irresistible adventure to find success as an individual.
As the journey challenges their resolve in unexpected ways, the two form a bond that only deepens with their time alone on Meru. But how can Jayanthi succeed at freeing humanity from its past when she and Vaha have been set up to fail?
Against all odds, hope is human, too.
For five centuries, human life has been restricted to Earth, while posthuman descendants called alloys freely explore the galaxy. But when the Earthlike planet of Meru is discovered, two unlikely companions venture forth to test the habitability of this unoccupied new world and the future of human-alloy relations.
For Jayanthi, the adopted human child of alloy parents, it’s an opportunity to rectify the ancient reputation of her species as avaricious and destructive, and to give humanity a new place in the universe. For Vaha, Jayanthi’s alloy pilot, it’s a daunting yet irresistible adventure to find success as an individual.
As the journey challenges their resolve in unexpected ways, the two form a bond that only deepens with their time alone on Meru. But how can Jayanthi succeed at freeing humanity from its past when she and Vaha have been set up to fail?
Against all odds, hope is human, too.
443 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2023
3630 people are currently reading
18469 people want to read
About the author
S.B. Divya
25 books484 followersS.B. Divya (she/any) is a lover of science, math, fiction, and the Oxford comma. She is the Hugo and Nebula nominated author of Meru (2023), Machinehood, Runtime, and Contingency Plans For the Apocalypse and Other Possible Situations. Her short stories have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, and she was the co-editor of Escape Pod, the weekly science fiction podcast, from 2017-2022. Divya holds degrees in Computational Neuroscience and Signal Processing, and she worked for twenty years as an electrical engineer before becoming an author. Born in Pondicherry, India, Divya now resides in Southern California. She enjoys subverting expectations and breaking stereotypes whenever she can.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 412 reviews
January 30, 2023
3.0 Stars
I love unique science fiction stories, so I was hopeful this would be a new favourite. I liked aspects of this one, but I did not completely love the execution.
This story is a highly character driven narrative between these two individuals. The challenge of this setup is that I never formed a connection with either of them and so was not invested in their relationship.
I have a love for fresh science fiction stories, so I appreciated this one, but sometimes innovation doesn't always work. While this doesn't completely work for me, I would still encourage readers to try this one for themselves
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publicist.
I love unique science fiction stories, so I was hopeful this would be a new favourite. I liked aspects of this one, but I did not completely love the execution.
This story is a highly character driven narrative between these two individuals. The challenge of this setup is that I never formed a connection with either of them and so was not invested in their relationship.
I have a love for fresh science fiction stories, so I appreciated this one, but sometimes innovation doesn't always work. While this doesn't completely work for me, I would still encourage readers to try this one for themselves
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publicist.
January 12, 2023
Well, this was a disappointing and rather baffling book. I liked Machinehood pretty well and was interested to see what the author would do with a new universe. The first 150 pages or so of this was promising. The world building is incredibly strange, but I love a good strange science fiction, so I was down for that. The concept of a pseudo android species keeping humanity in check through peaceful means, for the good of themselves and the wider universe, rather than violence, is intriguing. The concept of characters who are literally biological spaceships is even more so. It hovered on the cusp of believability, but I've read some weird sci-fi, and I was down for that too.
The problem was once the two characters (yes only 2, on a planet with literally nothing else there except for what they bring with them) get to the titular planet Meru, all momentum of the story just slammed to a halt. For one, the stakes are pretty low to begin with. The main character, Jaya, wants to prove that humans are capable of establishing a presence on another world without wrecking it. She has a unique physiology (she was bred to have sickle cell anemia on purpose...? Whaaaa?), which means that her oxygen needs are somehow suited for this planet.
My first problem with this is... why do I care? If Jaya fails in her mission to prove that humans can manage their own colony, she just gets to return back to her utopian Earth and live with her Alloy parents who love her, where humans are allowed to create art and music and do whatever they want. I get that she wants to contribute something more, but if she doesn't... I just don't really care. That sounds like an Earth I'd be down to live on. Sign me the hell up!
My second problem is the two characters themselves. What forms between them may be one of the most unconvincing and awkward romances I've read in a long time. I'm sorry if this is spoiler-ish, but it happens really quickly into their time together, so it's not ruining much. Was the purpose of the story just to get these two on a planet alone so they could have a romance? Wouldn't it have been more interesting to have them face some insurmountable challenges together? To have them begin by disliking each other due to the vast gulf of differences between them and yet by the end of the story, they end up finding common ground through their challenges? Starting them on such an agreeable foot felt like it was robbing the story of a more natural progression. I get that the two of them are supposed to be naive, but I'm still not buying it.
Aside from that, it just seemed like the world building was tailored specifically to create the plot for the characters to follow rather than a story that flows naturally. I feel that with a less contrived story and with higher stakes, I would have enjoyed this a lot. But alas, I can't say I recommend it. Her previous novel though, Machinehood, was quite good.
2/5
The problem was once the two characters (yes only 2, on a planet with literally nothing else there except for what they bring with them) get to the titular planet Meru, all momentum of the story just slammed to a halt. For one, the stakes are pretty low to begin with. The main character, Jaya, wants to prove that humans are capable of establishing a presence on another world without wrecking it. She has a unique physiology (she was bred to have sickle cell anemia on purpose...? Whaaaa?), which means that her oxygen needs are somehow suited for this planet.
My first problem with this is... why do I care? If Jaya fails in her mission to prove that humans can manage their own colony, she just gets to return back to her utopian Earth and live with her Alloy parents who love her, where humans are allowed to create art and music and do whatever they want. I get that she wants to contribute something more, but if she doesn't... I just don't really care. That sounds like an Earth I'd be down to live on. Sign me the hell up!
My second problem is the two characters themselves. What forms between them may be one of the most unconvincing and awkward romances I've read in a long time. I'm sorry if this is spoiler-ish, but it happens really quickly into their time together, so it's not ruining much. Was the purpose of the story just to get these two on a planet alone so they could have a romance? Wouldn't it have been more interesting to have them face some insurmountable challenges together? To have them begin by disliking each other due to the vast gulf of differences between them and yet by the end of the story, they end up finding common ground through their challenges? Starting them on such an agreeable foot felt like it was robbing the story of a more natural progression. I get that the two of them are supposed to be naive, but I'm still not buying it.
Aside from that, it just seemed like the world building was tailored specifically to create the plot for the characters to follow rather than a story that flows naturally. I feel that with a less contrived story and with higher stakes, I would have enjoyed this a lot. But alas, I can't say I recommend it. Her previous novel though, Machinehood, was quite good.
2/5
January 15, 2023
Wow, what a fantastic book. Science fiction that delves deep into far-future politics, intrigues, and love. I thought I knew where the book was going, but nope, it twisted and turned every which way, leaving me pleasantly surprised all the way through the end.
December 11, 2024
Dec 10, 530pm ~~ Meru is set in the future, 500 years after Man has made a mess of Earth because of ignorance and greed, and destroyed Mars in a disastrous terra-forming attempt. That event is in the past, ancient history for our main characters, but of course it is still affecting lives all these years later, as most of Man's actions do.
Meru is a planet in the Pamir system, one that could possibly be formed into a new home for humans. But should it be? Most alloys believe humans should be kept where they are, confined to what is left of Earth, banished forever from exploring outer space. Most of the humans don't seem to care:
Alloys had an incredible variety of genes that spanned all kinds of life-forms. Humanity, on the other hand, had narrowed their options over time, choosing security and comfort over risk and diversity."
Alloys are 'genetically engineered descendants of humankind and the current dominant species in the Constructed Democracy of Sol'.
Humans are.....just humans.
Except for a few who dare to think outside the box. Jayanthi is one of those. She was created and raised with the deliberate genetic mutation of sickle-cell disease. Her parents are both alloys. She does not have their advantages, such as chromatophores that can flash colors to express emotions. And she feels she does not properly fit into either alloy or human society.
She knows more about alloys than most people do, but she is limited by her human body and the rules of the world: she will never become a tarawan, a scientist who is allowed to create beings through genetic manipulation, and she will never go to outer space, both dreams of hers since she was fourteen years old.
Never?
What about that newly discovered planet Meru? Maybe she could come up with a project that would prove that some humans were ready to move beyond the strict conditions of the compact that has kept them in their place for so long. Maybe.
This is the second Divya work Marco and I have read. We both enjoyed Machinehood so much that I kept my eyes open for anything else the author might create. I had Meru for quite some time but it was not until the sequel Loka came out that I entered them officially for the Zapata Reading Club, and then I insisted that we had to read them one after the other. Bossy, right? But this way we can now jump right into the sequel while this story is still fresh.
We read the first chapter of that sequel today and it looks like it will be much different than what I was expecting. We are already intrigued and looking forward to the rest of the book!
Meru is a planet in the Pamir system, one that could possibly be formed into a new home for humans. But should it be? Most alloys believe humans should be kept where they are, confined to what is left of Earth, banished forever from exploring outer space. Most of the humans don't seem to care:
Alloys had an incredible variety of genes that spanned all kinds of life-forms. Humanity, on the other hand, had narrowed their options over time, choosing security and comfort over risk and diversity."
Alloys are 'genetically engineered descendants of humankind and the current dominant species in the Constructed Democracy of Sol'.
Humans are.....just humans.
Except for a few who dare to think outside the box. Jayanthi is one of those. She was created and raised with the deliberate genetic mutation of sickle-cell disease. Her parents are both alloys. She does not have their advantages, such as chromatophores that can flash colors to express emotions. And she feels she does not properly fit into either alloy or human society.
She knows more about alloys than most people do, but she is limited by her human body and the rules of the world: she will never become a tarawan, a scientist who is allowed to create beings through genetic manipulation, and she will never go to outer space, both dreams of hers since she was fourteen years old.
Never?
What about that newly discovered planet Meru? Maybe she could come up with a project that would prove that some humans were ready to move beyond the strict conditions of the compact that has kept them in their place for so long. Maybe.
This is the second Divya work Marco and I have read. We both enjoyed Machinehood so much that I kept my eyes open for anything else the author might create. I had Meru for quite some time but it was not until the sequel Loka came out that I entered them officially for the Zapata Reading Club, and then I insisted that we had to read them one after the other. Bossy, right? But this way we can now jump right into the sequel while this story is still fresh.
We read the first chapter of that sequel today and it looks like it will be much different than what I was expecting. We are already intrigued and looking forward to the rest of the book!
September 22, 2022
A richly layered, evocative, and compelling world…
I received an ARC (Advance Reader Copy) from WorldCon.
Meru begins by laying out some explicit first principles called “The Axioms of Life” and “The Principles of Conscious Beings,” which serve to extend the ethical circle that encompasses what is considered to be alive/conscious and must be protected as much as possible. These ideas are fueled by the panpsychist view: “All matter possesses some level of consciousness.”
Whereas humans of the past visited ecological devastation on Earth and Mars—through terraforming—by viewing them as merely planets, collections of resources, to be exploited, the more nuanced and inclusive “Alloy” view recognizes various gradations of “beings,” “evolved beings,” “life-forms,” “constructed minds,” etc. There is also a view that planets “are nonliving conscious bodies.”
Our “posthuman descendants called Alloys,” are genetically engineered, with significantly longer lifespans, including the ability to be renewed through rebirthing. Alloys can take on a wide variety of physical forms that may include wings, tails, chromatophores for communication, and more. There are also Constructs, which can be small or extremely large, depending on their function: some may be space vessels—with the ability to carry one, or a great many passengers—or entire factories, but they are still, fundamentally, conscious beings.
Alloys took it upon themselves to repair and restore the environment of Earth and restrict and control humans to limit their negative impact on the environment, including disallowing settlement of other planets. They view humanity as afflicted with AAD (Aspiration and Avarice Disorder). Alloys adhere to the aphorism: “Ambition and materialism lead to greed and exploitation.” Some humans push back by forming an association called, the Society of Humans with Ambitions. The story centers around a young woman, Jayanthi, who petitions to be allowed to live on another planet, Meru, to prove that humans can now live in harmony with their environment.
On the level of storytelling, Meru has it all. Alliances, bonds, and bigotries are constantly being formed, broken, and reshaped as characters attain more knowledge and experience, leading to quite a bit of growth and evolution in each main character’s arc. In the second and third acts, it’s plot-twists galore, keeping those pages a-turnin’, as opposing forces employ ever cleverer—so they think— ‘strategeries’ to try to outsmart their adversaries. You will likely confront some new ideas and worldviews that will cause you to think, rethink, and think some more. And there is certainly no shortage of emotional tugs to your heartstrings as well.
S.B. Divya has created a richly layered, evocative, and compelling world to dive into, and you will surely be the better for it. Enjoy!
January 17, 2023
I chose “Meru” because it’s been a while since I’ve read a good science fiction tale. Unfortunately, this story is just too “out there” for me. Author S.B Divya’s prose and dialogue are competent and professional. But I found her “world-building”—her attempts to describe what earth and the universe become thousands of years hence—so complex and confusing that it's off-putting. Equally off-putting are her constant references to mankind’s irresponsibility in terms of how it treats/treated the planet. Her decision to create an entirely new set of personal pronouns (zie, zir, etc.) was simply “a bridge too far” for me.
March 5, 2023
Divya’s first novel Machinehood was one of my top reads of 2021 and I had a fantastic conversation on the podcast with her about the book. Near the end of that interview, we had the normal so what are you working on conversation and this was the novel in progress. This is starting to become a fun part of doing the podcast. Alma Katsu’s The Fervor is now nominated for a Stoker award and you heard on postcards first. Meru is an example of this. Even with a slight tease of Meru, I was hooked on the idea.
I have now another preview of this novel before I started reading it. I was also able to check out a book event at Mysterious Galaxy when SB Divya and Analee Newitiz talked about their similarly themed books. I will be reading The Terraformers soon-ish, but Meru was my priority. There was a slight danger that the book wouldn't love up the hype I had built up in my own head.
Meru is in many ways why I read modern sci-fi. Anyone who knows me knows I love retro 'out of date' SF, and I could read that stuff the rest of my life and be happy. Meru is the kind of modern novel pushing the genre forward. I know there are many, many modern authors doing that. What I am personally looking for is modern concepts, ethics, and a retro feeling of big ideas. That is the balance I have found in both Divya books I read.
Machinehood is much more of an action story, and Meru is a story of deep heart and emotion. Both novels drip off the page with amazing world-building and ideas. Meru doesn’t feel as ripped from the AI headlines but comes with the strength of experience and to me is a slightly better novel. You can tell the author has a novel under her belt in all the right ways.
Meru takes head-on one of the hardest challenges in Science fiction. This novel is set 900 years in the future and if you think back to the world as it was 900 years ago our world would have been unrecognizable. So how do you build a future that is unrecognizable but relatable enough to tell a story in it. Meru is a very different future, I loved it.
The thing is if you are going to set a novel 900 years in the future it will require massive world-building, require an epic number of ideas, and this story just wouldn’t work if didn’t have compelling characters at the center of it. Divya has proven to me in two books that she has a master-level skill for world-building. How does Meru balance the rest?
Meru is an earthlike planet that is set to be colonized by Transhuman descendants of humans called Alloys. It has been five centuries since humans were allowed by the Alloys to leave Earth, this was declared after a disastrous attempt to terraform Mars. Alloys are genetically altered beings who have become the dominant culture that survived Earth although most live in space and explore the galaxy. Some are called pilots, large enough to transport humans inside themselves they are the living spaceships of this future. They don’t have gender so the pronouns are zie/ for he/she and Zir for him/her, something no modern reader should have any issues dealing with. The larger ship-sized alloys also use “Constructs” which are humanoid-sized avatars.
“Over time, alloys had expanded their genetic code to include instructions for all kinds of nonhuman features. They carried a third chromosome, dubbed Z, which the building blocks for their not-so-organic functions like solar-power-generating-wings, electrolyzing lungs, emtalk organs, and thamity-sensing organs. The latter allowed Alloys to sense the underlying energy field of the universe and harness it to traverse interplanetary distances.” The Alloys functioned as ships for early exploration until they made a compact with humans to ensure their survival. It was earth or nothing as humans had already come close to ending life on their homeworld and Mars.
As you could imagine many of the Alloys don’t have a high opinion of the human species they came from. That’s understandable neither do I.
At the event I attended Divya said the novel was inspired by the Indian Amar Chitra Katha comics. I admit they were something I had to look up but they sound interesting I know so far, what I have described is all ideas and world-building but the characters are well-written. Jayanthi is a human raised by Alloy parents who are living on earth. Jayanthi wants to prove that Humans can be trusted on this new alien world. So the experiment is set, she will be the first and only human in a new world to test if humans could survive at all.
If Jay is going to do this she needs an Alloy pilot, to take her to this new world and be her partner in the grand experiment of a human on a new world. Vaha is the pilot who steps forward but Zie is unsure. Her friend Kaliyu wants zir to do it, to ensure failure. Kaliiyu is not a human being fan.
“
Vaha takes on this epic journey and from there it becomes your all-common story of a woman and starship who fall in love.
Zie nodded. "At first I thought it was because of the incarn, but even in my true body, I feel the same way. If you don't though, I'll ask you the womb to modify my incarn's-"
"No! I mean, Please Don't." She took a deep breath. "I do I have very romantic feelings for you."
Without spoiling the second-half of the book it is at this point that Jayathani and Vaha make a decision that begins the drama of the final act. I don't know if it is fair or unfair to call this novel LBGTQ Sci-fi but there is something wonderfully queer about the forbidden romance between a woman and her living starship. As unhuman as the Alloys would feel to most humans in 2023, science fiction readers will love the heart and hope of this story.
Meru is more than just a science fiction story, Diviya has stated in interviews that is wanted to point to a future where survival of species happened. She was resisting the many negative dystopias that the genre is overflowing with. That doesn't mean she is blind to the risk we face in the future. in Meru salvation comes in the form of humanity's evolution into alloys something led by technology.
The Alloys don't mince words about it.
I have a habit of looking for a mission statement in a novel, and in this case, I don't believe there is a single mission statement. While the above line was one of the most powerful moments for this reader I think the mission is to explore this future in many many ways. It is a story about one relationship, one romance that despite all the technology and change is the reason we survive. That is why I will say wh this story is about the human, and trans-human heart.
Meru is an effective and powerful piece of science fiction. It is certainly recommended for all Science Fiction fans.
I have now another preview of this novel before I started reading it. I was also able to check out a book event at Mysterious Galaxy when SB Divya and Analee Newitiz talked about their similarly themed books. I will be reading The Terraformers soon-ish, but Meru was my priority. There was a slight danger that the book wouldn't love up the hype I had built up in my own head.
Meru is in many ways why I read modern sci-fi. Anyone who knows me knows I love retro 'out of date' SF, and I could read that stuff the rest of my life and be happy. Meru is the kind of modern novel pushing the genre forward. I know there are many, many modern authors doing that. What I am personally looking for is modern concepts, ethics, and a retro feeling of big ideas. That is the balance I have found in both Divya books I read.
Machinehood is much more of an action story, and Meru is a story of deep heart and emotion. Both novels drip off the page with amazing world-building and ideas. Meru doesn’t feel as ripped from the AI headlines but comes with the strength of experience and to me is a slightly better novel. You can tell the author has a novel under her belt in all the right ways.
Meru takes head-on one of the hardest challenges in Science fiction. This novel is set 900 years in the future and if you think back to the world as it was 900 years ago our world would have been unrecognizable. So how do you build a future that is unrecognizable but relatable enough to tell a story in it. Meru is a very different future, I loved it.
The thing is if you are going to set a novel 900 years in the future it will require massive world-building, require an epic number of ideas, and this story just wouldn’t work if didn’t have compelling characters at the center of it. Divya has proven to me in two books that she has a master-level skill for world-building. How does Meru balance the rest?
Meru is an earthlike planet that is set to be colonized by Transhuman descendants of humans called Alloys. It has been five centuries since humans were allowed by the Alloys to leave Earth, this was declared after a disastrous attempt to terraform Mars. Alloys are genetically altered beings who have become the dominant culture that survived Earth although most live in space and explore the galaxy. Some are called pilots, large enough to transport humans inside themselves they are the living spaceships of this future. They don’t have gender so the pronouns are zie/ for he/she and Zir for him/her, something no modern reader should have any issues dealing with. The larger ship-sized alloys also use “Constructs” which are humanoid-sized avatars.
“Over time, alloys had expanded their genetic code to include instructions for all kinds of nonhuman features. They carried a third chromosome, dubbed Z, which the building blocks for their not-so-organic functions like solar-power-generating-wings, electrolyzing lungs, emtalk organs, and thamity-sensing organs. The latter allowed Alloys to sense the underlying energy field of the universe and harness it to traverse interplanetary distances.” The Alloys functioned as ships for early exploration until they made a compact with humans to ensure their survival. It was earth or nothing as humans had already come close to ending life on their homeworld and Mars.
As you could imagine many of the Alloys don’t have a high opinion of the human species they came from. That’s understandable neither do I.
At the event I attended Divya said the novel was inspired by the Indian Amar Chitra Katha comics. I admit they were something I had to look up but they sound interesting I know so far, what I have described is all ideas and world-building but the characters are well-written. Jayanthi is a human raised by Alloy parents who are living on earth. Jayanthi wants to prove that Humans can be trusted on this new alien world. So the experiment is set, she will be the first and only human in a new world to test if humans could survive at all.
If Jay is going to do this she needs an Alloy pilot, to take her to this new world and be her partner in the grand experiment of a human on a new world. Vaha is the pilot who steps forward but Zie is unsure. Her friend Kaliyu wants zir to do it, to ensure failure. Kaliiyu is not a human being fan.
“
Vaha takes on this epic journey and from there it becomes your all-common story of a woman and starship who fall in love.
Zie nodded. "At first I thought it was because of the incarn, but even in my true body, I feel the same way. If you don't though, I'll ask you the womb to modify my incarn's-"
"No! I mean, Please Don't." She took a deep breath. "I do I have very romantic feelings for you."
Without spoiling the second-half of the book it is at this point that Jayathani and Vaha make a decision that begins the drama of the final act. I don't know if it is fair or unfair to call this novel LBGTQ Sci-fi but there is something wonderfully queer about the forbidden romance between a woman and her living starship. As unhuman as the Alloys would feel to most humans in 2023, science fiction readers will love the heart and hope of this story.
Meru is more than just a science fiction story, Diviya has stated in interviews that is wanted to point to a future where survival of species happened. She was resisting the many negative dystopias that the genre is overflowing with. That doesn't mean she is blind to the risk we face in the future. in Meru salvation comes in the form of humanity's evolution into alloys something led by technology.
The Alloys don't mince words about it.
I have a habit of looking for a mission statement in a novel, and in this case, I don't believe there is a single mission statement. While the above line was one of the most powerful moments for this reader I think the mission is to explore this future in many many ways. It is a story about one relationship, one romance that despite all the technology and change is the reason we survive. That is why I will say wh this story is about the human, and trans-human heart.
Meru is an effective and powerful piece of science fiction. It is certainly recommended for all Science Fiction fans.
October 31, 2022
One of the most expected books for next year, and sure to be on Year's Best lists for 2023. I really loved S.B. Divya'a debut Machinehood, and at Worldcon in Chicago was fortunate to be given a signed ARC of her second novel, Meru, by the author herself. Meru is huge in scope and ambition, and yet intimate and personal, and delivers on all aspects. It tackles one of the basic questions of Science Fiction, what makes us human, as the remnants of the human race face the consequences of our actions after centuries destroying the environment on Earth and beyond. But at the same time our successors - the Alloy - a genetically-engineered race of super beings - have lost touch with the basic emotions and drives that make us human. The quest for freedom on one side, and finding again feelings of friendship and family drive this unusual, beautiful space opera.
November 5, 2023
Meru> is a mix of posthumanism, romance, and light space opera.
It offers some fascinating world-building, with humanity split into two subspecies. One version of today's humans lives on Earth, and looks devoted to repairing the world, existing on a small footprint, and avowing ambition. The other slice of us are "alloys," posthuman creatures designed to live in space, often far larger than us. Alloys are in a supervisory role over their ground-dwelling compatriots. Indian culture appears paramount.
The story concerns a non-alloy human who fights for the opportunity to visit another world. She has some allies in this, including political leaders and an allow-spaceship who becomes her romantic partner. Enemies include anti-old-school-human alloys.
Some things which might only interest me:
-there seems to be a representation of cozy sf which is warmly treated, then discarded
-sexuality is oddly conservative, given the cross-species interaction. It looks human and takes place mostly offstage. This is about romance, not sex.
-shows a disturbing trend in recent sf: all in-world fiction is tv. No sign of textual stories or games. Reminds me of the outrageously overrated so-called Murderbot series.
I'm curious about this world, and might look into the next book.
It offers some fascinating world-building, with humanity split into two subspecies. One version of today's humans lives on Earth, and looks devoted to repairing the world, existing on a small footprint, and avowing ambition. The other slice of us are "alloys," posthuman creatures designed to live in space, often far larger than us. Alloys are in a supervisory role over their ground-dwelling compatriots. Indian culture appears paramount.
The story concerns a non-alloy human who fights for the opportunity to visit another world. She has some allies in this, including political leaders and an allow-spaceship who becomes her romantic partner. Enemies include anti-old-school-human alloys.
Some things which might only interest me:
-there seems to be a representation of cozy sf which is warmly treated, then discarded
-sexuality is oddly conservative, given the cross-species interaction. It looks human and takes place mostly offstage. This is about romance, not sex.
-shows a disturbing trend in recent sf: all in-world fiction is tv. No sign of textual stories or games. Reminds me of the outrageously overrated so-called Murderbot series.
I'm curious about this world, and might look into the next book.
July 1, 2023
As a scientist, I love books that include science (big caveat: CORRECTLY). Like don’t bring The Chemist by me because that book makes me MAD. But Meru gets genetics right and in such a cool fascinating way! If I was in this world, I would 100% want to be a tarawan like Jayanthi. I loved that the genetic approach also did not dive into eugenics and truly embraced disability as natural and something to be accommodated rather than eradicated.
Basically, this book is fucking amazing!! It’s queer, it’s space, it’s science. What more could you want? Oh a women of color as the MC? It has that too. And sentient nonbinary ships that use neopronouns? Yes, it has that too!! This book was an incredible series starter and I cannot wait for the rest of the Alloy Era series! Swipe twice to see my mood board inspired by the book including one of my favorite quotes. I did something a little different and I hope y’all like it!
Basically, this book is fucking amazing!! It’s queer, it’s space, it’s science. What more could you want? Oh a women of color as the MC? It has that too. And sentient nonbinary ships that use neopronouns? Yes, it has that too!! This book was an incredible series starter and I cannot wait for the rest of the Alloy Era series! Swipe twice to see my mood board inspired by the book including one of my favorite quotes. I did something a little different and I hope y’all like it!
February 25, 2024
4 * for the story
1 * for the narration
1 * for the narration
March 29, 2023
3.5 stars and the extra 5. is for the imagination behind this story, and for it being more emotionally accessible than Divya's first, Machinehood. It still suffered a bit from "telling not showing" but then again, Divya was attempting to cover a lot of ground here in terms of the plot. And yet the future vision is so creative - plus you have nonbinary, interspecies and disability rep, as well as a unique take on a different kind of legal system and consequences. On balance, I definitely felt this book is worth the time. More rtc.
Okay so Divya has created a far-future world in this book where there's a LOT fewer humans and they mostly live in sustainable groups on an Earth that was reclaimed from environmental disaster by "alloys" - which are robot/AI things with an organic base (as far as I can tell) that have evolved as the next form of intelligent life, maybe a new species. That's already cool, but the main character is a young human woman named Jayanthi who - unlike everyone else on the planet - has been raised by alloy parents who got special dispensation to do so. This has given her iDEaS - like she wants to take on a role usually only reserved for alloys - the creation of new genetic mixes for human life.
But it's not her aspirations, it's actually because of her own genetic code which gives her sickle cell disease, that she gets an opportunity to leave Earth and explore the first new Earthlike planet discovered in ages: Meru. An alloy spaceship has to carry her there, and zir name is Vaha (Divya uses ze/zir pronouns for alloys). So that's your meet-cute, as these two have to get to know each other and as Jayanthi tries to survive on Meru and prove other humans can too.
As if that's not enough, there's Vaha's backstory and intergalactic politics between alloys that want humans to just stay on Earth and those that are willing to give them another chance. Divya handles these multiple plotlines pretty well, but it does mean we can't linger too long in any one space. Those who like to read epics will do well with this story.
My complaints are two: first, as I mentioned before, sometimes the dialogue is a bit wooden - with characters saying exactly how they feel and precisely what actions they plan to take next. Second, at one point Divya makes Vaha make a crucial choice for the plot that I felt was totally out of character and also kind of lame .
But brushing that aside, it's a really unique and creative story. And YES, if you must know there's a love story between a spaceship and a human. Loved that part.
This is the first book in a trilogy, but where this one ends Jayanthi and Vaha's story feels mostly complete. The second book will clearly be about further evolution of Meru as a potential home for humans. I'm into it.
Okay so Divya has created a far-future world in this book where there's a LOT fewer humans and they mostly live in sustainable groups on an Earth that was reclaimed from environmental disaster by "alloys" - which are robot/AI things with an organic base (as far as I can tell) that have evolved as the next form of intelligent life, maybe a new species. That's already cool, but the main character is a young human woman named Jayanthi who - unlike everyone else on the planet - has been raised by alloy parents who got special dispensation to do so. This has given her iDEaS - like she wants to take on a role usually only reserved for alloys - the creation of new genetic mixes for human life.
But it's not her aspirations, it's actually because of her own genetic code which gives her sickle cell disease, that she gets an opportunity to leave Earth and explore the first new Earthlike planet discovered in ages: Meru. An alloy spaceship has to carry her there, and zir name is Vaha (Divya uses ze/zir pronouns for alloys). So that's your meet-cute, as these two have to get to know each other and as Jayanthi tries to survive on Meru and prove other humans can too.
As if that's not enough, there's Vaha's backstory and intergalactic politics between alloys that want humans to just stay on Earth and those that are willing to give them another chance. Divya handles these multiple plotlines pretty well, but it does mean we can't linger too long in any one space. Those who like to read epics will do well with this story.
My complaints are two: first, as I mentioned before, sometimes the dialogue is a bit wooden - with characters saying exactly how they feel and precisely what actions they plan to take next. Second, at one point Divya makes Vaha make a crucial choice for the plot that I felt was totally out of character and also kind of lame .
But brushing that aside, it's a really unique and creative story. And YES, if you must know there's a love story between a spaceship and a human. Loved that part.
This is the first book in a trilogy, but where this one ends Jayanthi and Vaha's story feels mostly complete. The second book will clearly be about further evolution of Meru as a potential home for humans. I'm into it.
May 31, 2023
In the far future of earth and space after the Alloy race came along and cleaned up after the mess humans made of things, a lone human is determined to leave her comfortable world to show that humans can learn from their mistakes. Only, someone doesn’t want the human to succeed…
I was eager to snatch up my earbuds for this new to me author, narrator, and space opera world that proved to be as complex, innovative, and imaginative as I could hope for.
Humans mucked up earth and their colonizing of Mars by wasting and wearing out the resources. A race of AI-biological constructs come along and with their advanced knowledge and abilities fix what humans broke and put the whole race of humans that are still left under sanction and re-educate them as to a better way. Humans are only allowed to live on earth even though the Alloy have spread out through space. Most accept and enjoy being cossetted and pampered by the Alloy, but a growing group of humans want their independence to do any career they wish and travel among the stars to other planets.
One human has the unique upbringing of being the child of Alloy parents who have chosen to live on earth and study humans- a career and living choice not understood or favored by most of their race. The human, Jayanthi, dreams of working in the human-closed career of genetics and traveling to and exploring the newly opened planet of Meru that has similar environmental conditions as earth.
Intrigue abounds with some Alloy and humans backing Jayanthi’s mission and others opposing it. Jayanthi and her sentient ship pilot partner are not aware of the danger when they set out on an already complicated mission.
Meru was fascinating from the very beginning with an introduction to a backdrop and setting that truly felt like it could be the future and an advanced Alloy race that were jarringly alien in thought and action. I love when an author can make their sci-fi world unsettle me and draw me in like this. It took a while to get moving with the pace as there was time needed to paint enough in for listeners to get the picture.
The book is told from alternating narrator viewpoints. Jayanthi, the precocious human with a deliberate genetic anomaly causing the sickle cell trait, and Vaha, a sentient ship Alloy construct with her own need to prove her worth with the mission. Some will find it an odd romantic relationship since these two are totally different in form and race, but this is sci-fi so I could definitely get on board with this working partners, to friends, to lovers and especially since it wasn’t the big focus of the book.
I make it sound exciting and intriguing and it does get there, but this is a gentler space opera, thoughtful, and careful rather than fast blasting action. My interest would wax and wane and there were times I waited for something to happen. There are some moments, when oh boy does the tension ratchet up, too. It is hard science in ways with the genetics study and tech as well as AI-Biological constructs, but it is also a deft handling of people who are both foreign and familiar to us.
Meru wrapped up the main story arc and felt complete while also setting up for more.
Deepa Samuel had a soft almost hypnotic voice. I enjoyed how she made Vaha and other Alloy have alien voices through alternating the rhythm and emphasis of words while making Jayanthi and other humans have distinct voices that helped fill in my imagination about them and the scenes in the book.
All in all, Meru was a stellar sci-fi that left me vested in the series and wanting the next book. Hard sci-fi and space opera fans should definitely consider Meru.
I rec'd the audio from Brilliance Audio to listen to in exchange for an honest review.
My full review will post at Caffeinated Reviewer May 6th
I was eager to snatch up my earbuds for this new to me author, narrator, and space opera world that proved to be as complex, innovative, and imaginative as I could hope for.
Humans mucked up earth and their colonizing of Mars by wasting and wearing out the resources. A race of AI-biological constructs come along and with their advanced knowledge and abilities fix what humans broke and put the whole race of humans that are still left under sanction and re-educate them as to a better way. Humans are only allowed to live on earth even though the Alloy have spread out through space. Most accept and enjoy being cossetted and pampered by the Alloy, but a growing group of humans want their independence to do any career they wish and travel among the stars to other planets.
One human has the unique upbringing of being the child of Alloy parents who have chosen to live on earth and study humans- a career and living choice not understood or favored by most of their race. The human, Jayanthi, dreams of working in the human-closed career of genetics and traveling to and exploring the newly opened planet of Meru that has similar environmental conditions as earth.
Intrigue abounds with some Alloy and humans backing Jayanthi’s mission and others opposing it. Jayanthi and her sentient ship pilot partner are not aware of the danger when they set out on an already complicated mission.
Meru was fascinating from the very beginning with an introduction to a backdrop and setting that truly felt like it could be the future and an advanced Alloy race that were jarringly alien in thought and action. I love when an author can make their sci-fi world unsettle me and draw me in like this. It took a while to get moving with the pace as there was time needed to paint enough in for listeners to get the picture.
The book is told from alternating narrator viewpoints. Jayanthi, the precocious human with a deliberate genetic anomaly causing the sickle cell trait, and Vaha, a sentient ship Alloy construct with her own need to prove her worth with the mission. Some will find it an odd romantic relationship since these two are totally different in form and race, but this is sci-fi so I could definitely get on board with this working partners, to friends, to lovers and especially since it wasn’t the big focus of the book.
I make it sound exciting and intriguing and it does get there, but this is a gentler space opera, thoughtful, and careful rather than fast blasting action. My interest would wax and wane and there were times I waited for something to happen. There are some moments, when oh boy does the tension ratchet up, too. It is hard science in ways with the genetics study and tech as well as AI-Biological constructs, but it is also a deft handling of people who are both foreign and familiar to us.
Meru wrapped up the main story arc and felt complete while also setting up for more.
Deepa Samuel had a soft almost hypnotic voice. I enjoyed how she made Vaha and other Alloy have alien voices through alternating the rhythm and emphasis of words while making Jayanthi and other humans have distinct voices that helped fill in my imagination about them and the scenes in the book.
All in all, Meru was a stellar sci-fi that left me vested in the series and wanting the next book. Hard sci-fi and space opera fans should definitely consider Meru.
I rec'd the audio from Brilliance Audio to listen to in exchange for an honest review.
My full review will post at Caffeinated Reviewer May 6th
Want to read
January 12, 2024Here's the author @Scalzi's:
https://whatever.scalzi.com/2023/02/0...
"What if consciousness is a fundamental property of the universe, like mass or spin? This is the question posed by a branch of philosophy called panpsychism, and I first came across it while listening to Philip Goff on the Mindscape podcast. I was instantly fascinated by the idea.
I began college as a physics major (as did half the incoming undergraduate class at Caltech), but after a couple years, I decided to shift away from the cosmic unknowns to a more local mystery: the brain. I ended up designing my own major with the computational neuroscience department, and one of my advisors was Christof Koch, who has written multiple books on the topic of consciousness. Needless to say, it’s a topic that fascinated me then and continues to do so today. . . ."
Ernest Lilley recommends it, https://amazingstories.com/2023/02/sc...
"Meru takes a fresh look at one of SF’s classic paradigms, Spacer vs Earther. Humans have been consigned to live on Earth, which they messed up, and Alloys, the biological/synthetic hybrids designed to live in space, get free range to the stars. Jayanthi, a human child created and raised by alloy parents (using remote bodies, while their massive true bodies stay in orbit) is determined to break free from the restrictions of the alloys to become a genetic designer. When an almost habitable planet is discovered, Jayanthi realizes that she has a unique opportunity to show that humans can adapt to its overrich atmosphere, thanks to a trait that has always been a burden, her sickle cell anemia. What follows is a grand space opera with some unexpected twists as different factions of alloys work for and against Jayanthi’s project and she finds love, friendship and support in unlikely places."
https://whatever.scalzi.com/2023/02/0...
"What if consciousness is a fundamental property of the universe, like mass or spin? This is the question posed by a branch of philosophy called panpsychism, and I first came across it while listening to Philip Goff on the Mindscape podcast. I was instantly fascinated by the idea.
I began college as a physics major (as did half the incoming undergraduate class at Caltech), but after a couple years, I decided to shift away from the cosmic unknowns to a more local mystery: the brain. I ended up designing my own major with the computational neuroscience department, and one of my advisors was Christof Koch, who has written multiple books on the topic of consciousness. Needless to say, it’s a topic that fascinated me then and continues to do so today. . . ."
Ernest Lilley recommends it, https://amazingstories.com/2023/02/sc...
"Meru takes a fresh look at one of SF’s classic paradigms, Spacer vs Earther. Humans have been consigned to live on Earth, which they messed up, and Alloys, the biological/synthetic hybrids designed to live in space, get free range to the stars. Jayanthi, a human child created and raised by alloy parents (using remote bodies, while their massive true bodies stay in orbit) is determined to break free from the restrictions of the alloys to become a genetic designer. When an almost habitable planet is discovered, Jayanthi realizes that she has a unique opportunity to show that humans can adapt to its overrich atmosphere, thanks to a trait that has always been a burden, her sickle cell anemia. What follows is a grand space opera with some unexpected twists as different factions of alloys work for and against Jayanthi’s project and she finds love, friendship and support in unlikely places."
February 16, 2025
2.5/5 actually
The main problem i have with this book is there's no imminent danger/struggle, it sets up to show how things are dangerous and the next minute the story itself pulls the rug under from the setup and makes it look easy. The premise itself begins at a scientific wonderland and the main character and her friends are fighting for the last smallest things that are said to be off limits to them. They are already at 99% blissful heaven. And they are fighting to make it 100%. They break rules with no severe consequences. Anytime theres even a little bit of danger suddenly a friendly random character saves them and moves them with every comfort ever possible to the next safe space. Some characters dont have a well explained reason or a basis to why they are fighting to do what they are.... Its just all flowery and positivity from the beginning to the end with some corny romance thrown in between. There's very small to zero shade of dark/negative characters. With the amount of leniency the laws are providing for breaking them the system should be filled with criminals.
But that being said i loved the world building and the depth to it. Even some of the world building felt slightly elementary but how it managed to build on top of it to make the said world/universe complete and how it operates was really great. My whole 2.5 stars is for the said world building. I didnt exactly enjoy the full journey but it was atleast a good world to imagine.
The main problem i have with this book is there's no imminent danger/struggle, it sets up to show how things are dangerous and the next minute the story itself pulls the rug under from the setup and makes it look easy. The premise itself begins at a scientific wonderland and the main character and her friends are fighting for the last smallest things that are said to be off limits to them. They are already at 99% blissful heaven. And they are fighting to make it 100%. They break rules with no severe consequences. Anytime theres even a little bit of danger suddenly a friendly random character saves them and moves them with every comfort ever possible to the next safe space. Some characters dont have a well explained reason or a basis to why they are fighting to do what they are.... Its just all flowery and positivity from the beginning to the end with some corny romance thrown in between. There's very small to zero shade of dark/negative characters. With the amount of leniency the laws are providing for breaking them the system should be filled with criminals.
But that being said i loved the world building and the depth to it. Even some of the world building felt slightly elementary but how it managed to build on top of it to make the said world/universe complete and how it operates was really great. My whole 2.5 stars is for the said world building. I didnt exactly enjoy the full journey but it was atleast a good world to imagine.
February 14, 2023
Meru takes a fresh look at one of SF’s classic paradigms, Spacer vs Earther. Humans have been consigned to live on Earth, which they messed up, and Alloys, the biological/synthetic hybrids designed to live in space, get free range to the stars. Jayanthi, a human child created and raised by alloy parents (using remote bodies, while their massive true bodies stay in orbit) is determined to break free from the restrictions of the alloys to become a genetic designer. When an almost habitable planet is discovered, Jayanthi realizes that she has a unique opportunity to show that humans can adapt to its overrich atmosphere, thanks to a trait that has always been a burden, her sickle cell anemia. What follows is a grand space opera with some unexpected twists as different factions of alloys work for and against Jayanthi’s project and she finds love, friendship and support in unlikely places.
This is S. B. Divya’s second novel, following her Nebula-nominated novella Runtime (2016) and her novel debut with Machinehood (2021), and Divya’s new offering is a rich work with great characters that I liked a lot. If you enjoyed last month’s Terraformers by Annalee Newitz, you’ll find this interesting for how the two books approach the themes of planetary change and the relationships that the characters develop. Highly Recommended.
(from my column: Science Fiction To Look For – February 2023)
This is S. B. Divya’s second novel, following her Nebula-nominated novella Runtime (2016) and her novel debut with Machinehood (2021), and Divya’s new offering is a rich work with great characters that I liked a lot. If you enjoyed last month’s Terraformers by Annalee Newitz, you’ll find this interesting for how the two books approach the themes of planetary change and the relationships that the characters develop. Highly Recommended.
(from my column: Science Fiction To Look For – February 2023)
April 10, 2024
If I could give a book a negative rating, on principle, I would give it to this book.
Changing multiple linguistic rules at once, for rules already in mid-evolution in modern times makes for one of the most confusing and annoying reads of my entire life.
The worst part is I would have liked it otherwise.
Pronoun changes don't have to be confusing.
We have enough pronouns, including gender neutral, that no new ones have to be invented.
We get so many at once in the book that for a few chapters I thought these were NOUNS, characters, new words for the sci-fi world-under-construction.
On what basis do I rate this so poorly.
I speak 3 languages well and a smattering of several others.
I TAUGHT those 3 as well.
So learning another language is my expertise.
Creating one can be done well.
The attempt here is the most poorly conceived and executed I have ever seen.
There are ways to make new vocab accessible and the meaning evident, a bite at a time.
No so here.
I emphatically warn readers away from only the second book of fiction I wish I didn't have to finish, in my life.
That bad. Yes, that bad.
Changing multiple linguistic rules at once, for rules already in mid-evolution in modern times makes for one of the most confusing and annoying reads of my entire life.
The worst part is I would have liked it otherwise.
Pronoun changes don't have to be confusing.
We have enough pronouns, including gender neutral, that no new ones have to be invented.
We get so many at once in the book that for a few chapters I thought these were NOUNS, characters, new words for the sci-fi world-under-construction.
On what basis do I rate this so poorly.
I speak 3 languages well and a smattering of several others.
I TAUGHT those 3 as well.
So learning another language is my expertise.
Creating one can be done well.
The attempt here is the most poorly conceived and executed I have ever seen.
There are ways to make new vocab accessible and the meaning evident, a bite at a time.
No so here.
I emphatically warn readers away from only the second book of fiction I wish I didn't have to finish, in my life.
That bad. Yes, that bad.
November 19, 2022
Graceful and generously written, MERU is an ideal book for sparking meditations on the nature of friendship, and of the place of humanity in a post-human future. It thoughtfully explores the emotional cartography of its sympathetic and complex protagonists, Jayanthi and Vaha. This book is a relief and a revelation, written closer to the heart of its characters (and its author) than most genre works. Highest recommendations for a book to make readers more optimistic of the direction of science fiction, and of our human future.
January 31, 2023
Interesting story, not a good read
I thought the story was very interesting but did not like the writing style. Made up terms for time are used throughout the book with no explanation of what they mean. Then there’s the gender pronouns. I understand that the characters don’t have a gender but the majority of people just aren’t used to using different pronouns and it makes it very challenging to read. And I read upwards of 200 books a year.
I thought the story was very interesting but did not like the writing style. Made up terms for time are used throughout the book with no explanation of what they mean. Then there’s the gender pronouns. I understand that the characters don’t have a gender but the majority of people just aren’t used to using different pronouns and it makes it very challenging to read. And I read upwards of 200 books a year.
January 12, 2023
Meru is a stunning space opera that took my breath away with its breadth and depth. The insights into what it means to be human combined with conjecture about what a potential human successor could be like (the Alloys in this story) give the narrative a lineage of richness and a tingle of possibility. It is very character driven and a little on the slow side at first, but the world build and characterization never get boring... There was so much thought that went into this book, it blew my mind. Friendship, queerness, romance, incarnation drama, and species hybridization are all key components to the story that will anchor the reader's attention from the get-go and hold them there with the fascination of determining how our future as humans could eventually play out. The old school sci-fi elements coupled with cutting edge "new age of sci-fi consciousness" make this tome a must-read! This is the direction modern sci-fi will benefit from following, and other authors of the genre may want to sidle up and take notes!
January 30, 2023
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This had a lot of ups and downs, and if I'm being honest, for me, they were mostly downs.
The first 25% of this book is a lot of setup where we get introduced to the world, the alloys, constructs, pilots that can carry humans inside of them, etc. The preamble leading up to our main characters arriving on Meru felt pretty long, but I started to warm up to the entire endeavor once Jayanthi and Vaha meet. I liked their interactions and discussions, and was curious to see how they would bond once they got to Meru. I tend to enjoy scifi that focuses on the connection between characters, usually more than I do hard scifi, and watching two people settle on an uninhabited planet as they try to prove that humans can be trusted to travel in space sounds like a setup I could really like.
Unfortunately, the time we spend on Meru is cut short. I think this part of the story takes up maybe another 25%. The rest of it was consumed by one of my least favourite plot devices: . I think I could've overlooked that if the book had been shorter, or the characters less repetitive in their monologues, but after the nth time of them wondering what had happened, or bemoaning their general uselessness, I just got frustrated at having to sit through it.
This had a lot of ups and downs, and if I'm being honest, for me, they were mostly downs.
The first 25% of this book is a lot of setup where we get introduced to the world, the alloys, constructs, pilots that can carry humans inside of them, etc. The preamble leading up to our main characters arriving on Meru felt pretty long, but I started to warm up to the entire endeavor once Jayanthi and Vaha meet. I liked their interactions and discussions, and was curious to see how they would bond once they got to Meru. I tend to enjoy scifi that focuses on the connection between characters, usually more than I do hard scifi, and watching two people settle on an uninhabited planet as they try to prove that humans can be trusted to travel in space sounds like a setup I could really like.
Unfortunately, the time we spend on Meru is cut short. I think this part of the story takes up maybe another 25%. The rest of it was consumed by one of my least favourite plot devices: . I think I could've overlooked that if the book had been shorter, or the characters less repetitive in their monologues, but after the nth time of them wondering what had happened, or bemoaning their general uselessness, I just got frustrated at having to sit through it.
February 26, 2023
3.5 for an interesting future for humans and their progeny. 3ish for the writing style.
March 16, 2023
I was flip-flopping a bit on how to rate this book? A 3 at times, a 4 at others. In the positive - the setting, the world, the underlying story were all great. On the other some elements felt rushed, and certain aspects of the world would do with a bit more exposition. Ultimately, the unique idea for the universe and the setting won, and I decided to round this up.
It felt like a very familiar story in a world millennia away.
It felt like a very familiar story in a world millennia away.
March 18, 2023
A new favourite!!!
5⭐
5⭐
May 23, 2024
Interesting ideas, and there were some of the story elements that were very enjoyable. This is a future I'm curious to know more about. However, in other parts the story dragged a bit, and the whole thing was lacking in subtlety. I did feel also that there were certain parts that didn't entirely make sense, and some character decisions that seemed inconsistent with the prior characterization. And, I have to say, some pretty questionable parenting choices.
December 27, 2024
This is a science fiction romance that tackles some pretty heavy issues: the future of humankind following our disastrous Anthropocene Era; how, or if, humans should be punished and/or restricted for what they've done to the planet; and the complete realignment of thought as to life and consciousness and the necessity to minimize the human damage to both. All this is nestled inside a love story between a human woman and a genetically engineered cyborg/post-human Alloy named Vaha, who is basically a 120-meter long space mermaid capable of surviving in vacuum and creating her own wormholes to travel to other systems. (Don't worry, Vaha can also create a secondary body called an "incarn" which can hold her transferred consciousness, and can relate to and fall in love with the human protagonist Jayanthi.)
There is quite a bit of thoughtful and detailed worldbuilding here, and the author carefully examines the ramifications of her premise. This is set centuries in the future when the posthuman Alloys have taken over, saved and mostly restored planet Earth. Due to the Compact written at the start of the Alloy Era, humans are confined to the planet. Capitalism and exploration are things of the long-ago past; the alloys provide all human needs and human ambition is strictly discouraged. There's even a diagnosed syndrome called Aspiration and Avarice Disorder which can be treated in humans via gene therapy.
As the story starts, there's a newly discovered habitable planet called Meru that the Alloys are opening to research missions. One of our protagonists, Jayanthi, is uniquely suited to live on the higher-oxygen planet due to her sickle cell anemia syndrome, which she has not used gene therapy to cure. Jayanthi wants to demonstrate that humans should be permitted to explore the stars again, and an alloy named Hamsu manages to push through a research mission with Jayanthi at the center of it.
The alloy pilot Vaha is recruited to fly Jayanthi to Meru, and their connection and love story begins. (It's not quite insta-love, but it's close; their connection is immediate. They are both very young, twenty and twenty-two respectively. One wonders how long such a relationship can last, but the author does a good job of showing their deep feelings for each other.) But there are factions who want the mission to fail, and Vaha's former best friend Kaliyu, who harbors an irrational bias against humans, is recruited to sabotage the mission.
There are quite a few twisty plot turns here, as Vaha and Jayanthi are separated, Vaha suffers an accident that temporarily strips away most of her memory, and Jayanthi is abandoned on Meru. She manages to talk the artificially-intelligent constructs on the planet into taking her offworld, and ends up aboard another constructi, Chedi, a free agent who travels through the system. Jayanthi is also pregnant with her own genetically engineered child (a child bearing some of Vaha's genes) that she created to force the mission on Meru to continue. Once Vaha and Jayanthi are reunited and Vaha recovers (some) of her memory, they end up on the Nivid, the one permanent alloy construct in the system that is a repository of all alloy and human knowledge. They are then put through a series of trials that will determine the future of humanity.
There are a lot of ethical and philosophical conundrums explored in this book, as the alloys basically look at humans as misguided children that need to be guided, protected, and restricted for their own good, and Jayanthi is trying to show that the rules of the Compact are are patronizing and outdated. She and Vaha don't quite win in the end, but there is hope for the future of humanity and their daughter Akshaya.
This is a deep and thoughtful SF story that will reward a careful reading. There is action here, but it is not particularly fast-paced, and the romance between Vaha and Jayanthi plays an important part. This took me quite a few days to read, as it is not a story to be rushed through, but you will be rewarded.
There is quite a bit of thoughtful and detailed worldbuilding here, and the author carefully examines the ramifications of her premise. This is set centuries in the future when the posthuman Alloys have taken over, saved and mostly restored planet Earth. Due to the Compact written at the start of the Alloy Era, humans are confined to the planet. Capitalism and exploration are things of the long-ago past; the alloys provide all human needs and human ambition is strictly discouraged. There's even a diagnosed syndrome called Aspiration and Avarice Disorder which can be treated in humans via gene therapy.
As the story starts, there's a newly discovered habitable planet called Meru that the Alloys are opening to research missions. One of our protagonists, Jayanthi, is uniquely suited to live on the higher-oxygen planet due to her sickle cell anemia syndrome, which she has not used gene therapy to cure. Jayanthi wants to demonstrate that humans should be permitted to explore the stars again, and an alloy named Hamsu manages to push through a research mission with Jayanthi at the center of it.
The alloy pilot Vaha is recruited to fly Jayanthi to Meru, and their connection and love story begins. (It's not quite insta-love, but it's close; their connection is immediate. They are both very young, twenty and twenty-two respectively. One wonders how long such a relationship can last, but the author does a good job of showing their deep feelings for each other.) But there are factions who want the mission to fail, and Vaha's former best friend Kaliyu, who harbors an irrational bias against humans, is recruited to sabotage the mission.
There are quite a few twisty plot turns here, as Vaha and Jayanthi are separated, Vaha suffers an accident that temporarily strips away most of her memory, and Jayanthi is abandoned on Meru. She manages to talk the artificially-intelligent constructs on the planet into taking her offworld, and ends up aboard another constructi, Chedi, a free agent who travels through the system. Jayanthi is also pregnant with her own genetically engineered child (a child bearing some of Vaha's genes) that she created to force the mission on Meru to continue. Once Vaha and Jayanthi are reunited and Vaha recovers (some) of her memory, they end up on the Nivid, the one permanent alloy construct in the system that is a repository of all alloy and human knowledge. They are then put through a series of trials that will determine the future of humanity.
There are a lot of ethical and philosophical conundrums explored in this book, as the alloys basically look at humans as misguided children that need to be guided, protected, and restricted for their own good, and Jayanthi is trying to show that the rules of the Compact are are patronizing and outdated. She and Vaha don't quite win in the end, but there is hope for the future of humanity and their daughter Akshaya.
This is a deep and thoughtful SF story that will reward a careful reading. There is action here, but it is not particularly fast-paced, and the romance between Vaha and Jayanthi plays an important part. This took me quite a few days to read, as it is not a story to be rushed through, but you will be rewarded.
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January 20, 20232023 Grade Z
I did not get very far. I managed to finish chapter one despite the odd language use, undefined fictional words, and weak world building. Forty years ago I might have put up with it. In fact I once read a novel where every verb was regularized. I also read a first draft that was so good but so poorly written that I had to sort of throw my mind out of gear to follow it. But when I started chapter 2 in this one, I just gave up. Sorry.
I did not get very far. I managed to finish chapter one despite the odd language use, undefined fictional words, and weak world building. Forty years ago I might have put up with it. In fact I once read a novel where every verb was regularized. I also read a first draft that was so good but so poorly written that I had to sort of throw my mind out of gear to follow it. But when I started chapter 2 in this one, I just gave up. Sorry.
January 12, 2023
Can I leave no stars? I could not find anything good about this book!
April 30, 2023
According to the author's note, this novel is a retelling/adaptation of a story within the Mahabharata. I have, unfortunately, not read that work, and a skim of the wikipedia page didn't reveal anything that seemed glaringly similar, so I can't comment further. But FYI, that's apparently a thing.
"Ambition and materialism lead to greed and exploitation."
Set in the far future, Meru takes place in a time when humans are restricted to living on Earth--a penance for wrecking Earth and Mars some time ago. Baseline humans cannot apparently be trusted to live in space or on other worlds; such is restricted to post-human "alloy" descendants and "constructs."
As for the alloys... this is some seriously wacky, far-out worldbuilding. Alloys apparently have an extra chromosome, are generally huge, and adapted to living in vacuum. They can alter their gene expression on a whim, and a good portion of them live in some kind of virtual reality while their bodies hang out in a dyson-sphere.
Humans mostly live in a harmonious, low-pop pseudo-utopian state. They want for nothing. Alloys maintain the planet. But, of course, some people (like the protagonist Jayantha) want more. The very wanting of more, however--the desire to leave a legacy--is viewed as a disorder. It even has a cute acronym. "Ambition and Avarice Disorder," or AAD. This inclination can apparently be "treated" by alloy genetic engineering so that the human becomes content. (Even though you have to consent to the treatment, I'll admit that concept wigged me out a bit.)
This brings us to the plot. An earthlike planet (dubbed Meru) has been discovered and is under study. Uninhabited except for cyanobacteria, it presents a unique opportunity for humans to prove that they're capable of living on another planet without destroying it to make it more suitable for their needs.
Jaya is deeply ambitious. she wants to be free from the restrictions alloys have placed on humanity. She wants to be able to work in the same occupations, live in the same environments... and also to boink her alloy pilot. Yep, that's right. This book includes a lovely side-jaunt into what happens when you put two young and compatible sapients in isolation together for several months. Cue relationship drama and bad decisions.
Overall, it's not a bad book. There's some interesting propositions here regarding species maturity and whether it's possible to live in an enviroment without harming it. There's also some analysis re: hubris and the status quo. And yet, maybe it's how annoyed I was by the instalove romance, but it doesn't quite feel like it delivers.
"Ambition and materialism lead to greed and exploitation."
Set in the far future, Meru takes place in a time when humans are restricted to living on Earth--a penance for wrecking Earth and Mars some time ago. Baseline humans cannot apparently be trusted to live in space or on other worlds; such is restricted to post-human "alloy" descendants and "constructs."
As for the alloys... this is some seriously wacky, far-out worldbuilding. Alloys apparently have an extra chromosome, are generally huge, and adapted to living in vacuum. They can alter their gene expression on a whim, and a good portion of them live in some kind of virtual reality while their bodies hang out in a dyson-sphere.
Humans mostly live in a harmonious, low-pop pseudo-utopian state. They want for nothing. Alloys maintain the planet. But, of course, some people (like the protagonist Jayantha) want more. The very wanting of more, however--the desire to leave a legacy--is viewed as a disorder. It even has a cute acronym. "Ambition and Avarice Disorder," or AAD. This inclination can apparently be "treated" by alloy genetic engineering so that the human becomes content. (Even though you have to consent to the treatment, I'll admit that concept wigged me out a bit.)
This brings us to the plot. An earthlike planet (dubbed Meru) has been discovered and is under study. Uninhabited except for cyanobacteria, it presents a unique opportunity for humans to prove that they're capable of living on another planet without destroying it to make it more suitable for their needs.
Jaya is deeply ambitious. she wants to be free from the restrictions alloys have placed on humanity. She wants to be able to work in the same occupations, live in the same environments... and also to boink her alloy pilot. Yep, that's right. This book includes a lovely side-jaunt into what happens when you put two young and compatible sapients in isolation together for several months. Cue relationship drama and bad decisions.
Overall, it's not a bad book. There's some interesting propositions here regarding species maturity and whether it's possible to live in an enviroment without harming it. There's also some analysis re: hubris and the status quo. And yet, maybe it's how annoyed I was by the instalove romance, but it doesn't quite feel like it delivers.
September 2, 2023
On the surface it’s about…
a distant future in which humans are second class citizens to a species of artificial intelligence that evolved from humans into space ships.
But it’s actually about…
overcoming obstacles like prejudices and internalized self-hate to become the person you want to be.
It was awesome that…
this is so wildly creative!
The big beautiful themes:
-the potential for improvement as a species
-weaknesses is sometimes a strength
-interracial relationships
-choosing a life different from the one our parents wanted for us
What this taught me about how to be good is…
racism is bad. It’s good to love, to be a friend.
What this taught me about how to die is…
that it’s best to move towards the end with the people you love close by.
Best read…
by people who love unique SF and don’t mind confusing narratives without much sense of place.
a distant future in which humans are second class citizens to a species of artificial intelligence that evolved from humans into space ships.
But it’s actually about…
overcoming obstacles like prejudices and internalized self-hate to become the person you want to be.
It was awesome that…
this is so wildly creative!
The big beautiful themes:
-the potential for improvement as a species
-weaknesses is sometimes a strength
-interracial relationships
-choosing a life different from the one our parents wanted for us
What this taught me about how to be good is…
racism is bad. It’s good to love, to be a friend.
What this taught me about how to die is…
that it’s best to move towards the end with the people you love close by.
Best read…
by people who love unique SF and don’t mind confusing narratives without much sense of place.
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