Review: Loka

Loka by S.B. Divya
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the second book in the Alloy Era series, the first of which, Meru, I read and reviewed here. This story takes a time jump of seventeen years, and focuses on Akshaya, the daughter of the first book's protagonists, the human Jayanthi and the genetically engineered post-human (and 120-meter-long star-traveling space mermaid) Vaha. Akshaya is coming of age and starting to break away from her parents. She has been raised on the construct Chedi, a sort of independent AI generation ship that travels a regular route between outlying star systems and Earth. Akshaya wants to visit Earth, the home of one of her parents and a place she has never seen, before their exile--as told in the first book--ends and they can return to Meru, a habitable planet two hundred light years away. Akshaya has been genetically engineered to live on Meru, but she is not sure she wants to do so. She wishes to visit Earth and complete the Anthro Challenge, a circumnavigation of the planet within a specified time period, utilizing present human technology and not relying on the alloys.

This is kind of a stand-alone story, as enough background information is provided (without being overwhelming) that you can follow it without having read the first book. However, I would recommend doing so, as reading the first book will make your experience of this story that much richer.

In this story, Akshaya uses her time on Earth to figure out who she is and what she wants. The Anthro Challenge is more difficult than she anticipated, as she soon discovers that her health really does not permit her to thrive on Earth, and there are other setbacks, mainly with the weather. The Challenge is also being recorded as a kind of far-future reality show, turning Akshaya and her parents into something of a political cudgel to relax some of the restrictions on alloys in the Compact (the document governing Earth in this future, as there aren't any countries or governments as we know them today, and this is a post-capitalist society). Unfortunately, along the way the fact that Akshaya has some alloy genes leaks out and turns many humans against her. She manages to finish the Challenge, but she realize that the life she wants to live can only be found on Meru.

We don't have a story of high stakes here. Oh, the stakes are important enough, but they aren't of the planet-busting or universe-ending variety. They are deeply personal to Akshaya and her family. That doesn't lessen the suspense one bit. There is also a great deal of philosophy and ethic conundrums built into this story, as there was in Meru. As with the first book, this is a thoughtful, deliberately paced tale that is not to be rushed through. Take your time with it and savor the ideas and nuances. You will be rewarded.

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