Review copy was received from Author, NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Loka by SB Divya Narrator: Deepa Samuel
Series: The Alloy Era #2
Published by Brilliance Audio on August 13, 2024
Genres: Science Fiction Fantasy
Pages: 367
Length: 13 hours, 36 minutes
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: Author, NetGalley, Publisher
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Amazon, Audible
Akshaya is the hybrid daughter of a human mother and an alloy, a genetically engineered posthuman—and she’s the future of life on the planet Meru. But not if the determined Akshaya can help it. Before choosing where her future lies, she wants to circumnavigate the most historic orb in the universe—the birthplace of Earth.
Akshaya’s parents reluctantly agree to her anthropological challenge—one with no assistance from alloy devices, transport, or wary alloys themselves who manage humanity and the regions of Earth called Loka. It’s just Akshaya; her equally bold best friend, Somya; and a carefully planned itinerary threading continent by continent across a wondrous terrain of things she’s never seen blue skies, sunrises, snowcapped mountains, and roiling oceans.
As the adventure unfolds, the travelers discover love and new friendships, but they also learn the risks of a planet that’s not entirely welcoming. On this trek—rapturous, dangerous, and life-changing—Akshaya will discover what human existence really means.
I never feel like I read enough science fiction. I enjoy the technology and the power structures between humans, aliens, AI and corporations. In the first book Meru, the world has evolved past most of the greed and corruption for monetary purposes and what remains is about ego. Humans ruined the Earth and then Mars once they settled there. Alloys are the creation of humans, an AI who may or may not be humanoid in shape. They are now the guardians of the universe from contamination. Humans are restricted to life on Earth and their behavior has been trained for years to not contaminate or waste to cause the destruction of the past.
Meru is the story of Jaya, a human child of alloy parents. Her journey of trying to create genetic structures for human / alloys. She also has to deal with sickle cell anemia. She falls in love with Vaha, an alloy and they set up the planet Meru where the oxygen levels and atmosphere are better for those with sickle cell anemia.
Loka is the journey of Jaya’s daughter, Akshaya. They have been exiled for the past 16 years for creating Akshaya. Now Akshaya will see Earth for the first time. She and her friend, Somya want to do the Anthro challenge which is a trip around the world with only human support, no alloy conveniences. In Loka region, the alloys control the weather and keep things comfortable. They may need to travel in the Out of Bounds, where it is more dangerous without those controls, plus the people who live there may have been exiled to there for not following the rules.
Most of the book is Akshaya and Somya doing the challenge, traveling with solar bicycles, camping and then partly on ships as well. They are teens, quite young, but they made an agreement with their parents about the challenge. There was almost no thoughts on the conservation aspects which were a big focus in the previous book. They overcome many obstacles and learn much about Earth, its humans and themselves. I did not like Akshaya very well in the beginning because she wants to only stay on Earth and not go to Meru. She and Somya think they can form a community in the Out of Bounds.
They learn a lot about people and politics during their travels. I enjoyed the areas they saw as the Earth is beautiful and they limited their people interaction. Akshaya deals with her sickle cell flares for the first time; the worst she has ever experienced. Loka is an exciting combination of a survival story and personal growth. I hope there might be more adventures in the Alloy Era series.
Narration:
I enjoyed the narrator and the distinct voices suited the characters well. Most of the characters were female. Almost all the story is from Akshaya’s point of view. The performance enhanced my enjoyment in the story and kept me from having to figure out how to pronounce things. I listened at my normal 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About SB Divya
S.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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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 24-COYER
I didn’t realize there was a second book in this series. I enjoyed the clever and creative sci-fi world set up in Meru. I’ll have to get to this one eventually.
I really enjoyed the first. This one is more a teen’s character journey, which the first is the same actually. Loka is about 16 years later than the first one. It’s based mostly on Earth.
Sounds like an original and interesting concept. Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Anne! I want to read more sci-fi, too!
Thanks Rachel. Scifi is the perfect foil for social justice / political/ culture issues and also fun with technology.
This sounds fascinating. Excellent review, Anne💜
Thank you Jonetta. I really like the social issues and futuristic technology aspects. But this one is a character development journey.
I need to try this series. I like science fiction but it’s not a genre I read enough. I like the sound of this one.
I hope you get to read and enjoy these. There is much I enjoy in them.
What a unique concept!
yes but it has the character development, the social issues and technology I enjoy too.
Love the cover, but this might be too detailed of science fiction for my brain these days. So glad you’re enjoying it, great review!
I think the scifi was not the focus, although there was some on human, alien or hybrid, but that could have been black, white, brown, etc. I liked the various climate change options the girls used in their journey which was the challenge of not using newer alien technology. But most of all it was a character journey for the girl who was our main pov.