Review – Meru (The Alloy Era, Book 1) by S.B. Divya (3.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 443 pages
Publisher:‎ 47North
Release Date: February 1, 2023
ASIN : ‎ B09YH1L9CW
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Alloy Era series
Source: Got on eBook through Amazon First Reads
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

“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.”

Series Info/Source: I got a copy of this on ebook through Amazon First Reads. This is the first book in The Alloy Era series. The second book in the series will be titled “Loka” and is expected to release in July of 2024.

Thoughts: I enjoyed the first part of this book but thought the second part was a bit slow and too politically motivated for me. The dialogue throughout sounded a bit awkward, which threw me off at times. I did enjoy the themes of humanity being protected by a more intelligent life-form (like children) and the adventure we got to go on to another planet.

The story follows Jayanthi who is the adopted human child of two alloy (post-human descendant) parents. Jaya wants nothing more than to be allowed to become a genetic scientist and explore worlds beyond her own. Her ambitions to become a genetic scientist are thwarted because humans are not allowed that profession. However, when aan Earth-like planet called Meru is discovered she desperately wants to be allowed to explore it. Unfortunately, humans almost destroyed Earth and the alloy are loath to let a humans on to another planet, despite the fact that literally centuries have passed since humans harmed Earth. Jaya teams up with a pro-human alloy political figure in order to be given a chance to go to Meru.

We also hear from Vaha, the alloy pilot that will take Jaya to Meru. Vaha is a living alloy birthed as a spaceship. The relationship that develops between Vaya and Jaya is intriguing. I enjoyed watching the two navigate their differences and learn about each others speech patterns, lifestyles, and habits.

What I thought was initially going to be about space exploration, quickly turns into a sort of romance between Vaha and Jaya, then just as quickly turns into a political mess. The bulk of the second half of the book is spent with Jaya trying to navigate the messy political situation unfolding because of her actions on Meru, which I didn’t enjoy that much.

I thought the book was lacking in a couple of areas. Divya doesn’t do a great job describing the alien surroundings for the reader, they remain hard to picture. Also the dialogue between characters feels unnatural and stilted throughout the book. Lastly, I just didn’t find either Vaha or Jaya that engaging as characters. There isn’t a lot riding on Jaya’s success on Meru, at least not from a survival perspective. Jaya has a perfectly wonderful situation back on Earth and Vaha is in a fine situation as well. Jaya just wants more and the main driving point behind the book is that she should be allowed to want more and not be overprotected by alloys to protect her from her own bad decisions.

My Summary (3.5/5): Overall this was a decent space opera that had some creative elements that were intriguing. The awkward dialogue and lack of engagement with the worlds and characters dampened my enthusiasm some. I was eager to read a space exploration adventure but a bit disappointed in how much romance and politics diverted the story. I don’t plan on reading future books in this series, the writing style just wasn’t for me.