I’ve been looking forward to Loka by S.B. Divya ever since I finished Meru last year, and much like its predecessor, it did not disappoint. For those who are hesitant about sci-fi because of the language or science-y aspect, never fear: Loka is very readable and the world-building is sprinkled throughout so you don’t feel overwhelmed. This novel has nice pacing and stakes and almost feels a bit like The Amazing Race lol. I appreciate how Akshaya’s journey with her chronic illness and disability is portrayed; there is no toxic “smile and keep going” narrative that is usually stuffed down the throats of those of us with a chronic illness, and I appreciated how she has to learn how to live day-by-day and how to manage the pain. Even though I do not have sickle-cell disease, I could relate to Akshaya’s journey with coming to grips with being chronically ill and navigating life being different than how you once thought it would be in relation to your body. Also, those around her are empathetic and make room for her illness, especially her bestie Somya. Speaking of Somya, the friendship between Akshaya and Sonya is beautiful; it’s full of respect, love, trust, and communication, and I was rooting for this pair to succeed in their endeavor the entire time.

My review of S.B. Divya's Loka is in the November December issue of Analog Magazine, available on line now and in the print edition this month.

Here is the link:
https://www.analogsf.com/current-issue/the-reference-library/

I struggled my way through Meru because of the rich world-building, even though the character arcs were daytime TV levels of tropey. This sequel starts very much in the same vein as Jaya's on Earth, with Jaya's daughter Akshaya. While Jaya's arc was all about humans reclaiming the right to travel in space again, Akshaya, born and raised IN space with a future laid out to lead a new generation in a new planet, wants nothing more than to return to Earth, and....I dunno, take a gap year walkabout. I'm sorry, at this point, I'm gonna call this beautifully constructed world a total loss at the hand of the worst protagonists. There's some incredible stories to be told here, about the Alloys, about Chedi, about Meru even. But nope, the Alloys are right -- humans are idiot children.

Even though this is the second book in a series, it's more of a set of interconnected stand alones and does not require that you read Meru to be able to follow and enjoy Loka. The characters and world building is separate and stand alone. This definitely felt more limited in scope than the first book but with a similar vibe and themes. It was a lot more zoomed in on the individual character growth than on the idea of conservation or the world as a whole, though there was some discussion and discover of some political themes. I enjoyed the idea of the human/alloy beings and thought that having a character with sickle cell anemia was an interesting addition to the discussion of viability of worlds to live on.

Loka is the coming-of-age story of Akshaya. Born during her parents’ exile after breaking the laws governing human genetic engineering, Akshaya is something more than human but less than Alloy. She grows up on an autonomous spacecraft alongside other humans and Allows, but longs to live a human life on Earth—in spite of the wishes of her mother, who wants Akshaya to live on Meru as she was genetically designed to do. Desperate for control over her own destiny, Akshaya convinces her parents to allow her to take part in the Anthro Challenge, a circumnavigation of Earth using only the methods available during the “human era.” Along with her best friend, Akshaya has to navigate not only the physical geography of Earth but also the interpersonal relationships that make up a human existence.

Overall, it felt like the stakes in this book were pretty minimal compared to what Divya was trying to do. Every "challenge" that Akshaya and Somya face in the Anthro Challenge is easily overcome within a chapter and there is never a moment where it feels like the two are in real danger—either physically or of failing the challenge. I love Divya's worldbuilding and the characters she creates, but this is an overall mid execution of a really interesting idea.

Two teenagers, Akshaya and her best friend Somya, decide to circumnavigate Earth with advanced technology. They had grown up on a giant ship that traveled between many planets, and Akshaya’s parents genetically designed her for a colony on Meru, a high-oxygen planet where her sickle cell disease will be an asset. The alloy people, many of whom are giant ships, are slowly repairing Earth and it is sparsely habited. With grudging parental permission the two girls set off on an adventure that takes them from LOKA (paper from 47North) areas under Allow management to areas of the Earth out-of-bounds. Their equipment is small, two solar-powered ebikes and a carrier, they face obstacles like having to swim the Euphrates because bridges are out, a forest fire, and two storms at sea on a sailing ship that gave them a ride. Their trip is documented from the sky and the citizens of the solar system react politically. S.B. Divya tells a marvelous tale that I hope finds its way to some award lists.

With a strong female lead battling a chronic illness and the prejudices of her humanity and mixed heritage, this book explores timely themes set in a far future world. I enjoyed the continuation of the world building from book one and the bravery exhibited by people who refuse to let their differences define them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. These opinions are my own.

After growing up on a spacefaring megaconstruct, sixteen-year-old Akshaya and her close friend Somya circumnavigate the Earth to complete the “Anthro Challenge” and prove the former’s fitness for life on humanity’s homeworld. If Meru, which follows Akshaya’s mother on her journey to settle an alien world, examines an abstracted immigrant experience, Loka examines a second generation immigrant’s return to the old country.

Within this richly imagined solarpunk future, S. B. Divya treats readers to gorgeous settings and evokes the magic of Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days.

As someone living with chronic illness, Akshaya’s struggles with sickle cell anemia resonated deeply. I love to travel! Figuring out how to do so while also identifying and treating flare-ups is a worthwhile challenge, and I enjoyed seeing how Akshaya learns to balance ambition with self-care. I also greatly appreciated how the novel showcases a healthy support network through Somya and other friends made along the way.

Unfortunately, my rating reflects the choice to present Loka as adult scifi. Despite introducing several compelling ideas, such as environmental justice, discrimination, and even a critique of psychiatric labels, the novel doesn’t dig deeply into the nuances surrounding these topics. Likewise, while there are dramatic character arcs, the incremental changes within said arcs are invisible. As a result, the plot beats propelling Akshaya and Somya through their journey can feel contrived, and approaching their story with an adult audience in mind, I struggled.

Once I adjusted my thematic expectations and presupposed a MG audience, I found a charming, fast-paced adventure featuring a coming-of-age, grief, and personal empowerment.

When I requested this read, I did not realize it was a sequel. Having not read the first book, I went in a little confused, but the author does a good job of giving the reader an overview of things that happened in the first book without giving away too much in case the reader might want to return to the first book in the series.

Although it isn't stated, this book felt very YA. It is a sci-fi adventure read that is fast-paced and easy to read. It was a fun read with some interesting concepts presented.

Review copy was received from Author, NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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.

As with the first book in the series, the world-building is much stronger than the story. The Anthro Challenge was potentially interesting, but the attempts to give this adventure higher stakes felt artificial and simplistic.

overall rating: 4 stars

plot: [1/4]
prose: [1/4]
pace: [1/2]
main character: [1/4]
side characters: [1/2]
worldbuilding: [1/2]
concepts: [1/2]
ending: [1/4]
entertainment value: [1/2]
vibes/overall enjoyment: [1/2]

This is an adult sci fi book in genre but in some way it felt like reading a middle grade story (not necessarily in a bad way). Mostly I think it's because the plot was very straightforward with obvious lessons to be learned and many events that happened were transparent plot devices. It lended the story the kind of comfortable overall plot predictability that left a lot of room to simply enjoy the ride. The worldbuilding was just as interesting and thought provoking as the first book and the pace moved along without dwelling too much in one place. It also can confidently be read as a standalone book despite being a sequel. The author provides the perfect amount of context. However I do absolutely recommend reading the first book (in whichever order) because the worldbuilding there is fascinating and goes into a lot more detail.

I adored all the side characters, especially Somya, and overall the cast reminded me of adventure books I had enjoyed so much as a teenager. Akshaya was also great and I appreciated the way her experience with chronic illness was portrayed but so often her decisions were a little contradictory. Which does make sense since she's a teenager and it do be like that at that age and that's usually the reason why I do not enjoy teenage protagonists. But this coming of age story of a willful stubborn teenager was softened once again by this middle grade tone of adventure and wonder even when it dealt with complicated and difficult topics.

It was also very refreshing to have a non-western based sci fi world. Fun fact (credit to my friend for this one): Loka means World in Sanskrit, which I thought was a clever name.

Read For:
-chronic illness rep
-adventure around the world
-coming of age story

Thank you Netgalley and 47North for the ARC.

I appreciate the themes of this book and the message about tolerance and finding the freedom to be yourself. I just couldn't quite lose myself in the story, though. Maybe that's a genre issue: the protagonist is sixteen, and the plot lends itself to a YA novel, but this didn't feel like it was written in a YA style. The concept is great, but for me, the emotion didn't come across.

Good followup, but not as fun and inventive as the first. Probably won't continue but I still think the series is worth your time.

This was a great book. It was a very quick read and I enjoyed reading Akshaya and Somya's adventure around the world. Akshaya is a very typical teenager who wants to be able to make her own choices about everything and not feel forced to conform to what her mother wants for her. Both she and her mother have a lot to learn and do so throughout the course of the book. I really enjoyed the additional aspects of how disability was used. Like her mother Akshaya has sickle cell anemia and must figure out how to work with it on Earth where it's more disabling than it would be on Meru due to different conditions. The entire story is about self discovery and figuring out where you belong in the universe.

While this book is a sequel to the previous book "Meru" - Akshaya's parents are two of the main characters from that book - "Loka" works well enough as a standalone novel. I think anyone could read it without having read the first book. Though some plot points might be helpful to know for additional context.

Thank you to NetGalley, 47North and S.B. Divya for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I found this title to be super repetitive. I just...didn't care? The constant repeated references to why they were doing the challenge and the stakes made it harder to actually connect with the characters. I get it - but move on. Overall, it just felt really shallow.

I hadn't read the earlier book in this series but I felt there was enough context given that I could easily follow the plot and understand the setting. It feels like a YA book but was pretty well done, also there's discussion of a genetic cure for sickle cell disease and one of those is just now being tested in real life human subjects. It did take me several chapters to get interested in the book and I put it down and picked it up a few times (that may have been due to me not reading the previous one though.)

I grabbed a copy at NetGalley at random and I was not disappointed! Very distant future wholesome solarpunk young adult adventure vibes.

After starting to read, I learned that this book is second one in series, but let me assure you this is quite nice stand alone work. Even though there are mentions of first books events it does not impact reading experience. Loved the world building. Some characters seemed a bit flat, but it's always nice to see a book where romantic aspects even though present are not most important. The journey is the important part. Coming in terms with yourself, the world and your place in it (versus what parents want) is the main theme. Very young adult (but in a good way).

Akshaya and Somya go on an adventure to travel around parts of Earth know as Loka and along the way witness the majesties of the planet. They meet friend and foe along the way which comes as no surprise. I think this book is good for readers who are looking for an adventure type book with self-discovery but in a space like environment.

This book is entertaining to read, but did feel a bit YA to me. For me it was an ok read but unfortunately was a bit forgettable in my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley, 47North and SB Divya for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.