Can You Have A Planetary Romance Set on Earth?
Assuming no icky flight issues, I’ll be back late tomorrow.
Review: Loka by S.B. Divya
I envy this book…I almost did something similar then changed direction. Meru was my favorite book of the year…and Loka is every bit as good.
While Meru, in general, plays the eugenics in this theme as an accepted part of society, Loka engages with them a little more thoroughly. Akshara is the daughter of Jayanthi and Vasa, the protagonists of book one, designed to live on an alien world.
She wants to live on Earth instead…and after spending the first 16 years of her life as a space nomad, sharing her parents’ exile for creating her, she’s determined to prove she can.
When she finds out about the Anthro Challenge – to circumnavigate Earth using only tools created by humans, not their offshoot species, she and her heartsib Somya have to do it.
Shenanigans ensue.
One thing about this book is that it centers around a queerplatonic relationship. Akshara is almost (but not quite) asexual, Somya is either gay or bi/pan, and their relationship is very definitely queerplatonic. Their love for each other is a driving force throughout the novel.
But, like the first book, it’s really about parenthood. Reading the first book didn’t feel as much that way as it does in the light of the sequel, which is a story of teen rebellion and trying to fit in.
Which makes it, in many ways, an even queerer book. Whatever decision Akshara makes about her future…it’s not as important as the journey. Literally.
This is a classic, traditional journey book…and that rare thing, a planetary romance set on Earth. And the even rarer thing: A sequel that makes the first book more complete.
Recommended.