Meru cover art

Meru

The Alloy Era, Book 1

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Meru

By: S.B. Divya
Narrated by: Deepa Samuel
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About this listen

One woman and her pilot are about to change the future of the species in an epic space opera about aspiration, compassion, and redemption by Hugo and Nebula Award finalist S. B. Divya.

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.

©2023 Divya Srinivasan Breed. (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Space Exploration Space Opera Space Fiction Interstellar Aviation
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Critic reviews

“With the printed novel having been nominated for both Hugo and Nebula Awards, Deepa Samuel has a high bar to reach as narrator of this audiobook, and she fills it. Samuel's youthful timbre and clear pronunciation help to bring this complex space opera to life.… Samuel's character voices clearly delineate the different species and characters, allowing the listener to become immersed in the story's world-building.”AudioFile Magazine

“Deepa Samuel narrates, giving a robotic, unemotional narration of alloys, which captures their inability to comprehend human emotions; alternately, she gives inflection and emotion to Jayanthi, enhancing her tenderness and grit. This book will appeal to science fiction readers who appreciate meticulous worldbuilding and learning about societies that are governed by a set of axioms. This impressive audio is a must-add for any science fiction collection.”Library Journal

“Empathy convincingly overcomes anxiety in this thoughtful, inventive, and impressively understated space opera from Divya, [who] filters the immensity of outer space through the lens of close personal relationships, crafting compassionate and responsible characters (whatever their physical forms may be) that will surely win over readers.”Publishers Weekly (starred review)

What listeners say about Meru

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

I liked this a lot.

I like stories about post humanity, and I thought this was creative, but not super mind blowing. Great characters with interesting arcs, and the underlying message made this a very engaging read. I felt that at times there was some tedious repetition of the characters' thoughts, so I can't give it 5 stars with a clear conscience.

The narrator did a good job, too, though I had to get used to them at the beginning.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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Story decent. Narration not for me

I don't like being too critical of voice performances because it is hard work. This one was not for me. The story was decent enough although I would have preferred if the protagonist Jayanthi was less self obsessed with keeping her sickle cell disease for "genetic reasons". It just made her sound stupid.

In fact, if AI becomes a thing, then it might be possible to delete annoying characters like her.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not what I was expecting.

Have to admit I bought the book thinking there would be some big discovery on Meru, there was not. The time on Meru was extremely tedious and it was a relief when the plot kicked in and the main characters left the planet. The book improved from that point onwards.

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