5 November 2003

TOOLS OF THE TRADE: The Synopsis
Examples from Liz Williams and Lyda Morehouse

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Samadhi Road (Published as Empire of Bones)
By Liz Williams

India, 2030: a place where corporate globalisation and increased competition have brought the revival of the old caste system to provide cheap, expendable labour. The story begins with one woman, Jaya Nihalani. Coming from one of the lowest castes in Uttar Pradesh, Jaya is dedicated to the establishment of social equality and the overthrow of an unjust system. Made an involuntary terrorist by the murder of her father, she is a young woman rendered old before her time by a mysterious disease which afflicts those of her caste and which has set the seal on their fate. But Jaya seems to have a compensation for her crippling illness—she can glimpse the future, and she is guided by a mysterious voice which claims to be a goddess.

India, 2030: a place where corporate globalisation and increased competition have brought the revival of the old caste system to provide cheap, expendable labour. The story begins with one woman, Jaya Nihalani. Coming from one of the lowest castes in Uttar Pradesh, Jaya is dedicated to the establishment of social equality and the overthrow of an unjust system. Made an involuntary terrorist by the murder of her father, she is a young woman rendered old before her time by a mysterious disease which afflicts those of her caste and which has set the seal on their fate. But Jaya seems to have a compensation for her crippling illness—she can glimpse the future, and she is guided by a mysterious voice which claims to be a goddess.

Jaya is chosen to be the emissary of Earth, and finds herself juggling rival politicians, the military, and—worst of all—the sinister alien woman Ir Yth, whose agenda is by no means clear—or benign. But Jaya doesn't have any choice in who she sides with—an administrator is coming from the home world of Rasasatra, Jaya is told, to take up the position of governor of Earth.

Jaya is reluctantly impressed, but what she doesn't know is that the governor in question is not a supremely powerful politician, but a minor civil servant, himself from a lowly caste. Earth might be the centre of the universe to Jaya, but to Sirru EsMoyshekhal and the rest of Rasasatra, the development of humanity is just a long-dormant, small scale project, set in motion aeons ago by the unseen forces that govern Rasasatran society—genetically engineering new castes, and terminating others. The humans of Earth are a part of Sirru's caste: a minor human species among the immense variety that comprises Rasasatran society. If Earth can't be brought smoothly and successfully into the fold then humanity, and the rest of Sirru's caste, will be judged to have passed their 'sell-by' date—and both will be terminated.

When Sirru—still bemoaning the fact that he's had to leave a pleasant job and a new girlfriend behind him—comes to Earth, he finds that forces are stacked against him. Ir Yth is of a rival caste to his own, and determined that he should fail—thereby also ensuring the destruction of humanity. When Jaya is brought to the ship, both she and Sirru realise that Ir Yth is deceiving them both and they have something critical in common: the preservation of their mutual caste. But communication is difficult: Rasasatrans communicate via their pheromones, using language to disambiguate their verbal speech, so Sirru can't understand what Jaya is trying to tell him. Ir Yth sabotages the ship and Jaya and Sirru are forced to flee back to Earth, with Ir Yth in tow.

Once back in India, Ir Yth teams up with an equally sinister industrialist and his protégé the Butcher-Prince, promising them unlimited power if they help her. Jaya begins to marshal the remnants of her terrorist force. Sirru, using Rasasatran technology contained within his own body, starts to put the first stage of colonisation in process: the infection of the population by a benign but debilitating genetic virus that enables humans to communicate with one another over long distances, down skeins of infection. Ir Yth's allies close in and Jaya flees with Sirru into the mountains. During the ensuing firefight, Jaya kills the Butcher-Prince and Sirru takes Ir Yth captive. But now they must travel back to Rasasatra, to a city as wide as a world, to confront the alien forces that have set the attempted termination of humanity in motion, and change the empire of Rasasatra for ever.