Earth Trap: Rings Around the World - Softcover

Vira, Soma

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0964605759 ISBN 13: 9780964605756

Publisher: Space Link Books, 1996

Synopsis

Earth Polotics, interplanetary colonialism, family loyalties and

blackmail combine to weave just one of the many traps in this stunning first installment of Soma Vira's new trilogy. A gripping tale of ambition, betrayal and the the uses of power set in the interstices of space--and the human soul.

About this title

About the Author

About Soma Vira

Author/poet Soma Vira's SF/Fantasy/Mystery/Crime novels clicking with romance have captured overseas markets. This success is based upon her real life adventures. Writing has been a non-stop passion for her since the age of 10. She caught recognition when she won first prizes in the All-India Youth Festival and the All-India Radio Play Awards. Her stories got published in major Indian magazines. As a student-trainee she worked as Associate Editor, (Children's Section) for Nava Bharat Times, Bombay. Three major publishers published her short story collections, radio and stage play collection, and one novel (all in Hindi).

Wanting to work as a journalist, she came to USA to get her B.A.(Journalism) from the University of Colorado. There she wrote for the Boulder Daily Camera, and worked as an assistant editor at The Colorado Daily. The University's Alumni Association nominated her for their "Outstanding Young Women of America" Award. Getting her M.A. from there, she came to NYU to get her Doctor of Philosophy degree. At the time of graduation, NYU gave her their Founders Day Award. During this period, she also worked as a speaker for the Speaker Services Bureau Of United Nations.

In 1990 she was included in "Who's Who Worldwide." Since then she has been getting new awards in both, social and literary circles. In 1995, she received an award from the Writers Digest, and in 1996 was included in "Who's Who Hall of Fame." Her other awards include: The Golden Duck Award for her novel, EARTH TRAP. RINGS AROUND THE WORLD, and, the Editors Choice Award for her poetry collection, LITTLE BIT INDIA. LITTLE BIT USA. Her poems have been included in anthologies published by the Poetry Guild, and National Library of Poetry.

Despite her writing, and running a full time insurance business, Vira is very active in various Indo-American organizations, holding positions in their Board of Trustees and Board of Directors. They include: The Chinatown Planning Council; Association of Indians In America, Inc.; Global Organization Of People Of India Origin, Inc.(GOPIO); and, the international cultural-literary institute that has branches in many countries, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan(USA) Inc. Her work in organizations like the Hearts And Handicapped Assn..(NY) was not enough for her. Remembering how tough her student life was, she decided to donate The Space Link Books' net earnings to student scholarships. Remembering her heritage and her mother, father like Aunt and Uncle-in-Law, Daya Vira, and Dharma Vira,ICS (ex-Governor of Bengal, and Mysore), she named the trust, Daya Dharma Soma Educational Charitable Trust(India)Ltd. Not having adequate funds to establish it in New York, it was set up first at Citi Bank, New Delhi, India, so that when it's set up in USA, it can be at the same trustee bank.

The book reviewers in our web site's Book review Section have noted that Vira has shown one's pen can be as powerful as the sword; that while enriching the genre with her conniving, treacherous, lovable aliens, she continues to delight us broadening the spectrum of traditional Sci-Fi panorama incorporating in it the traditional Indian values.

To truly understand Soma Vira, one must read through the pages of her "Keeping-You-Awake-Until-You-Finish-it" books. There are whole new worlds waiting for you to discover. Enjoy the ride!

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

This Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel with a touch of mystery and romance explores a few dimensions of the international space exploration rivalry in the year 2051. It is a satire on the political and social lives of groups existing on the fringes of society, as they shape, and unshape, their daily lives.

It is, therefore, concerned with relationships, at various levels: parental, social, and political. Hallucinatory and, prophetic. Suspended in Space and time.....

Briefly: in the year 2051, three space ships, Hiroshima Hoku, Titanic, and Volga One, are launched to conquer Mars, casting traps that catch the actions of people whose lives collide, and get tangled up, across national borders.

NASA is facing an unprecedented problem: Titanic is not communicating! Is it unable to do so because it is in some kind of trouble? Or, has it changed alle- giance, and hooked itself to some other nation's space ambitions?

Soviet Union is also feeling trapped. But, the disappearance of Volga One has created even a bigger problem for the Royal Emperor's Samurai Society: it has triggered KGB probes, enabling them to discover the secret of Hiroshima Hoku's real mission, that no one was expected to learn until it reached Mars.

The flight Director of the Chinese Space Mission wants to escape his trap: Republic of China is the only country that does not recognize Candle Runners, a grass-roots organization spreading across the globe disdaining global boundaries.

Busy raising new flag-slogans, the Candle Runners don't even realize what kinds of traps are waiting for their young leaders at the international conference they are organizing at Earth Sanctuary Ayodhya -- a city in India that has risen from the ashes of a religion-torn metropolis as a beacon of light for the space-ready human race.

Caught in this time-frame, Titanic's Captain's family is falling apart: NASA has told them: they are not sure, but, it's possible Titanic may have fallen in a Black Hole.

The Captain's twin daughters, seething under their mother's dictatorial behavior, secretly run away to attend the Candle Runner's first global convention in Earth Sanctuary, Ayodhya.

The Captain's son, Neil, losing his invention with no hope of recovering it (his mother sent it with Titanic, without his knowledge, and permission); and, confused by his mother's behavior, leaves home without giving her his new address.

On top of all the problems she's having, the Captain's wife, Meera, falls in the clutches of two blackmailers. One tells her, Neil isn't her son, because when her daughter was born, her husband secretly exchanged her with a son that he fathered with some other woman. And, another one demands money, claiming he saw the auto accident in which she mortally injured someone, but which she failed to report.

Soon NASA also discovers Hiroshima Hoku's secret mission. that the day Volga Two reaches its launch pad, Soviet Union will attack Japan.

America decides there is only one solution: stop Soviet Union--by force if necessary--and try unified international action to solve the problem. As America and Soviet Union start marshaling their forces, their chief executives are kidnaped by underground leaders wanting solutions on their own terms.

This unexpected coup d'etat, engineered in such an ingenious manner that it totally knocks out all rescue efforts, throws spanners in everyone's carefully orchestrated plans.

To everyone's surprise, the kidnappers choose Meera A'Akash to negotiate their demands. Worried about her daughters, she does what she must. But, she is enraged, and decides when the crisis is over, she'll use the forces behind her, to free Earth, from the terrorists' traps.

Can Earth wrench control of its life? The story continues, in MARS TRAP, the second novel in this projected trilogy.

Is it impossible? Can it happen? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Perhaps, in some other shape: A mirage is a mirage. It moves. Changes shapes. Disappears. Or, whispers like a fable. When a fable turns into a myth? A myth, into a legend? And, imagination, into a mirage of a day-n-night descending shock-vision future, hidden in currents of time and space? Space? Our new frontier! To nurture this teething baby, can we conceive conditions that'll make it available to all pioneers? Or, would it become an instrument of power in the hands of those who'd have the financial tools to control it.

If we do manage to seed some other planet, would this new frontier cause blood-baths similar to those that we experienced on our Earth in the past centuries?

While working to build permanent space-stations, and hoping to achieve inter-stellar travel, are these some of the questions worth considering?

Or, is it best to just dedicate ourselves to achieving our dreams, leaving such problems to be solved by the shadows of the new century?

These questions come to mind, because, in this century, human mind has learned to rely upon the technical facets of wars, and to seek solutions through science and technology. It comes to us so naturally because science is logical and predictable. And, technology, understandable and controllable. Thus, the deductive logic says: WARS ARE NOT ONLY CONTROLLABLE, AND, CONTAINABLE. THEY ARE, FOR ALL THE TIME TO COME, THE ULTIMATE SOLUTION.

But, what if technology is not controllable? What if, it'd keep walking one step ahead of war-sought-solutions? What if, falling into enemy hands, it can let them win? Are we infallible? Under certain conditions, can we lose also? Is this realization the best memory-jogger to make sure that we don't? Or, is it merely a mirage? A deliciously enchanting trap?

These are some of the questions, breaking, mending, and cementing relationships in EARTH TRAP, EARTH SHADOW, and the third (untitled) novel in this series.

Edition details

• Publisher: Space Link Books
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0964605759
• ISBN 13: 9780964605756
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320