Indigo Moon

Eternity Loop #1

by Eileen Merriman

Kazuo Ishiguro meets the Hunger Games, following a new generation with enhanced powers and even more deadly challenges.

Promise you will never, ever mess with time...

Both Rigel and Indigo are Offspring, born to virally optimised parents. With dire warnings about the possible consequences of time travel, they have been forbidden from even thinking about it. But Indigo is bored — what could really go wrong? She longs for excitement, which she might just find with the mysterious stranger Billy Raven.

Meanwhile, Rigel has an odd feeling that he can’t shake off. Is it because his dad, Johnno (aka Phoenix), is off on another dangerous mission? Or is it because of what the Foundation did to his mum, Violet? Or is something else going on?

Only time will tell.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Friendship

256 pages, Paperback

Published July 30, 2022

About the author

Eileen Merriman works full-time as a consultant haematologist at North Shore Hospital. Her writing has appeared in a number of national and international journals and anthologies, including Smokelong Quarterly, The Island Review, Literary Orphans, the Bath Short Story Award Anthology 2015, the Sunday Star-Times, F(r)iction, takahe, Headland and Flash Frontier. Her first novel was Pieces of You, with reviewers calling it 'compulsively readable' and 'compelling, challenging, and heartbreaking'. It was a 2018 Storylines Notable Book and, along with her second novel, it was shortlisted for the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.

Her other awards include runner-up in the 2018 Sunday Star-Times Short Story Award, third for three consecutive years in the 2014-2016 Sunday Star-Times Short Story Awards, second in the 2015 Bath Flash Fiction Award, commended in the 2015 Bath Short Story Competition, and first place in the 2015 Graeme Lay Short Story Competition.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting context and sci-fi ideas but a lot happened all it once as it ended, which was a bit confusing. Had a few questions about the romance and consent 😬

[whatbooknext · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indigo is the daughter of two enhanced humans who were virally optimised in experiments over 30 years before. She is 17, immortal and will not age after her 18th birthday. She can talk to others like her with her mind and also has the ability to 'shift' - which means leaving her body behind and becoming any creature she wants, anywhere she wants. Soaring in the sky as an eagle or leaping through the ocean as a dolphin, anything is possible, but her favourite is a large moth.

She is not the only 'Offspring' to first generation optimised parents. Her friend Rigel has the same abilities, but their parents and the organisation that looks after them and their kind don't really know what they might be able to do yet. Different abilities bloom in different children.

Like most teenagers, all 'Offspring' have rules. Don't take drugs, be careful with alcohol etc, but they also have extra rules that they must abide by.

Two of these rules are:

Never shift where a member of the public can see you.

No time-travelling - ever.

Indigo is bored. Indigo likes to party. Surely she can't do any damage just dancing? She shifts to an earlier time in the city of London and makes new friends who she parties with in the clubs. And then she meets Billy...

Billy is older. Billy is rich. Billy is gorgeous. She cannot get Billy out of her mind and shifts constantly to be with him. Her mother is mad at her for lying in bed all day 'shifting' to who knows where! But Indigo knows she cannot tell her the truth - especially that she should be asking the question - who knows when.

And then suddenly it isn't just her mind with Billy. She wakes up somewhere strange, stark and frightening. Where is she? What has Billy done?


After reading the Black Spiral Trilogy, I have a heads up to some of the characters, but I don't think it's essential to read that first to enjoy this new series - Eternity Loop. There is a list of characters in the front of the book, explaining their family connections and also the organisation Black Spiral who they are all connected to, which helps with who is who.

Eileen Merriman's writing always seems so effortless, and is always engaging. Indigo Moon is told in two points of view, with her friend Rigel discovering his own enhanced traits as he searches for her across the world.

The imaginative is blended brilliantly with the dystopian and a possible future for humankind. Our world is struck by viruses that threaten human existence, and the unethical will do anything to benefit.

Great read!

[Kalila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Initially, I wasn’t overall thrilled by the idea of a book taking elements from the supernatural world, however this opinion quickly changed for me as I became immersed in this novel. The plot line was fast paced in a way that provided a thrill and this resulted in a sense of impulsive readability that made me want to constantly read this book. I think that the author really mastered focusing on the past (and its influence on the characters, which I think is a valuable part of any backstory/explanation of the characters) with a plunge into the future that kick starts a highly interesting story. I also enjoyed there being a romance within this novel, because I enjoy reading from this genre, and am was surprised at how well the two main genres of this novel tied together, being a sort of supernatural, sci-fi fiction and romance, which gave another level to the story and how it impacts the various characters. This romance also made sense, being torn between characters with just enough information about them but still a level of mystery that kept me reading. I also liked the dual-perspective the book was written in, and I particularly like that this was split between the two characters in chapters labelled with their name. I think this made it explicitly clear what narrator was sharing their experience, and I think when dual-perspectives are written well (like in this book), they offer plenty of detail to the overall story. I will say that the ending was one of the only things I didn’t really like. I feel like it was a little rushed, and I missed out on a lot of what happened because it became a bit confusing towards the end of this novel. However, this was still a great book overall that I would recommend giving a chance to. I think it is part of a second series by this author, so I may pick up another one of Merriman’s books if I feel like reading a well written, enjoyable book that will surely get me out of a reading slump.

[Skyler Mendoza · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay. Not okay for me to leave a 2 star review. Picked this up in my school library thinking it was a good book because I loved this author's Violet Black.

Why didn't I like it?

I didn't have the connection to the characters much, especially Indigo. She (spoilers) just let's Billy kiss her! I don't have a problem with that or it may be just BC of the adventure books about hot girlies having the nerve to strike against a guy in the past few idk.

And it was very very very very very very very very very very confusing. Indigo is unconscious here and there and sometimes I loose track of if she's even awake or if she's out. And I could hardly feel the difference between her and Rigel. I liked Rigel more to be honest but Indigo, you're dead to me.

And yes, I'm very harsh because this whole year I've been having good books all around but I got myself ruined with this one. I'm sorry to the author if she has been reading all these. But I just couldn't stand it ANYMORE.

Send help.

[Hayley Shea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just found out that this is a spin-off from another series by this author, which I have not read.

This was a very mixed bag in terms of genre, fusing dystopian, sci-fi, fantasy, mythology, spies, time travel, and more. Sometimes I felt this abrupt change in style a bit jarring.

I also felt a lack of connection to the main pov characters. I didn't really understand their character motivations, and I felt like the pre-existing relationships between characters was more tell than show. Now that I've found out that this is a spin-off of a pre-existing series, I can see that I have a lack of context and understanding of this world which has already been built; however, I would have liked more contextual background for the characters and setting, for a reader like myself, who is new to this series, to be able to efficiently use this as a starting point.

That being said, I did really enjoy reading this - it is my quickest (novel) read this year (so far)!

[Jordan Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, Eileen Merriman has produced an interesting and unique sci-fi novel. For a book written in only five months, the character development is thoughtful and subtle, making the interwoven action feel organic and real. As always, Merriman does her due diligence when she is writing teenage characters, which creates believable dialogue. The prose is quintessentially and beautifully Merriman, but a touch more reserved in this novel as compared to others. The short chapters and switching perspectives made the action fast-paced, but perhaps a little over-used at times. 'Indigo Moon' keeps the reader wanting more, and I therefore cannot wait for the next instalment!

[Tracey Greenwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

In hindsight I enjoyed it, but I was a little confused and I'm not sure what to say about it.
For context, I haven't read any of the Black Spiral series and I'm not sure whether that makes any difference, but it did take me a bit to get into the storyline.
I'm still not quite sure whether I fully grasped the idea of dream flow and what that meant for the physical body - as in how were others able to see and interact with them when they were in this state??
The writing was great, it flowed well, and I definitely got sucked into the story and its characters. I am just left with questions (which is not necessarily a bad thing).

[Ashley Purdy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t realize this came after another series. I felt like I was trying to catch up on who everyone was and what their powers were. So I’d recommend reading the Black Spiral series first if you want more of the background.

[Slippy · Rating 1 out of 5]

What’s with the ear lobes???? Please stop 🤩

[Rochelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like this author but this wasn't my favourite book or hers.
I found it a bit clunky but I can see why it will appeal to our YA students.

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't love the first series of this but gave this one a go and glad I did.

Short engaging chapters. Easy to understand. Dual narrative. Good length and interesting.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a good book. I loved the plot absolutely amazing. Read it in a day. 100 percent recommended, I will read more in the series

[Lauren S · Rating 2 out of 5]

I want to rip my hair out <3