By Melanie Romero
It’s 2033, and a bloody cat-and-mouse war—between the Deportation Forces and undocumented immigrants—has ravaged what was once the United States of America. The Other 49, meaning the 49 states without California, is a desert wasteland suffering from the extremities of climate change, more specifically drought. The Deportation Forces, using their “prisoners of war” as enslaved laborers, find an area thriving with mineral aqualinium, a toxic chemical capable of turning into rain.
But, it’s no easy feat surviving in this near-future dystopian world, where the Deportation Forces cattle their prisoners into labor camps and expose the sickly, the fragile, and the dying to experimental body horrors. It’s up to four women—Jess, Rania, Vali, and Liliana—to stand up against the abuse and fight for freedom, even if it means putting their lives on the line.
SOLIS, released on October 8, 2024, is a companion tale to Sanctuary. Activist Paola Mendoza and author Abby Sher co-write both novels. While Sanctuary focuses on the story of a brother and sister struggling to escape a xenophobic government, who have recently ordered nationwide microchipping of its citizens, SOLIS continues the worldbuilding of its predecessor (even so by directly mentioning microchips) but focuses on the more transparent themes of climate change and labor camps.
In SOLIS, the storyline develops from one perspective to the next, following four women grappling with the depravity of a sadistic war. Yet, although blatant xenophobia and anti-immigration policy are at the forefront, the seeming undertone that our current reality, our actual human world, is looming closer to that near-future dystopia if we don’t play our cards right. In her author’s note, Mendoza explains: “As I write this, in the United States democracy is on the verge of crumbling. The world is being engulfed with the fires of war. Our planet is dying faster than we imagined…” She continues onward with a resolute statement telling her readers to look at our global history, in which certain individuals rose against apartheid in South Africa, resisted the Nazi forces during the Holocaust, overthrew the Argentinian dictatorship, and stood up for the AIDS movement. Even in the face of dehumanization, there have been game players in our population who have revolutionized our world. But, more often than not, our history has a habit of repeating itself, of cementing its cyclical nature. And, then, Mendoza states that “[t]he systems of power appeared unbreakable, deeply entrenched in society, their continuation inevitable. And yet the systems fell to the power of the people.” Power is to the people as to people is to the power.
Sher then exemplifies in her own author’s note the purpose behind the variety of perspectives. She notes that they “told this story from four different points of view because our survival depends on each other.” In SOLIS, we have the perspectives of four women, starting with Jess. Jess is an ex-member of the Deportation Forces, who has now found her new home on the other side of the “wall.” Due to a treacherous act in which she saves the lives of three immigrants, she is found guilty by her own force and made into a prisoner. Don’t forget, Jess is a white woman, and her older brother Nick is high up in the chain of Deportation Force members. Either side views Jess as an enemy, and her bruises are not enough to garner pity from the other prisoners. Then, it’s Rania, a woman of Lebanese descent from Chicago; during the acquisition, her father one day disappears after work, and she and her mother must escape across the country. It doesn’t take long before they’re caught, and her mother—a diabetic—dies due to running out of insulin. In her captivity, Rania falls in love with Kenna, a female prisoner. It is Rania who bombs the aqualinium mine at the camp when the time comes, liberating all those who were captured. Vali is part of the Special Ops team to the resistance; she is tasked with getting the files as to how the Deportation Forces are using aqualinium to create rain. During the last part of the book, in which she enters the camp for a mission, she manages to get the files and be reunited with her own mother…who is then revealed to be Liliana. Liliana is the mastermind behind the resistance operation and was planning to sacrifice herself to bomb the mine….until Rania took it upon herself.
“[t]he systems of power appeared unbreakable, deeply entrenched in society, their continuation inevitable. And yet the systems fell to the power of the people.” Power is to the people as to people is to the power.
Sher is absolutely right. The four perspectives of the women caught in the crossfire of war are meant to show their connection to each other. Even if they aren’t aware of each other. Their realities interweave in ways unimaginable: Jess becomes one of the force’s enemies despite her “correct” immigration status; Rania learns of Kenna’s death through Jess, who stayed with Kenna as she took her last breath; Vali learns of Liliana’s operation through letters; Liliana prays for a beaten Jess and tells Rania the news of Kenna’s death. In the midst of war, these four women must survive the inevitable without being caught in their desire for liberation; they make friends out of foes, sacrifice their lives, and put others before their own safety.
Mendoza and Sher denounce violence in our real world as it is depicted in the book. However, they note that we must lead with love or else we’ll find ourselves in a parallel situation to those individuals in SOLIS.
And, now you may be asking? What does SOLIS mean? SOLIS is the name for the Special Ops organization, and each letter of SOLIS stands for “liberty” in a different language. It is quite obvious that liberty is the nucleus of the book, and it’s the characters’ glimmer of hope in a time of utter darkness.
“I believe one day you will understand that I was forced to make an impossible choice. A life in this death camp is no life at all. I chose to fight back, to find freedom in my resistance, to find liberation in the emancipation of others.”
Again, while this book is one of fiction, it closely relates to the direction in which our world—saturated by greed, xenophobia, coercion, and depletion—is going if we choose to turn our heads the other way. May the power of the people, led by love, change our global pathway for the better…and take us to our own sanctuary if we may need it.
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Melanie Romero is a trilingual writer born and raised in Orange, CA. It was during childhood weekend trips to Randy’s $1-a-book stall at the OC Market Place that she discovered a passion for reading and, eventually, writing. Today, she serves as Editor at Lil’ Libros and has written two children’s books, Amor de colores and J is for Janucá under the publisher. In her free time, she can be found indulging in challah and getting lost among the shelves of independent bookstores.
Starting February 2023, #OffThePage is featuring Melanie Romero as our monthly columnist. Our Arts & Culture column was initially founded by local journalist Gabriel San Román in May 2020. Since then we have collaboratively featured over 25 stories and paid nearly 10 contributors from our community. Pitch Melanie a story or email us for more information!
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