by Liz Williams

The aliens who arrived on Earth centuries earlier to colonize the planet have returned. In India, where cultural memory of the aliens depicts them as the pantheon of gods and goddesses of the Hindu faith, their return coincides with a resurgence of belief in the caste system. The aliens select a dying woman, Jaya Nihalani, as their mouthpiece for re-contacting humanity--unfotunately, Jaya is not only not of the