Alterra

Young people on Alterra must choose. After they complete secondary school, they enroll either in University--a life of science and mathematical pursuits--or Monastery--a life of literature, history and spiritual depth.Initiate Le is in his final year of school. All his life, he has prepared himself for University, but something feels wrong. Neither University nor Monastery compel him forward.One night, Le discovers a young man from his school sneaking into a 'zone,' a dangerous area where nanotechnology runs rampant, cordoned off from the rest of the city. Against all reason, Le follows Initiate Stok inside. What he discovers will change him and his world forever.Equal parts love story, military adventure and social philosophy, Alterra is the story of three young men striving to save two estranged parallel worlds whose only hope for survival is to rectify the ancient schism that shattered them both.