Blessing Amoya, a single African immigrant, has recently been relocated to Aberdeen in Scotland. While on a bus, feeling isolated, alone about her move, she witnesses one of the ships arriving across the North Sea. When the ship begins to land just beyond the city, Elvis, the bus driver, decides he is going to investigate, and sensing a chance to break from her mundane life, Blessing is among the small group that agrees to go with him.
Ryan Wallace, a cocaine-addicted Conservative politician, who has little interest in his job or career advancement, finds himself thrust into the unwanted role of the county's leader when the Prime Minister of the UK is killed in a terrorist attack on the day of the ship's arrival. More concerned with keeping the identity of his transsexual girlfriend, Candice, a secret rather than deal with the current crisis, his personal problems are further exasperated when he discovers his own grandmother is missing and was last seen on the surface of the alien ship in Scotland.
Candice Alvares, is a Brazilian Transsexual Escort and small-time drug dealer living in London who recently found herself becoming emotionally attached to one of her most valued clients, Ryan Wallace. When Ryan abruptly becomes Prime Minister and is forced to disconnect their relationship, Candice finds herself deserted in a city rapidly falling into a state of Social disorder.
Omari Fakim is an African Camel Caravan Trader from the remote desert wastes of Chad. Yearning to return home after being many months away from his daughter Joy he witnesses one of the ships landing just outside his home town of Fada. Upon reaching the edges of the object he is surprised to discover water and vegetation growing around the vessel. He explores the surface and soon discovers a way inside.
Joy Fakim has been anxiously awaiting the return home of her father so she can escape the unwanted attentions of her depraved Uncle. Local children have been disappearing from the town and Joy has suspicions about who is behind it and why. When she hatches a plan to save the remaining orphans from a similar fate, the arrival of the alien object may hold the key to their survival of them all.
Tariq Muhmood, a Parisian of Moroccan descent, is a member of a terrorist cell that has just performed its most successful attack by downing the plane of the British prime minister. He is unaware of the arrival of the ships until after his mission is completed -the consequences of which will have a profound effect on the rest of the world.
What else happens in the world while our characters try and solve their dilemmas?
Interspersed between the main narratives of these character perspectives are excerpts from diaries, news reports and social media from a variety of different sources that give the reader a greater insight outside of the main protagonist's view points on international events that occur during the timeline of the first book. These include commentary from a number of different global perspectives including clips from the copy of various journalists and excerpts from the notes of individuals from the world scientific, military and political communities and the observations and conclusions they make during the first few days of the alien objects arriving.
How does humanity react?
When the ships begin to land across the world, believing their arrival to be a prelude to invasion the majority of humanity rushes to hide while the world’s military readies itself for battle. However the curiosity of others leads them to seek access to the ships. Several of the vessels land in politically divisive places – one lands half way between the border of The United States of America and Mexico while another comes down in the middle of the ocean between the ‘Northern Limit Line’ the water boundary that divides the seas of North and South Korea. These landings causes conflict between the various nations and the many fatalities occur, indirectly as a result of the presence of the ships as a result of the aggressive actions of the country’s military.
Many noticeable changes begin to occur in the landscape and water that surrounds the vessels. Land becomes more fertile with fruit, vegetables and plant life all begin to grow at a greatly exacerbated rate and in places where previously it never would have been possible. The surrounding water of those that land in the world’s oceans become teaming with fish and completely free of pollution.
World opinion on how to deal with the vessels becomes increasingly divided. Some seek to destroy them while others think they might be here to give the world a second chance, purifying the planets of all pollutants caused by the humanity. When evidence backing up this theory begins to mount it leads to a huge public outcry resulting in a mass of civilians approaching several of the ships causing direct conflict with the world’s military.
Additional perspectives are provided to the reader both by the factual narrative clips and also through the secondary characters our seven protagonist meet on their journey.
What happens in the rest of the series?
The latter books continue to follow the personal dilemmas of our main characters, charting the impact that the alien ships have both on their lives as well those around them. With the characters coming from such a wide spectrum of cultural, class, sexuality, gender and religious backgrounds, each is truly unique and this cross section of the human race is designed to appeal to the widest readership possible. The structure of each novel is similar with some additional characters being introduced while others do not survive all the way to the climax of the series. While the first book covers a period of just the first few days, the second book covers the first three months after the ships arrival, while the third covers the rest of the first year. The three remaining books cover a period of approximately 14 months each, with the entire story spanning a period of five years, from the year 2020 until the end of 2025.
The story lines pf our protagonists gradually begins to converge and in some cases they conflict with one another, at times forcing the reader themselves to make a choice about the dilemma. When the motive behind the ships presence on our planet becomes clear it changes the social and political landscape of the earth forever. The world’s population soon finds themselves forced to take sides between those who are for the presence of the alien vessels and those who stand against them, dividing humanity irrevocably forever.
The continual unspoken character is that of the alien vessels themselves and the gradual unveiling of the answer to the question everyone is asking – Why are they here?
Aliens have arrived. We are no longer alone. Are they here for our salvation or annihilation?
When 200 alien objects, each the size of a city, arrive all over the planet, the world’s population goes into panic. Yet once the ships land and the expected invasion fails to materialise mankind finds itself facing a series of unexpected dilemmas caused by the ship's arrival. As the governments and the scientific community struggle to find answers, a small number of individuals manage to gain access inside the ships. As speculation about the crafts possible intentions begins to seep into the public consciousness, those in power fear their presence may substantially change the social dynamics of the world as we know it. Do the ships represent a chance for salvation for The Human Race or its annihilation?
Diamonds in the Sky is set over the first few days of the alien arrival and told from a multi-view perspective of seven different characters, many from different cultural backgrounds, spanning three continents across the world - Africa, Europe and America. Each chapter of the book is divided into three different character perspectives, with one new character being added in the postscript chapter whose role continues in the second book.
The story opens with single mother Diane Morrow driving across Nevada with her two young children when her car breaks down. While trying to fix it one of the alien vessels begins to land right in front of her. Diana realises the lower surface of the ship is covered in diamonds some of which she retrieves. Diana narrowly escapes being crushed by the ship as it drills down into the earth. (For more about the other characters read below)