The Mercy of Gods follows a group of scientists in Anjiin where ruthless aliens called Carryx arrived, captured the best of the best, and are testing them for their usefulness.

This book explored the unimaginable challenges faced by humans living in an alien world while proving their worth. It delved into the human psyche under extreme distress, and the authors masterfully portrayed the nuances of the characters and their coping mechanisms. Each character reacted to captivity in unique and compelling ways, their struggles raw and relatable.

Beyond the characters, I was intrigued by the Carryx and the Swarm(!), their history, biology, and culture. The authors explained the alien world and scientific concepts and information clear and accessible without overwhelming the reader.

This book is one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and I absolutely love it. It sparked something in my brain, and I will constantly think about it and wishing I have the next book in the series.

Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group UK & Orbit for the eARC

Lovers of good science fiction will be aware of the name James SA Corey. This is the pen name of Ty Frank and Daniel Abraham who, as a pair, have been responsible for one of the most epic and influential space opera series of the last decade – The Expanse. Over nine volumes, The Expanse created and played in a complex and dangerous world, always anchored by a core cast of loveable, relatable, flawed characters. Following the end of both The Expanse book series and also excellent TV adaption (which they both worked on), James SA Corey returns with the first book in a new series. Mercy of Gods, clearly marked as Book One of the Captive’s War is still space opera, but in a very different register, and dealing with different historical analogies, to The Expanse.
Mercy of Gods opens with a human settlement on the world of Anjiin. Humans arrived on Anjiin three and a half thousand years before - “why they had come there… was lost in the fog of time and history” (although readers of The Expanse may have a theory or two). Despite the underlying biology of Anjiin being incompatible with carbon-based life, humans and their animals and plants have survived and thrived. Mercy of Gods opens with a research group that has made a breakthrough in combining the two very different biologies of Anjiin. But right from the opening epigraph, which refers to the conquest of Anjiin, readers are keyed into the overall arc of this story which is not about research but is one of conquest and resistance. Similarly, portents and foreshadowing fills the first few chapters.
In this first section of the book, readers are introduced to the many members of the research group – in particular team leader Tonner, his girlfriend Else, and Dafyd, a well connected research assistant carrying a torch for Else. While the team’s political and social struggles come to seem irrelevant in the face of an alien invasion, these pre-existing issues and relationships do come to play a part in the narrative as it progresses. This is because the invading Carryx make use of all of the species that they conquer and they take the team, and other research groups, to another planet where they are put to work on a project to combine incompatible biological systems.
This is where Mercy of Gods takes a very different turn to The Expanse. While there was plenty of indication of alien life, The Expanse was very focused on humanity. In Mercy of Gods there is a myriad of alien species, most of which are subjugated to the Carryx and most of the action in set in a massive alien structure on an unnamed planet.
But even amongst all of this strangeness and wonder, Corey sticks to what they do best – putting the human protagonists and their relationships at the centre of the narrative. Corey showed their capacity to deliver a complex found family story in The Expanse. This is far from the same. There are family-like relationships here, but readers will not get the comfort of the central crew of the Rocinante. The characters in Mercy of Gods have been taken from their lives and placed under extreme pressure, essentially prisoners of war, in a completely alien environment run by rules that they do not understand. They come together when they need to but also betray each other depending on their view of the situations.
Because in the end this is a war story. Essentially an exploration of what happens to people in a forced labour camp. Corey explores the different ways in which the humans react – whether it is focussing on the work, or developing new relationships, or plotting a suicidal revolution, or trying to play the system to their advantage. Into this mix Corey throws another common war story trope – a spy from a race that has been successfully fighting the Carryx and has been gathering information to help in that war by hiding among the humans.
The foreshadowing at the beginning of the book, and in many of the epigraphs, is important because very little is resolved by the end of Mercy of Gods. And while there is upheaval on the horizon it is unclear how this small band of plucky humans will even survive never mind succeed. By the time, the book concludes there has been plenty of incident, character development and action but those hints of the future seem a very long way away from fruition. Readers are in good hands though, as Corey clearly knows where this narrative is ultimately going. All of these elements make Mercy of Gods an excellent introductory volume to The Captive’s War, which feels like it will be a long running and fascinating series.

After the blazing success of The Expanse, the dynamic duo James S.A. Corey takes a fresh turn and kicks off a brand-new epic sci-fi trilogy with The Mercy of Gods. Exploding with mystery, intrigue, horror, and brutally raw human emotion, this survival first-contact story will fill you with equal parts terror and fascination, and then leave you star-struck by the end.

Set in a far distant future, The Mercy of Gods transports us to the planet Anjiin where humans have been thriving for the past few millennia. But now, the desperate gaze of the Carryx has landed on their planet, and only the brightest of society are safe from the conqueror’s destruction. Swept away to the Carryx’ homeworld, a group of brilliant scientists is thrown into a deadly competition against other captive species for the favour of their captors, and they will either have to learn, sacrifice and adapt, or else face total extinction.

Now, having not read The Expanse myself (though I have watched 3 seasons of the show), I went into The Mercy of Gods with no expectations and just let the story carry me away. And honestly, I think going into this morbidly fascinating trainwreck of a story completely blind is the ultimate way to experience it. It might not be spectacularly fast-paced or action-packed, but I guarantee that you won’t be able to stop turning the pages.

For me, the highlight of The Mercy of Gods is without a doubt the stupendously captivating character work. The diverse group of scientists that we follow through this nightmare scenario is exceptionally well developed, to the point that they are almost too terrifyingly realistic and relatable in their human flawedness. We get such an intimate and brutally raw exploration of how this insane level of stress, trauma and horror affects each person differently, and I truly ate up all the inner conflict and interpersonal drama. Especially the themes of morality and mental health shine bright in this story, and I found it fascinating to see how much a mind can take before it breaks and how people would justify their own horrible actions under the guise of survival.

Having said that, I do have to admit that I was more captivated and engrossed on an intellectual level than an emotional or enjoyment level, and I generally prefer it to be the other way around. While I was absolutely in awe of Corey’s wild imagination and evidently brilliant scientific expertise, I personally felt a bit alienated (pun intended?) by some of the more sciency aspects of The Mercy of Gods; at some point I just had to accept that my pea brain is not made for this type of information, and that is okay (or that is what I have just decided to tell myself, let me have this consolation, thank you).

Honestly though, I think it is a true testament to Corey’s skill as authors that I was still so engaged and excited despite some parts of the story going over my head and not being fully invested. See, for all that I felt lost at times, I also kind of appreciated how wildly alien and deeply immersive this story felt. Especially the way that the Carryx are portrayed terrified me to my core, and my anthropology and linguistics loving heart absolutely burst with joy over all the clashing between species and cultures.

Moreover, I loved how Corey infused this narrative with so much intrigue and mystery, especially through the occasional inclusion of non-human perspectives. Be it the Carryx’ excerpts at the start of each new Part of the book or the elusive ‘swarm’ POV, these shifts in perspective created such a riveting level of looming dread that just kept me on my toes the entire way through. And in a way, Corey literally spoils the ending of the story on the very first page, yet somehow that only heightens the intrigue level to truly unimaginable heights.

While I had never expected this to be my introduction to James S.A. Corey’s works, I think it ended up being the perfect entry point for me. Not only did this first instalment in The Captive’s War series leave me desperate for more with its tragically fitting and ominously foreboding ending, but it also instantly rekindled my interest in The Expanse series. If you like the sound of a slow-burn and character-driven take on an alien invasion story that is as epic as it is intimate, as alien as it is human, and as horrifying as it is fascinating, then I can’t recommend The Mercy of Gods highly enough.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Mercy of Gods is scheduled for release on August 6, 2024.

As an old canard goes, academic politics are so bitter because the stakes are so small; and as an academic in my day job, I can attest to the truth of this. So when a book comes along in which the future of not just humanity, but the whole-ass galaxy depends upon the combined skills of a lab-based research group I am ready to eat it up with a spoon. And my goodness, what a tasty meal it was!

The setting of James S. A. Corey’s new series is a far-future galaxy in which humanity has completed (at least one) colonization effort on the planet of Anjiin. This effort nearly failed, however, and the intervening struggles between then and now have wiped out all records of what happened. Humans only know they are not native to Anjiin through inference: there are biological dissimilarities between their biology and indigenous biology; and there is archaeological evidence showing that humans arrived some thousands of years ago, and nearly died out before managing to spread and flourish. (And isn’t that a prequel saga that I’d like to read!) At the time of this book, humans on Anjiin have developed to roughly the same technology and population spread as humans on present-day earth, with a similar lack of evidence of other extraterrestrial (extra-Anjiinian) life in their astronomical research. But, of course, there is a profoundly different foundation to this lack of evidence. They know there must be extra-Anjiinian life in the universe, because, after, all, they are it.

Our core cast of characters are an elite university research group, who have just completed a brilliant biochemical study. Although humans and human-based biospheres—the plants and animals that (presumably) arrived on Anjiin with the humans—are incompatible with a crystalline-based biosphere indigenous to the planet, this group that has managed to bridge that divide that divide, so that the two biological systems can now interact. It’s a planet-wide triumph, but hot on its heels comes institutional conflict. Funding pressures, politics, and disputes based in status and hierarchy led by rival academics mean that the research group is at risk of being dispersed; its project placed under external control, and its members reassigned to different labs.

Then things get worse. Aliens attack! It is first contact with non-Anjiin based life, and it is the worst possible kind. The aliens are governed by Borg-like creatures called the Carryx, who have conquered uncounted species around the galaxy and forced them to submit, allowed to survive on sufferance as long as they can make themselves useful. (The huge, imaginative variety of aliens encountered under the Carryx aegis is very entertaining, and reminds me a bit of Julie Czerneda's inventiveness.) The Carryx skim humans from Anjiin, taking only the most successful in their various fields—including our biochemical research group--and bring them to Carryx-controlled planet. There, the researchers are given a task: take a berry-like life-form from one planet, and make it edible to a turtle-like creature from another planet. It’s a direct continuation of their most recent discovery: take two distinct biologies, and make them compatible.

This narrative has exactly the same feel and pacing as Corey’s previous epic space opera, The Expanse. Fans of the Expanse books will feel right at home here. The POV shifts across the many characters—including Carryx and other alien entities—in a way that, at first, I found a little disorienting. But given the large number of core characters in the research group, on reflection it worked well to keep them all distinct. Jessyn is plagued with chronic depression and reliant on medication and her brother Jellit to keep her stable enough to work. Rickar stands to come out of the pending institutional reorganization very well, and is for that reason seen as a traitor to the group. Synnia, whose husband died when the Carryx first arrived, refuses to participate in the assigned task, but is open to making trouble for the Carryx when the opportunity arises. Tonner, the leader of the research group, is brilliant at the science and fully devoted to solving the problem, but not terribly skilled at people. Dafyd, a young research assistant, won his position largely by virtue of nepotism (his aunt is well placed in institutional funding circles) and is stronger with people skills than science. Else is the project co-leader, and also sleeping with Tonner, but Dafyd is sweet on her.

(I feel I must add here, however, that Corey scorns to employ such an overused trope as romantic rivalry to build tension between Dafyd and Tonner. Multiple times characters will think of their situation dismissively as ‘bullshit sexual politics’ and the like; and the significance of these relations turns out to be much more interesting then the stupid contrived drama that could never have hoped to rise above the level of boring tedium that is a love triangle.)

This rich cast of characters, combined with other secondary characters, is a crucial part of filling out what would otherwise be a slightly sterile environment. There are not many locations outside the transport ship and lab building. Much of the book is character work—and very good character work. The interests and motivations that characterized all of the players in this drama before the arrival of the Carryx end up structuring their decisions and relations during transit and after arrival in believable and sympathetic ways.

Indeed, this link between Before and After can be seen everywhere in the book structure, not just in the characters. The transport from Anjiin to the Carryx planet is a fascinating study of humans in captivity, a crucible in which people's essential natures are distilled and revealed---and one which not everyone survives. It echoes in a sort of nebulous way the inferred struggle to survive that had taken place when humans first arrived on Anjiin, and almost died before taking over.

On a more local level, the Before and After links can be seen within the events of the book. And since this more immediate Before was an academic institutional drama, the After can be read in that way too. When the research group is abducted and given the berry-turtle task, they are being reassigned to a different lab, exactly as they were afraid would happen at the start. On the Carryx planet, further parallels abound: rival labs, side projects, interdisciplinary endeavours, and squabbles about research credit. The difference, of course, is that the consequences of failure are deadly. ‘Publish or perish’ is literal here, because in Carryx society, if you are not useful, you are dead.

But what really puts the bow on this extremely satisfying power fantasy of lab biochemists fighting the enemy through the power of SCIENCE is the recognition that a huge part of successful science is not the science, but the people. Schmoozing. Networking. Figuring out who wants what, why, and what they’ll do to get it. Navigating institutional politics is a huge component of successful science, and when the institutions and politics are formed of aliens whose worldview, values, and social structures are unthinkably different from everything you’ve ever known, you can Andy Weir your way through the science with the brilliance of a thousand Einsteins, and still get caught out if you don’t know how to figure out what the upper administration actually want and how to give it to them.

Or, if you’re planning a rebellion, how to take it away and crush it into dust.

Though I loved the hell out of Leviathan Wakes, I was never completely enamoured with the Expanse series (putting it on hiatus after book 3) so I can hardly be called a superman. That being said it's impossible to miss the impact the duo that makes up James S A Corey has had on the sci-fi landscape. I jumped at the chance to read this

I went into it completely blind. I had no idea of the plot, I didn't read the blurb and my copy (a digital ARC from Netgalley and Tor Books) didn't even have a cover.

This state of blindness is essentially where I stayed, fumbling around in search of something to anchor myself to, for the first 30% of the book.

There are just too many, oddly yet similarly named characters introduced too quickly with too little differentiation. Couple this with too many story threads, and almost zero time to get to know anything other than the bare generalities and I just didn't get to know any of them well enough to care, or even like them.

Then there's the plot of this section of the book. What boils down to the arguments and backroom deals surrounding a particularly dull piece or academic politicking, a game of musical chairs that has zero impact on anything really.

Any deeper sense of the world or characters was sacrificed in the name of pace, but a weird hinterland of pace where nothing of note happens... but quickly. Almost like the writers were sprinting through the drudge to get to the good bit.

And there are good bits! Only it takes until about two thirds into the book to get to them. By which time I the best those good bits could do is pull it from a 2.5 to a 3. A solid 3 though. However I think I'm done and won't be reading the rest of the series, which is a shame because I'm almost positive book two will be way better.

I may have been overly harsh here. There were moments of near brilliance and fascinating ideas explored in an original way. The alien concepts and design are interesting and varied.

I'm sure this book and series will find their audience, if never hitting the heights of the Expanse. But hell, catching lightning in a bottle once is damn near impossible.

The quality of the writing in The Expanse series is truly impressive. The author excels at crafting compelling sci-fi stories, and the characters are captivating and well-developed. The plot and premise are strong, making for an engaging read. I'm eagerly anticipating the release of the hardcover editions.

he Suneater Saga meets the Lord of the Flies meets the Will of the Many synthesised in a science lab

A twisty foreshadow laden novel that emphasises the journey over than the destination, The Mercy of Gods is a skilful novel that subverts your expectations, confounds assumptions and zags when you expect it to zig. While the narrative doesn’t work as smoothly, this is a very interesting novel that leaves you wanting more. I got an advanced copy of the book from the awesome folks at NetGalley and the author and the below reflect my honest thoughts on this book



Letting readers know the ending at the very beginning of the book is a particularly risky decision but it also kind of whets the appetite. As a reader, you do know where the story ends and therefore you start focusing on the how of it. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss & Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio are fantastic examples of this kind of foreshadowing. In a way, both books focus on acts committed by the lead character that are empire shaking in ways, good and bad.

“We did not see the adversary for what he was and we brought him into our home”

The Mercy of Gods showcases in the introduction chapter itself the ending of the overall saga in a suitably chilling & final manner through the notes of a librarian. It is a story of an invasion of human beings, residing on a planet called Anjin by the Carryx, a part-hive, part-empire superior species that have conquered and subjugated countless species across the galaxy. With extinction of the species at stake, Anjin humans have to figure out what the Carryx actually want in order to survive especially with other species trying to do the same. It is survival of the fittest and that is the actual stake that is established in this book

“I find social intrigue exhausting. I like research, where things are quantifiable and falsifiable”

Right off the bat, the authors establish this conflict from the viewpoint of scientists and academics which is a major differentiating factor. What this also does is make this a cerebral contest of survival rather than a typical action based novel. The intrigue of that first chapter sustains the more calculated phase that follows afterwards and some of the pacing is rather deliberate. Dafyd Alkhor, a junior researcher who is part of a potentially groundbreaking research spearheaded by a genius serves as the audience surrogate as the invasion unfolds and he is the main driver of the story.

“We can hope for the best without being too specific about it”

When we meet Dafyd at first, we see him as a slightly spoilt, connected young man who is kind of immature, a smooth political operator and also infatuated with someone way beyond his station in the academia. However, as we see the story unfold, we see the characteristics that make Dafyd the main protagonist of this story. As the ruthless, brutal and swift invasion unfolds, Dyfed’s analytical ability and observation at the time of the emergency come to fore and these skills increasingly get played out as the stakes escalate once the Carryx transport them out of Anjin. With a significant portion of humanity decimated, the best and the brightest of Anjin society are pitted into a contest that they are barely aware of with other similar conquered species. It is Dafyd who is able to figure out the stakes of the game and how it is not a game at all. Dafyd does come across as a bit of a contrarian and that enables him to observe and take decisive decisions.

“Good and evil are constructs lesser beings build to create divisions in places where rigour and intelligence are insufficient”

This is no doubt a thrilling narrative that could have hewn to certain well-trodden paths that other books have laid out across the genre but this is where the authors kind of zag away when you expect them to zig. As a reader, I was conditioned to assume that the narrative would go in a certain direction but the pacing remains deliberate and the direction that the survival conflict takes is an interesting slow-paced one interspersed with a few moments of shocking violence that indicates how this might be a zero-sum game. It helps that the author whets the appetite with that first chapter as the narrative is a bit slow and measured for quite sometime.

“I think some important scientific questions have finally been answered. Alien life exists, and they are assholes”

The understanding that Dafyd arrives at regarding the Carryx (a cross between Thanos and Galactus) is balanced by his relationship with the others of the research group specifically the object of his infatuation. Unbeknownst to them, there is another party in the fray here - another swarm, hive mind that view the Carryx as the ultimate threat and have been waging this battle for quite sometime. This third party adds yet another layer of intrigue to this story.

“The slow, low pulse of being alive kept making its demands, no matter what. However bad it was, however mind-breaking and strange and painful, the mundane insisted on its cut”

The narrative is smooth but the deliberate pace does make the portion after the invasion a bit of a trudge. However, this is also the time where the power dynamics of the group actually change and also serves to show how sometimes life does go on despite circumstances. The book is kind of bleak and fatalistic in a way and in a way, it does become a heavy read as characters wrestle with who they were and who they are. Scientists and academics used to their routine try to fall back into the same routine in a world that no longer makes sense and that produces some interesting coping mechanisms for the group that result in charged dynamics in some cases.

“I have worked my whole career at the intersection of humanity and violence. The Carryx are trying to figure out whether we’re domesticable but I already know the answer to that. We aren’t. We never have been. Someone is going to fight back. That’s just the kind of primate we are.”

Mercy of Gods also expounds on what it means to be human in some flattering and unflattering terms through hope and conflict. It also offers a contrast in the way that the Carryx think and the differences between the 2 species. Dafyd is the only one who is able to think like the Carryx and that helps him as he makes moves to survive. The supporting characters that round this group are also kind of well fleshed out and are given unique voices and reactions. There are multiple human conflicts that arise within this group that elicit different reactions given the situation and that makes for a rather compelling read. Ultimately the book is about choices and sacrifices and the narrative takes interesting turns exploring both of these

“There’s always hope for something. Just not always….not always what we want”

The Mercy of the Gods ends at an interesting stage setting up the perfect kind of situation where you desperately need the next book in hand. Interesting choices, changing power dynamics and the presence of a third party serve up a tantalising escalation point for this series. The Mercy of the Gods is an intriguing first book of what promises to be a terrific space opera touching on the universal themes of rebellion and revenge on a cerebral and political canvas

I received a copy of this book for a free and unbiased opinion.
I loved The Expanse ( read my review of the series here), so I was excited to read The Captive’s War and just like the Expanse I loved it.
The worlds of Anjin, the prison ship and prison camp are vividly and brilliantly described. The Carryx, is a truly alien species from their physical appearance, their nature and attitude to their captured and with murky motives- I’m not expecting them to show any humanity at any point.
From the moment The Carryx turns up on Anjin and round up the crème de le crème of scientists, singers etc, the descriptions become darker and tense- there were moments where I had to stop reading. The scenes on the transport ship where Dafyd and his team are slowly dehumanised are harrowing.
The slow but steady change in people’s humanity was fascinating to read particularly what humans can do to survive. Dafyd, is probably the first one who realises what needs to be done to play the long game to ensure the survival of the human race.
The complex plot moves steadily with bursts of action and plenty of science, but the story never drags or loses momentum. If I did have a criticism I would have liked to have known about the ‘spy ‘ from another alien species but hopefully this will be covered by the next book.
Content warning
Descriptions of captivity
Perfect for Fans of
The Expanse

I'm a huge fan of The Expanse series, so was really excited to see the first title in a new series by James S A Corey. When the Carryx appear over the skies of Anjiin, it seems to spell the end for the human race. The Carryx are a merciless hive species who are slowly waging war on the whole galaxy, destroying planets, killing billions and enslaving species that they feel could benefit them.

We follow the story of one scientific research team, who are shipped off to the Carryx home world and set to work in competition with another species. Trying to understand the motivation of their masters and faced with impossible choices, the team - in particular the young research assistant Dafyd Alkho – struggle to accept their fate and retain their humanity.

How do you battle an enemy who only sees you as a tool? How can you beat a species whose members accept that any sign of failure or weakness on their part will result in their own death? Unexpectedly, the answer might lie with the Swarm, a spy who takes control of the mind and body of its human host, and who seeks understanding of the Carryx so it can help in the war its own species is waging on them.

Though I wasn't as gripped as I was in the first book in The Expanse series, nor do I feel the same connection with Davyd as I did with James Holden, I still thoroughly enjoyed this read and eagerly await the next book,

By the time I discovered The Expanse through the TV adaptation the series it was based on was up to book six or so. I'm sure I can't be alone in finding it off-putting discovering a series so far in. So it's nice to have something new, and more accessible, from the author.

Anyway, welcome to the planet Anjiin. What's humanity doing here, you might well ask? That's not important right now, but what we're told boils down to 'they turned up on one of the continents and despite efforts to remove them made themselves at home'. Which sounds about right.

Not that it matters. Before we have chance to get comfortable the planet's invaded, the populace subjugated and the brightest and best shipped off to who knows where.

They way we're introduced to the conquering Carryx works surprisingly well. Learning about them, their idiosyncrasies and the myriad alien species they've conquered as our human protagonists do keeps us firmly on an equal footing with them. Makes us almost one of them, feeling every loss and setback as they do.

This might all seem slightly small scale when compared with The Expanse, but there are glimpses throughout of something much larger in scale. Something that will surely be explored as the narrative unfolds in subsequent books in the trilogy.

Thanks to NetGalley, Orbit and the author for an advance copy.

The Mercy of Gods is the new novel from James SA Corey, the author duo behind The Expanse Series.

It is the first book in The Captives War series, and it very much feel like the first book in a series. This novel was all about laying foundations, world building and introducing concepts.

Personally I haven’t read or watched The Expanse however I always hear it described as a “Space Opera”, now this was anything but that. The novel had a very claustrophobic feel to me, which I really enjoyed.

It was largely character driven, and a good proportion of the book is spent understanding the motivations of cast in a relatively small physical space.

The book leaves many questions left unanswered, but there is enough in it that leaves me keen for the release of the next instalment.

A strong and intriguing opening.

I approached this book as someone who has not read The Expanse by the same author duo, but had read The Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham twice, and is up to date with the Kithamar Trilogy by the same author. What I received was a wonderfully twisted first-contact story where we follow a group of researchers as humanity receives the Carryx, a truly alien species in every way. My main praise for this novel is that it conveys brilliant and nuanced concepts in an extremely accessible, and effortlessly readable, way. It is also not shy about removing characters from the novel in surprising and horrifying ways. Honestly, I was just pleasantly surprised with how much I utterly loved most of this book; it had me gripped throughout, and was an absolute page-turner! Absolutely going to pick this up physically and can't wait for the next instalment.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When i heard that James SA Corey is writing a book, i was very much excited to get my hands on it as soon as possible. The story explains the invasion of an alien race and how it affects human race with a team researchers as the main characters of the story.

I really liked the worldbuilding implemented in this story. The alien race, their biology, their world are all the main focus of the story with a good character study as well. As a person who enjoys Daniel Abraham stories very much, i can say that if this series has his flavour of writing, we are on a best path towards exciting things as we move on.

The Mercy of Gods is yet another epic space tale from the dynamic writing duo known as James S. A. Corey, who previously enthralled us with the remarkable *Expanse* series. This novel delves deep into the complexities of human nature as it explores the lives of people from another planet, possibly set in a distant future, who find themselves ensnared in an interstellar war.

The story masterfully captures the essence of humanity as the characters grapple with captivity, profound loss, and the challenge of adapting to a new way of life. The emotional depth and resilience of the characters are brought to life with incredible nuance, making their journeys both relatable and riveting.

One of the standout elements of *The Mercy of Gods* is its phenomenal world-building. The authors excel in creating immersive and richly detailed settings that transport readers into the heart of the interstellar conflict. The vivid descriptions and intricate societal structures enrich the narrative, providing a solid backdrop against which the drama unfolds.

As with the *Expanse* series, this novel showcases the authors' ability to blend intense action with thoughtful exploration of philosophical and ethical dilemmas. The themes of survival, identity, and the human spirit's capacity to endure are interwoven seamlessly into the plot, making for a thought-provoking and engaging read.

Fans of the *Expanse* series and newcomers alike will find much to admire in this latest offering from James S. A. Corey.

"The Mercy of Gods" by James S. A. Corey is an enthralling addition to the realm of science fiction and space opera. Set in the expansive universe of the Expanse series, the novel delves deeper into the intricate politics, interstellar conflicts, and complex characters that fans have come to love. Corey’s storytelling is as compelling as ever, weaving a narrative that is both action-packed and emotionally resonant.

The novel follows a new set of characters while seamlessly integrating familiar faces from previous books. The protagonists are well-developed, each with distinct motivations and backgrounds that enrich the story. Corey excels at creating morally ambiguous characters, making their struggles and decisions feel genuine and impactful.

The plot is a thrilling ride, filled with unexpected twists and high-stakes drama. From intense space battles to quieter moments of introspection, the pacing keeps readers engaged throughout. The world-building is meticulous, providing a vivid backdrop that enhances the narrative's depth and complexity.

Corey’s prose is sharp and efficient, balancing detailed descriptions with crisp dialogue. Themes of power, loyalty, and survival are explored thoughtfully, adding layers of meaning to the exhilarating plot. "The Mercy of Gods" is a must-read for fans of the Expanse series and newcomers alike, offering a captivating journey through a richly imagined universe. This novel cements James S. A. Corey’s place as a master storyteller in the genre.

## expectations = high

**I am SO PUMPED i got an ARC of this book!!** This was easily my most anticipated release of 2024 - and i don't generally anticipate anything. I **loved** _The Expanse_ and sprawling space operas with dozens of characters are totally my thing!!

Suffice to say, **the expectations were high, and while _The Mercy of Gods_ isn't bad by any means, it sadly did disappoint a little bit.**

## disappointing worldbuilding

In my memories, _The Expanse_ was setup easily, with very little infodump and characters that explain things to you naturally as time goes on. _The Mercy of Gods_ is the opposite :/

**It was so hard to get into it!** The first chapter was so out of place, stylistically and thematically. The second one tries to introduce the world, but has to do enough background work for you to situate everyone, and **it's just clunky.**

**There are "interruption" chapters with povs from the aliens, but they so obviously meant as foreshadowing that it was transparent and frankly annoying**. I get it, you want a space opera - but that's not the way to go! have some respect for your reader and write the damned thing instead of doing bad teasing (which ends up spoiling some of the end reveals!).

### it's fine actually

After all that ranting (you know on whose blog you are, don't you lol), i have to say _The Mercy of Gods_ is actually ok. Less good than _The Expanse_, but the writing stays good, there is no purple prose, no gaping plot hole... **I had a good time learning about the world and seeing things develop.**

### one big gripe

I do have one big problem: if the humans are on this planet called Anjin, and they've been here for millenia, and they know they don't come from here and have lost the original birth planet of the species... then **WHY IS EVERYTHING SO SIMILAR?**

**The places and people have vaguely exotic names**, but the society is the same, the buildings are the same, the science is the same, ... **everything is _exactly as it would be on Earth!_** Then why not put them there? Probably a plot reason?
**Okay, you need your readers to have some familiarity with how the humans are organized inside a lab, because you already have so much to explain so you can't spend time on it**... but then make it exactly like Earth! I don't know the solution, but **the vibes were off on that part.**

---

## character growth and mental illness rep

> _”You're joking."__“Of course I am," Campar said. “It's how I keep from spending all day screaming. What do you do?"_

**At its core, this book is supposed to be about mental illness, trauma, and how we as humans survive difficult (that's an understatement) situations.** I think it was a good intention, and those parts were done well, but there were fundamental flaws in how the characters were made such that it didn't work.

### the good parts: mental illness and trauma

**If you saw the mentions of depression, anxiety and meds, and immediately feared the worse - i'm here to reassure you: it was done well.** No stereotypes, no infantilizing, no weird shit: they did their research and made that character believable and in my opinion, a good representation.

**Same thing for the trauma part**: it's really nice to see a book where **all the heroes go through tremendous life changes and _are changed_ because of it - and not in a superficial way.** There were many different ways they each reacted to the trauma of loosing so many people and they all deeply felt the pressure they were put under.

With that said, James S. A. Corey managed **to never fall into miserabilism either**, and had a good balance inside of the group. I enjoyed how this little found family helped each other, and how tight inter-personal bounds aided their healing.
This is also a book where the characters go back to their mundane day to day life. They have to reframe how they see the world and their community, but ultimately they have to go on and keep doing their science.

### the mediocre parts: why the f should i care?

**Now, the big problem: i couldn't bring myself to care.** I think there were **way too many characters and different povs**, and we didn't get to spend enough time with each of them to get to know them intimately.

I remember the name of the main ones, but **the rest of the semi-side characters blend together**. (they're not on the side, they all have a big role and significant on-page time + povs) No much stuck in my mind: there's the leader of the team, the mentally ill woman, and the outsider boy; but the rest of them, their weaknesses and strength, their positions within the team... **can't really place them back on the map!**

Too little characterization, too little time in their heads, and so they don't feel real. **A lot of them take actions that could have been surprising and out of character, but they didn't since i don't know _what_ their character is.**

Also, Dafyd isn't half the hero the authors want him to be... i see in the writing they want him to be charming and compelling and whatnot but dude - he's just not! (sorry)

### and so the pressure drops

**In the end, it's what makes this book loose one star for me: lots of people describe it as a horror book, with thriller elements, but it's impossible to feel it when you don't have a connection to the victims.**

On top of the scary part about being abducted by aliens, there are also some revelations about a character (won't spoil you, i promise) that fell completely flat. If we had known them properly, it would have had an impact, but here i saw things coming and couldn't empathize with them even a little bit.

---
## is it really space opera?

**One thing i absoluted LOVED with _The Expanse_, was the sprawling space opera part!** Going from planet to planet, seeing networks of trade, refuel stations, ... this is my happy place ahah!!

I saw that _The Mercy of Gods_ was labeled in the same genre, and this is part of what **gave me wrong expectations**. Maybe (probably) books 2 and after will be space operas, but book 1 was firmly planted on two planets, with only one travel between them.

**To me, a space opera is a big story**: one that expands over many worlds, many characters, many nations; **one that takes up lots of space**. Battles are optional, but appreciated, and there needs to be an aspect of changing humanity's future to the plot.

**Sure, in _The Mercy of Gods_, the human race is in danger,** and is fighting for survival, but **we're so confined to the 2 planets** that it doesn't feel like a space opera. We got a few interruptions by other alien characters in other parts of the universe, but they were few and far between, and didn't convince me. They were mostly boring to read, and are **only hinting at something more - nothing actually happens in this book.**

_The Captive's War_ **has great potential** to become a wonderful series, but **for now all we got is a long-winded exposition story,** and it's lacking a bit in excitement. I really hope James S. A. Corey will pick up the pace and that **we'll get some exponential growth** in the setting to truly get to space opera status!

---
## don't show your aliens

I was personally very disappointed with the aliens. **Most of my troubles come from the discrepancy between what the characters say** - aliens so alien it's difficult to even understand their existence, so uncanny the brain panics - **and the actual descriptions** - it looks like a horse/monkey/crow.

**The Carryx (the alien overlords) evoked only one thing in my mind: Jabba the Hut** - and it's difficult to take that seriously. Maybe it's a failure of my imagination, but i don't usually have trouble seeing aliens as a different species that's completely made up by the authors.

**That's the drawback of describing your aliens: unless you're a really really good writer, you will necessarily make them mundane by describing them in terms of stuff your reader knows.** I would have very much preferred to have less physical descriptions of them, and more mental descriptions of the effect they have on humans - that's how you can get me to feel the uncanny otherness of it!

**Now, i also understand not everyone wants weird aliens - and that's ok! But in this case you shouldn't be letting your human characters see them as strange, panic-inducing creatures.**
If you want excellent representation of eerie extraterrestrial life, i recommend [Alien Clay](https://readingdelicacies.com/alien-clay-tchaikovsky-in-his-home-world/) (yes, i will recommend that book on every section of this post - it's just so good!!). Adrian Tchaikovsky managed to walk the line between physical descriptions (there are even a few dissection scenes) where he compares his creations to earthen animals, and the mental panic that the abnormal differences provokes for the humans.

---
## i probably shouldn't compare _The Mercy of Gods_ to _The Expanse_ so much

All along this post, i've been making references to Alien Clay, which i think is fair considering they are both recent sci-fi works, with similar themes. I also can't help but compare it to _The Expanse_, since the same authors are behind it. (James S. A. Corey is a pen name; it's actually a duo of authors) However, now that i've reflected a bit on it, **i think it's rather unfair.**

Even though i'm trying really hard to remember only _Leviathan Wakes_, the first book of _The Expanse_, i have read the entire thing AND also watched the TV show. **Of course the characters in _The_ _Mercy of Gods_ pale in comparison! I haven't had 8(?) books and 5(?) seasons to get attached to them and see them grow!**

The set isn't big enough? **It took The Expanse a while to truly explore all of its places!** The social commentary? I'll have to defer to people with a better memory, but i'm not sure we saw that much of it in _Leviathan Wakes_. Probably a bit more since it's central to the construction of the world, but i'm thinking about **all the nuanced discussions of rebellion and how to overthrow a system that kept Belters weak and dependent - and that was in the last books only!**

**The only bit that was truly done better is the alien part**: they weren't shown, and only experienced through the characters emotions. Julia (was it her name?) remade by the protomolecule was terrifying, and the later aliens weren't even seen for most of it.


## 7 reasons why you should read _The Mercy of Gods_

Yes, if:

a. You want **some nice entertainment!** While it doesn't deliver on the space opera front, it's still plenty of fun to read and follow along

b. **You don't care much for science, but you like having a little academia background.** As i said, the scientific explanations aren't the most detailed, and **a scifi newbie can totally follow along without breaking a sweat!** There is still the atmosphere of a lab and a small, close-knit team of brilliant people working together. **All mentions of biology are either rather simple,** or clearly meant to not be understood by the less smart character whose pov you're on - and everything is clearly labelled back to the plot - no unnecessary dalliances!

c. **You like your scifi soft** (as in: the opposite of hard). There is **no technobabble here,** no weirdly detailed tour of spaceships, no gamma lasers or whatnots! I personally love those stuff but i know it's not for everyone. There are a few bits and bobs of lab equipment, but it's normal stuff you touched in high school and **they don't go into details.**

d. You want **some good mental illness rep!** While i had plenty to say about the characters and their arcs, the descriptions of mental illness and the struggles they bring was spot on. **Do avoid _The Mercy of Gods_ if you don't want to read povs of a depressed and struggling person.**

e. **You don't want your aliens to be too weird**. I will never stop praising [Alien Clay](https://readingdelicacies.com/alien-clay-tchaikovsky-in-his-home-world/), but i understand how some people can hate the truly alien feeling of it. None of that here, **things don't get gory or uncanny.**

f. **You aren't expecting much social commentary** - if any at all! It's something i'd loved in _The Expanse_, all the social and political consequences of oppressing the Belters. You won't find much deeper thoughts about humanity and our systems of organization here (or maybe i completely missed it, oups!). I have hope it will change in book 2, now that the world has been introduced.

g. **You don't think you'll love it** (maybe thanks to my review), **but you know that if you don't pick it up now you'll never read it and you'll regret it when the sequel gets praised** (am i projecting too much?). There are so many series i haven't read because i need to catch up - and book 1 got mediocre reviews, but book 2 was fantastic (apparently). In this case **_The Mercy of Gods_ isn't mediocre at all**, and James S. A. Corey has **a good track record**, so i think you should take the risk and get through it now so you can enjoy the next opus in The Captive's War when it'll come out!

---

## endnotes

All in all, **i will still read the sequel to _The Mercy of Gods_, but i expect James S. A. Corey to do better and offer me a splendid work of scifi, with true space opera elements!** In the meantime, i'll recommend you read [Alien Clay](https://readingdelicacies.com/alien-clay-tchaikovsky-in-his-home-world/) by Adrian Tchaikovsky if you want those same themes but better!

**Do you plan on reading _Mercy of Gods_? Have you read (or seen) _The Expanse_? Are you excited James S. A. Corey is back on the job?**

Read you next time,
Laure <3

Corey's first major project outside The Expanse* is, not to beat around the bush, a major downer of a book. Yes, I know The Expanse was not exactly happy happy joy joy - even in the early books, before they broke out the planetkillers, whole ships and stations would die; hell, it was the first place I encountered 'vomit zombies' as antagonists. Still, at least for the leads, there was generally agency, a chance at heroism, meaningful deaths. This is not that. Even before the aliens arrive at Anjiin**, in an opening section that's essentially a campus novel, the main impression is the monumental unfairness of academic politics; if that seems an odd place to begin an epic science fiction series, bear with it, because the pattern continues, as do the glimmers of a Thing subplot - though the brief detour into murder mystery goes absolutely nowhere that I could see. But once the sky lights up... Powerlessness. Humiliation. Confinement. Everything on which people build their lives, upended; the crutches of fragile mental health, kicked away. At times I wondered whether it might be an oblique response to lockdown, but it's not as if recent years haven't brought their own invasions too, not to mention other disasters, and maybe there's no need to disentangle them; simply say that this is a book inspired by the 2020s' many reminders of just how precarious our existences really are.

Now, this would already be a tough sell, but having removed many of the easy thrills available to the genre, you do need something else to carry the reader through, and this is where I had more of a problem. Worldbuilding would be one obvious alternative - and there has clearly been a lot of thought put into that, and making the human leads biologists is a good way to get it across. But all the same, any kind of explanation is kept almost as frustratingly far out of our reach as theirs for a fair stretch of the book, not least in the grim slog of the second section. So at that point all that's really left is character, which I'd normally say was one of Corey's strong suits - but it took me an unexpectedly long time to get this batch clear in my head. The dehumanising situation can't have helped, but nor was it the whole story. Coming from a fairly homogeneous background, perhaps? Or just not quite clicking with the naming schemes, always a risk with SF and fantasy? There are reasons for keeping us confined within a small group, but it sacrifices the slice through different levels of the world that made The Expanse feel so real and lived-in - and is further exacerbated by the de facto lead being chameleonic and reserved, not the most obvious protagonist qualities.

As should hopefully be clear, none of this - well, bar maybe the names - is a case of failed execution. This is a book that has deliberately set out to do different things to The Expanse, more difficult ones, and I think has mostly succeeded in them about as well as one can while still just about passing for mainstream SF. And once the captive humans finally make it to the alien world, start making tentative efforts to understand it, that begins to pay dividends, even down to the level of little details like the aliens sort of trying to make a suitable habitat for humans, while not quite getting it. And the quest through strange and potentially lethal worlds to the stationery cupboard could easily have been expanded into a short story in its own right. But what really lands is the gradual realisation of what the alien Carryx are up to (pieces of which we're given before the characters, so this isn't the spoiler it might seem). At the most basic level, they are themselves a hive organism, and just as they all have a role within that, so does any other species they encounter; those species' own wishes are immaterial, indeed a difficult concept for the Carryx even to fully parse. In 40K terms, you could call them somewhere between the Tyranids and Tau, but of course it's not as if humanity hasn't done a fair bit of this itself over the years. The real masterstroke, though, is that whereas this could do easily have been a cosy little finger-wag against colonialism, or maybe smug vegan evangelism, the analogy used in one of the (very few and brief) bits of the book from a Carryx perspective is that of - a stick. Because, yeah, other versions of this behaviour might be attributable to specific subsections of humanity, but not even an animist will have too many qualms about picking up, reshaping, discarding a stick as required. Taking it that far back towards first principles establishes how fully alien and monstrous the Carryx are, while also uncomfortably reminding us that yes, some humans really have seen their fellows in similar, purely instrumental terms - back at least as far as Plato, who somehow, despite that (and everything else), still gets treated as a respectable philosopher. And beyond a certain level of otherness, we all have at least a trace of it.

By the end, I was reading with more momentum and less sense of obligation than had sometimes been the case early on, and we're definitely in a place where subsequent volumes can offer a little more excitement and less of an ordeal. All the same, you know you're not out of the woods when even the hard-won realisation that "People sang songs in death camps, and that wasn't a comfort until you were in a death camp yourself" has since been shaken by further upsets. It's strongly implied that the Carryx will come to regret having tried to assimilate humanity into their empire, which is always a trope that gives me pause, ever since an ex pointed out that of course comics written by humans were going to conclude that Batman could beat Superman; really, they've done this to dozens if not hundreds of worlds, and it's only us who can properly give them a bloody nose? But in the meantime we're in very similar territory to Seth Dickinson's Baru Cormorant books - a series paused, lest we forget, because the sheer bleakness was doing the author's head in. A world where people must work against their own ostensible goals, and diligently serve their oppressors, in order to have any meaningful chance of maybe striking a worthwhile blow down the line. Like I say, not a cheery read.

*Although, subject to any potential backstory infill in subsequent volumes, I can definitely see a way this could be taken as occurring within the same future as The Expanse, somewhere off through the gates. Which said, for reasons I couldn't tell you, I found myself much readier to envision it as nestled within their pocket epic How It Unfolds, a story that didn't seem to get much attention but is absolutely worth a read, not to mention free on Prime.
**Translation, and the disruptive effect even of a small barbarian contingent within a mighty empire, are definitely on the agenda here, which made me wonder whether the name of the planet was an intentional nod to earlier versions of Shogun. All the same, I can't imagine Corey knew the recent version was coming, let alone the memes it would breed, so I did find that choice a little distracting.

A massively detailed and expansive sci-fi epic.
This is the first time I have read this author and also my first time reading such a vast a detailed science fiction novel.
I'll start off saying how amazingly well Corey has created such a vast and textured world. The attention to detail is right up there with the best. The negative of this is that I got lost in the detail on numerous occasions, which detracted for my experience and left me having the check back to get a true understanding of the events.
Ultimately an extremely well written book, but sadly one that didn't align with my personal tastes. I'm sure this will be a huge hit for hardcore science fiction fans.

To say this was a highly anticipated title for me would be an understatement. And there's a lot of risks with anticipation. There's also a lot of risks with expectations, when you're coming off a 9 book series and launching something fresh. This isn't The Expanse. And I still loved it.

The Mercy of Gods is, in its way, a first contact story. But not in the way you might expect - this is first contact where humanity is being contacted, and it's horrifying.

The story was so well-done, with tension and stress and, yep, flat-out horrifying beats. (And horrifying beasts. 👀) There's lots of science, but there's also a lot of human emotions.

This is a story about grief, about survival, about being human - the plot captured me, fast-paced as it was in a lot of ways, but what's going to stick with me are the themes and the humanity of it all. These are authors who excel at writing characters that feel real, and that's so important in a book that has no small amount of despair and pushing people to their limits.

On a larger scale, the worldbuilding is obviously carefully done, and while we only see small parts of the Carryx society, it's evident that thought was put into it and that the series will continue to build upon the foundation laid out here.

I'm extremely excited to see where this series goes. With everything setup in the first book, I think the scope will only expand and continue to blow my mind, book by book.

Thank you to the publisher, Orbit, and to NetGalley for the ARC.

Great to see these two tackling an SF story that couldn’t be more different from the Expanse books that made their name. It would have been very easy to knock out a retread of the hits, but this has a very different setting and feel. The only thing that carries over is the readability and enjoyment. -I really liked this opening instalment and I'm keen for the rest of the story