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

The Mercy of Gods is the gritty and explosive first instalment in a brand-new space opera, The Captive’s War, by James S. A. Corey (or more specifically Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck). As a long-time super fan of their first series, The Expanse, I have been eagerly awaiting getting around to this one, and I am thrilled to say it did not disappoint!

This story follows a group of researchers on their last few days on the human ‘home planet’ Anjiin, and its invasion by a far more powerful alien force known as the Carryx. After conquering humanity in its entirety, our researchers are thrust into a seemingly easy ‘task’ by the Carryx, where they, alongside many other conquered alien races, will either submit to the will of their masters, or strive for freedom against impossible odds.

At its core, The Mercy of Gods is a complex and unique look at authoritarianism and human nature. It is a book that shows both the best and worst of the indomitable human spirit, and aims to ask a pretty important question: what would humanity do if we were NOT the strongest or most intelligent animal in the universe? This story is nuanced in its approach, highlighting both despair and acceptance alongside resolve and hope.

The cast of characters is varied, and Corey once again gives us a ‘found family’ that is worth rooting for. At its centre is Dafyd Alkhor, a research assistant who at first appears to be nothing more than the byproduct of his rich upbringing, and lacks the intelligence of his peers. However, as the story progresses and the cracks start to form in the minds of his fellow researchers, a side of Dafyd emerges which may just be perfect for the situation humanity finds itself in. He is flawed - shrewd but cowardly, meek and yet bold - and wholly human. I think he is a wonderful protagonist, and one that I cannot wait to see the development of. Other standout characters include Jessyn, a researcher whose depression I found to be depicted with care and meticulous realism, and Rickar, initially posed as a ‘traitor’ to the group, but one who actually is it’s most dedicated.

In typical Corey fashion, this story’s world-building is exhaustively thorough and detailed in every way, from not only the culture humanity has created on Anjiin, but to the Carryx and their political structure, and to the many incredibly creative alien races that populate the book. This is all outlined clearly, and in such a way that never once feels like the information is being dumped unceremoniously on the reader. It is a level of skill that impressed me wholly.

Overall, The Mercy of Gods is a brilliant first instalment in what I believe will be a standout space opera. I cannot wait for the sequel, and I am so excited to see where this story of resistance will go! 4/5 stars.

thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review! <3

More suddenly than anyone could have been prepared for, the lives of a group of academic researchers pivot from interdepartmental backstabbing to the unimaginable: alien invasion, capture, and being whisked off to an alien world. That their new lives still revolve around academic research and interdepartmental backstabbing is only a cruel twist of the knife.

Set in the distant future, these humans are not from Earth, but a planet called Anjiin – how and when the trek happened is lost knowledge. So they were always aware of being alien life themselves, on their adopted home, but not of the range of other life in the universe. The Carryx have conquered dozens of species, more, and set all working on the goal of ‘being useful’. Figuring out what that means is the first challenge, of so so many to come…

I’ve had the Expanse books on my TBR for the longest time now, so my appreciation of this book doesn’t involve a comparison with that beloved series – and I’m glad, because that does seem to be the main complaint from other readers. I’ve also seen grievance that this one is very slow at the beginning, and that’s probably true: I had the assist of a long train journey to keep me going until the action really kicked off! That, and I actually quite enjoyed the academia portion, the time to have a proper introduction to our cast of main characters and their quirks, and seeing a team on the brink of huge discovery – only to have it all ripped away from them.

There is an uncomfortable aspect to the physical humiliations faced by this group of intellectuals – the Carryx having scooped up the best and the brightest across many fields. And then we get to watch the struggle of adaptation, physical but mostly mental. Wow, but it is heady stuff, so well explored across ‘our’ group and others.

Perhaps the least-strong part of the book is the characterisation. There are a lot of faces to keep up with, and it’s hard to get a real sense of them as they switch from petty normal life stuff to utter trauma and survival responses. I had a sense that we’re still so very much in the early, scene-setting stage, that it will only be as the whole series progresses that we’ll really start to root for some of these guys.

What really kept my attention, though, was the sense of other things going on – we get hints of some, and a whole pile of questions still to be answered, even as the arc here gives some sense of satisfaction by the end. This is very much an opening instalment – I have no idea how many books are planned, but I am signed up for all the next volumes, as soon as possible, please!!

Now is pretty much the worst time to be reading this book. Because taken out of the thread of current events, this book honestly has a lot going for it: aliens are real, they're Grade A fascist a**holes, our cast of surprisingly well-characterized captive humans stands a slim chance of maybe making a difference in the endless galactic war, pages go brrrrr. This is of course a glib summary, but Corey have absolutely nailed sci-fi blockbuster praxis, and their prose and pacing just ooze high production value.

There are niggles of course — the reader is treated to some crucial bits of knowledge well in advance of the characters, which makes our heroes' slow realization that the all-conquering Carryx are basically just Eco's Ur-Fascism in alien jumbo shrimp form feel a lot less revelatory and a lot more like they're pretty slow readers — but you have to squint for them between highlights like genuinely terrifying War of The Worlds homage and some gracefully human-scale meditation on trauma and banality. And the Carryx's brutal ruling philosophy is itself an intriguing funhouse mirror version of humanity's own relentless drive to domestication. It's almost (but not quite) enough to make you feel bad for your pets.

My basic problem with Mercy isn't really craft so much as timing: we have a bit of an f-word problem ourselves right now, as one might have noticed, but this really isn't the book to rise to the occasion. Yes, The Mercy of Gods hates the oppressor, but it's a lot more interested in figuring out how to defer confrontation and live to fight another day than it is in fighting back. Which is entirely understandable within the universe of the book, where the intergalactic prawns have truly overwhelming force and resistance is absolutely futile, or perhaps when you're already in the maw of the authoritarian state. But in today's world it's all too easy to imagine "heroes" like Dafyd Alkhor (our rich, Very Clever Boy Leader) writing sophistic editorials tut-tutting about violent protests and carefully inviting the less objectionable, more influential racists over for cocktails, maybe getting into their DMs after dinner. He's just that kind of guy.

And maybe there's room in the inevitable sequels to explore that angle cleverly. Perhaps these are actually the pages of Dafyd's self-exculpatory autobiography after he's finally forced from office for hogging all the space cocaine. Maybe the identity of the the Carryx's real enemy isn't going to be what I guessed about thirty pages in. Maybe there'll be enough cathartic oomph when humanity rises again in the final installment that it'll all feel worth it. But that's a lot of maybes.

The Mercy of Gods is the kind of ambitious sci-fi novel that promises scale, conflict, and moral complexity, but for me, it ultimately fell flat. While the premise hinted at a grand interstellar struggle and first contact with a truly alien force, the execution left little for me to connect with, especially on a character level.

The biggest issue was the sheer number of POV characters. Rather than offering a rich mosaic of perspectives, the shifting POVs made it difficult to latch onto anyone emotionally. None of the characters felt fully fleshed out, and more critically, none of them seemed to grow or change in any meaningful way, even in the face of truly catastrophic events. As a result, the stakes never felt personal or grounded.

The worldbuilding had potential, but it wasn’t enough to carry the novel for me. Without strong characters to anchor the story, even the more interesting sci-fi concepts and alien elements failed to make a lasting impression.

This was my first James S.A. Corey book, and unfortunately, I’m not compelled to explore further. Readers who thrive on fast-paced, plot-driven narratives with sprawling casts might still find something here, but if you're looking for character depth and/or emotional arcs, The Mercy of Gods might leave you cold.

The first in a new series from Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, working under the pseudonym of James S. A. Corey, this novel is a very promising start. It begins with the complete collapse of a society as it is devastated by the arrival of a technologically superior alien race. Many are killed and the elite are transported, in the most inhumane of conditions, to a city where they must compete alongside other conquered species to prove their usefulness to their new overlords. At least, that's what they think. Nothing is fully explained to them and when encountered with a bewildering number of different alien minds, they must quickly understand how to thrive and to defend themselves in their new environment. The degree of world-building here is incredible and the cast of characters populating it are compelling and intriguing. While this opening book in the trilogy doesn't quite deliver in it's climax, it points to great potential for the novels to come.

Having never read the Expanse but with the show being one of my favourites I didn’t know what to expect going into this. I was definitely pleasantly surprised and devoured this in a weekend!

I love a complex sci-fi story now and then and this delivered on that front. From the humans’ non-earth home world and the Carryx world palaces to the multitude of alien species, everything is expertly developed and vividly explained to the reader.
The story is told through the usual third person multi POV and for once I didn’t really have a preference for which perspective I wanted to read from. Each one always revealed new and exciting pieces of the world or plot.

I do have to say however, that this was more brutal and graphically violent than I expected. It is also a very sad book essentially taking place almost entirely in a concentration camp. It’s exploration of humanity, grief and trauma, while incredibly well done, make for a very dark story, which I think is important to keep in mind going into it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for providing the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

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.