The Carryx—part empire, part hive—have waged wars of conquest for centuries, destroying or enslaving species across the galaxy. Now, they are facing a great and deathless enemy. The key to their survival may rest with the humans of Anjiin.
Caught up in academic intrigue and affairs of the heart, Dafyd Alkhor is pleased just to be an assistant to a brilliant scientist and his celebrated research team. Then the Carryx ships descend, decimating the human population and taking the best and brightest of Anjiin society away to serve on the Carryx homeworld, and Dafyd is swept along with them.
They are dropped in the middle of a struggle they barely understand, set in a competition against the other captive species with extinction as the price of failure. Only Dafyd and a handful of his companions see past the Darwinian contest to the deeper game that they must play to survive: learning to understand—and manipulate—the Carryx themselves.
With a noble but suicidal human rebellion on one hand and strange and murderous enemies on the other, the team pays a terrible price to become the trusted servants of their new rulers.
Dafyd Alkhor is a simple man swept up in events that are beyond his control and more vast than his imagination. He will become the champion of humanity and its betrayer, the most hated man in history and the guardian of his people.
This is where his story begins."
The Mercy of Gods is a new sci-fi offering from James S.A. Corey, authors of The Expanse, which introduces a new story in which humans live on a planet called Anjiin and the new arrival of seemingly hostile aliens could mean the imminent end of humanity. I've been really excited for this book because, of course, it sounds amazing, and also because I've heard so many great things about The Expanse (which I still need to read!) and I've been dying to read something from James S.A. Corey.
The premise for The Mercy of Gods is fascinating! I was so intrigued about this future where humans populate a planet that they have no real memory anymore of how or why they ended up there, as well as the fact that there are aliens that we get to discover along with the humans in this book. It's a really compelling topic and I think the authors it in some really interesting ways, such as considering the worth of species based upon their abilities and contributions, as well as how different interactions between completely different species may occur.
Unfortunately, I didn't really care for any of the characters, barring maybe Dafyd who I found a bit more compelling. Most of the characters felt oddly surface level and lacked any deeper development for me to feel like I really cared about them or what happened to each specific person. I did appreciate that there felt like a fairy wide array of personalities portrayed, which also allowed for some varied relationships and dynamics between people that affected how everyone cooperated together in their new, somewhat dire circumstances.
The pacing of The Mercy of Gods was a little on the slow side in that it seemed like there was a lot of book with not always all that much happening, and when something did happen it seemed like it was either over very quickly or told in small bits rather than a larger experience. It also felt as though there was a lot of filler here and there that just didn't grab my attention and made this book a little more of a struggle to get through than I anticipated. This book has far too interesting of a premise for me to feel bored while reading it, and that was a little disappointing for me.
All that being said, I will absolutely still be continuing this series because I feel like a lot of this book felt like setup for more to happen and I have extremely high hopes that everything will be amped up in future installments. Although The Mercy of Gods ended up being a little hit or miss, I still think it explored some really great ideas about alien life and humanity that will be ones to continue to ponder even after finishing this book. Overall, I've given The Mercy of Gods 3.75 stars.
Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org
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