The Mercy of Gods

by James S.A. Corey

Hardcover, 422 pages

English language

Published Aug. 6, 2024 by Orbit.

ISBN:: 978-0-316-52557-2
ASIN:: 031652557X
Goodreads:: 201930181

(9 reviews)

How humanity came to the planet called Anjiin is lost in the fog of history, but that history is about to end. 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 …

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.

1 edition

Alex Leonard reviewed The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey (The Captive's War, #1)

High expectations sadly unmet

3 stars

It was difficult to not find myself comparing this to The Expanse, given just how much I enjoyed that staggering 9 book series. Sadly I didn't find this lived up to my expectations. I appreciated the imagination that clearly went into it, but I didn't find myself connecting with any of the characters in the same way that I did in The Expanse.

In theory this book starts out with a much much bigger scope than The Expanse but strangely feels much narrower and small. You don't really get the same sense of space or the worlds involved or the technologies.

I'm hopeful that it turns around and proves me very wrong in the subsequent books, and I think if I had read this without ever reading The Expanse I probably wouldn't be so critical. I did enjoy it, just not in the way I'd hoped to.

Aimee Gunther reviewed The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey (The Captive's War, #1)

Great start to a series without being too on the nose

4 stars

All the things I like in a book: interesting world build, interesting storytelling, and smart character moves. The latter reminds me a bit of Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice

Jakers reviewed The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey (The Captive's War, #1)

Just hook it to my veins...

4 stars

Here's the elevator pitch: it's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but a scifi horror, and Arthur Dent is a team of research scientists who have to do a science battle royale on an alien ship to save their species. Will the series pay off? I certainly hope so, because the setup is hella solid. After you read it, read Livesuit to answer some questions.