The Mercy of Gods - A Review

One of the books being talked about as a Hugo Award shortlist item is The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey. Certainly, we're familiar with Corey (the pen-name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Frank) thanks to the success of The Expanse, and that already gives this book a leg up on the competition. But does it meet the usual Expanse standards?

At first glance, it seems to. It is almost an extension of The Expanse, as humans have colonized a planet called Anjin, thousands of years in the past. One assumes that this was during the Expanse era when the alien protomolecule technology opened up a large number of ring gates, allowing humans to spread throughout multiple systems at once. The ring gates were later destroyed in order to thwart those who wiped out the ring-builders. But all this is not specifically mentioned. The humans of Anjin have completely forgotten their origins. They know the world was settled, but don't recall how or why. But remain scientifically curious about the planet they live on. They've even managed to reconcile the odd differences between the right-handed DNA chirality (configuration) of the flora/fauna native to Anjin with their own, left-handed DNA.

The story builds slowly, focusing on the day-to-day lives of the main characters in a Spielberg-like fashion. But then the story takes a surprising turn. A race of aliens known as the Carryx descends upon Anjin. With technology far outstripping the clever humans, the planet is conquered within days. One eighth of the population is wiped out by the Carryx, just to prove a point. The remaining humans are gathered up, classified, and designated assignments if they are deemed useful.

The story follows a few main characters, the main one being Dafyd Alkhor. He is a research assistant in a gene-manipulation laboratory. There are a few other members of his team, Else Yannin, Jessyn Kaul, Campar, Rickar Daumatin, and Irinna. The Carryx determine that these humans are skillful enough to be put to work, and are taken away to the Carryx' home planet, a literal world-city. There, they are set a task: find a way to make a certain "berry" nutritionally compatible to a turtle-like species (the team actually calls them "not-turtles"). A Carryx overseer named "The Librarian" emphasizes to them that the survival of the human species depends upon their success, and their usefulness.

A similar task is given to another monkey-like species, and so a natural competition develops. When the monkey-like things, whom the humans later discover are called "Night Drinkers," realize that they are losing the race, they attack the humans, trying to sabotage their experiments. But the humans are resilient, and thwart the Night Drinkers efforts. Finally, a break comes when the Night Drinkers' leader is beheaded by their own, and a truce is parlayed. By way of a peace offering, they offer the humans a universal translator box, allowing the humans to begin interviewing the many other species the Carryx have taken to this strange research facility. Most of them are ambivalent towards the humans' curiosity. The Carryx undoubtedly have been monitoring all this, but deem it to be of little to no threat.

A rebellion starts developing among some of the humans. About the same time, Else Yannin reveals to Dafyd that she is actually a host to a swarm-like species within her, a species which is at war with the Carryx, and apparently winning. Her role as host was to spy on what the Carryx have been up to in conquering and recruiting lesser-developed species. But if she is found out, all humanity could be brought under suspicion and wiped out. If the rebel humans carry out their attack, she will almost certainly be discovered. Sadly, Dafyd decides to reveal the entire plot to the Carryx, both as a way of saving a remnant of humans and as a way of preserving their underground alliance with the Swarm species. A large number of humans are purged, including Else Yannin. But her Swarm finds a new host, a man named Jellit.

The Librarian is killed for the crime of being saved by lower animals. A new Librarian, named Ekur-Tklal, is appointed in his place. Dafyd Alkhor is named the sole intermediary between this new Librarian overseer and his human charge. Dafyd privately vows to find a way to defeat the Carryx in the long run.

The novel ends there, but clearly this story is not over. This novel sets the stage for what is to come. It promises to be a grand finale, in the style that only Abraham-Frank can deliver, but for now, it is a send-up.

I don't expect this book to be a finalist for the Hugo this year. But I do expect the concluding volume of this series (however long it lasts) to be a clean sweep, not only of the Hugo, but the Nebula and Dragon as well.

We shall see.

Highly recommended, 4.5 stars.

Eric

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