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A review by nclcaitlin
The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey
”I think some important scientific questions have finally been answered. Alien life exists, and they are assholes."
This is the hardest book to describe without giving anything away.
If anything, know it has my glowing, excited approval and don’t read anything else and just pick up this book.
The Carryx ruled the stars for epochs and they brought fire, death, and chains to Anjiin - the planet humans have made their home.
This centres around a strange, awkward, haphazard little biologist team which are chosen as the top of the crop by the Carryx to work for them.
“You're joking."
“Of course I am," Campar said. “It's how I keep from spending all day screaming. What do you do?"
This book is incredible.
It is heavy but also touches on the mundane. How life continues on even in the face of the end. People still need to eat, to pee, to wash.
The team have to reframe their circumstances. They’re not scared, they are curious. They aren’t slaves, they are achievers.
How do humans react when everything is uprooted? Violence? Madness? Depression? Humour? Sex? You see the extremes: giving in to being led like dazed animals on a slaughterhouse or mounting a doomed rebellion.
Despite this being science fiction about an alien invasion, it is also intimately humane and relevant. Spiralling thoughts, anxiety, and depression. Feeling you’re not enough. Dealing with uncertainty.
Between one step and the next, he'd had an epiphany about the vastness and strangeness of the universe and his place in it. The insignificance of one boy on a strange planet in the vastness of galaxies. For a moment, his mind had reached out to the farthest ends of the universe, and he'd felt the weight of his life, his ego, his struggles as less than a feather. Then I came back to myself and refocused on my sock, he'd said, and they'd both laughed.
I know I haven’t touched on the characters, but that’s because there are a myriad and it is hard to pin down a standout. They all bring such different outlooks which creates such a strong and fascinating dynamic.
A powerful study on human instinct, relationships, and primal tendencies.
Thank you to Orbit for providing an arc in exchange for a review!
This is the hardest book to describe without giving anything away.
If anything, know it has my glowing, excited approval and don’t read anything else and just pick up this book.
The Carryx ruled the stars for epochs and they brought fire, death, and chains to Anjiin - the planet humans have made their home.
This centres around a strange, awkward, haphazard little biologist team which are chosen as the top of the crop by the Carryx to work for them.
“You're joking."
“Of course I am," Campar said. “It's how I keep from spending all day screaming. What do you do?"
This book is incredible.
It is heavy but also touches on the mundane. How life continues on even in the face of the end. People still need to eat, to pee, to wash.
The team have to reframe their circumstances. They’re not scared, they are curious. They aren’t slaves, they are achievers.
How do humans react when everything is uprooted? Violence? Madness? Depression? Humour? Sex? You see the extremes: giving in to being led like dazed animals on a slaughterhouse or mounting a doomed rebellion.
Despite this being science fiction about an alien invasion, it is also intimately humane and relevant. Spiralling thoughts, anxiety, and depression. Feeling you’re not enough. Dealing with uncertainty.
Between one step and the next, he'd had an epiphany about the vastness and strangeness of the universe and his place in it. The insignificance of one boy on a strange planet in the vastness of galaxies. For a moment, his mind had reached out to the farthest ends of the universe, and he'd felt the weight of his life, his ego, his struggles as less than a feather. Then I came back to myself and refocused on my sock, he'd said, and they'd both laughed.
I know I haven’t touched on the characters, but that’s because there are a myriad and it is hard to pin down a standout. They all bring such different outlooks which creates such a strong and fascinating dynamic.
A powerful study on human instinct, relationships, and primal tendencies.
Thank you to Orbit for providing an arc in exchange for a review!