The Mercy of Gods
Ratings72
Average rating4.2
There are a lot of interesting plot points here, and a lot to think about. It's a well-written book. I didn't find myself connecting to any of the characters in it, however, and that limited my ability to enjoy it.
Incredibly rich world building, alot of aliens to consider but the main characters are not what I would consider hanging out with and the situation is pretty bleak; even dark and gruesome at times.
I don't think I'll be continuing in the series.
I've been wanting to try out this author duo for the longest but didn't want to jump into another big series (but of course, this is series as well SURPRISE!) and this sounded like the perfect chance.
I enjoyed this book, mainly because of the plot twists. I loved that I couldn't really tell when one was about to happen which lead to a lot of 😲😲😲 moments.
The pace good as well. Nearing the end of part one so much has happened in one particular setting that it was kind of like overwhelming but in a good way.
I really appreciate the wide variety of characters and all their different motives and journeys throughout the story. One con about that though is that I couldn't for the life of me keep people straight especially when more people were introduced near the last act BUT I was just listening to the audiobook and didn't have the names in front of my eyes so it's not a really a slight on the story ... perhaps (they're just an a lot of people which IS realistic for the situation sooo idk 😅)
Overall, I'm glad I finally got to give this author a chance and as someone who is notoriously bad at following up with series, I leaning towards yeah more than meh when it comes to picking up book 2 so win!
As a long time lover of The Expanse I was excited to see what the author duo of James S.A. Corey would come up with this time around. While not "Hard Science Fiction" as the Expanse was, it was wonderful seeing their imaginations run wild. Given that this is first in a series it's hard to know where things will go from here and the book does world building very well but left me wanting more and doesn't feel like it stands alone in the end. I look forward to continuing the series and see how everything plays out.
I thought I'd give it a try getting in at the ground floor for the next James S.A. Corey saga, considering I am a big fan of The Expanse show (and a slow reader of some of the novels). But I am not really into multi-novel scifi sagas, and reading The Mercy of Gods just made that clear to me. It reads like a long prologue. And it didn't hook me enough to be curious about the second. It clearly doesn't have the emotional stakes The Expanse saga had, with its closeness to Earth.
This one is more of a intergalactic zoo setup, and while I enjoyed the world building, the slowness with which some of the plot enfolded, made me rather nitpicky about the setup (It's normal for science results to be replicated in multiple labs, why did they all act like that was such a problem? How are they all able to breathe the same air? How can they perfectly replicate laboratory equipment, while failing to replicate shower and doors?).
And hey, guess what, at the end it's a ragtag team of ~4 guys and 1 girl. Sounds familiar?
Another excellent book by the authors of The Expanse. While the story is vastly different from The Expanse, I feel a connection between the two as they both delve into human nature. It's just a coincidence that I read this book after reading the Three Body Problem series. Now my perspective on the possibility of encountering intelligent life has become slightly more pessimistic.
The world building was exceptional and I want to explore this world. All of these worlds. Unfortunately the main characters were all assholes. And not like fun assholes you can't help to enjoy. No, this is like being thrown into a taskforce at work with all of those colleagues you barely can muster up a fake smile for when you say good morning. Spending time with them is pretty much as enjoyable as that looming deadline for the project you wish was assigned someone else, like maybe your worst enemy. So I'm being a big generous with the 3 stars, but it's competently written and the world sparks the imagination. It's just a bummer the protagonists are the least interesting part about it.
