The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

"Alien life exists, and they are assholes"

A dystopian space-epic filled with violent aliens, found family and ultimately hope in impossible situations.

This is the first in a series by James S.A Corey, who you may remember from The Expanse series, which was also a hit TV show. I LOVED The Expanse (both the show and the book series), and was psyched to read a new story from them.

This story is packed with creative world-building, imaginative alien creatures, and a compelling cast of human characters forced into an impossible situation.

My favourite part of this book were the chapters from the point of view of 'the swarm', which is a member of the resistance fighting against a universe-wide alien takeover. The swarm take over a human mind in order to understand humans and the aliens who kidnap them. It reminds me a lot of the aliens in The Expanse when they take over Julie Mao, but if we were able to hear their POV. IYKYK.

Also, if you miss Amos from The Expanse, Campar in this, is Amos, but older. I love him.

The writing here is beautiful and I like the alien kidnapping of humans as a self-reflective narrative device. Here are a few of my favourite lines:
🚀You condemn us even as you follow our example, and with your foot on my throat, I applaud you.
🚀strings of possibility bloomed in it's mind like a terrible flower.
🚀You're joking, "Of course I am, it's how I keep from spending all day screaming. What do you do?"
🚀 Why me? is not something the universe ever answers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the advanced reader copy.

This book is best read while wearing a tinfoil hat and hoping the swarm doesn't find you.