This year, I‘m making an effort to read more “core” genre novels, i.e., speculative works published by the leading genre presses (TOR, Orbit, Gollancz, Titan, etc.). Or, to put it another way, the sort of sub-genres, like space opera and epic fantasy, I rarely ever review for Locus.*

I decided to start with The Mercy of the Gods. It’s my first taste of James S. A. Corey’s fiction.** No, I have not read The Expanse, nor have I watched the TV series, and I have no intention of starting, at least not anytime soon.*** Don’t try to convince me! Not even the TV series. I WON’T LISTEN!!! * la la la la la la la *.

Unlike The Expanse, which is set within our solar system two hundred years from now, The Mercy of the Gods takes place so far into the future that the human colonists of Anjiin have forgotten where they’re from.**** Our protagonists are a bunch of academics, led by Tonner Freis, who have made a significant discovery—the ability to reconcile human biochemistry with the alien fauna of their world. But just as they celebrate their findings, the planet is invaded by the Carryx*****—insectoid aliens who, much like the Borg, assimilate the technology of other species. After decimating the population of Anjiin, the Carryx imprison those scientists and researchers, including our academics, who they feel will advance the Carryx’s evolutionary ambitions. Most of the book is set in a prison on the Carryx homeworld where Tonner’s team is tasked to make the nutrition of one species compatible with another. They’re not the only imprisoned species doing this work, but the Carryx are quite happy for their prisoners to kill each other if it leads to a scientific breakthrough.

The Mercy of the Gods is categorised as a space opera. But other thanone space battle—not including the invasion of Anjiin—there’s bugger all space or opera.****** I wasn’t disappointed, just surprised. In the place of ship-to-ship combat and laser guns, we get Steve McQueen-like antics—plans to escape or fight back against their gaolers—coupled with a sense of discovery as research assistant Dafyd attempts to understand what makes the Carryx tick.

As much fun as I had with The Mercy of the Gods—I raced through it—I was a bit bothered by the human exceptionalism at the heart of it. There’s foreshadowing—from the first page, so it’s not a spoiler—that the Carryx will be overthrown by humanity—or one human in particular. This is related to us by Ekur-Tkalal, the last keeper librarian of the human moiety. I’m hoping this isn’t the case, that the pronouncement of the Carryx is a red-herring, that this series isn’t another example, in a very long line, of human dominance in space-opera fiction.******* But I’ll have to read the next volume to find out.

*Not because my editor, Jonathan, won’t let me, but because it’s not where my interest lies. By going back to “core” genre, I am, in a sense, reading outside my comfort zone. I’m also curious to understand where the genre is at. One of the reasons I stopped reading core SF/F is because it all started to blur into one homogenous blob. The actual invention I craved was (is) coming from smaller presses who look beyond the expectations of the field. I should probably write an essay about this.

**Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck for the three people unaware that “James S. A. Corey” is a pseudonym.

***The Expanse consists of nine novels and multiple novellas. That’s a considerable investment of time, and I haven’t yet read Moby Dick.

****One thing Corey doesn’t explain is why they’ve forgotten. I assume the records were wiped a millennium ago, but we don’t spend long enough time on Anjiin to appreciate how the colony developed.

*****Before this happens, there’s all this guff about another Academic house taking over the team’s research. Given where the story goes, it all feels a bit needless. I suppose it’s there to flesh out the characters—i.e., to flesh out their personalities before they’re invaded.

******I know, I know, Space Opera is a broad church. 

*******One thing I liked about Emily Tesh’s Hugo Award winning novel Some Desperate Glory is how it addresses that trope head-on.