“The disappointing child of Frank Herbert and Ursula Le Guin” is taking its first steps by way of a first chapter everyone can read.
The entertainment media Polygon has published the first chapter of The Mercy of Gods on May 28th. Matt Patches, who wrote the article containing the chapter doesn’t say much about the first bit of the series, even if in terms of story telling, these 17 000 words are packed with info, intrigue, characters and, as expected, questions. Lots of ‘em.
The mercy of Gods : Summary of the first chapter
One introductory thing worth mentioning is the title of the chapter, or to be correct, the lack thereof. The chapter has no title. We cannot remember reading a book with this specificity. Even a 1. would have felt normal.
The possibilities for that lack could be (not exhaustively):
- A formatting of the article by Polygon, thinking a 1. would have looked odd.
- A choice by James S. A. Corey not to number or title their chapters.
- Not a first chapter, but rather a prologue (none of The Expanse started right by the first chapter)..
- An omission explained by a chapter title too revealing for the time being.
Of course we hope for the latter as it would indicate that the authors are playing with the reader by scattering clues relative to the intrigue in the structure of their narration. We like that idea and cannot wait to discover the architecture of the book.
Now to the (very brief to avoid the delicate chemistry of surprise) summary.
Dafyd Alkhor, a young (ish) research assistant in biology to Tonner Freis, is attending the end-of-year celebration of the Irvian Research Medrey, a citywide research centre. Conversing with a near-field astronomic visualization specialist, Llaren Morse from Dylan Academy, Dafyd Alkhor reveals he is the nephew of Dorinda Alkhor, one of the funding members of the research centre.
The main character confesses to Llaren Morse attending the gathering only to feel in the presence of Else Annalise Yannin, seconding Tonner Freis in the group’s research, and his lover. As Dafyd told Llaren Morse, he is slightly infatuated with Else Yannin, equally unable to act on it or to let it go.
That summary doesn’t do any justice, by far, to this first chapter. What is distilled in this text is a homeopathic dosage of info, trajectories, narrative booby traps and world-building. First chapters, or even prologues (which this might still be), are always a difficult exercise. They have to captivate, to give something to catch on to and to start building on (from a reader’s point of view), while, at the same time, avoiding to reveal too much and scaring the reader. If, to be honest, the very first impression we had from the first lines of The Expanse, back in 2014, was lukewarm (lack of taste from our end), this first chapter should be included in every writing textbook. Not only is it immensely enjoyable to read, but it is executed with the utmost talent and meticulosity. If the series navigates that quality of writing and narration, we will be in for a treat.
What do we get from the first chapter of The Mercy of Gods?
Reading pleasure aside, that first chapter gives us things to discuss. Most of them being of course vague, maybe insignificant in the narrative arcs, but some undoubtedly hinting at big chunks of the story.
The characters
The obvious info we get is the dramatis personae, the characters. Not all of them might be important, but at least one is bound to be (in order of appearance).
- Dafyd Alkhor: Obviously the main character. Dafyd is a young research assistant in biology to Tonner Freis, in the Irvian Research Medrey. He is infatuated with Else Yannin, lover and second to Tonner Freis. Dafyd doesn’t seem to give much attention to his studies or his job, he seems kind of floating on his own situation, but that impression might only be due to the lack of information we have so far.
- Llaren Morse: A near-field visualization specialist working for the Dyan Academy. Passably drunk when the chapter starts, he tells Dafyd he is engaged with someone and waiting for a longer term research position before getting married.
- Tonner Freis: A leading scientist (biologist it seems) in charge with his lover Else Yannin, of his research group, to which Dafyd is an assistant.
- Else Annalise Yannin: A scientist, potentially biologist, but not clearly specified. Lover to Tonner Freis and friendly with Dafyd Alkhor.
- Dorinda Alkhor: Aunt of Dafyd Alkhor (her sister has died prematurely), one of the funding members of the Irvian Research Medrey. Someone with obviously large monetary means, trying to nudge Dafyd in his career. If she reminds you of a polite version of Chrisjen Avasarala, don’t feel weird, we had the same thought.
- Mur : A member of the research colloquy, whose trajectory is not clear.
A nice panel of characters with defined natures, with various importances. It would seem logical to see at lest some of them as recurring characters, but knowing James S. A. Corey, betting now on the characters would not feel like a safe investment.
The factions
Factions are little detailed in this first chapter, but one can easily see them imprinted like on the negative of a camera roll. As we expected, the story will be political, not in the modern diluted sense, but in its purest meaning.
- The Irvian research Medrey: If you don’t know what a Medrey is, shame on you, it has no mystery to us. The Irvian Research Medrey, we will call it IRM to start a new trend, is a city wide research and education centre, located in Irvian, a city of Anjiin. The research led by the IRM seems to be very close to astronomy and biology, maybe astrobiology, maybe other specialties, time will tell.
- The Dyan Academy: As we understand the text the Dyan Academy is a part of the IRM, though, it could be something different. So far we know of one research member of that centre : Llaren Morse.
- Research teams: As mentioned in the text, there seems to be (logically) a lot of competition and political intrigue in the IRM, between the research teams. From a writer’s point of view it would make sense to see the research centres as potentially opposing factions, as they are in our real world.
The locations
Locations are not described in this first chapter, at lest not in great detail. The scene takes place in the Scholar’s Commons of the Irvian Research Medrey, in the city of Irvian, on planet Anjiin.
This deduction might be inaccurate, or plainly wrong, but it is the best we can guess now. It is not explained if Anjiin is a planet, or a manmade megastructure, or if Irvian is a city as we understand it in our world.
Miscellany
We wanted to mention two more little things that might remain completely insignificant for the general plot, or become essential.
The heliosphere problem
Llaren Morse mentions that he found a “fascinating anomalous zone” at the edge of Anjiin’s sun’s heliosphere. The zone is one light second wide, 300 000km (yes, 299 792km for the experts) across, a droplet of void in the abysses of the universe.
We don’t know if that zone is important for the rest of the story, but the fact that it is narratively placed very close to Llaren Morse saying that if humans want to see the origins they must look up and big, might indicate that this has some kind of importance. Maybe we are just reading too much into it, but again, the Carryx must come from somewhere, and somehow, without faster than light ships.
Research taken over by other scientists
The fact that other scientists might take over discoveries or research teams pops up a few times in the first chapter. What better way to prepare the reader for something that is coming ? The intrigue among the scientists is something that will definitely happen, one way or another. Not only because the authors have hinted at it several times, but also because of little clues dropped here and there.
That is good news because it tells us from the get-go that the interactions in the story will not be polarized or black and white. We want grey, and we know James S. A. Corey can deliver grey, so we guess we’re in for the ride.