The Mercy of Gods | The Captive's War trilogy

The Mercy of Gods : An introduction

So. We had already written a page about The Mercy of Gods, but it was before its official release, so all the information it contained was extracted from the blurb, the first chapter, and some interviews. It was about time for an overhaul.

The Mercy of Gods is the first book in The Captive’s War series; as for any first installment, it is rich in world-building, character introductions, etc.

Released on the 6th of August 2024, The Mercy of Gods is available as:

Hardcover book.
Ebook.
Audiobook, read by the never disappointing Jefferson Mays.

So far, neither James S.A. Corey nor Orbit Books have disclosed if the series will be published yearly or at a more leisurely pace.

Attention humans, we try to avoid spoilers as much as possible, but they will eventually be there, waiting for you behind a door or hidden in a corner.

Plot summary of The Mercy of Gods

Now, to get that out of the way, yes, Anjiin could be an off-shout of the events depicted in The Expanse, but because we trust the Word of James S.A. Core, we consider that no, Anjiin has not been colonised through the ring gate; it is a new story; deal with it.

The Mercy of Gods begins on plant Anjiin, a world inhabited by humans, ignorant of any other life form outside of their own planet (system?). Anjiinans (we claim invention of the demonym) are themselves aware that their origins are not to be found on planet Anjiin but somewhere else in the universe. They seem to have no clue about that, and it doesn’t seem that Anjiinans history is able to go back so far.

The first scene is set in an academic celebration, where the reader discovers that a team of researchers has been able to reconcile the human genome with the anjiinan’s one. That team of researchers is set to be the character panel for the series, minus eventual deaths and new arrivals.

Very quickly, Anjiin is invaded by an alien species—the Carryx—which kills almost instantly 1 person out of 8, just to show they mean business. Anjiinans are then parked in camps and loaded into spaceships. Yes, these scenes reminded us of the 40’s reality, and so should they do to you; otherwise, Wikipedia is your (almost accurate) friend.

The prisoners, treated the worst way possible as animals, are then conveyed to one of the worlds of the Carryx by means of asymmetric space travel (maybe more on that later).

Once on the planet, the humans are led to a ziggurat-type building, one among thousands (or more) of these, used as prison and usefulness test centres.

The research group is reunited and tasked with reconciling two genetically different species by having one feed on the other. This task is overseen by a librarian type, Carryx: Tkson-Malkal.

The captivity of the group is troubled by regular attacks from another species, The Night Drinkers, which they defeat in a skirmish kind of violent action. The Carryx later annihilate the Night Drinkers because they were deemed useless—as in, without use for the Carryx culture.

Towards the end of the book, the research team is reunited with other human groups, among which Jellit Kaul, brother of Jessyn Kaul, and Urrys Ostencour, leader of a failed rebellion that happened on the spaceship.

Ostencour is again leading a resistance movement and tries to convince Tonner Freis, leader of the research team, to use his lab to create bioweapons effective against the Carryx.

The rebellion is unveiled to the Carryx by one of the main characters in order to save human lives and to help a mysterious faction.

This summary has been made as non-revealing as possible to give you the opportunity to have a broad view of the story without spoiling it entirely. You will find more complete explanations and descriptions in our dedicated pages.

Characters

The Mercy of Gods has been praised for its set of characters. Although they are great characters—and we all know James S.A. Corey makes great characters—we found that they lacked the panache of characters previously created by this author. That being said, The Mercy of Gods is only the beginning, and we wait to get more intimate with the cast before putting forward a more definitive opinion.

The chapters of The Mercy of Gods are:

Else Annalise Yannin.
Dafyd Alkhor.
Tonner Freis.
Campar.
Jessyn Kaul.
Jellit Kaul.
Irinna.
Synnia.
Nöl.
Rickar Daumatin.
Urrys Ostencour.
Tkson-Malkal.
Ekur-Tkalal.
The Sovran.

If you want to know more about these, we have a page dedicated to the characters.

Locations in The Mercy of Gods and Livesuit

Locations in the universe of The Captive’s War are few to be defined properly, but many to be mentioned, especially since the release of the first novella, Livesuit. Livesuit (available now in ebook and audiobook) being focused on following a very special army unit, it reads sometimes like a geography book and has been for us a gold mine for geographical information.

Anjin: Anjin is a planet with a rich, multibillion-year history of life, shaped by two distinct and incompatible biospheres. One being the native lifeforms based on aperiodic quasicrystals of silicon carbon and iodine. The other one being the humans that make up the characters set. Anjin possesses vast oceans and four large continents, suggesting a planet of considerable size and diverse environments. Anjin is invaded by the Carryx, and its ultimate fate is not clear so far; though, the planet has not been entirely destroyed.
Carryx homeworlds: The Carryx homeworlds are sparsely detailed, even though the story takes mainly place on one of them. These homeworlds are covered with what is called world-palaces, ziggurat-type buildings that possibly cover entirely a planet. The exact location of the Carryx homeworlds is never discussed, and the reader doesn’t know where in the universe they are located. An approximate location regarding Anjin is not even known and cannot be guessed so far.
Kaladon: The planet home to Kirin, the main character of the novella Livesuit. Kaladon has an earthy feel, with pines, birds, and even sky valleys (north of Broad Serlath).
Ayayeh: A planet inhabited by a species called Eelie, taken by the Carryx. The situation on Ayayeh was a trap laid by the enemy, and the Carryx army was partly defeated and forced to leave the system. Ekur-Tkalal was the librarian in charge of the Carryx army.
Aumpaena system: A human system taken by the Carryx. It has a small sun at its half life, 2 colonised planets in the habitable zone, and a hot gas giant populated by a floating sentient biome based on silicon. The Aumpaena system lost 5 billion people when the Carryx attacked. Enlsavement methods were the same as on Anjiin.
Erribi: A planet mythically supposed to have been the origin home of Anjiinans before the sun ravaged it. As described in The Mercy of Gods, Erribi should be located in the same system as Anjiin and should be the first planet sunward.
Jepha: Human plant in a system with only one star. Carryx ships appear between Jepha and its sun, making it the first time the enemy attacks from sunward.
Lirebas system: human system with at least 10 million inhabitants. Lirebas was taken by the Carryx, and the people were enslaved the same way it happened on Anjiin, denoting a standardised and bureaucratic approach from the Carryx.
Matribas: Human planet invaded by the Carryx. Its capital city was Lapis City, now a field of ruins and the tomb of many Livesuit soldiers.
New Cannat: The human world or system that Kirin remembers has possibly hosted bayous and crocodiles. A plague appeared on New Cannat, and humans are conducting research to discover if the disease is an alien weapon or not.
Abalam system: system with at least 1 star and 2 habitable planets, among which 1 has breathable air.
Cinnibas: A planet or a world already colonised by humans. Its exact location remains unspecified at the read of Livesuit.
Desinun system: A system colonised by humans and taken by Carryx.
Edderith: A planet or system colonised by humans. Kirin remembers it possibly having crocodiles and bayous.
Keryunyua system: A system of at least 7 planets taken by the Carryx. Human forces retaliated by destroying an alien outpost with, presumably, eggs, ultimately leading to a death frenzy on all 7 planets.
Trium system: A system colonised by humans and taken by Carryx.

Species described in The Mercy of Gods

The Mercy of Gods is a menagerie of alien species, but not in the style of Star Wars or The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. Aliens by James S.A. Corey are weird in their own strange style. Of course, the bulk of the species that we can read about live undre the boot of the Carryx and are therefore depicted in their non-original environment, making their behaviour most likely off of their natural stance.

Humans: Humans in the Captive’s War are mainly from Anjin. However, there are examples of other non-related human settlements in Livesuit.
Carryx: The dominant alien species. They are described as large, insectoid creatures with four massive forelegs and two smaller, more dexterous feeding arms. They are technologically advanced, capable of interstellar travel, and engage in a vast intergalactic war. The Carryx have a complex social structure, with distinct castes and a hierarchy based on utility and obedience.
Rak-hund: A serpent-like species serving the Carryx as soldiers and enforcers. They are described as having “knifelike legs” and are known for their ruthlessness.
Soft Lothark: Another species subservient to the Carryx. They are described as squat-bodied jailers, often involved in capturing and controlling other species.
Sinen: cuttlefish-like creatures that assist the Carryx in various tasks, including interrogation. They are described as having “wet, sibilant noises” that require translation.
Night Drinkers: small, furry creatures with large eyes that exhibit aggression towards humans. They are capable of creating explosives and chemical weapons.
Phylarchs: large, horse-sized creatures with bone-coloured exoskeletons. They are mentioned as one of the species potentially utilised by the Carryx.
Oumenti and Soun: Described as “clicking globes,” these species are seen moving in swarms and are likely airborne.
Bone horses: a species with six legs and “bright rills” down their sides.
Stilt-legged things: A species with iridescent black shells that walks on stilt-like legs.
Not-quite-insects: A flying species that moves in swarms.
Eight-legged thing: Resembling a scaleless lizard.
Wide, lumbering thing: With multiple eyes in its chest.
Thick black animal: Resembling a dog but with a vertically opening mouth and numerous eyes.
Eelie: A hexapod species inhabiting the planet Ayayeh. They communicate through song and have a complex, interconnected social structure.
Aunjeli: Beings of semi-stable plasma who build their cities in the coronas of stars. They are the creators of the “fivefold” species interrogated by the Carryx.
Fivefold: The fivefold species is one being captured in the Battle of Ayayeh. They are tools of the enemy and appear to have been manufactured, which disgusts the Carryx.

Technical detail on The Mercy of Gods and Livesuit

The Mercy of Gods in numbers:

About 119 000 words.
475 pages.
36 chapters.
6 parts:
1. Part One: BEFORE: Chapters 1-6.
2. Part Two: CATASTROPHE: Chapters 7-12.
3. Part Three: PUZZLES: Chapters 13-19.
4. Part Four: TURNABOUT: Chapters 20-25.
5. Part Five: FISSURE: Chapters 26-31.
6. Part Six: SMALL BATTLES IN THE GREAT WAR: Chapters 32-36.
Average reading time is about 8 hours.

Livesuit in numbers:

About 21 300 words.
About 90 pages.
About 90 minutes of reading time.

We have often mentioned the attention James S. A. Corey always has concerning world-building, character creation, and all in all,s the trajectories that are launched into deep space to reach an end that might or might not be decided in advance. The Captive’s War Trilogy seems to follow the same trend, with many enticing ideas and concepts just from the blurb.

FAQ on the new series from James SA Corey

What is James SA Corey new series?

James SA Corey new series is The Captive’s War Trilogy, to which this FAN site is dedicated. That new series will bring something entirely different from The Expanse, on the story, world, and narration levels.