The Mercy of Gods

Captive's War, Book 1

By: James S.A. Corey

Narrated by: Jefferson Mays

From the Hugo Award–winning and New York Times bestselling author of the Expanse, James S. A. Corey, comes the start of a monumental new space opera series.

HOW HUMANITY CAME TO THE PLANET CALLED ANJIIN IS LOST IN THE FOG OF HISTORY, BUT THAT HISTORY IS ABOUT TO END.

The Carryx—part empire, part hive—has waged wars of conquest for centuries, destroying or enslaving species across the galaxy in its conflict with an ancient and deathless enemy.

When they descend on the isolated world of Anjiin, the human population is abased, slaughtered, and put in chains. The best and brightest are abducted, taken to the Carryx world-palace to join prisoners from a thousand other species.

Dafyd Alkhor, assistant to a prestigious scientist, is captured along with his team.

Even he doesn’t suspect that his peculiar insight and skills will be the key to seeing past their captors’ terrifying agenda.

Swept up in a conflict beyond his control and vaster than his imagination, Dafyd is poised to become humanity’s champion—and its betrayer.

This is where his story begins.

“No one builds a universe like James S. A. Corey. The Mercy of Gods is wilder and weirder than you can imagine, and when it ends, all you’ll want is … more.”—John Scalzi, New York Times bestselling author

©2024 Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (P)2024 Recorded Books

Incredible

This is not The Expanse 2.0 and for a while that kind of bothered me but then the unsettling intensity of this story grew and I was glad it wasn’t just another Expanse. It’s a slightly more challenging read as a lot of the characters names and the names of places are alien, or don’t register as commonplace. It’s set somewhere entirely fictional so there’s not a lot of familiarity outside of the base language.
This is a slow burn, character driven story that I found genuinely terrifying at times. The subtlety of the tone made moments of action all the more thrilling. The meat of this story is internal with the characters, not grandiose space battles. The series title The Captives War is a perfect name for what’s beginning in this story.
My only big problem was that it ended. I want more.
This is clearly just the beginning, and I can’t wait for more.
Also, Jefferson Mays is amazing.

A promising start

It will be hard for people to keep themselves from comparing this book, and most likely the rest of the series, to The Expanse. That will be an unfair comparison. The Expanse is a completed series where the total was greater than the sum of its parts. This book is the beginning of something not yet complete, and I would hold it up to any individual book of the other series, but it needs to be given its own space to develop.

All of that out of the way, I REALLY enjoyed this book. The world and the overall set up was very intriguing, and it left me excited for what’s to come. The character work does feel like it’s still forming though. We’re given the sense of a few of the characters, but the level of development they get could almost be seen as foreshadowing of who we will see going forward. Still, you understand where everybody is coming from, and why they make the decisions they do.

The imagination behind the world, the alien species, and the cultures is really well done and totally engrossing. And, of course, Jefferson Mays’ narration is fantastic.

They got me, I’m hooked. Now I just need to wait for the rest of the books…

Good aliens, confusing plot

The alien species were all written in a way that feels realistic and possible but still very foreign which helps the scene and scenario feel more genuine. There were however too many characters that were thrown into the mix very early on, so none of them were able to really stand out well. The characters were missing a good bit of depth and adequate backstory that would have made them feel more likable.

So very good

The storytelling of James SA Corey unfolds like a composed piece of music, each note thoughtfully placed, allowing the melody to resonate deeply within the you. They don’t overwhelm you with a flood of scenes so detailed there’s no room for the reader, they offer metaphors and similes —a whisper of insight, a glimpse of a foreshadowing—allowing the reader’s Mind’s Eye to wander freely, filling in the spaces with their own imagination.

Their love for the universe they’ve crafted, for the characters that inhabit it, is palpable. It’s as if the story already exists in its entirety in their shared consciousness, yet they don’t rush to reveal it. Instead, they let it breathe, like a fine wine poured slowly into a carafe, allowing its complexity to unfold and bloom with each passing page. This patience, this deliberate pacing, draws the reader in, not as a passive observer, but as a co-creator of the world they’ve so tenderly brought to life.

Good story, Dark: humans & 100's of races, subjugated.

I like the character development, though I had a hard time tracking all the names. I like the surprises: I guessed 100% wrong every time, and it always seems more plausible than my guess. I'll totally get the rest of the volumes as they come out. These authors are space-opera-composers, and I'm in line for that unobstructed balcony seat

Great start, can't wait for more

If you liked the expanse books I think you'll enjoy this too. By the same 2 authors, and they really work together to tell a good story!

It's a start. Hopefully it gets better as The Expanse did

Lots to work with going forward. Don't let us down you guys. ;-). Waiting for part two.

Lots of aliens good beginning story a little slow

I enjoyed this book it has a lot of possibility pretty good storyline. I like all the aliens, but it’s a little slow and takes a bit to get going in my opinion.

Great story, great narrator, feels like the expanse.

awesome. still feels like the expanse universe. can't wait to the next one. I just wish I could fine more like this.

Great world building at a micro level. Can’t wait for it to grow.

Great start to a series. Hard sci-fi like The Expanse. Characters that matter that you don’t necessarily have to get hung up on. Performance was excellent as always. Finished it in 3 days.