The Mercy of Gods
Author: James S.A. Corey
Publisher: Orbit books
Pages: 422
Plot: 5/5
Writing Quality: 5/5
Strength of Characters: 5/5
Link to Purchase: The Mercy of Gods | Orbit Bookstore
Review:
As soon as I heard that James S.A. Corey (the pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) was releasing a new book, I had it on my list. I spent the majority of 2024 working my way through Corey’s The Expanse, a riveting nine-book sci-fi series following the crew of the ship Rocinante on their adventures through time and space (I’ll write something on that soon), and I was hooked on the writing style of Corey. I’ve been reading and watching sci-fi stories all my life, and I think it’s Corey that shines the brightest in terms of emphasizing the “science” as much as the “fiction”. Almost every technology or space maneuver in The Expanse was justified by some scientific principle, such as the crew of spaceships having to cope with high g-forces and the life of new planets not being immediately consumable for human beings. In my personal pantheon of sci-fi writers, Corey is up there with Frank Herbert and Orson Scott Card. Now, onto the book itself.
The Mercy of Gods is, in my opinion, a significant step forward in quality of writing from The Expanse. However, I may be biased given my personal background as an academic, and the book’s emphasis on academia. The book follows the members of a highly prestigious biology research lab as their planet is invaded by the Carryx, leaders of a vast interplanetary empire who colonize worlds and subjugate or eliminate the native populations depending on their ultimate usefulness to the empire. Captured by the Carryx, the researchers are brought to one of the empire’s palace worlds, and made to justify their continued existence by completing a task provided by their new overlords. All the while, the characters battle their own demons, seek love and connection, and along the way paint a picture of what it’s like to live when your entire existence is controlled by an outside group. That theme of finding personal fulfillment in an authoritarian regime is one of the most prevalent in the book, and I think Corey writes a beautiful story with it, but I think this book also has particular value for academics, posing questions that we should consider, and presenting possible allegories for our own careers. I will address each of these in turn. Please note that the following sections contain minor plot spoilers, but I take care to not go deep into details and ruin the reading for you. Feel free to bookmark this page and return after reading if you are concerned.
Is it ethical to conduct research in an authoritarian regime?
I was hooked on the book’s premise within the first 50 pages, but it was around part 2 when I realized how much I was going to love it. A big reason for that is that the book subtly poses a moral question for researchers that I think may be underappreciated by a general reader: Is it ethical to conduct research for an authoritarian regime?
On page 154, our protagonists, having been brought to the home world of the Carryx, are introduced to their primary task: make one alien lifeform that appears to be a berry edible for another alien lifeform that is similar to a turtle. For the protagonists, this is easy, they are elite biologists and this project is well within their area of expertise. Given this knowledge, and the fact that they feel there is nothing else they can control in their lives, they dive headfirst into the work, making their research a 24/7 project.
In the grand scheme of the book, the protagonists agreeing to do this work is more of a minor decision. However, I find it an incredibly interesting thought exercise for academics broadly. If an authoritarian regime that you disagreed with tasked you with a research project and threatened you with punishment for not complying, would you do this research? On one hand, I think it is completely understandable for a researcher to immerse themselves fully in their work when living in an authoritarian regime. Conducting research provides a feeling of control. As researchers, we can design and structure our experiments, allowing us to be in charge. As a result, just like the protagonists in The Mercy of Gods, it’s incredibly tempting to engage in that work when the structures governing one’s life are in the hands of another. On the other hand, it is vital that researchers recognize that their work does not exist in a vacuum, and may have unintended consequences once it is complete.
Taking the circumstances of the book as an example, (NOTE: Plot spoilers ahead!) our protagonists work diligently to make the alien berry analog edible to the alien turtle analog. While they complete their task and are proud of their work, the overall outcome of their work was to increase the power of the authoritarian regime that is controlling them, and make one species subservient to another. I was surprised that this moral question was not mentioned in the book, but by the time it happens in the story, the plot is far past the point of quibbling over research ethics. Nevertheless, this little thought exercise should motivate us academics to consider the implications of our work once it is completed.
An allegory for academia?
I loved reading The Mercy of Gods as a sci-fi novel in its own right, but I began to enjoy it even more when I saw how it could be read as a commentary on academia itself. I admit, it seems obvious in retrospect, how could a book where all of the main characters have a PhD and work in the same research group not have some commentary on academia. Still, much like the way Corey poses an interesting moral question about the ethics of conducting research in authoritarian regimes, there are other valuable aspects as well.
I like to think that the book tells a condensed story of a general career in academia as well as kicking off what will surely be one of the best sci-fi series of the 2020’s. I’ll explain why I think this in the following paragraphs, and it will contain spoilers, so if you haven’t read the book, you may wish to wait until you have finished.
This academic’s story starts at the beginning of the book. Dafyd, the main character, and the person who plays the main role of academic in this condensed meta-story, is attending an end of year celebration at his university. The event is intended to celebrate all of the scholars completing another academic year, but in the context of the meta-story, I choose to think of it as the celebration akin to successfully defending one’s dissertation and preparing to embark on a career in academia. Then, predictably, the rug is pulled out from under all of this joy and celebration with the reality of searching for and ultimately securing a position in academia. In this meta-story, I consider the Carryx to be the entrenched figures of academia, they could represent administration, tenured professors, funding bodies, or any other group that exerts some form of control or influence after entering academia.
The Carryx invade the human’s home planet and force them on a months long trip through space where we see the main characters be pushed to their absolute mental and physical limits. I suppose one could consider this the grueling nature of searching for a faculty position in academia, though since I have not had to pursue one myself, I am hesitant to really stake a claim here. After surviving the trip and making it to the palace world of the Carryx, a member of the invading species going by the title of ‘librarian’ assigns Dafyd and the other protagonists their research task and gives the advice “Usefulness is survival”. In the meta story, I consider this as Dafyd completing the job search and being hired on a tenure track position, but being reminded that an academic’s career is determined by their ability to be successful, which generally comes in the form of securing grants and publishing research. The task is analogous in the book, as Dafyd and his fellow researchers must genetically alter one alien species to be edible for another alien species. Theoretically, the researchers could do anything with these alien species, much like an academic could do a wide range of different things in their job, but ultimately only one specific measure determines their usefulness to the institution.
Throughout the book, we see the toll that this “Usefulness is survival” advice takes on the research group. One member of the team comes to struggle with mental health problems, which reduces the productivity of the research and sets back their progress. Another time, a rival research group raids their research lab and sets their work back even further. What I find interesting about both of these plot points, is that not only do both of these things happen to academics regularly (anxiety, depression, and burnout are well-known problems facing academics, and it is not uncommon for research to be poached by other groups), but the solutions that the research group comes up with (developing a mental health medication and a bioweapon out of the alien species they are studying) are extremely valuable to the researchers, but ultimately mean nothing to the institution. Putting this in the context of an average academic job, the solutions the researchers come up with in the book are akin to successfully mentoring a student to help you with your work, or performing a valuable community service task. Both of these are helpful to keep you on your path toward a successful career, but they won’t achieve the task on their own.
To wrap up this meta-narrative, towards the end of the book, the research team does successfully complete their research task, and Dafyd has raised his status from being a mere research assistant at the beginning of the book to now being considered a co-leader of the research group. As a reward, the whole research group is brought before a convening of the Carryx leaders, and the reward for Dafyd is that he is made the liaison between the humans on the palace world and the Carryx. Put simply, Dafyd becomes a Department Head. His status is elevated among the research group even though he is still subject to the same tasks they are, and he is now slightly more respected, though threads of disdain are creeping in as well.
In essence, when trying to attain a successful career in academia, you are at The Mercy of Gods.
That is all, analysis over. I loved this book, and I highly recommend that you read it!