The Mercy of Gods by James SA Corey | Spoiler-Free Review
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
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The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey
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Thank you for the honest non spoiler thoughts! Nothing is worse than thinking a book is going to be fantastic read and it is just good. I am still planning on reading this right away but lowering my expectations will definitely allow me to appreciate it for what it is rather than expecting a masterpiece
Glad you'll still be trying it for yourself. I just really wanted to bring some balance to the early reviews
I thought the Expanse series started out somewhat narrowly focused too, with a find-the-girl detective noir plotline. Then it blossomed out into something so much bigger. We'll see if the authors do something similar in the next book, opening it out past the YA-feeling style. On the other hand YA SF&F is a huge market so maybe they're intentional in trying to split the difference.
Thats a fair point with the narrow focus. I'd like to come back once the whole trilogy is published and know where it's all going
Thank you Rachel! I always respect and appreciate your completely honest reviews of the books you present on your channel. I wouldn't want it any other way! Thank you! 📚📚
Thank you
I recently read the first 3 books in The Expanse series, and then had to take a break and read some other things. But I do like the series pretty well and will continue with the other books soon. Thanks for this honest review! Always good to see you! 🚀🚀🚀
I hope you keep going with the expanse
I love The Expanse, and enjoyed Mercy of God's, but I don't disagree with you but the most interesting concepts weren't introduced until quite late into the book so I'm hoping the next book takes things up a notch. Leviathan Wakes didn't exactly win me over at first either.
I was one of the readers who loved Leviathan but other people have mentioned your experience. It's certainly one where I want to do a full trilogy review and see how the completed series works as a whole
Thanks for the review. As someone who appreciates more originality in books, this review is very helpful. I think I will prioritize finishing The Expanse series rather than pick this up on release. I'm a fan of Daniel Abraham's books and I still have more of his backlog to read as well.
I hope you enjoy the rest of the Expanse. I need to read more of Daniel Abraham's fantasy
Great review! Always appreciate you giving us all the information we need without spoiling the book. From what I've read of this particular book( first three parts), I pretty much agree with everything you said.
Rachel this is why I watch all of your content. You’re honest. It takes courage to go against the grain. I’ve seen other booktubers praising this one.
Thanks. I don't want to be controversial for the sake of it, but I feel like the praise is a bit affected by the hype
I'm glad I can temper my expectations. The world building was one of my favorite things about the Expanse so it's disappointing that you felt it was lacking. I still plan to read it.
Glad you will still try it yourself. Maybe you'll like it more
Started the audiobook last night. It hasn't grabbed me my attention yet but I remain open minded as to how things might progress.
Hopefully the story improves for you
@@TheShadesofOrange It didn't. I just couldn't get invested in the characters and didn't care what happened to them. So with this in mind, I don't think I'll be reading any future instalments in this series, which is an absolute bummer, since I loved The Expanse and had such high hopes for this book.
love your honesty, as always!! i do like the expanse, but it sounds like i might save this one for when i need a lighter, easier read for by the pool 📚
I really appreciate your reviews, this helped a lot to set expectations.
As always
Thanks for the honesty
Thanks. I'm planning on reading this next and appreciate the heads up.
Live the honest review. I have been very excited for this book since I too love love the expanse. So I still plan on reading it but it’s always good to have my expectations tempered. I’ll let you know how it goes when I get my copy!
I'm glad you're still going to be trying it for yourself. All the other reviewers seem to be loving it
Thank you for the honest review. I did preorder this one, so I’ll read it and see how it goes. 😁
I'm glad you'll still try it for yourself
Thank you for your timely review Rachel! I appreciate your honest thoughts on this up coming release…certainly a pass for me!✨
The Expanse started out with a small scope too; hopefully the authors are reusing that mechanism. Not excited about the YA romance though - I will buy the book when it comes out andI hope I can push through it. Romantic relationships were the weak link in The Expanse, maybe they're trying to overcompensate in this series?
A fair point. I definitely hope that is the case. I felt like it in handled it better there because I was more attached to the characters as the story expanded
I didn't even know they had moved on to write anything else together. I enjoyed the Expanse and I would tell people that it was 'Good'. In some ways, not all, I like the TV series more than the books. But you mentioned how a great series has you thinking about it, theorizing, imagining, wondering, remembering, for years to come. I hardly think about this anymore. Once in a while, and usually the early books. The second and third trilogies got really sloggish to me. I am even the kind of person who understands the science parts they were going for. I even think they did an exceptional job of sticking the ending. It was a very satisfying reveal and solution. It could have been done in one, slightly larger, trilogy. I am glad they finished it, unlike their mentor GRRM who can't seem to finish ASOIAF... But I don't go around praising them for their work and trumpeting to the heavens about their masterful creation. It's good. Not great.
That said, there isn't much to make me want to jump into a new series that doesn't have the familiar elements that the first one did. I am picky about what Sci-Fi I read and a lot of it becomes more Science Fantasy it seems. I like the fact that you have an unpopular opinion, many of mine are too. I'll wait to see if this series has legs...
Yeah it's one I'll have to see how it develops in the long run
Thank you for an honest and critical review!
Too many genre Blockbusters of the past 10 or 15 years seem to win awards and skate by on absolutely nothing. I don't want to put down anyone's books, or anyone's taste but I don't want to spend all that time reading things that are just poorly written but given glowing reviews by people who clearly do not have enough background in literature writing or criticism to be making these distinctions.
It's okay to be the lone voice in the wilderness as long as you're trying to tell the truth. 😁
I think their writing is actually quite nice but the story and character are not meeting my expectations so far
I love how you and I have such opposite opinions 😂. I found it was slower to start and it picked up for me about halfway through. I ended up loving it, but I also am pretty easy to please. 😁
Happy it worked better for you.
Finished it last night and agree with everything you said here. It wasn't dreadful but it was not the type of book or the quality of writing I went in expecting.
Sorry you had the same experience but also glad it wasn't just me. Everyone is gushing so hard on this one and I feel like I read a different version
As someone who thinks the expanse is some of the best science fiction ever written despite its flaws I can accept that it's hard to catch lightning in a bottle twice. Aleister Reynolds Revelation space series was phenomenal, yet I thought his Revenger series was just average but enjoyable. If Mercy of the Gods is better than Revengers I'm all in.
That's a very smart perspective. I have a lot of books I love where the author's other books very quite hit the same magic
@@TheShadesofOrange Just finished it. Without getting into any spoilers my critique would be the first act, a lot of character introduction, it was hard to keep track of who was who. As the focus narrowed further in the book it became much easier to follow. To me this book had a dune part one movie vibe to it. A lot of characters, a lot of dialogue and backstory, a slow burn building up to whatever's coming in the next book. That isn't necessarily a bad thing because I will be reading the next book. But I'm hoping it steps up the pace a little maybe some more action, intrigue. Keeping my fingers crossed!
I also recently read this book from a NetGalley, and while it wasn't up there with the best of the Expanse, I solidly enjoyed it and put it somewhere around the first Expanse book in terms of enjoyment (where I liked the book enough to move onto the next but wasn't blown away). Same with this book, I'm interested enough to continue and not completely sold yet but there's enough there that I'm interested in continue.
That's a very good point. I definitely plan to come back with a series review once I know what this book is building towards.
Although i was in love with Leviathan Wakes and saw the series potential right from the start
I have ordered it months ago. Can’t wait
I loved this book but thank you for your well-articulate thoughts. I will say that I think their writing style works better in The Expanse because the prose is so simple and concise that ir works better in that grounded setting than in this far future one with all of these fantastical aliens and crazy shit. The other criticism I have, that kind of aligns with your scope complaint, is that the ending got me very hyped up for the rest of the series but the premise that we have for book two based on the ending is what I feel like this book could have been in the first place. I feel like it would have been possible to fast track what became the main plot of this book (a smaller, more limited scope, tropey story) and get us to the (in my opinion) incredibly fascinating step within the first book.
Loved reading your thoughts on this one
This book touches upon the same question as the Three Body Problem series. Can two galactic species coexist? How should humanity handle a far more powerful civilization?
The book needs to have the reader care about the characters before starting the story so it comes across. The main characters are also younger.
It seems to be a setup for a longer series. My bet is that it is the same universe as The Expanse.
I think it was hard because it dealt with a similar concept but (to me), it did so it a much weaker way
thanks for not spoiling things⚛
Hmm... I thought they said they were going for a dune or foundation like series next time, i.e., even more grand and epic than the expanse!! Did I misunderstand them? Good review!👍👍👍📚🤖🚀🐲
I don't watch author interviews so it's possible. I'm not quite sure how they see those comparisons
@@TheShadesofOrange Yeah, I read a short interview somewhere...
Thanks for your thoughts and opinions.
Thank you for your review. I am looking for a psycho-horror book about college friends (male and female) experiencing scary elements. But it should have comic scenes too otherwise I feel disengaged. For example, I liked the IT movie 2017 which was horror but had some comic characters like Richie and Ed. Thanks
I ordered this book months ago and was looking forward to adding to my collection of James S.A. Corey’s books and short stories, which I loved and recommended to many. This book missed on all the aspects that made the Expanse an extraordinary series. While it was amazing to feel the same writing style and rhythm, the characters, setting, dialogues, science, and world-building are - at least in this first book - unsatisfying.
The characters in the Expanse series are amazing, multidimensional, and active drivers of the story, here they are completely forgettable. I did not care for any of the characters, nor did I felt any attraction/interest for any of the aliens; The plot moved slowly in a very predictable way, in full contrast from their previous books; the setting was confusing, and despite the different worlds described it felt claustrophobic, with the large majority of the events happening in small and uninteresting environments; the dialogues flats and the science superficial and not central to the plot. What a contrast with their previous work. The Expanse series is one of my favorite sci fi opera ever and the reason I started to follow you channel. I did not watch your review yet, but I can do it now. Looking forward to know your thoughts. Keep up your great work
I think you articulated some of my feelings better than I did. Very much agree. I'm hoping the later two books redeem this for me, but I found this to be a weak start to this trilogy
I was a bit skeptical about this book coming on the heels of the Expanse series. I preordered it because it wasn’t the same storyline and the author did a good job with the six books I’ve read so far.
This sounds like a okay book but I am still going to read with lowered expectations still hoping it picks up, since I liked book 2 of Expanse way better than Leviathan Wakes.
I'll be interested to see what more people think about it
You are so intelligent & articulate. Are you a teacher, haha? I will be diving into the Expanse series based on your previous reviews/videos. Thank you Rachel! #NewSubscriber
I don't know about those things. Lol. And no I work in sales. I would be a terrible teacher
Appreciate the video!!!
Just started listening to the audio version, do get lot of expanse feels with the discriptions of areas and multiple viewpoint characters. I think this book series won't be as extensive as the expanse given its only going to be a trilogy so thats why if feels a little rushed.
Makes sense. I'll admit I am curious about the audiobook experience because I saw they got back the same narrator
Christ, I only just ordered the first three of “The Expanse.” Talk about needing to catch up! I like that you kept the synopsis minimal.
Just looking at your shelf, I have “The Rig” is it good?
You're in for a treat with the Expanse. And I really loved The Rig
@@TheShadesofOrange thank you 😊
So its a spinoff. I'm sold
Not officially. Just speculating that it could be a really loose one
I just finished the book and I was disappointed by it especially because of how great the Expanse was.
Yeah, definitely not as good
I wouldn’t care that much if it were at least honestly marketed and labeled YA.
I’m not expecting perfection, and most Artists out there will release something that will disappoint people, but I think it’s time readers take publishers to task for dishonest labeling & classifications of authors works.
Have you read it yourself? Because while I feel it read like a YA crossover, it doesn't appear to be the author's intention
@@TheShadesofOrange Nah, I was taking your review as a warning.
I respect your opinion but can you give examples of other books that start off with an Alien invasion and how they would realistically treat you and how it all would work out scientifically? I dont think I've read another sci-fi like this. Can you give examples of other books you've read that has this exact same trope? Seems pretty fresh to me.
I've been trying to think how to respond but I think it's hard to call an alien invasion story realistic or scientifically accurate when the whole situation is so hypothetical. For me, this one hit the same usual beats of not just books but the tropey movies. Even the alien hivemind is something that is repeated over and over in media. Some of my favourite stories dealing with aliens include Dawn and 3BP because they felt more complex. With Mercy, there was never a point where a turn in the plot surprised me or subverted my expectations, which is why it didn't feel fresh to me.
I don't want to sound argumentative because everyone's reading experience will very, but that's where I'm coming from
@@TheShadesofOrange I dont think the carryx is a hive mind. I found it quite interesting learning about these different species, and the bigger war we know so little amount. I found the swarm pretty interesting as well.
There is no real focus on romance, not YA at all. The romance is such a tiny portion of the book, and SPOILERS: the women is controlled by the swarm. "I was dead before we kissed". There was 3 people in the body. That's not a typical YA trope or YA at all.
Keep in mind this is an introduction into this new world. The world building in the Expanse didnt happen for a couple of books.The craziest stuff didnt happen till book 7!! Its like you're judging this one book compared to 9 Expanse books which isn't really fair. Reread the first expanse book, it is also very narrow in scope. A detective is looking for a missing girl. That trope has been done a million times (but not in space).
I think the only weak point is the characters aren't as fleshed out, but I'm sure they will be as the story progresses. You're opinion is your own, but I think you're a bit harsh on this one.
@xkxxxx hey it's only fair for me to listen to other opinions so I appreciate you expanded on your points.
Leviathan Wakes was a 5 star experience for me but I'm hearing that it didn't entirely hook other readers so it's very possible my harshness comes from that bias
Only halfway through, but don’t necessarily agree. I see much more to this story particularly in the development of the alien viewpoints and culture. Really don't see the YA side. For reference was not an Expanse reader and am an old man.
Totally fair to disagree because these are only my subjective opinions. The book struck me as a good "YA crossover". Just the feeling I got from the tone and characters
Hello there hey there hey Hello hi
Omg thank you for this review. Think this is a pass for me now
Even the best sci-fi authors have written sub-par works -- Asimov's later Foundation books for example aren't great.
Very true
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I only read the first Expanse book and it wasn't for me so I will be passing on this one
💫
I think the main problem is the uninspired and relatively generic setting. The Expanse was much more original.
Having read a lot more classic science fiction, I have realized that the Expanse borrowed a lot of popular tropes/plot points. BUT I think it worked because it took those classic story elements and out them into an incredibly accessible story that pulled so many of us into this genre
@@TheShadesofOrange I agree. The elements of The Expanse are not all original, but the composition as a whole is. Unfortunately this can't be said of the first entry to The Captive's War. I would love to write something more positive, but can't.
This book was-in my opinion-a muddled mess. The writing, characters, and plot are horrible. It starts great but quickly becomes a boring drag. Absolutely terrible book.
Yeah...
Sounds boring
It wasn't exactly boring just missed potential for me