@RaymondPierreL3 @Rob

RE
#TheMercyofGods is certainly an topical book given the #US #dystopia

Actually the past too, because they are forced to work in concentration camps by the "superior aliens"

I look at the book's title again and get the feeling the CarryX (oh shit #Musk and #X) are not the "Gods" in the title, it's the 2nd intelligent spices (the swarm) on the invaded planet, Anjiin

Maybe the swarm are the merciful gods

the 30 intelligent spices
https://sentientmedia.org/which-animals-are-most-intelligent

@RaymondPierreL3 @Rob
RE
#JamesClavell books better

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clavell

Thx, I will read him later

Im currently reading book 1 (2 and 3 are not out yet) of #JamesSACorey #TheMercyofGods because I really liked the drama series (6 seasons) of #TheExpanse

#Shogun1980 5 episods with #RichardChamberlain #ToshiroMifune #Clavell was executive producer
IMO, the ending was very moving, with Mifune up on the cliff overlooking Chamberlain rebuilding a ship and well, spoiler

And that horrifying difference isn't acknowledged enough, I think.

But, as the novel itself tells us, the Carryx' empire will rally and Dafyd will bring that fall. So I guess it's too early to tell - but so far, it's a very mixed bag: neat aliens, yes, but very flat human characters; realistic university politics, but a somewhat unoriginal premise with Earth (well, human) exceptionalism I just don't like.

(5/n, n=5)

Based on @ergative's review*, I have to admit I expected something different: less genocidal and horrible. The review very much reads it as the darkest academia, the "publish or perish" metaphor made literal. Given the terms of their imprisonment, I couldn't help but read it through a different lens - as full of Holocaust analogies. So much reminded me of the camps, and the horror of people going along with crimes like these.

*http://www.nerds-feather.com/2024/08/book-review-mercy-of-gods-by-james-s.html

(3/n)

That made for a read quite a bit darker than I expected this novel to be.

I'm also not sure it really works. There's an obvious symmetry in the novel's construction: the group making a breakthrough, being screwed over, and Dafyd's superior social skills saving them both from the administration and the Carryx. But these two things actually aren't very similar: no university administration has killed 1/8 of the population.

(4/n)

What happens next, however, decidedly doesn't: the alien Carryx and their subjugate species make contact by sending a message, killing lots of people and abducting some, including Dafyd and his colleagues. They're given a lab and an assignment, but the real test seems to be something else - and they're trying to figure out if and how to resist against this overwhelmingly powerful foe.

(2/n)

The horror of ending a chapter with humiliation and possibly mass execution, and then starting the next with the captive scientists admiring their new lab equipment.

It's very effective, but I'm not actually sure it's by design on the authors' part.

I also have to say that I wasn't fond of the privileged do-gooder kid protagonist in "The Expanse", and I'm not fond of him (of course it's a him) here.

"The Expanse", at least, had Naomi and Bobbie and Avasarala, while this only has Jessyn the depressed girl, Else who sleeps with whoever has the highest status*, and Synnia the crazed widow.

(All the human characters feel very cardboard-y TBH)

*she says so herself

Okay, I *so* didn't need that folksy "he he I was nekkid" reunion. Just nope.

It's chilling to see how easily the scientists can be like "they set us a task, let's do it and be the best" after seeing how evil these aliens are. How they just assume they'll be provided for, and ultimately spared, if they do well.

It's not unrealistic. And that's the most horrible thing. Academia made them like this; that says a lot, a d nothing good about it.

"What about these other creatures,” Dafyd asked. “Are they being tested too? This same test?” The librarian’s answer came quickly this time. “The only test is whether a subject species is useful. Usefulness is survival.” [...] Campar chuckled. “Come on, that’s pretty much what every funding committee says."

Well, most funding committees aren't that evil.

This really is reminding me of the camps, and medical experiments in them.

"If there was a war coming, it would find them gardening."

Planting an apple tree as the world is ending, eh.

But still: words to aspire to.

"What they hadn’t predicted, what had never been predicted, was the signal from the planet. It covered a broad spectrum, but a narrow band of space. The chances that it was a random effect were vanishingly small, and one band penetrated their protections, echoing back toward the target planet. The seventeen ships prepared for violence. But hours passed, and no violence came."

Ominous. But also because we do well and are peaceful.

I wonder what's up with all these researcher-couples. I know that happens, but the density seems a bit... high. Is that a cultural difference? Are they going for BioNTech vibes?

I do hope there's not much jealousy and drama coming - that just annoys me.

German speaker's problem: I have a hard time taking a character named "Nöl" seriously.

(German verb "nölen": to complain or nag)

"In practice, “casual” included intricate and opaque rules of behavior and a rigidly enforced though ill-defined hierarchy of status. And one of many ironclad rules of etiquette was that people were to pretend there were no rules of etiquette."

This is, like, SO ACCURATE