So. "The Mercy of Gods" by James S. A. Corey, apparently the first in a series.
We're in humanity's future, on the planet Anjiin: Earth is lost und unknown. And we're, in the beginning, in a familiar academic setting: junior researcher Dafyd's workgroup has won prestige and funding, but is being split up, and schemes against the administration to undo this. Yeah, feels just like home to every academic, I guess.
(1/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)
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)
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)
@ergative and I really wanted to read and like it as such! It's a cool idea! But the horrible captivity in the beginning kind of took the fun out of it for me, and the willingness to just go along with whatever task one is set was chilling.
I actually don't think the concentration camp analogy is intended - but it's an association I had and couldn't shake, and that spoiled any fun for sure.
Jules
Ergative Absolutive
Robert Stainsby