Seven Mercies by Laura Lam and Elizabeth May: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Seven Mercies by Laura Lam and Elizabeth May

Seven Mercies is the latter book in Seven Devils duology that began with Seven Devils. It’s sci-fi set in a distant universe, where large part of humanity is ruled by Archon with the help of the Oracle, an AI that controls humans with a chip in their brains. The Devils are a group of former soldiers turned rebels against the Archon, added with the sister of the current ruler, and an engineer the Oracle considers as its daughter.

The book starts with the Devils on the run after the current Archon framed them for a genocide. The number of rebels has dwindled to a handful, which isn’t a good platform for launching an offensive against him. Then they learn that the Oracle can turn everyone into mindless drones—and intends to do so too. Only one choice remains: shutting down the Oracle for good. Easier said than done, even with surprise ‘help’ on their side.

This was a good book. It did an excellent job in reminding the reader who was who and what had happened in the previous book. Each of the seven characters struggled with their personal problems, which were given ample time. However, it took far too long with this, and the actual plot didn’t start until closer to the half-point, with nothing much happening before. The narrative choice of giving each character their own chapters slowed things down further, and it took days for me to get through the beginning.

Things became more interesting once the action started. Everything went maybe a little too easily for the Devils, but there were tense moments and heartbreak enough to leave this reader satisfied in the end. I’m sad to say goodbye to the Devils, but I’m content with where they ended.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.