Seven Mercies

Seven Mercies is the second half of the Seven Devils duology. (Read my review of the first book.) Like the first book in the series, it's a mixed bag; a lot to like, and a few things that don't quite work. 

Synopsis

Seven Mercies starts a few months after the conclusion of the first book. The rebel forces are decimated. The empire is stronger than ever, and our heroes are struggling to find supplies. Rumors arrive that the other empire has found a way to free people from the Oracle's mind control. So two of the devils go under cover to verify it. 

In the mean time, the others try to free one of their former leaders from prison before he is turned into a mindless vessel for the AI that runs the empire. It's too late, of course, he's already fully under the AI's control. So when they bring him back, the AI speaks through him, persuading the youngest rebel to return to her job as the AI's programmer and engineer. The AI then persuades her young engineer to write the code that lets it take over everyone in the empire. Everyone with a chip in their head across the entire length of the empire is reduced to mindless drones. (Yep, that's essentially what just happened on Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 9.) 

The rebels must fight through an army of drones to rescue their young engineer and destroy the AI. 

Most of the characters are well developed (although some make really stupid decisions) and action is intense. Making the book enjoyable to read.... if you can ignore the occasional clumsy writing and a basic world building error.

The Writer's Perspective

The first book was marketed as a feminist space opera. But the second book reveals that  four of the characters are bisexual and one is transgender, making this more of a queer space opera. This also creates an internal contradiction that shows the authors failed to do their research. 

In the real world, sexual identity and orientation develop during gestation. The genetic engineering program and artificial gestation process that the authors described would never have allowed the development of homosexual and transgender traits in just a few random individuals among a creche of engineered soldiers. 

This basic flaw in the world building prevents the suspension of disbelief necessary for the reader to totally immerse themselves in the fictional universe. It also highlights how important it is for science fiction writers to research the science they write about.

If you can ignore this basic error, you'll enjoy both Seven Devils and Seven Mercies.