Apostles of Mercy
A Novel
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4.5 • 6 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
THE INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER
Apostles of Mercy is the new alternate history first contact novel from the instant New York Times, Wall Street Journal and LA Times bestselling Lindsay Ellis.
First Contact has not been going well. The nations of Earth are rapidly militarizing against the arrival of the Superorganism, an alien civilization that promises to destroy humanity before it can develop into a real threat. The Superorganism has done it before–to their distant transient relatives–and they could easily do it again. But the alien Ampersand and his human interpreter Cora Sabino are done with trying to save humanity from both the Superorganism and itself; to them, this is a civilization that does not deserve to be saved.
When a strange new form of communication between the two of them reveals to Cora how alien Ampersand truly is, she begins to question her blind devotion. But she soon learns of a danger that may force them to leave Earth before either of them are ready: a group of superorganism enemies that have been wreaking havoc on Earth for decades. Existence on the margins has made them desperate and bent on revenge against any of Ampersand's race whose path they cross. Before Cora and Ampersand can make their final escape, these hostile aliens stage an attack, and take that which is most dear to both of them.
Ampersand's enemies will not consider any form of truce; the greatest threat to them is not from the Superorganism, but from an increasingly fearful and violent human civilization newly aware of their existence. Cora and Ampersand must go to extreme measures to take back what was stolen and prevent wholesale human extermination–but in doing so they may be no better than the civilizations they are trying to escape.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
With this high-stakes sci-fi adventure, the third in the Noumena series, bestseller Ellis (Truth of the Divine) delivers a suspenseful and sophisticated sci-fi thought experiment. Cora Sabino discovered that her estranged father, Nils Ortega, was working with the U.S. government during a first contact event with aliens called amygdalines, which look like nine-foot-tall praying mantis in mechanized dragon suits. She's since learned how to communicate with an amygdaline she calls Ampersand, with whom she's bonded deeply. Now a far more deadly alien race, the physeterines, an evolutionary cousin and longtime enemy of the amygdalines, is planning to attack Earth in a preemptive strike before humanity can become a threat. While the American government amasses fire power for a war it can't win, freelance writer Paris Wells has another strategy: connect with Ampersand's alien companion, the volatile and psychotic Nikola, to decipher a journal left by Cora's murdered lover, journalist Kaveh Mazandarani, which could hold the key to saving humanity. Meanwhile, Ampersand is eager to explore his new empathic connection with Cora, revealing just how alien he truly is and, in so doing, terrifying Cora. Ellis ratchets up the political intrigue, fear of alien invasion, and family drama as Cora reconnects with Nils, all while posing a moral question of whether humanity deserves saving at all. This immersive, action-packed outing does not disappoint.
