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THE MERCY MAKERS

Tessa Gratton

A talented heretic must decide between the pursuit of forbidden magic, or the ecstasy of forbidden love, in the start of a sweeping, romantic epic fantasy trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Tessa Gratton.
Can an empire trip and fall on a mere strand of silk?

Iriset is a prodigy and an outlaw. The daughter of a powerful criminal, she dons her alter ego Silk to create magical disguises for those in her father's organization, but she longs to do more with her talent: to enhance what it means to be human by giving people wings, night-sight, and other abilities; to unlock the possibilities of gender and parenthood; to cure disease and even to end mortality itself.

Everything changes when her father is captured and sentenced to death. To save him, Iriset must infiltrate the palace and the empire's fanatical ruling family. There, she realizes she has a chanceand an obligationto bring down the entire corrupt system. She'll have to entangle herself in the lives of the emperor and his sister, getting them to trust and even to love her. But love is a two-way street, and Iriset's own heart holds the most mysterious and impenetrable magic of all.

Tessa Gratton is the New York Times bestselling author of adult and YA SFF novels and short stories that have been translated into twenty-two languages, nominated twice for the Otherwise Award, and several have been Junior Library Guild Selections. Though she has lived all over the world, she currently resides at the edge of the Kansas prairie with her wife.
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Published 2025-06-17 by Orbit

Comments

Sinking into the pages of The Mercy Makers is like being immersed in a wondrous lucid dream. The atmosphere is a tantalizing blend of the familiar and the strange, laced with a vivid sensuality that invites the reader to forge new connections at every turn.

The world of Tessa Gratton's THE MERCY MAKERS is lush, strange, sensual, and surprising.

THE MERCY MAKERS manages to be both lush and tight, with characters who are strange and original, sexy and intriguing, plus an amazingly detailed and precise world. Tessa Gratton can basically do anything!

Luminous, sexy, and delicately imagined.

Sexy and tense, Tessa Gratton's THE MERCY MAKERS is the modern heir to sweeping, intricate fantasy classics like Kushiel's Dart.

A beautiful, elegant, passionate novelas intricate and beguiling as a spider's web. A triumph and a delight from start to finish.

Expertly balances one of the coolest magic systems of the decade, twists that had me gasping out loud, gloriously messy relationships, and the soaring ambition of the architectural genius at its heart. Immersive, riveting, and sexy as hell.

THE MERCY MAKERS is a glorious web of political intrigue, stunning world building, and sharp plotting that combines a merciless empire built upon the pain of the prisoned, love, ambition, sacrifice, truth, and magicthe start of a series truly intricate in its design and meticulously woven.

Tessa Gratton has crafted a most elegant design in THE MERCY MAKERS. The intricate world, the uniquely original magic system, a turbulent history, and a flawed but deeply sympathetic protagonistGratton weaves them all together, and you can't help but watch in awe as all the threads all unravel.

Gratton always writes with such marvelous intention. THE MERCY MAKERS is a must read for fantasy fans who love expansive worlds crafted with care and precision.

Gratton's novels have both style and substance, pure delight and profound depths. This new work is no exception. Taut with barely-balanced tensions, and alight with glorious epiphanies, every part of THE MERCY MAKERS shows that God is in the detail.

The novel's intriguing plot twists will appeal to fans of Game of Thrones who crave that same epic, sprawling sense of story, betrayal, sex, and politics, but Gratton more closely examines the effects of imperialism.

A lush story of dangerous intrigue in an intricate and utterly unique world.

Simultaneously intricate and emotional, THE MERCY MAKERS is a deeply intriguing story that highlights Gratton's exceptional talent for world building. I fell in love with Iriset and her complexities, and I can't wait for the next installment in this epic romantasy trilogy!

Sensual and suspenseful... Gratton spins a web of intrigue, mistaken identity, and simmering sexual tension from which the reader will not want to escape.