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Lawrence author Tessa Gratton works on all their books for a number of years, however they’ve been serious about their latest work because the 2000s.
“The Mercy Makers” started brewing at the beginning of the conflict in Iraq, the place their father served. It’s the first installment within the New York Instances bestselling author’s new epic fantasy trilogy, and it’s set for release Tuesday, June 17.
“It (the Iraq Battle) was simply horrifying on so many ranges,” Gratton stated. They have been grappling with “the lengthy historical past that the USA has of supporting and collaborating in varied imperialisms and political upheaval within the Center East.”
They added, “I used to be serious about how individuals in the USA, even once they’re not listening to the conflict, are complicit.”
Gratton untangles these themes of justice, complicity and the higher good in “The Mercy Makers” by way of the journey of the principle character, Iriset, a heretic in a society run by a corrupt empire.
When the story begins, “she doesn’t actually care about justice or what is nice for different individuals,” Gratton stated. But Iriset’s worldview adjustments when the empire holds her felony father beneath a demise sentence, and she or he infiltrates the ruling household’s palace to free him.
“It’s (the empire is) basically flawed and brutal and oppressive, and that alone is the explanation she ought to quit a few of her personal wants and assume extra broadly,” Gratton stated.
They didn’t all the time plan on writing radical literature; Gratton went to highschool to pursue a profession in politics earlier than realizing that “politics is horrible.” As an alternative, they thought of what drew them to a profession in instituting social change within the first place.
The reply lay exterior of a legislative constructing: “Studying science fiction and fantasy that requested questions, that challenged me, made me take into consideration justice and love and compassion and empathy,” they stated.
Gratton, like many writers, has discovered that genre fiction is looked down upon in literary and educational circles regardless of being “very rigorous and significant.” This drawback isn’t as persistent in Lawrence, although, which is a beacon of spells, swords and spaceships.
The College of Kansas homes the nationally acknowledged Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction led by style specialist Giselle Anatol. A number of esteemed style fiction authors name Lawrence and Kansas Metropolis their residence, together with Megan Bannen, Sarah Henning, R.B. Lemberg, Britney S. Lewis, Rebecca Coffindaffer, Kij Johnson, Silvia Park and plenty of extra.
“The writing neighborhood (in Lawrence) itself is so enthusiastic,” Gratton stated.
They first lived in Lawrence within the early 2000s whereas pursuing their undergraduate diploma earlier than shifting to Ohio. About 20 years in the past, they and their spouse, fellow creator Natalie C. Parker, selected to come back again. Gratton stated they’d not have thought of returning if not for the thriving queer neighborhood.
“I beloved going to KU … and I appreciated feeling like I didn’t all the time need to be within the closet,” Gratton stated. “I used to be fairly assured that we’d ultimately get to a spot the place we felt like we might maintain fingers in public after we’re strolling down Mass Avenue.”
A choice of Tessa Gratton’s native creator suggestions
• “The Devouring Wolf” by Natalie C. Parker: The primary in a queer center grade collection that takes place round Lawrence
• The Birdverse collection by R.B. Lemberg: A queer speculative fantasy universe with a various cultural-linguistic focus, together with “The Four Profound Weaves,” “The Unbalancing,” “Geometries of Belonging,” and “Yoke of Stars”
• “The Bloody and the Damned” by Becca Coffindaffer: A queer, dystopic-fantasy novel to be launched April 2026
Immediately, each Gratton and Parker write books which can be queer to the bone. Early in drafting “The Mercy Makers,” Gratton started contemplating empire’s relationship to queer identification.
“On a elementary stage, the … societies (within the guide) are queer, and otherwise queer from our western imperialist power-queer relationship,” they stated.
To not point out, the guide is rife with queer characters residing out their identities. “There’s a number of cool magic, a number of intercourse,” as Gratton put it.
On this period of guide banning, they emphasised the necessity for native readers to assist marginalized authors telling radical tales. They inspired Lawrencians to preorder titles, purchase from impartial bookstores and take a look at titles from the library.
A signed copy of “The Mercy Makers” with a hand-printed broadside is on the market for preorder.
Keep looking out for Gratton’s different upcoming initiatives — together with a new “Star Wars” book and a collaboration with the Authors Against Book Bans Learn with Pleasure marketing campaign — by following them on Instagram, @tessa.gratton.
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Wulfe Wulfemeyer (they/them) has been a contributor to The Lawrence Instances since Might 2025. They started their profession in Kansas Metropolis journalism in 2021 earlier than a stint as a bookseller in Lawrence. They are often reached at wulfe@lawrencekstimes.com.
Learn their work for the Instances here.
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Lawrence author Tessa Gratton works on all their books for a number of years, however they’ve been serious about their latest work, “The Mercy Makers,” because the 2000s. The epic fantasy untangles themes of justice, complicity and the higher good.
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times Share this submit or save for later
The Lawrence neighborhood will have fun Juneteenth with occasions on Saturday, however the federal vacation falls on Thursday, June 19. Right here’s a fast roundup of closures, adjustments and extra.
Molly Adams / Lawrence Times Share this submit or save for later
A Watkins Museum of Historical past challenge on the Underground Railroad was accomplished earlier than the federal grant funding it was terminated, and the Lawrence neighborhood has helped the museum recoup the $13,000 that the feds didn’t disburse.
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Public well being officers are responding to a spike in opioid overdoses in Douglas County by providing free, lifesaving medicine, together with by way of a merchandising machine.
Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times Share this submit or save for later
Lawrence residents can journey on their very own or take a bus trip to the Kansas capitol as a part of nationwide “No Kings” protests on Saturday.
