Hart Ralston is a demigod and a marshal, tasked with patrolling the wasteland of Tanria. The realm the exiled old gods once called home is now a forsaken place where humans with no better options or no better sense come seeking adventure or spoils, but more often end up as drudges: reanimated corpses inhabited by the souls of those who’ve died in Tanria before. Hart tells himself that his job is simple: neutralize the drudges with a quick zap to the appendix and deliver them back to polite society at the nearest undertaker’s, leaving the whys and hows of the drudge problem for men without the complexities of a god in their family tree. But working alone, Hart’s got nothing but time to ponder exactly those questions he’d most like to avoid.
Too much time alone is the opposite of Mercy Birdsall’s problem. Since her father’s decline, she’s been single-handedly keeping Birdsall & Son undertakers afloat in small-town Eternity—despite definitely not being a son, and in defiance of sullen jerks like Hart Ralston, who seems to have a gift for showing up right when her patience is thinnest. The work’s not the problem—Mercy’s good at it, better than any other Birdsall—but keeping all her family’s plates spinning singlehandedly, forever, isn’t how Mercy envisioned her future.
After yet another run-in with the sharp-tongued Mercy, Hart considers she might have a point about his utter loneliness being a bit of a liability. In a moment of sentimentality, he pens a letter addressed simply to “A Friend,” and entrusts it to a nimkilim, an anthropomorphic animal messenger with an uncanny connection to the gods, (and in Hart’s case, a bit of a drinking problem). Much to his surprise, an anonymous letter comes back in return, and a tentative friendship is born.
If only Hart knew he’s been baring his soul to the person who infuriates him most–Mercy. As the two unlikely pen pals grow closer, the truth about Hart’s parentage and the nature of the drudges creeps in. And suddenly their old animosity seems so small in comparison to what they might be able to do: end the drudges forever. But at what cost?
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In a world where the afterlife is a place of unexpected bureaucracy and lingering regrets, the Hart and Mercy series unfolds with a blend of dark whimsy and heartfelt exploration. This story draws readers into a realm where two women, bound by fate and grief, navigate the fragile boundaries between life, death, and what comes after. The setting is rich with subtle magic and shadowed corners, where humor and sorrow intertwine naturally, inviting a fresh take on fantasy’s often somber themes.
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The series is less about grand battles and more about intimate journeys, of healing, connection, and confronting the past. Characters are drawn with quiet complexity, their struggles and moments of tenderness unfolding against a backdrop that feels both strange and deeply familiar. The prose flows with a lyrical grace that brings out the emotional weight beneath the fantastical, making the world feel lived-in and poignant.
Here, themes of loss, love, and resilience resonate through every page, wrapped in a tone that balances melancholy with a gentle lightness. This is a story that lingers in the mind, a narrative that asks what it means to truly move on and find peace in unexpected places. For readers seeking fantasy that reaches beyond swords and sorcery, offering instead a deeply human and imaginative experience, this series quietly stakes its claim.
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