Mercy Thompson Series
The Mercy Thompson series, by Patricia Briggs, follows the titular character as she navigates serious upheaval in her life. She lives in a world a little different from ours, where the fae have come out to the public, werewolves are planning to, and the vampires will not. Mercy is none of these, but she isn’t exactly human either. She was raised by werewolves until 16, then worked on building a quiet life for herself as a Volkswagen mechanic.
I enjoy the full series, and re-read the whole thing this summer. It follows much of the structure and themes of many urban fantasy series: the main character has some magical powers, but is generally considered weak compared to the other beings they interact with; they have some moral conflicts, such as what human authorities can or should be told, and what the magical authorities can or should be told; there is violence and death, with varying levels of concern over what justice or a ‘good death’ can be. This is also a romance (romantacy): Mercy ends up with an old partner and a potential new partner in a bit of conflict over her, but they are quite good about waiting for her to make a decision.
I really appreciate that Mercy is a ‘get even’ kind of person, a bit of a prankster. But she is also very kind— she brings cookies to her neighbors, makes friends with outwardly-grumpy people, and spites the rules to help individuals. Over the course of the series, Mercy drives significant changes to the local hierarchy of supernatural beings overall, the werewolf pack, and the vampire seethe. She acts for the betterment of those around her, in spite of them wishing she would not. Mercy is a square peg chipping away at any hole that dares suggest she doesn’t fit— and she’s bringing everyone with her.
The first book, Moon Called, is the start of Mercy’s re-integration to werewolf society. She tries to help a young werewolf who was turned in an attack, but the situation snowballs. One of the themes of this book is the question, ‘what is murder’? Mercy has spent a decade avoiding the violence common in werewolf society, but she is now re-introduced. She spent the intervening years occasionally hunting quail and rabbits as her furry self, and even felt a little bad about the cute quail. Now she is confronted with the need to kill in order to protect those younger and less capable than her. By the end of the book, Mercy is prepared to decide who should die and carry it out, although it is likely her shot was not the one that killed that particular villain.
General warnings: violence, sexual assault, misogyny
