Chronicles of the Emerged World

The Chronicles of the Emerged World is a recent Italian fantasy saga written by Licia Troisi, and published also in several other European countries (Sadly, it is not yet out in the UK.)

The trilogy is set in the Emerged World, where the evil "Tyrant" Aster is launching a full-fledged war in order to take over the Eight Lands, and has almost taken control of all of them. The young girl Nihal, a Half-Elf (Half-Elves are considered a whole race in this setting) lives with her friends and her adoptive father in the Land of Wind, but then, the Tyrant invade. Armed with the precious Black Crystal sword and along with her friend Sennar, Laio and her master Ido she begins her journey to become a Dragon Knight and fight the Tyrant and his army of monsters before it takes over the remaining free lands, and more.

The trilogy's titles are: Nihal of The Land of the Wind, The Mission of Sennar and The Talisman of Power. The series was well-received by readers and became quite popular. It also spawned a sequel trilogy known as The Wars of the Emerged World, but it did not reach the previous series' level of success.

The Chronicles of the Emerged World contains examples of:

 * A Child Shall Lead Them: Queen Sulana is still very young.
 * Absolute Cleavage: Aires. Also Nihal as portrayed in the cover art.
 * Action Girl: Nihal. Also her magic teacher Soana, on a lesser scale.
 * All Your Powers Combined: When all the stones of the Talisman of Power are gathered,
 * Alliterative Name: The evil twins Dameion and Sameion.
 * Always Chaotic Evil: Fammin are a race of Orc-like monsters created as soldiers by the Tyrant. There are however some rare exceptions called the "Wrong ones", who still have feelings and free thoughts... but must obey the orders when their true name is spelled.
 * An Axe to Grind: During Nihal's trials to be accepted in the Knighthood, she faces a warrior wielding one, and is forced to resorts to Dual Wielding to win.
 * Atlantis: The Submerged World, a whole undersea kingdom far in the north. The first part of the second book is focused on Sennar's mission to persuade their King, Nereo to send helps against the Tyrant.
 * The Atoner:
 * Authority Equals Asskicking: At a first glance, High Commander Raven looks like a self-righteous, pompous snob with a ridicolous dog and fancy clothes. It's later revealed in the third books that, asshole or not, there IS a reason why he's the High Commander.
 * Badass: Nihal and Sennar.
 * Badass Grandpa: Ido.
 * Big Bad: Aster the Tyrant.
 * Boobs of Steel: Nihal is often noted for being very buxom and also really strong.
 * Break the Cutie: Nihal, starting from Dola's attack. Also Laio, Sennar and, most of all, King Galba.
 * Breast Plate: At first Nihal has troubles because she can't fit properly in any armor, but in the second book she gets a new, shiny armor made exactly for her.
 * Chekhov's Gun:
 * Chekhov's Gunman:
 * Chick Magnet: Apparently Sennar, who has plenty of Ship Tease with Aires, Ondine and Nihal.
 * Co Dragons: Dameion and Sameion, the Dragon Knight twins serving Aster.
 * Color Coded for Your Convenience: The Stones, specifically the colors are Azure for Water, Blue for Sea, Yellow for Light, Teal for Time, Black for Darkness, Red for Fire, Brown for Stone and White for Wind.
 * Cool Sword: Nihal's adoptive father Livon forges a bastard sword made of Black Crystal for his daughter.
 * Creepy Child:
 * Curse: When a wizard cast a spell and dies before it's dispelled, said spell becomes a "Sigil" and can't be undone. The Land of the Night was put under a sigil that constantly covers it in thick darkness and its inhabitants can see well in the dark.
 * Also
 * Cycle of Revenge: A little with Ido and Deinoforo in the third book.
 * Dark Is Not Evil: Laio came from the Land of the Night, shrouded in eternal darkness, but he's one of the nicest guys around. Also the guardian spirit of Goriar is very kind and gentle, the kind of darkness which brings rest and peace rather than nightmares.
 * The Determinator: When the Supreme General Raven refused to let Nihal join the Academy, she climbed on a statue in the hall and waited there until he was forced to at least offer her the chance of joining.
 * Distressed Dude: At one point during the quest for the Stones, Laio is taken prisoner twice (first by Bandits, then by Fammin).
 * Doomed Hometown: Salazar in the Land of the Wind.
 * The Dragon: Dola the Gnome and later Deinoforo for Aster.
 * Dragon Rider: Present in the whole saga. Unlike Eragon, Dragon Knights here are more like Elite Troops than Magic Knight. Both Nihal and Ido have a Dragon (namely Oarf for Nihal and Vesa for Ido). The Tyrant has at least four Black Dragon Knight serving him.
 * Dropped a Bridge On Him: Fen.
 * Elemental Powers: Each land has a secret sanctuary dedicated to an element and where the sacred Stones for the Talisman of Power are kept.
 * Aelon the Imperfection in the Land of the Water, a land of rivers and swamps.
 * Sarephen the Human Hatred in the Land of the Sea, a coastal country known for his Azure Dragon Riders.
 * Glael the Solitude in the Land of the Sun, the main country aside from the Great Land.
 * Thoolan the Oblium in the Land of the Days, former home of half-elves and bordering with the Great Eastern Desert.
 * Goriar the Fault in the Land of the Night, a land of forests shrouded in eternal darkness.
 * Flaren the Destiny in the Land of Fire, a volcanic land home to the Gnomes.
 * Tarephen the Conflict in the Land of the Stones, a rocky and waste country with a unique petrified forest.
 * Mawas the Sacrifice in the Land of the Wind, a peaceful country of plains and woods where Nihal was raised.
 * Elite Mooks: During the final battle inside "The Fortress", Aster unleashes a horde of new, albino creatures on our heroes.
 * Eye Scream:
 * Evil Sorcerer: Aster and one of his servants, Megisto.
 * Evil Tower of Ominousness: The Fortress, a huge tower made of Black Crystal in the middle of the Great Land.
 * Face Heel Turn: Demar, a former pupil of Ido, became Deinoforo.
 * Feathered Fiend: Amongst Aster's creations, there are some nasty fire-breathing birds rode by miniature-size Fammin.
 * Five Bad Band:
 * Big Bad: Aster.
 * The Dragon: Deinoforo.
 * The Brute: Dola.
 * The Evil Genius/ : Megisto.
 * The Dark Chick: Dameion and Sameion.
 * Golem: Two golems wards the Sanctuary of Tarephen (Tareph himself is a sort of faun).
 * Green Eyed Red Head: Sennar.
 * The Grotesque: Malerba, a deformed gnome who was captured by the Tyrant in the past and experimented on.
 * Half Human Hybrid: Nihal is an Half-Elf, and there were a whole race of them, (though elves themselves are gone from a long time).
 * Heel Face Turn:
 * Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Averted for once: Nihal is often stated to wear an helmet (expecially when she couldn't wore a proper armor), and even on the cover books she's often picturen with the helm on. At least it leaves the face exposed.
 * Heroic BSOD: During the last segments of the first book and also about halfway through the third one.
 * Heroic Sacrifice:
 * The High Queen: Sulana.
 * Holy Hand Grenade: When the Tyrant start using ghosts in battle, Soana and the other sorcerers counterattack by enchanting the swords of the soldiers with ghost-repelling spells. They're still, however, not very efficient, because ghosts need still four or five hits before being suppressed.
 * I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Ondine, a girl from the Submerged World, has feelings for Sennar, but then opt with this when she realise that he loves only Nihal.
 * I Just Want to Be Normal: Laio, who'd rather be Nihal's Squire than a Knight himself. Also briefly Nihal in the last part of the first book.
 * I Know Your True Name: Fammin's names are fragment of magical spells. The Wronged Ones are forced to fight against their will by using their names.
 * Jerkass: Many characters, like High Commander Raven and Laio's Father.
 * The Klutz: Laio.
 * Knight in Shining Armor: Fen.
 * Kraken and Leviathan: On their way to the Submerged World, Sennar's ship come across a gargantuan sea beast, so large that they sail on its very body (which is described as looking like a sort of water equivalent of magma) and has several tentacles and a gaping mouth in the middle. It's the unnamed guardian of the World.
 * Kung Fu Wizard: It's possible to have warrior-wizards, though usually pure wizards have more powerful spells.
 * La Résistance: One is actively fighting the Tyrant forces in the Land of the Fire, and is lead by.
 * Lethal Lava Land: The Land of the Fire. However, in a nice subversion, the main danger protecting the Sanctuary of Flaren is not a huge stream of cool magma but rather the poisonous vapors and foul gases of the area.
 * Light Is Not Good: The guardian of Glael, who wants to end its eternal solitude by taking over Laio's body. Fortunately, they managed to persuade it to leave.
 * MacGuffin: The eponymous Talisman of Power and its eight stones.
 * Mad Oracle: The insane gnome sorceress Reis . She's also the one who send Nihal those nightmares.
 * Mad Scientist: Aster has a penchant for this.
 * Magic Knight: Nihal is a warrior, but has a little talent for magic. The other Dragon Knights are pureblood warriors.
 * Male Gaze: The first thing Sennar sees after awakening from a days-long magic-induced coma is Aires' generous cleavage.
 * Meaningful Name: Dola (Pain), Deinoforo (Terrorbringer), Aster (Star), Megisto (The Best One).
 * Mercy Kill: Nihal does this to
 * Mind Rape: Performed by  in book three.
 * Mooks: Fammin were created for this purpose.
 * My God What Have I Done:
 * Night of the Living Mooks: Near the end of book Two, Aster decides to stop playing Mister Nice Guy and summon a huge army made of the ghosts of the deceased enemies. Which gets bigger and bigger as the good armies are decimated.
 * Normal Guy Hot Wife: King Galba of the Land of the Water is married to the beautiful Nymph Astrea.
 * Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Gnomes are actually more like dwarves, just taller than your usual dwarf. They hail from the Land of the Fire, where they forge weapons inside volcanoes.
 * Our Elves Are Better: Averted: The true elves are nowhere to be seen in this saga, and little is known about their descendents, the Half-Elves, except that they have pointy ears, blue hair and purple eyes.
 * Our Mermaids Are Different: They coexist with the albino-like inhabitants of the Submerged World and can swim underwater like fish.
 * Pirate Girl: Aires, who's also a Deadpan Snarker and The Ladette.
 * Precocious Crush: Nihal for Fen in Book One. Things gets awful when he's killed in battle.
 * Prongs of Poseidon: Seraph, the Guardian Spirit of the Sea Sanctuary, wields one.
 * Purple Eyes: Nihal and all the Half-Elves.
 * Sea Monster: The Sea Sanctuary is guarded by a tentacled, multiheaded monster resembling Scilla.
 * Stay in The Kitchen: How many Knights behaves towards Nihal. They eventually come to respect her more.
 * Taken for Granite:
 * Taking the Bullet:  of all people pull this in the last book to protect Nihal.
 * Tattooed Crook: Nihal in the second books gets two closed Dragon Wings on her back.
 * Thunderbolt Iron: The Black Crystal, used to forge Nihal's blade and the Fortress.
 * The Reveal:
 * Tomboy: Nihal before growing breasts.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Laio, who grew enough balls to openly oppose his dispotical father.
 * Tragic Monster: Vrasta the Wronged One, who develops an Odd Friendship with Laio, helps him escape and find Nihal and Sennar
 * Tsundere: Nihal and Aeris.
 * When Trees Attack: The Father of the Forest in the Land of the Wind. Two axe-wielding Fammin found it out in the worst way possible.
 * Whip It Good: The last warrior Nihal has to face before joining the Academy is a wizard mercenary from the Land of the Fire armed with a whip.
 * White Haired Pretty Boy: All the people from the Submerged World tend to have white hair.
 * Wreathed in Flames: Flar, the Guardian of Fire.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Nihal and all the Half-Elves.
 * Wreathed in Flames: Flar, the Guardian of Fire.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Nihal and all the Half-Elves.