The Sun Sword

An epic fantasy series by Michelle West consisting of six Doorstopper books. Here's the list of titles: The Broken Crown (Book 1), The Uncrowned King (Book 2), The Shining Court (Book 3), The Sea of Sorrows (Book 4), The Riven Shield (Book 5), and The Sun Sword (Book 6).


 * A Mother To Her Men: The Kalakar.
 * Arc Words: The cradle song
 * Ascended Fanboy: Aidan
 * And I Must Scream: The rituals that make the Kovaschaii assassins so powerful, and their link to the Lady, goddess of death, means their souls cannot escape their bodies until freed. Only other Kovaschaii know and can perform the ritual.
 * Kallandras is the only Kovaschaii traitor ever, and he went into it knowing this would be his fate.
 * Asskicking Equals Authority: Standard among the Kialli. Close to it among the Annagarians. A clever assassination and usurpation of power is more admired than hated.
 * Arranged Marriage: most common form of marriage among the Annagarian clans
 * Badass in all flavors:
 * Badass Long Robe: Mages often, and Meralonne A Phaniel especially. Already deadly in a bathrobe. Be very afraid if he puts on his armored robes.
 * Badass Grandpa: Ser Anton di'Guivera.
 * Badass Damsel: Teresa and Diora are gentle flowers of womanhood. They also pull this off sometimes.
 * Badass Princess: Mirialyn A Cormaris
 * Dark Action Girl: Kiriel
 * Backstory: Lots of it, even for the minor characters
 * Being Tortured Makes You Evil: Anya a'Cooper
 * Bodyguard Betrayal: Virtually unheard of among the oathsworn Toran and Tyran bodyguards of the high clans.
 * Brainwashed and Crazy: Anya a'Cooper. Notable in that she was going crazy first and brainwashed later.
 * Brought Down to Normal:
 * Broken Bird: Diora
 * also counts.
 * Cassandra Truth: Averted by the seer-born in general and Evayne in particular. She can't even give full prophecies, just urgent instructions. Nobody likes them, and nobody likes seeing a Harbinger of Impending Doom. Almost everyone does what she says even when they hate her for it.
 * Calling the Old Man Out: Teresa calls out Sendari
 * Chekhov's Gunman: The healer who saves Lissa's life at the start of the first book.
 * Christmas Cake: Alina di'Lamberto and Teresa di'Marano
 * Clingy MacGuffin: Myrddion's rings.
 * Compelling Voice: The bard-born of the Empire. In the Dominion, it's grounds for execution. Teresa and her niece Diora both have powerful voices, and they take great pains to hide it.
 * Cool Sword : The titular Sun Sword. Only the true ruler of the Dominion of Annagar can draw it from its sheath and wield it without being consumed by fire
 * Culture Clash: between the Empire in the north and the Dominion in the South. Also between the Voyani and the clansmen
 * Deadpan Snarker: Avandar to Jewel. Alina di'Lamberto also qualifies by the standards of the clansmen. It's the reason she's sent North as a hostage.
 * Deadly Decadent Court: The Shining Court of the Kialli is most definitely this, mostly minus the decadence. The Tor Leonne comes close, and the deadliness is again greater than the decadence.
 * Deal With the Devil: Alesso enters into this with the Kialli of the Shining Court. He knows full well that demons have Chronic Backstabbing Disorder and that they're using him for their own ends. He just tries to use them for his ends at the same time.
 * Also common within the Ten, the major Houses of Essalieyan. The actual royal court has provisions in place to limit the damage done by House wars.
 * Death By Childbirth: the fate of Diora's mother
 * Also the very beginning of the first book, in which Askeyia is kidnapped and raped. Notable in that her kidnapping is explicitly because as healer-born she, unlike everyone else, can survive long enough to die in childbirth rather than before childbirth.
 * Death God: Two. Mandaros is the god of the dead and the Lord of Judgment. The Lady is the god of death in the sense of dying. The former gets prayers. The latter, unsurprisingly, gets little worship except from an order of religious assassins.
 * Death Seeker:  has been at it for a staggeringly long time. He's also a Type I immortal, arrogant, and immensely powerful.
 * Demon Lords and Archdevils: Any important demon with a name qualifies
 * Defrosting Ice Queen: in Sea of Sorrows
 * Also, in a very unusual version,
 * Human warmth returns. Romantic hangups are not substantially abated.
 * The Ditz: Serra Fiona and Serra Marlena, especially when compared to the other clanswomen in the books
 * Marlena is truly The Ditz, too everyone's varied amusement and disgust. Fiona is not; she's just no match for Sendari's previous wife. This is intentional, as he's afraid to risk falling in love again.
 * Doorstopper : The books each range from 687 pages to 957 pages
 * Emotionless Girl: Diora pretends to be this  to keep herself safe and not fall under suspicion until she has the perfect chance to reveal her true feelings. Also mistaken as this by Margret in Sea of Sorrows.
 * Emotions vs. Stoicism: A bone of contention between Voyani women and clanswomen,
 * Evil Empire: Subverted. The Empire of Essalieyan is not evil at all. It's certainly a much nicer place than the Dominion, and while it has
 * Eyes of Gold: The most obvious trait of the god-born. In the Dominion, gold-eyed babies are killed at birth. Even in Essalieyan, where the god-born are cherished, Kiriel hides her eyes to avoid awkward questions about just which god is her parent.
 * Fantasy Pantheon
 * Fantasy World Map: Right-justified though, not left
 * Half-Human Hybrid:
 * Also the god-born, who have on divine parent and Eyes of Gold.
 * God Needs Prayer Badly: Subverted. The gods in heaven don't really seem to need much of anything.
 * Heir Club for Men : The Dominion of Annagar, among the clansmen. Completely subverted by the Voyani, whose leadership is an Heir Club For Women
 * Hidden Depths: Avandar Gallais
 * Honor Before Reason: The defining trait of clan Lamberto, as viewed by others. From the Lambertan perspective there are good reasons for their honor.
 * And from the perspective of the Empire of Essalieyan, this is largely the hat of the entire Dominion.
 * Very common. Mareo kai di'Lamberto (and many other clansmen) are more than the Honor Before Reason Proud Warrior Race Guy types they appear to be on the surface.
 * Improbable Weapon User: The Kovaschaii use unusual, but not improbable, blades. Kallandras takes to wielding a pair of demons reshaped into blades.
 * Inhumanly Beautiful Race: The demonic Kialli. The Arianni. Most non-humans are beautiful.
 * Also subverted by the Kialli. Since they have to force the world to give them a form, they are only as beautiful as they care to be (not all care much about human aesthetics) and as they can force from the elements (not all have the skill to appear as anything but monsters)
 * Iron Lady: The Voyani matriarchs tend to be this out of necessity since they have to lead their clans in the hostile and misogynist Dominion of Annagar
 * The Kalakar also counts as this in spades.
 * Kuudere: Teresa, Diora, and generally most clanswomen belonging to powerful families who aren't stupid tend to be this character type.
 * Loads and Loads of Characters
 * Matriarchy: the Voyani
 * Miscommunication Kills:
 * Missing Mom: Diora's mother
 * Musical Assassin: Kallandras. Notable in that he is both an assassin and a bard, but the two have nothing to do with each other.
 * Nerves of Steel: Teresa who raised Diora to have them too.
 * A trait prized by the Annagarians.
 * No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Kallandras
 * They know exactly why he did it. They just don't care. Honor Before Reason, a bit.
 * Oracular Urchin: what Jewel ATerafin used to be before she became a member of House Terafin
 * She's still oracular, and as she frequently notes, it's much easier to take the girl out of the street than the street out of the girl.
 * Parental Substitute: Teresa for Diora
 * And
 * Person of Mass Destruction: Powerful mages qualify. Anya and  are the ones who can wreak cataclysmic destruction with ease.
 * Pimped-Out Dress : Diora wears an elaborate, pimped-out sari twice. The first time is when she marries the Tyr's heir. The second time she wears one as the Lord's consort.
 * Psychopathic Manchild: Anya a'Cooper
 * Kiriel hovers on the verge of this.
 * Puppet King: What the Southerners fear Valedan is for the Northern empire
 * Raised By Wolves: Kiriel was raised by demons. She comes out surprisingly functional, which still leaves her woefully unsuited for human society.
 * Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The Ospreys and Jewel's den
 * Really 700 Years Old: Most non-humans fit this. They tend to be older than any of the countries that exist. Or, for that matter, any of the countries that any human has ever heard of.
 * probably isn't just a human old man. It's not clear what he is, but he's recognized and respected by demons, elemental forces, and immortals.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Ellora A Kalakar, the Kestrel, and Devran A Berrilya, the Hawk. Notably, they can't stand each other and can't work together, and Bruce Allen, the Eagle and the third commander of the Empire's forces, has to carefully manage them.
 * Rightful King Returns
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something: The odd system of Essalieyan accomplishes this. The kings are the sons of Cormaris, Lord of Wisdom, and Reymaris, Lord of Justice. They marry queens, and then the two gods beget sons on the queens who will be the new Wisdom-born and Justice-born kings. The result is a rather effective court ruled, well, wisely and justly.
 * Also Princess Mirialyn, a rare daughter of the Wisdom-born king rather than his father. Having no divine parentage, she can't inherit, but she still effectively defends the capital and represents the Twin Kings' authority.
 * The Stoic: Diora and Teresa
 * Seers : Jewel A Terafin and Evayne a'Nolan
 * So Beautiful It's a Curse: Subverted and played straight with Diora. Because she is the Flower of the Dominion, the son of the Tyr'agar, ruler of the Dominion, marries her. Because the Tyr'agar is weak, he and all his family are killed except Diora, who is protected by her father. Because she is the Flower of the Dominion, not just an ordinary Serra, she is able to use herself as a weapon against the usurping Tyr. Diora's beauty determines the course of her life.
 * Spare to The Throne: Valedan. He was only declared a legitimate son in the first place so his father could send him and his mother north as hostages.
 * Stepford Smiler: Diora
 * Tournament Arc: The primary plot of The Uncrowned King is centered around this
 * Unstuck in Time: Evayne a'Nolan volunteered to be sent to specific times when she is necessary, without knowing where or when she will be from one step to the next, in order to save the world. It's a miserable job, but the force that directs her seems aware enough to send her to places to rest and heal and recuperate when she is at her breaking points.
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Inverted with Anya. She's the most powerful human mage to live for ages. She's utterly insane. She went mad and developed her powers at the same time, but it's unclear if they're linked or not.
 * The maker-born in general are sane and useful. The Artisans, the greatest among them, are stark raving insane.
 * World's Most Beautiful Woman: Diora. She spends most of the series using her beauty, or rather her reputation for being the Flower of the Dominion, as a weapon against her enemies.
 * Xanatos Gambit: Probably what Isladar is up to, although it's not entirely clear.
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Inverted with Anya. She's the most powerful human mage to live for ages. She's utterly insane. She went mad and developed her powers at the same time, but it's unclear if they're linked or not.
 * The maker-born in general are sane and useful. The Artisans, the greatest among them, are stark raving insane.
 * World's Most Beautiful Woman: Diora. She spends most of the series using her beauty, or rather her reputation for being the Flower of the Dominion, as a weapon against her enemies.
 * Xanatos Gambit: Probably what Isladar is up to, although it's not entirely clear.