Bone Dance

Bone Dance: A Fantasy for Technophiles is a 1991 Urban Fantasy/Cyberpunk novel written by Emma Bull. The protagonist Sparrow makes a living by selling pre-war artifacts in a post-nuclear war North American city, until being caught in the power struggle against the secret ruler of the city. Contains a lot of Voodoo, Tarot and popular culture reference. Nominated for Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Awards.


 * After the End: The western hemisphere has been largely destroyed by a nuclear war. No one mentions what happens to the other half of the world though.
 * The All-Concealing "I"
 * Angst Coma: Happens to Sparrow after being tortured by Beano.
 * Anyone Can Die: About half of the characters are killed off, in chronicle order:
 * The Atoner:, to the point of being a Death Seeker
 * Body Snatcher: The Horsemen.
 * Brother-Sister Team: Dusty and Myra.
 * City Noir: The setting.
 * City with No Name: The setting is only referred to as The City, though there are enough locations specified to indicate that it used to be Minneapolis, where Bull was living at the time.
 * Fighting From the Inside
 * Grey and Grey Morality: The Big Bad Tom Worecski keeps his host alive, while Frances, while being one of the good guys,
 * I Should Write a Book About This
 * Missing Time: That's where Sparrow realizes there's something strange happening.
 * Rape Discretion Shot:
 * Sex by Proxy: Due to a post-possession mental link, Sparrow gets to--very unwillingly--eavesdrop on Frances and Mick.
 * Shout-Out: At one point Sparrow listens to an old album; it isn't named, but the lyrics are from Another Way to Travel by Cats Laughing, of which Bull was a member.
 * Tarot Motifs: All chapters are named after a Tarot card, and Tarot readings are sometimes used to foreshadow the fate of characters.
 * Watching Troy Burn