Crown of Stars

Crown of Stars is a historical fantasy series by Kate Elliot. The books chronicle the adventures of three people in a Europe clone. The three main characters are:
 * Alain, a well-meaning young man who became heir to a count. He has incredible skill with animals and is chosen by a goddess of war.
 * Sanglant, the first and illegitimate son of the king. He leads the elite cavalry of the king, he's a half-elf with incredible healing powers.
 * Liath, a wizard who can't control her magic. She is a member of the king's elite messengers.

The books also have a mess of secondary characters, but they all have bizarre relations to each other. Oh, and All Myths Are True. Also, all the main characters are bastards (not those, but these).


 * Anything That Moves Ekkehard, later a
 * All Myths Are True The Eika are metallic dragon vikings. Sphinxes, Dragons, Phoenix, and Centaur.
 * Anti-Villain: Fifth Son.
 * Badass Alain, Bulkezu.
 * Badass Bookworm: Hugh was a pretty good sword.
 * Badass Grandpa Helmut Villam.
 * Big Bad:
 * Bishonen: Baldwin, who was super hawt.
 * Blondes Are Evil Hugh.
 * Buffy-Speak "It's kind of you to be so ... kind.".
 * Crystal Dragon Jesus: The prophet Daisan is pretty clearly Jesus Christ. Interestingly
 * Deadpan Snarker: Hugh has elements of this.
 * Disc One Final Boss: Bloodheart.
 * Evil Counterpart: Hugh is a rival with Liath, and they're pretty similar in a whole lot of ways, Hugh also shares charisma, wits, and courage with Sanglant, a fact that bothers everybody.
 * Bulkezu and Sanglant had the looks Badassery, and warrior prince like similarities, plus a certain immunity to specific types of attack.
 * The Fair Folk: The Ashioi.
 * Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The setting in general strongly resembles medieval Europe, except for women having much stronger and/or more visible roles, including a female-dominated version of the Catholic Church.
 * Fate Worse Than Death:
 * Face Heel Turn While more of a faint saunter over to the evil side  counts.
 * Hell Hound Sorrow and Rage, Alain's dogs.
 * Heroic Sociopath: Wichman, later.
 * Ho Yay: Ivar and Baldwin don't count cause it's canon, Sorgatani, Hanna and Liath on the other hand...
 * Genius Ditz: At the end of the series,.
 * Giant Flyer: The guivre.
 * Karma Houdini: Pulled a bit too often sometimes
 * Manly Gay: Ivar.
 * Messianic Archetype: Alain is hinted to be . Tallia suffered the stigmata   and goes completely.
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy: The Eika.
 * Psycho Electro: When  becomes a tempestri, watch the fuck out.
 * Ship Tease Creepily enough, Liath and Hugh.
 * Sinister Minister: Hugh
 * So Beautiful It's a Curse: Baldwin enters the church to a escape marrying a woman in her 50s. At one point Ivar observes that it's not Baldwin's fault that he's been "cursed" with a face so beautiful that it becomes a mirror for everyone else's ambitions.
 * The Starscream:.
 * Technical Pacifist: Alain will beat you senseless, but he will not kill. His dogs will though.
 * Token Evil Teammate: Lord Wichman, big time.
 * Took a Level in Badass While most characters in the book took a level here or again, Liath is by far the biggest example, going from a  to   to   to   to   to   to
 * Hugh himself.
 * Yaoi Guys: Baldwin and Ivar.
 * Warrior Prince Most of the nobles but Sanglant's their poster boy.
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl Hanna, though it's her white hair that makes her pretty.