C. J. Cherryh: Difference between revisions

* The Fortress series, [[High Fantasy]] centered on the friendship between Tristen, a reborn ancient king, and Cefwyn, the current ruler of hispart lands.of Tristen's realm.

==Stand-alone works include:==

* [[The Paladin (novel)|The Paladin]] -- [[Low Fantasy]] martial-arts story set in essentially medieval China, in which pig-girl <ref>That is, she ''herds'' pigs; she's not a [[Half-Human Hybrid]]</ref> Taizu turns up on exiled swordsmaster Saukendar's doorstep to learn the skills she needs for revenge.

* ''The Goblin Mirror'' -- Fantasy in what's more or less medieval Hungary ("Maggiar"). [[Our Goblins Are DifferentWickeder|There are '''two''' kinds of beings that humans refer to as goblins]], and one of them seems to be more like [[The Fair Folk]]. They don't much like being lumped together with the other breed. Also, [[All Trolls Are Different|trolls seemappear to be something like]] [[Genius Loci]], and Krukczy, the one that's seen most -- big and shaggy, with a tail described as ratlike -- is quite benevolent. [[Evil-Detecting Dog|The dog likes him.]]

* [[Amnesiac Dissonance]] - It's pretty clear that Tristen fell under [[Good Is Not Nice]] at ''best'' in his previous life. If he was who they come to think he was, he killed or [[And I Must Scream|worse]] his own son, apparently for attempting to rebel.

* [[Be Careful What You Wish For]] - In the ''Rusalka'' fantasy trilogy, a wizard's wishes will come true -- all of them. Somehow. Not always in a way that's good for the wizard. Wishing a stone to fly won't make it levitate -- it'll cause '''something''' to come along and fling that stone through the air. "Wish a stone to fly -- and then beware the whirlwind."

* [[Came Back Wrong]] - Tristen. Mauryl wanted a [[Badass]], but got someone with the mind of a child. Even after he [[Took a Level Inin Badass]], he's still a [[Friend to All Living Things]] [[Cloudcuckoolander]] trying to figure out [[How Do I Shot Web?]] instead of a ruthless [[Magic Knight]] conqueror.

* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]] - Tristen, because as mentioned above, he Came Back Wrong. Cefwyn at first thought he might be the [[Reincarnation]] of a king known for his gentle, scholarly nature ... and then Cefwyn's life was in danger and Tristen rode to the rescue, unarmed and virtually unarmored, got his hands on a sword, and started killing. And killing. [[One-Man Army|''And'' killing]].

{{quote|Among those motley horsemen, from the dead or the living, Tristen had found a blade and wielded it, shieldless, turning the red mare with his knees this way and that, the blade swinging dark and deadly in the light, as enemies went down.... a dark and terrible force cutting into the enemy's ranks.... [[Master Swordsman|The arm was unerring, hewing down men, no move wasted]].}}

* [[Crystal Dragon Jesus]] / [[Corrupt Church]] - The state religion in the Fortress series.

* [[Grim Up North]] - Tristen's ultimate origin... probably.

* [[Ho Yay]] - Tristen and Cefwyn, who make a good [[OT 3OT3]] with Ninevrise. Also Justin and Grant in ''[[Cyteen]]'', including some nice art on Cherryh's own site. Chernevog in the ''Rusalka'' trilogy takes a liking to Pyetr [[Foe Yay|after failing to murder him]], and will address him as "Dear Owl."

* [[Intrepid Merchant]] - Pyanfar Chanur

* [[Interspecies Romance]] - [[Double Subverted]] with Bren and Jago, since Jago is incapable of understanding what romance is. {{spoiler|They still end up sleeping together.}}

* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] - A lot of people accuse Tristen of this, and even his best friend gets paranoid about it on occasion. Subverted since Tristen just really is that clueless about the world he's found himself in, complicated by the fact that he perceives reality differently.

* [[Reality Warper]] - Tristen, in the Fortress series.

* [[Rightful King Returns]] - Tristen, who doesn't want any.

* [[Ritual Magic]] - In the Fortress universe, complicated by the fact that a lot of ordinary actions have ritual magic significance and modern people don't know this. A [[Sealed Evil in a Can]] nearly escaped because {{spoiler|the church had been remodeled and the priests started walking the wrong lines,}} messing up the [[Geometric Magic]]. It works for perfectly normal people, but better for [[Half Human Hybrids]] {{spoiler|and it's amazing how many descendants Tristen and his fellows have running around}}. Tristen eventually becomes [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]] about this, leading to some [[Cassandra Truth]] and [[Cassandra Did It]] moments when people don't take the warnings seriously.

* [[Space Fighter]] - ''Hellburner'' centers on a fairly realistic [[Space Fighter]] -- the titular Hellburner. Being essentially a carrier -launched missile-firing-missile it is exceptionally difficult and physically punishing to fly.

* [[Tactful Translation]] - A central trope of the Foreigner verse, where Bren's tact and diplomacy has resulted in him being the paidhi, the only one allowed to translate between the humans and the aliens, even when he is no longer the only person who can speak to the aliens.

* [[Too Dumb to Live]] - Bren Cameron's reaction to his temporary replacement {{spoiler|turns out she's a [[Not-So-Harmless Villain]]}} and the several times in the Fortress series when Tristen tells people that they really do need to do something that seems utterly trivial or like an enormous headache and they think it can't be ''that'' important.

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