Chronicles of the Kencyrath/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Evil Is Sexy -- Rawneth is described as darkly seductive in the very best Femme Fatale way, especially in the short story and flashbacks that take place in Ganth's youth. Also Kallystine.
  • High Octane Nightmare Fuel -- Since this is a Victorian fantasy/horror novel, so, so much of it.
    • The part that always got to this troper was the description of day-to-day life in Ganth's place of exile (mostly in the short stories) where the vegetables were animate and there was so little meat that one of the guards resorted to cutting off and eating his own toes. And the way Ganth's horse died and became a haunt--and wasn't all that different personality-wise? Perhaps the squickiest part was not so much the description of the things themselves, but the way Jame and Tori and all the others accepted them as a part of their "normal" life.
  • Squick -- As much horror imagery as there is in the series, there is bound to be something that will squick you. (See High Octane Nightmare Fuel above.)
    • It is also possible that some might be squicked by the relative commonness and casual acceptance of incest, especially among the Highborn families not to mention the increasing hints that Twincest is in Jame and Tori's future. It's one thing when your villains are incestuous, but quite another when it seems predestined for your hero and heroine!
  • Suetiful All Along -- Jame is, as even fans must admit, mightily close to Mary Sue, and the author has admitted that the character originated as her "dark alter ego". Jame herself honestly doesn't think she's all that special in most ways, and this is believably written, but it's obvious that to an unbiased observer she is beautiful, if a little unconventional, and her list of abilities and accomplishments is as long as your arm. If you run her through almost any online Mary Sue Test you care to name, she rates in the "Kill it, now!" level of Sue-dom. It's a testament to Hodgell's ability to write that she gets away with it.