Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
213,897
edits
Codex Alera: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
m (update links) |
No edit summary |
||
| (7 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown) | |||
Line 4:
{{quote|''There's something broken inside your skull, [Tavi]. You do all your thinking sideways.''|'''Antillar "Max" Maximus''', '''''Princeps' Fury'''''}}
Magical Roman Legionnaires straight out of ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' versus the [[
Yeah, it is about as awesome as it sounds.
A high fantasy/intrigue series written by [[Jim Butcher]] (of ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' fame), the Codex Alera is set in a world that is populated by the descendants of one of the [[Lost Roman Legion|lost Roman Legions]] (according to the [[Word of God]]). They have carved out a massive empire led by the "First Lord" and they all have magic--specifically, they all bond with one or more "furies", elementals of air, water, fire, earth, wood or metal. Those who control enough furies can become Citizens, with increased privileges and obligations above the common freeman, but everyone has at least one fury. Well, everone save [[Un-Sorcerer|one]].
Young [[Badass Normal|Tavi]] is the only known Aleran who does ''not'' have access to any furies. At best, he is treated like a special needs child. At worst... well, they start at "freak" and move downhill from there. However, since he can not rely on furies, Tavi uses something that many of his countrymen fail to utilize: [[Guile Hero|his brain]].
Shortly before Tavi was born, the only son and heir of the aging First Lord of Alera was [[Succession Crisis|killed in battle]], causing the various high nobility to scramble and plot to position themselves to take power when the First Lord dies (or, in some cases, to move that event forward slightly). Chief among them are Aquitainus [[The Chessmaster|Attis]], the High Lord of Aquitaine, and [[Complete Monster|Kalarus]], the High Lord of Kalare. As Alera falls into civil strife, the various non-human enemies of Alera prepare to take advantage of these divisions while a far more dangerous threat lurks in the shadows...
Line 16:
Standing with Tavi are his uncle Bernard (an Earth- and Woodcrafter), his aunt Isana (a very powerful Watercrafter), the young Cursor Amara (a Windcrafter) and the half-wit slave [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|Fade]], along with the other friends and allies he makes (and one of Tavi's greatest skills is his ability to make allies, especially out of enemies: something lampshaded in the fifth book) as he is swept up in the battles to save Alera.
The novels in this series are:
# ''[[Furies of Calderon]]'' (October 5, 2004)
# ''[[Academ's Fury]]'' (July 5, 2005)
# ''[[Cursor's Fury]]'' (December 5, 2006)
# ''[[Captain's Fury]]'' (December 4, 2007)
# ''[[Princeps' Fury]]'' (December 2, 2008)
# ''[[First Lord's Fury]]'' (November 24, 2009)
A [[Codex Alera/Characters|character sheet]] is now available.
----
{{franchisetropes}}
* [[Above the Influence]]: When Bernard [[Rescue Romance|saves Amara from the frozen, flooding Rillwater river]] she leans in to kiss him, but he pulls away since she is cold and hurting, and it would be taking advantage to move forward.
* [[Absurdly Sharp Blade]]: Metalcrafters have the ability to sharpen and harden the swords they are using, so they can easily slice through concrete, armor and even ''other swords''.
Line 43 ⟶ 49:
* [[Annoying Arrows]]: Averted, arrows are just as much a threat to flesh as the more powerful fury attacks. The Vord generally shrug them off, [[Justified Trope|but they also shrug off fury attacks because of their armored hides]].
* [[Appease the Volcano God]]: Inverted. Kalarus {{spoiler|deliberately provokes the Great Fury Kalus into being as angry as possible in order to take as many Alerans with him as possible when he is finally killed.}}
* [[Appropriated
** The Knights Pisces. The Knights Pisces are dubbed such when Tavi notes they're the "fish" (barely competent recruits) of the Knights available. After [[Took a Level
** The Battlecrows, from the same book, sort of. Instead of taking their name from an insult, they take it from the burnt and blackened standard that Tavi carries into battle after it's struck by lightning.
* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: Tavi listed off his exploits and pointed out that he {{spoiler|killed Sarl}}, held off a massive army that vastly outclassed his own, ''beat'' said massive army, and... [[Smart People Play Chess|beat Nasaug at ludus]].
Line 55 ⟶ 61:
** Odiana.
{{quote|"If you go and kill the ugly little girl right now, won't the steadholder object? And then you'd have to kill him as well. And anyone else upstairs. And all these people here... Why shouldn't we do this again?"}}
** The "cutter" Navaris; she has a three-figure body count behind her, and that only counts the legal duels and "self-defense." Add in all of the suspected killings and the like and the number is in the four-figures range. Plus anyone with the slightest watercrafting ability (or eyes) can see that she's really not right in the head, especially where violence is concerned.
* [[Babies Ever After]]
* [[Back for the Dead]]: {{spoiler|Aric}} returns for a single scene in ''Academ's Fury'' before being Taken by the Vord.
Line 68 ⟶ 74:
* [[Badass Family]]: Not one of the people in Tavi's family fails to impress.
* [[Badass Grandpa]]: Gaius Sextus, for all that [[Older Than They Look|he does not look it]], as well as Varg.
* [[Badass Normal]]: Tavi and Kitai. Played with in that the pair of them are ''abnormal'' by their respective societies' standards.
* [[Barbarian Tribe]]: The Marat, who are divided into tribes based on their animal totems and live in the lands east of Alera, forsaking contact [[The Horde|except when they invade the bridging valley]].
* [[Battle Couple]]: Bernard and Amara, Tavi and Kitai. In ''First Lord's Fury'' Lord and Lady Placida and {{spoiler|Isana and Araris}} get in on some action.
Line 83 ⟶ 89:
** High Lord Placida carries a sword that is actually described in the text as a "monster," large enough to kill gargants and fell trees in a single swing.
* [[Big Bad Duumvirate]]: Attis and Invidia Aquitaine married for purely political reasons and both are well aware that they are using one another. Invidia is actually the driving force behind most of the plots that would see Attis get the throne, and is more active in the plot.
* [[Big Bad Ensemble]]: Attis Aquitaine and Invidia Aquitaine, both of whom are arguably seperate threats despite being husband and wife, are the [[Bigger Bad|Bigger Bads]] of the first book and have a presence in all the rest; Kalarus is part of three different [[Big Bad Ensemble|Big Bad Ensembles]] in books 2-4, and Sarl is mostly a seperate threat in book 3 {{spoiler|despite his treacherous and tenuous alliance with the former}}, as is arguably [[Big Bad Wannabe]] Senator Arnos; however, the Vord are the [[Big Bad]] of the overall story, both as a species and in the form of the primary Vord Queen, {{spoiler|who is involved in an [[Enemy Civil War]] with the other Queens.}}
* [[Big Bad Friend]]: Fidelias to Amara
* [[Big Man on Campus]]: Max, with the ladies anyways.
Line 101 ⟶ 107:
* [[Bug Caste System]]: There are ''lots'' of different kinds of Vord. Queens, Warriors, Takers, and Wax Spiders seem to come standard, but more specialized castes such as Vordknights, Vordbulks, mantises, and Cane-forms pop up, too, depending on the needs of the situation and what enemies are available to copy.
* [[But He Sounds Handsome]]: [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]]. In ''Cursor's Fury'' Max and Tavi briefly discuss the reported assault on a slaver and the freeing of all his slaves, congratulating and praising the mysterious man who did it, and are each very surprised to learn that it ''wasn't'' the other one who did it.
* [[The Call Put Me on Hold]]: Tavi grows up as a "furyless freak", a source of considerable angst to him. It is also a source of inspiration for him, because he has to [[Guile Hero|think his way out of situations that his countrymen would simply blast their way out of]], and he regularly takes advantage of resulting blind spots in their thinking.
* [[Call a Rabbit a Smeerp]]: "Grass lions" are (by [[Word of God]]) sabertooth cats.
* [[Call Back]]: After Isana uses a river to defeat someone in book one, she says, "My river." {{spoiler|In the last book, after the Aleran forces repel a Vord thrust, Bernard says, "My Valley."}}
* [[Camp Follower|Camp Followers]]: The First Aleran Legion has the standard merchant, vagabond and prostitute followers. Eventually, Mistress Cymnea, their nominal leader, is added to the staff of the legion.
* [[Cannot Spit It Out]]: In the fourth book, Isana finally tries to explain to Tavi {{spoiler|who his parents were and why he does not have magic powers like everyone else}}. Unfortunately, he chooses just that moment for some [[Oblivious Guilt Slinging]], talking about how great it is to see family again without all the political intrigue and backstabbing of his job, which makes it even harder for her to {{spoiler|confess to a lifelong deception}}, so she puts it off. {{spoiler|Eventually, Araris does the job for her. Tavi is a bit sore about it for a while.}}
* [[Can't Kill You - Still Need You]]: [[Genre Savvy|Fidelias is aware of the trope]], [[Invoked Trope|which is why he feels safe reporting failure to Lord Aquitaine]]. He is too valuable a tool to be thrown away carelessly, so he knows that he will not be killed until his failures outnumber his sucesses.
* [[Capital City]]: Alera Imperia, a series of concentric rings with gates to the higher levels on opposite sides from the gate on the level before that. At the peak lies the First Lord's monolithic Citadel. {{spoiler|It gets destroyed by Gaius Sextus' when he [[Taking You with Me|unleashes a volcanic great fury on the Vord armies]]. Appia becomes the new capital under Gaius Octavian.}}
* [[The Captain]]: While Legions are commanded by a Captain, their role tends to be more along the line of [[Colonel Badass]]. Demos is a somewhat more usual example, since he is in command of a ship with a [[Badass Crew]].
* [[Captain Ersatz]]: High Lady Placida bears a striking resemblance, personally and physically, to one [[Vorkosigan Saga|Cordelia Vorkosigan.]] [[Word of God]] says that this (as well as High Lord Placida's similar resemblance to Aral Vorkosigan) is deliberate.
Line 129 ⟶ 135:
* [[Chekhov's Skill]]: See Tavi learning/demonstrating some new skill? There is a pretty good chance he is going to use it for something absurdly [[Badass]] by the end of the book.
** At the beginning of ''Cursor's Fury'', Tavi and Magnus are testing out a catapult they made based on old Roman documents. It promptly gets smashed when an irate Max almost gets hit by a rock and chucks it back at them. No more mention is made, and it seems to be a funny but irrelevant side-note. {{spoiler|Until the last book, when we learn that Tavi wrote home to his uncle about it, and Bernard set up over a hundred of the things as part of the defenses in the Calderon Valley, and loaded them, at Tavi's suggestion, with glass spheres full of fire furies that explode when they break. They do more damage than the ''High Lords'' when they are turned on the Vord army, and the ammo is easy enough to manufacture that they can outlast them, too.}}
* [[Chekhov's Volcano]]: The climax of ''Captain's Fury'' (well, one of them) has {{spoiler|the First Lord unleashing Kalus, the Great Fury within the volcanic Mount Kalare, from Kalarus, destroying the High Lord, his capital city and all of the other towns and steadholts for hundreds of square miles, killing hundreds of thousands.}}
* [[The Chessmaster]]: Both Aquitaines, Doroga and the Vord Queen. Kalarus tries, but {{spoiler|Gaius is better at it}}.
* [[Chrome Champion]]: The First Lord goes to battle. {{spoiler|''First Lord's Fury'' has Araris Valerian doing the same.}}
* [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]]: Invidia, so much so that nearly ''every'' character that has extensive dealings with her tries to take her sudden but inevitable betrayal into account. When she tries to turn on {{spoiler|the Vord Queen, the queen}} is not even upset and sees no reason to punish her for it, since that is just what Invidia ''does''.
* [[Click. "Hello."]]: The sword equivalent. Navaris and her team corner Tavi in his office, intending to kill him... and then Max, Crasus and Arraris show up behind them, drawing their swords.
* [[Colonel Badass]]: There is not a rank of "colonel" in the Legions, but some [[The Captain|captains]], especially <s>Tavi</s> Rufus Scipio, fit this trope pretty well.
* [[Combat Pragmatist]]:
Line 191 ⟶ 197:
** {{spoiler|Gaius Sextus blowing up Alera Imperia, taking out most of the vord army in one strike.}}
** {{spoiler|High Lord Cereus diving into a vordbulk's mouth and blowing it up from the inside.}}
* [[El Cid Ploy]]: A significant chunk of the plot of ''Academ's Fury'' consists of hiding the fact that Gaius Sextus collapsed from overwork {{spoiler|and poison}}.
* [[Elemental Powers]]: Well, ''duh''. There are six elements, each of which can be directly manipulated or used to summon a manifest fury, and most of them have secondary applications as well:
** [[Blow You Away|Windcrafting]] (Knights Aeris): In addition to [[Blow You Away|air manipulation]] and [[Flight]], grants [[Super Speed]], [[Invisibility|Veils]], and the ability to create a telescope-like lens out of air, {{spoiler|this last of which [[Codex Alera/Awesome|has also found use]] as a [[Death Ray]].}}
Line 225 ⟶ 231:
* [[Eye Scream]]: Turns out, a sufficiently powerful watercrafter can regrow her ''own'' eyes after they have been clawed out.
* [["Failure to Save" Murder]]: The source of many characters' resentment towards Gaius Sextus, whose son, Gaius Septimus, was killed by the Marat approximately fifteen years before the start of the series.
* [[Famed in Story]]: Aldrick ex Gladius often serves as [[The Dragon]] for whichever character is currently in control, and not as a clear antagonist on his own, but he is legendary throughout Alera for his famed skill with the sword. His duel with Araris Valerian, ''also'' legendary because of his skill, is still being talked about ''fifteen years later''. To hear Araris tell it:
{{quote|'''Araris:''': [Aldrick had] more than a hundred duels to his credit. He used to hire out as a champion, before he took up service with [Septimus]. That one got a lot of attention. We went for about ten hours, all the way around Garden Lane and Craft Lane both. Must have been fifty or sixty thousand people that came down to see it.}}
* [[Family Relationship Switcheroo]]: {{spoiler|Tavi's "aunt" Isana is really his mother.}}
Line 231 ⟶ 237:
** The social classes of Alera are: Slaves, freemen, Citizens and Lords/Ladies, with several different ranks of nobility somewhere at the level of Citizens and higher. There is a strong but not perfect correlation between strength in furycrafting and social rank, and strength in furycrafting is at least partially heritable, so while many characters have moved their way up in rank over their lives, the caste one is born into is still very determinative.
** The Canim castes are the Makers (farmers, workers, and artisans), Ritualists (doctors, priests and sorcerers) and Warriors ([[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]]). The Warriors and the Ritualists are continually at odds as to which caste is higher, though they both claim to serve the Makers.
* [[Fantastic Nuke]]: Many smaller versions, but {{spoiler|Gaius wiping out Kalare by unleashing a volcanic Great Fury and then slowing the Vord by destroying the remnants of Alera Imperia with another volcano}} probably take the cake.
* [[Farm Boy]]: Tavi. Even when he is {{spoiler|recognized as the Princeps of Alera}} and on a secret mission behind enemy lines, he still stops to admire the efficiency of a livestock pen.
{{quote|'''Tavi:''' "They can change the size of their pens, or set it up so that you can cut some animals out and leave the rest penned up. That's handy."
Line 242 ⟶ 248:
** High Lady Placidus Aria is the only member of the Aleran nobility to insist that other characters address her by her first name, indicating that she is friendly and approachable.
* [[Five Races]]: Averted, though notable because there actually ''are'' five sentient races in the setting. While Alerans are High Men and Marat can be put into Fairy without ''too'' much effort, Canim, Icemen, and Vord defy categorization in the system. (When the closest thing you have to Mundane are the nine-foot-tall wolfmen, you know you are not dealing with the traditional fantasy races...)
* [[Flying Car]]: The favored and fastest way around Alera is by flying coach. Interestingly, the draft "animals" are other human beings, specifically wind-crafters who lift the coach up.
* [[Follow the Chaos]]: Provides the page quote, and is how the final battle is located.
* [[Foreshadowing]]: There is a ''ton'' of foreshadowing of later events in the series in the early books.
** At the end of ''Furies of Calderon'', Gaius speaks with Fade about the sword he gave Tavi and remarks that {{spoiler|the sword is a "princely" gift.}}
** In ''Academ's Fury'', while Bernard is preparing for the final push against the Vord Queen, he notes the ugly weather being brought down by the great furies around Garados and remarks that "Even if we don't finish them, the furystorm will finish what we started." At the end of ''First Lord's Fury'', {{spoiler|a furystorm is what hurts the Vord Queen enough to allow Tavi to finish her.}}
* [[For Want of a Nail]]: Thematically lampshaded: ''everything'' in the series is kicked off by a serving girl wanting some pretty flowers.
Line 254 ⟶ 260:
** Captain Demos is a slaver and a pirate, theoretically an enemy of the Aleran government, but he frequently talks about how much he loves working with the Cursors, the spies and assassins of that same government. As he explains it, the Cursors pay on time and almost never [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|try to kill him once the job is completed]].
** The Canim term ''gadara'' pretty much means this. They even see a ''gadara'' as worth more than a friend: a friend can always disappoint you, but your gadara is always your enemy. However, Tavi and various Canim always make it a point to explain that they ''are'' still an enemy, and in a conflict will do their best to kill one another.
* [[Functional Magic]]: Several systems. The Alerans, {{spoiler|the Vord Queen, and the Icemen to a degree}} use a combination of Inherent Gift and Theurgy (the elemental furies do all the heavy lifting, but Alerans have the inborn power to summon and control them), while the Canim Ritualists use a sort of [[Blood Magic|blood-based]] Rule Magic. The Marat also have the ability to bond with various creatures, but that is more one inherent power than a complete system.
* [[Gambit Pileup]]: Just ''look'' at how many [[The Chessmaster|Chessmasters]] and wannabes there are on [[Codex Alera/Characters|the character sheet]]. Who is on whose side repeatedly changes from book to book and from moment to moment.
* [[Gender Equals Breed]]: [[Playing with a Trope|Of a sort]]. Though background Marat characters are of both genders, all named characters of any tribe are the same gender (All named members of Gargant, Wolf and Herdbane tribe are male, all named members of Horse tribe are female).
Line 266 ⟶ 272:
* [[Good Is Not Dumb]]: While none of the main cast are stupid, [[Guile Hero|Tavi]] and [[The Chessmaster|Ehren]] take the cake, being both genuinely good people and absolutely brilliant.
* [[Good Is Not Nice]]: Kitai and Hashat are two of the Marat most friendly to Alera, after Doroga, and assist them in their fights against Atsurak, the Canim and the Vord. However, they remain "barbarians," including practicing cannibalism and living with an almost sexual desire for combat and bloodshed.
* [[The Good, the Bad, and The Evil]]: At first, the three main heirs to the throne: Tavi is the good, Aquitaine is the bad, and Kalarus is the evil. Later on, you have Tavi as the good, Aquitaine as the bad, and the Vord as the evil.
* [[Gratuitous Latin]]: Used extensively, with good reason: [[Word of God]] is that the Alerans are descended from one of the Lost Roman Legions.
* [[Green-Eyed Monster]]: Her name's [[Meaningful Name|Invidia]] for a ''reason'', folks.
* [[Guys Smash, Girls Shoot]]: Inverted with Bernard and Amara, the most long-term [[Battle Couple]]. Though Bernard has an earthcrafters strength and carries a [[An Axe to Grind|battle axe]], he is primarily an archer, while Amara is a swordswoman.
* [[Half-Human Hybrid]]
** In a rather twisted way, {{spoiler|the Vord Queen}}.
Line 319 ⟶ 325:
** Inverted--It's what ''he'' does--when Tavi and Nasaug discuss Varg and why he is imprisoned in the Aleran capital. Nasaug states that Varg is imprisoned unjustly since he did not act dishonorably, and when Tavi asks what makes Nasaug think that, he simply replies that, "He is Varg."
** The Vord seem to have some sort of genetic imperative to destroy all other living species on the planet. {{spoiler|In the end, the Queen tells Tavi that it was never personal; she was just doing what a Vord Queen is supposed to do.}}
** As of ''Princeps' Fury'', High Lord Antillus Raucus has spent huge chunks of his life locked in constant battle with the Icemen. He is obviously emotionally, mentally and physically exhausted by the constant strain, but he gamely carries on with it, because "it's what one did".
* [[I Will Only Slow You Down]]: When Ivarus and Kestus are fleeing the Vord, Ivarus' horse is killed and he tells Kestus to continue without him [[Bring News Back|to warn Alera]]. Kestus instead [[No One Gets Left Behind|turns around to carry Ivarus on his own horse]], {{spoiler|[[Deconstructed Trope|and is killed by the Vord]].}}
* [[Jackie Robinson Story]]: {{spoiler|Isana}} becomes the first female steadholder at the end of ''Furies of Calderon.'' Tavi becomes the first non-crafter to be, well, everything.
Line 332 ⟶ 338:
** Gram, one of the more powerful firecrafters around, uses a fury that takes the shape of a [[Badass Adorable|hummingbird]] named [[Fluffy the Terrible|Phyllis]].
{{quote|'''Gram:''' [[We Named the Monkey "Jack"|Named her after my first wife]].}}
* [[Kill It with Fire]]: The generally preferred method for dealing with the Vord.
* [[Knife Nut]]: Ehren hides such an extravagant number of knives on his person that it becomes a [[Running Gag]], and at least one person deduces that he is a Cursor based solely on how many he has.
* [[Kraken and Leviathan]]: The leviathans are mammoth deep-sea creatures that regularly sink ships which attract their notice. Infants are a "mere" forty-feet long.
Line 346 ⟶ 352:
{{quote|'''Max:''' Actually, the room they had me in was quite a bit nicer than any I've ever had to myself.
'''Killian:''' Mmmm. Gaius Secundus had a prison suite installed when he arrested the wife of Lord Rhodes, eight hundred years ago. She was charged with treason, but never tried or convicted, despite interrogation sessions with the First Lord, three times a week for fifteen years. }}
* [[Lysistrata Gambit]]
{{quote|'''Kitai:''' "You will no longer lie with me. You will treat me in exactly the fashion that you would any proper young lady of the Citizenry. You will court me, and do it ''well'', or so help me I will strangle the ''life'' from you. And you will court me properly after the ways of ''my'' people. You will do so with legendary skill and taste. And only when ''that'' is done will we share a bed once more."}}
* [[Magical Defibrillator]]: Veradis, the daughter of High Lord Ceres, can do this through a combination of watercrafting and windcrafting to channel electricity.
* [[Magitek]]: In daily life, most Alerans use technology roughly equivalent to medieval Europe, which is about what one would expect considering the origin of Alera. However, different aspects of furycrafting stand out as modern conveniences: furylamps, which function exactly like lightbulbs, coldstones, which provide refrigeration, watersending, which provides communication across thousands of miles, and air-coaches, which stand in for airplanes. Combined with the healing of watercrafting and the ability of woodcrafting to stimulate the growth of food crops, Alera has a life-expectancy and quality of life equal to the modern day.
* [[Make It Look Like an Accident]]: Max's mother succumbed to this, and his [[Wicked Stepmother]] has been trying to arrange a similar accident for him since he was 14. It is her preferred method of operation against all opponents, and she is damned good at it.
Line 355 ⟶ 361:
* [[Manly Tears]]: In ''Academ's Fury'', when Miles witnesses his brother Araris in battle again, after believing he had been dead for fifteen years, he weeps at the sight.
* [[Mark of Shame]]: Fade's brand. {{spoiler|It is self-inflicted.}}
* [[Master Swordsman]]: Any Knight Ferrous is this by definition. Araris Valerian, Aldrick ex Gladius, and Phrigiar Navaris are the three most significant to the story, and each of them has a deserved reputation as one of the top blades in Alera. Araris is ''probably'' the best, though Aldrick once famously dueled him to a draw, and he admits himself that it could go either way between him and Navaris.
* [[Mathematician's Answer]]: When Kitai asks if Tavi is studying the Vord or the Canim, Tavi simply replies "yes."
* [[Mauve Shirt]]:
Line 365 ⟶ 371:
** "Invidia" is Latin for "envy". Which is [[Green-Eyed Monster|rather appropriate]].
** In ''Cursor's Fury'', there is a character named Rook. {{spoiler|In one scene, she exchanges places with a member of the royalty for the sake of both protection and greater maneuverability. Or, to put it simply, Rook castles.}}
** When first introduced, the Placidas are noted for staying out of the turbulent politics.
* [[Meaningful Rename]]
** Marcus earned the name Valiar for his courage.
Line 379 ⟶ 385:
* [[Muggles Do It Better]]: One of the most devastating weapons the Canim use against Alerans is an enormous crossbow. There is nothing magical about it, beyond the fact that it is scaled to a Canim warrior, making it somewhere between a ballista and a man-portable crossbow.
* [[Mundane Solution]]: A whole lot, mostly courtesy of Tavi. Earthcrafting makes someone super strong, but it does not increase weight and you have to be touching the ground to use it. Throwing an earthcrafter on a wooden deck cuts off their strength, and salt injures wind furies, disrupting fliers. Metalcrafters can sense blades or arrowheads coming at them, but not flint or obsidian weapons.
* [[Mundane Utility]]: All of the different types of furies and their crafters have some form of mundane utility; wind-crafting allows for flight, earth-crafting increases strength to the point that loads in the hundreds of kilograms are no issue, water-crafters are healers, metal-crafters are smiths and have endurance that allows them to block out pain or keep going for days, wood-crafters can manipulate any form of plant life, making them excellent farmers--and archers--and firecrafters create the equivalent of both lightbulbs and refrigeration. Heck, the entire economy is so based on fury-crafting that most forms of technological development have completely stagnated.
* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: {{spoiler|Gaius Tavarus Magnus, which literally means "Lord Wolverine the Great".}}
* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: Tavi and Kitai are inadvertently responsible for the awakening of the Vord.
Line 389 ⟶ 395:
** {{spoiler|Even more so the ending. Tavi has changed the world so that Fury Crafting ability is now based on hard work more than genetics, with a further implication that the other races would develop it. He has also managed to force the Alerans, Marat, Icemen, and Canim into an alliance because if they don't work together, they will all die when the Vord from the former Canim cross the ocean in a couple of centuries.}}
* [[Not Now, Kiddo]]: Bernard to Frederic, regarding the vord parasite he has captured in a cup.
* [[No Woman's Land]]: Though Alera's women do enjoy plenty of rights as freemen, the number of female Citizens is limited; up until Gaius promoted Isana to the Citizenry at the end of ''Furies of Calderon'', no woman had ever gained Citizenship without either serving in the military <ref> Difficult, as women could not normally be ''legionares'', so this requires them to serve as either healers or Knights, both of which require strong furycrafting, or the woman had to disguise herself as a man until such a point that her deeds on the battlefield proved her worhty of being a Citizen if she revealed her gender</ref>, winning a Citizenship bout (requiring strong furycrafting) or marriage into the Citizenry (strong furycrafting being nearly required as well). In short, women without Knight-level furycrafting are generally out of luck in Alera, at least until Gaius promoted Isana. This becomes an important plot point as the series progresses, as Isana's promotion is taken as an official statement by the First Lord regarding parity of genders and a sign of his power, making Isana a target for those trying to undermine Gaius' authority. It also resulted in an increase in sale prices for female slaves and caused chaos and pressure in the slave trade in general. Since Kalarus is one of the two High Lords with eyes on the First Lord's crown, and the province of Kalare is heavily dependent on slave labor, this seriously hampers his economy and pushes him into launching the brewing civil war earlier than he planned.
* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]:
** The first thing Kitai says about her father, Doroga, is that he does not ''seem'' clever.
Line 399 ⟶ 405:
* [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]]: It would not be Alera without them, and they come in all shapes, sizes, and positions of authority. Naturally, they cause innumerable headaches. However, in at least one instance, they proved useful: one such official, Pluvus Pentius, protected some children by obstructing a roving monster with his accounts ledger. Repeatedly. To the head. Because hey, [[World of Badass|in Alera even the]] ''[[World of Badass|accountants]]'' [[World of Badass|can kick your ass]].
* [[Odd Name Out]]: Isana, Amara, Fidelias, Maximus, Araris, Invidia... Tavi? {{spoiler|Which is [[Foreshadowing]], as it happens. "Gaius Oc'''tavi'''an" fits right in with the rest of those [[Awesome McCoolname|awesome]] Latin-derived names.}}
* [[Offhand Backhand]]: Walker provides the Gargant equivalent when charged by a mantis Vord in ''First Lords Fury''. The creature charges with berserk fury until Walker squashes it while paying next to no attention to it.
* [[Official Couple]]: Tavi and Kitai, Bernard and Amara, {{spoiler|Isana and Araris}}.
* [[Offing the Offspring]]: Antillar Maximus seems to have plenty of [[Make It Look Like an Accident|accidents]] whenever his step-mother, High Lady Dorotea Antillus, is around.
* [[Oh Crap]]: Everywhere and in wide variety.
** [[Mass "Oh Crap"]]: Also common, but especially notable when {{spoiler|the Vord Queen pulls a [[One Hit KO]] on a High Lord.}}
* [[Older Than They Look]]
Line 412 ⟶ 418:
* [[The Only One Allowed to Defeat You]]: Tavi and Varg, especially in ''Princeps' Fury''. Earlier, in ''Academ's Fury'', Varg tells Tavi that the entire reason he is helping him protect Gaius is because Varg wants to be the one to lead the army that will destroy Alera [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|with honor]], and that he does not want Alera to fall to Sarl and the Vord Queen's trickery and deception. Applies to any sets of ''gadara'' as well, and other Canim will get out of the way in order to let them challenge each other.
* [[Orifice Invasion]]: Vord Takers crawl in through your mouth, secreting a poison to numb your flesh so you do not know they are crawling into you until it is too late.
* [[Our Elves Are Better]]: Marat are basically neolithic Wood Elves, though the term is never explicitly used for them.
* [[Out-Gambitted]]
** "I gave you even odds of seeing through the switch."
Line 420 ⟶ 426:
* [[Papa Wolf]]: Sextus did not take it kindly when {{spoiler|a couple of his High Lords killed Septimus. It may have taken him twenty-five ''years'', but he got his revenge. How? He killed one ''with a volcano'' and he set the other one up for death by the hands of the oncoming Vord.}}
* [[Parental Favoritism]]: Kord favored Bittan, who was growing into just as sickening a thug as he was, over Aric, [[White Sheep|who never quite reached the same depths]].
* [[Peeling Potatoes]]: Tavi pisses off an officer and ends up measuring latrines in ''Cursor's Fury''.
* [[Person of Mass Destruction]]: All the High Lords, and ''especially'' the house of Gaius. A single High Lord is said to be equal to an entire cohort of Knights, and Gaius was able to influence weather on a ''continental'' scale.
* [[Planet of Hats]]: A rare fantasy [[Averted Trope|aversion]]. Although there are five different races, each one is shown to have its cowards and its heroes, individuals noble and villainous. The Canim and the Marat may be [[Proud Warrior Race
* [[Posthumous Character]]: Princeps Gaius Septimus. In the first book, he is mentioned briefly and it almost seems like a bit of scene-setting: this is why there is a succession crisis and scheming noblemen, and the monsters in the storm are so dangerous the only safe place is a tomb fit for a prince, and that is all we know about him until halfway through the second book. However, Septimus gets developed as a major character later.
* [[Pragmatic Villainy]]: Lady Aquitaine gives Isana an impassioned (for her, anyway) speech about how she can be trusted to honor loyalty, oppose violence and protect the people she has sworn to protect. Not because she feels some sort of moral duty to do so, but because she knows that that is how she gains loyal servants, preserves Alera as a prosperous whole and sways others to her cause.
Line 479 ⟶ 485:
* [[Spoiler Title]]: {{spoiler|At some point, the reader will likely realize that the titles of the books refer to Tavi's rank and position during that book.}}
* [[Spring Is Late]]: Tavi gets {{spoiler|Alera}} to bring cold air from the arctic much farther south than normal for late winter/early spring. The extra week of winter allows Tavi to craft the snow into a surface that allows ships to ''sail on land'', getting Tavi's army to the main battle earlier than expected.
* [[Spy From Weights and Measures]]: Cursors, to an extent. Lots of people think of them as just messengers, although aristocrats know better than that.
* [[Star-Crossed Lovers]]: {{spoiler|After most of ''Furies of Calderon'' had established that Heddy had been raped by Bittan, it is revealed that Heddy had actually been having ''consensual'' sex with Aric, Bittan's brother. Aric's father, Kord, was an abusive, violent, lecherous bully, and Heddy's father, Warner, knew all too well what Kord was like, so both partners had to keep their relationship secret from their families.}}
* [[Start of Darkness]]: The fifth book reveals that {{spoiler|contrary to what most people assumed, Aquitaine was ''not'' one of those who killed Princeps Septimus: quite the opposite, he was one of Septimus' closest friends and turned against the First Lord who had been unable to protect his own son, [[He Who Fights Monsters|becoming just as cruel and ruthless as those he sought revenge against.]]}}
Line 505 ⟶ 511:
'''Kitai:''' That could prove interesting. }}
** In ''Cursor's Fury'', Odiana actually implies that she ''wants'' to have a discipline collar put on her by Aldrick, but ''only'' Aldrick. This is played for tragedy, not humor; in the first book she reveals that she used to be a slave, used for sex, and her watercrafter abilities let her feel the emotions of her attackers, which is what broke her. Notably, [[Even Evil Has Standards|Aldrick will not do it,]] possibly because, in the final book, we learn that he was one of the men who ''saved'' her from said slaver.
* [[Took a Level
** Tavi takes one in every time skip between books, but perhaps the most noticeable is Ehren, who goes from being a wimpy kid obsessed with his studies in the second book to a [[Badass]] [[Anti-Hero]] (of sorts) in the third to all that and a brilliant [[Chessmaster]] in the fifth.
** Centurion Schultz, who starts as a [[New Meat|fish]] in ''Cursor's Fury'' and is a [[Sergeant Rock|Centurion]] by ''Captain's Fury'', mirroring the First Aleran's transformation into one of the most elite armies on Alera.
* [[Training Accident]]: Amara's test at the beginning of the series was not really to see whether she could get information; it was to see if she would stay loyal and be able to escape after Fidelias's betrayal, which Gaius saw coming.
* [[Trope Overdosed]]: And how!
* [[Tsundere]]: Kitai, especially early on.
* [[Tunnel King]]: Earthcrafters can phase through earth and rock, allowing them to travel underground without leaving any sign of their passing.
* [[Twin Threesome Fantasy]]: Antillar "Max" Maximus is introduced after spending the night in the company of Ladies Celine and Celest. When he obliquely mentions this to Tavi and Ehren, they are shocked and jealous, especially when they realize he means ''both'', not just one or the other.
* [[Underestimating Badassery]]: He is just a [[Badass Normal|furyless]] [[The Call Put Me on Hold|freak]]. [[Crazy Awesome|What]] [[Crazy Enough to Work|could]] [[Badass|he]] [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|possibly]] [[Tempting Fate|do]]?
Line 542 ⟶ 548:
* [[Wicked Stepmother]]: Max's stepmother, Lady Antillus, wants the best for her son, the heir of Antillus. It just so happens that her husband's bastard child has the support of the legions and good connections, and could probably take the position of heir if he wanted it. Which he does not. {{spoiler|This has not stopped her from killing Max's mother and arranging "accidents" that have very nearly killed him several times.}} She also {{spoiler|betrays the Alerans to the Canim.}}
* [[Wild Card]]: Fidelias will sometimes be motivated to help those still loyal to the realm, even if it does not benefit his goals, {{spoiler|and he eventually becomes loyal to Tavi, albeit in a [[Secret Identity]], upon realising that Tavi would make a better ruler than Aquitaine, as well as being a better man.}}
* [[Woman Scorned]]: It turns out Invidia {{spoiler|arranged Septimus's death}} because he rejected her {{spoiler|for a peasant- Isana}}.
* [[Worf Barrage]]: The battle for Ceres in ''Princeps' Fury'' gets quite a few of these. {{spoiler|The Alerans let the Vord come all the way into the city before Gaius opens it up with an enormous eagle-shaped thunderbolt that vaporizes every living Vord inside the city, followed by complimentary and almost-as-devastating attacks by the High Lords in their respective colors and symbols.}} Unfortunately the {{spoiler|Vord Queen and her 100,000-strong army of Knights Aeris-inspired fliers turns it into a [[Negated Moment of Awesome]].}}
* [[World Half Full]]: {{spoiler|By the end of ''First Lord's Fury'', only a few thousand Canim refugees escaped the destruction of their homeland and a very small number of Aleran redoubts have survived out of an empire that once spanned a continent. But the new First Lord Gaius Octavian forms a new [[The Alliance|Alliance]] where slavery is banned, freemen are not treated like dirt, illegitimate children are embraced, humans live in peace with the Marat, Canim (Varg becomes the first nonhuman High Lord!) and Icemen, all of whom get their own states in Alera. Tavi even changed the way magic works, so furycrafting ability will be based on effort instead of blood. The Vord are still out there, but the new alliance will have over 150 years to prepare for them.}} Tavi comments that he will not go after the Canea Queen yet because she is so darn useful in getting everyone to work together.
* [[World of Badass]]: Oh, so very much. Remember that description at the top of the page?
* [[Worthy Opponent]]: The fifth novel explains that the [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Canim]] as a culture prefer having a [[Worthy Opponent]] over having a friend: a friend can disappoint you, but a [[Worthy Opponent]] can always be trusted to try and kill you. The Canim even have a specific word (gadara) that means [[Worthy Opponent]].
* [[X Meets Y]]: The political dealings of [[Dune]] meets a Greco-Roman Society powered by [[Pokémon]]. Really. [[Word of God]] is this series actually started because someone dared Butcher to write a [[Lost Roman Legion]] story based on [[Pokémon]].
* [[You Are in Command Now]]: Tavi is inserted into First Aleran Legion as the Third Subtribune Logistica, a non-critical post that serves as an excuse to be present and spy on the legion, {{spoiler|but he winds up in command when the Canim eliminate every other officer with their sorcery}}.
Line 558 ⟶ 564:
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Fantasy Literature]]
[[Category:Sword and Sandal]]
▲[[Category:Codex Alera]]
[[Category:Literature]]
[[Category:Literature of the 2000s]]
| |||