Emberverse: Difference between revisions

 

 

 

The Emberverse currently consists of two completed trilogies, the first two volumes of a concluding tetrology, and one short story ("Something for Yew").

* ''The Sword of the Lady'' (2009) - Rudi and his companions finally arrive at Nantucket, and obtain the titular sword, as the war between the CUT and the Willamette forces takes a turn for the worse.

 

* ''The High King of Montival'' (2010) - Now in possession of the Sword, Rudi - Artos - must journey back to the eastern lands he'd left behind, and muster from them an army to rescue his homeland. Both he and his people back home work to consolidate the newborn kingdom, should they prevail against the Cutters.

* ''The Tears of the Sun'' (2011) - The kingdom of Montival takes firmer shape under Artos's leadership, the disparate groups within drawing together to meet the CUT threat. Allies from the eastern lands, as well as from the former Canada, provide vital support. Part of the war effort includes sowing dissension in the enemy ranks, with the goal of taking the CUT's ally {{spoiler|Boise}} out of the war.

 

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* [[Action Girl]]: Lessee... Astrid Larsson, Eilir Mackenzie, Ritva and Mary Havel, Virginia Kane, Mathilda Arminger, Asgerd Karlsdottir.

* [[Affably Evil]]: Both Norman and Sandra Arminger do a nice line in this.

* [[All Gays Are Promiscuous]]: Don't tell Tiphaine d'Ath that, unless for some reason you feel the urge to die a quick and bloody death. However, Estella Maldonado and Aaron Rothman each labor gallantly to uphold this trope. As does Rigobert, who would be just as provoked, and as dangerous, as Tiphaine if you chose to make an issue of it.

* [[All Myths Are True]]: Seen to be the case with the Mackenzies' Wiccan/Celt faith in the first trilogy, and with other religions, including the familiar, the ancient, and the new, in the second.

* [[The Apocalypse Brings Out the Best In People]]: It also brings out the worst, more often than not.

* [[Apocalypse How]]: Class 2, as most of the world's existing civilizations are destroyed during "the dying times," to be replaced by entirely different ones.

* [[Badass Adorable]]: Ten-year-old Rudi Mackenzie is beautiful and charming. And he deals out almost as much damage to his would-be kidnappers as do his two adult bodyguards.

* [[Badass Creed]]: Clan MacKenzie's war chant:

We are the bolts that Hecate cast! }}

* [[Badass Damsel]]: Kidnap Mathilda (or try to), and you have an excellent chance of finding yourself facing the sharp pointy end of her sword.

* [[Big Bad Wannabe]]: several of the petty thugs and warlords Mike Havel disposes of at the beginning of the series qualify, including the white supremacist survivalists (the first people to attack his party) and Iron Rod (who was quite effective terrorizing a convent--against the Bearkillers, not so much).

** Mary Lui, who tries to outwit the Lady Regent. Uh, yeah, good ''luck'' with that....

* [[Blood Brothers]]: Eilir and Astrid. Proving that the trope isn't exclusive with romance, Rudi and Mathilda also get this.

* [[Bob Haircut]]: Tiphaine d'Ath wears her hair this way. She'd prefer it shorter, but in the PPA it's barely acceptable at the length it is. Since said haircut is also known as a ''pageboy'', it's not surprising that this style is also worn by her pages.

* [[The British Empire]]: Not only did the Royal Family, SAS and other remnants of British society manage to survive the initial chaos. they managed to eventually rebuild "Greater Britain" as a hybrid Medieval-Victorian-Postmodern state. Though not before "Mad King Charlie" tried to turn it into a Renaissance Fair.

* [[Brown Note]]: '''''I...see...you'''''

** Norman Arminger is a former SCA dork, ''uses Sauron's Mordor banner as his flag,'' and is probably more than a bit crazy himself. With how he is numerically the most effective leader immediately post-Change and willing & able to kill almost anyone hand-to-hand, no one under him really has much to say about it...

** In-universe, Lawrence Thurston is regarded as one for his insistence upon restoring the United States (an idea seen as completely impractical by just about every other leader on the continent). However, he does manage to preserve at least the state of Idaho as a coherent political entity (in part by keeping the pre-Change state legislature intact), build a post-Change army (along the lines of the Roman legions) from the remnants of the US military in the area, and overall is one of the more effective and humane leaders in the series. {{spoiler|Of course [[Doomed Moral Victor|he had to die]]...}}

* [[Church Militant]]: an apt description of the Mormon church in New Deseret. Given they have the CUT for neighbors, it's understandable.

* [[Clock Punk]]: Especially in the third trilogy. Bicycle-powered trains anyone?

* [[Colonel Badass]]: Colonel Sir Nigel Loring, sometime of the Blues and Royals. He helps to save the Queen and the Royal Family, trains troops in the new fighting methods, protects the families of his soldiers, escapes royal custody, fights heroically in a battle at sea (where he's instrumental in saving the Crown Prince), and outwits the Lord Protector -- all before he links up with the main plotline!

* [[Corrupt Church]]: The Roman Catholic Church in Portland, in the days of Lord Protector Norman Arminger, has its own "pope," burns heretics and dissenters, and supports the PPA's brutal tyranny. Its opposition includes Mount Angel and its [[Warrior Monk]] order, who believe the Catholic Church should uphold what Abbot Dmwoski calls "the ''best'' of our long tradition."

* [[Days of Future Past]]: Several societies fulfill this trope although it also has a foot in [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]] as {{spoiler|supernatural elements creep in during the second trilogy.}} The Clan Mackenzie is based on a New Age interpretation (much against the liking of its founder) of a Celtic clan, while the Portland Protective Association was deliberately created by an SCA member as a copy of a medieval feudal society with trappings of Mordor. The oddest example are the Dunedain Rangers, founded by a mildly insane Tolkien fangirl who has a quasi-religious reverence for his books. There are also several "Indian" tribes many of whose members have, at best, only nominal amounts of First Nations ancestry and Norrheim and Kalksthorpe, Viking-style nations founded by Asatru. Additionally, the remnants of the American military in Idaho have formed into a hybrid Roman Legion. Meanwhile, over in England, "Mad King Charlie" tries to turn what remains of his nation into something of a vast Rennaisance Faire, although his subjects draw the line at Morris dancing.

** in A MEETING AT CORVALLIS, a graffiti in the city of that name reads: "Help! I've fallen into the RenFaire and I can't get out!"

* [[Determinator]]: She is Tiphaine d'Ath, and you ''are in her way''.

* [[Did Not Do the Research]] the author gets much credit for his knowledge of siegework and Tolkien as well as various religions. He fails at Geography, chemistry, and several other areas. Especially when there's a large Mennonite group in the middle of the communities in the real world. (It is, of course, possible they may not have survived, but given the detailed discussion of the area, one might have expected their existence to be mentioned at some point.)

*** Before modern navigational aids the Columbia Bar was a deadly menace known as the "graveyard of ships" due to current and tide conditions; over 2000 ships have been wrecked there since 1792. Even when you've gotten past the bar, beating upriver against the current as far as Portland is hard for sailing ships. It can be done, but there's a reason Astoria is where it is.

*** Any ships on the Columbia River at the time of the Change would have been disabled and would themselves become navigational obstacles. Barring a salvage operation that would be extremely time-consuming and expensive with the technology available, Astoria remains the only viable port for Portland. Portland's docks remain important for upriver transportation and the transshipment yards are still useable, however.

** Mathilda is also taken hostage at least three times during the series. Justified in that as the Protector's daughter she has high political value to her potential captors. She also becomes quite capable of rescuing herself when necessary as she gets older.

* [[The Dragon]]: For Norman Arminger, Conrad Renfrew; for his wife Sandra, Tiphaine D'Ath.

* [[Dung Ages]]: massively and deliberately averted. Although the overall tech level of the Emberverse is pre-industrial if not completely medieval, modern medicine and sanitation (and the relationship between sanitation and public health) are still well-known and widely practiced.

* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: whoever or whatever is controlling Sethaz and the rest of the CUT High Seekers definitely qualifies.

* [[Enemy Mine]]: Rudi invokes this when he decides to warn President-General Thurston of the Cutter ambush, and again when urging Thurston to ally with Deseret against the Cutters. (Thurston had previously refused to do so on the grounds that he was opposed to theocracies.)

** [[Lampshading|Lampshaded]] in ''A Meeting at Corvallis'', where some young fighters actually sing the song of the same name.

* [[Even the Girls Want Her]]: Mary and Ritva Havel have each had to bounce many a [[Lipstick Lesbian]] from their respective beds. {{spoiler|At least once Ingolf is looking on laughing.}}

* [[Flat Earth Atheist]]: Ultimately averted. Though Sandra Arminger and Tiphaine d'Ath are presented as atheists for much of the series, both eventually realize that it's an insupportable position in a world where there is objective evidence for the existence, and influence, of deities. In ''Tears of the Sun'', Sandra actually rejects this trope ''by name''.

* [[Foreshadowing]]: In ''Dies the Fire,'' Mike is extremely concerned about the injuries or mutual death that almost always result from trying to kinfe-fight anyone who isn't completely incompetent. {{spoiler|Two books later, he challenges [[Master Swordsman]] & [[Big Bad]] Norman Arminger to single combat. Both of them die.}}

* [[From Nobody to Nightmare]]: Norman Arminger started as an undistinguished history professor and SCAdian, and became one of the most successful (and brutal) despots in the post-Change world.

* [[Gaydar]]: When two male Corvallan guards are made to look as if they were overcome by alcohol whilst making out, Aaron Rothman smells a set-up, as he is quite certain the guards in question are straight. When Mike Havel questions his certainty, Aaron answers archly, "''Radar'' may not work any more, but my ''gaydar'', I assure you, is fully functional."

* [[Genre Shift]]: The series begins as an apocalyptic disaster thriller with brutally realistic consequences of the loss of much of the US' infrastructure. In short order it evolves into medieval structures. {{spoiler|The actual destination is the closest kin to a fantasy world one can do with [[Alien Space Bats]].}}

* [[God Save Us From the Queen]]: Hallgerda of Greater Britain manipulates her mad husband and places her royal stepsons in harm's way in an effort to ensure her own children will inherit the throne. She eventually kills King Charles when he refuses to disinherit his older sons in favor of her children. Interestingly, the trope does ''not'' apply to [[Magnificent Bastard|Lady Regent Sandra]] of Portland. Ruthless as she can be, she is constrained by the need to avoid alienating her subjects thanks to an open-borders policy. She also sincerely loves her spouse and is devoted to her daughter.

* [[Granola Girl]]: Signe, before the Change. She's a vegetarian and thinks the prospect of a world without guns is wonderful. Then she ''lives'' in that world....

* [[Handicapped Badass]]: Eilir, who doesn't let her deafness interfere with -- well, anything. She's a kickass fighter and wilderness scout, who thanks to her mother's early training is ''very'' good at stealthy approaches.

** In ''The Sunrise Lands,'' Mathilda tells the Thurston daughters that she doesn't wear her formal gowns while traveling because she wouldn't be able to ride or fight well in them.

* [[Incredibly Lame Pun]]: The scout the Cutters have tracking Rudi's band is, in fact {{spoiler|a ''Boy Scout'' -- or at least, a member of a settlement based on the Boy Scouts}}. Oh, it's justifiable; a member of such a group would be likely to have the right skill set. It is, however, still a groaner.

** In-universe, Delia uses a series of dreadful puns to get the attention of Tiphaine d'Ath.

* [[Lady of War]]: Signe Larsson and Tiphaine D'Ath

* [[Lipstick Lesbian]]: Delia, Tiphaine's lover.

* [[Master Swordsman|Masters of the Sword]]: Rudi Mackenzie, Tiphaine d'Ath, Norman Arminger

* [[Magic Knight]]: Father Ignatius. Rudi even more so.

* [[Manly Gay]]: Rigobert, Delia's [[The Beard|husband]] and father (via turkey baster) of her four children.

* [[Nobody Over 50 Is Gay]]: Dr. Aaron Rothman begs to differ -- [[Deadpan Snarker|and thinks you look quite fetchingly butch with that little scar on your chin.]]

** Rigobert is probably in 50-plus territory based upon statements made in ''Tears of the Sun''. Given that Ingolf (himself no softie) considers Rigobert an extremely dangerous man, the latter qualifies as a [[Badass Grandpa]] as well, at least by virtue of age (he's not literally a grandfather yet).

* [[Not So Different]]: Averted in ''The Scourge of God''. Rudi Mackenzie is describing Chuck Barstow's actions at the time of the Change, including survival-motivated fighting, deception, and theft (see [[Break Out the Museum Piece]], above). Odard Liu, thinking of his own brutal sire's actions at that time, is about to invoke this trope, with a side of [[I Did What I Had to Do|Our Parents Only Did What They Had To Do]]. Rudi shuts him down by pointing out one more thing Chuck Barstow felt he "had to do": rescue and take in a group of stranded schoolchildren (including his son Oak, whom Odard knows personally), something that Eddie Liu would certainly never have considered.

** Many of the new nations that arise after the Change are inspired by [[Theme Park Version|old movies and books]], and the residents of each one seem to think of all the others as acting upon some strange fantasy. Even nations like Boise, Corvallis, and Iowa, which have retained more of the pre-Change world's forms and systems than the others.

** Played straight with Corvallis, Boise, and the surviving urban centers of the Midwest.

*** Doubly averted in the faux-medieval societies. PPA fashions derive from Pre-change SCA fashion resulting in a chaotic mix up of medieval, migration, and renaissance. Clan Mackenzie fashion owes more to Braveheart and Ren Faires than anything else. In Idaho bib overalls and cowboy boots have evolved into formal wear as farmers became the post-change power brokers.

* [[Patronymic]]: A common form of identifier in some cultures Rudi's band encounters in their trek across the continent, including the Southsiders (e.g., "Jake sunna Jake"), Canadian neo-savages the London Bunch (Dik Tomskid), and the Norrheimers (Bjarni Erickson). The Norrheimers seem to be the only ones who also use this naming convention for women, whose surnames end with "dottir" rather than the masculine "son" (Asgerd Karlsdottir).

* [[Powers That Be]]: {{spoiler|The Change turns out to have been caused by what's best described as the Universal Mind having an argument with itself and coming up with the least awful option. Mind you this least awful option resulted in the worldwide collapse of civilization and the deaths of billions.}}

* [[Rain of Arrows]]: combat strategy of the Mackenzie archers.

* [[Religion Is Magic]]

* [[Religion of Evil]]: The Church Universal and Triumphant edges on [[Path of Inspiration]], but the fact that they're pretty openly out for world conquest and the way they keep followers in line by freaking them out with aural [[Alien Geometries]] plunks them in this category. Not to mention that they turn out to be a front for [[Eldritch Abominations]] that want to reduce the universe to nothing.

* [[Royals Who Actually Do Something]]: Many. Norman Arminger, Mike Havel, and Astrid Larsson are war leaders; the multitalented Juniper Mackenzie is a bard, a high priestess, an expert weaver, and a pretty decent archer. Mathilda Arminger and Rudi Mackenzie, the heirs apparent, undertake the quest for the sword in the second trilogy, and fight in combat repeatedly.

** In ''The Sunrise Lands'', Rudi and his party return from a tiger hunt singing an old song, "a bouncy hunting tune." Appropriately enough, it's [[Rocky III|"Eye of the Tiger."]]

** Rudi and his fellow Changelings don't understand why older people laugh at the suggestion that superb fighter Tiphaine d'Ath (a lesbian in a homophobic society) has an "I won't tell, and I'll kill you if you ask" policy.

** When he, Astrid, Eilir and Alleyne spring a surprise attack, John Hordle calmly informs their target, "Nobody expects the Elvish [[Monty Python's Flying Circus|Inquisition]]."

** While learning martial arts in ''The Scourge of God'', some of the heroes unknowingly quote a couple of lines from [[The Frantics]]' audio-skit 'Ti Kwan Leep'.

** At one point while the CUT is {{spoiler|attempting to assassinate the main characters in the Republic of Iowa }} lines are almost directly lifted from the [[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] story "The Hour of the Dragon" where Xaltotun convinces a man that his belt is a snake.

*** ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' gets another one in ''Tears of the Sun'' when a group of traveling performers is overheard delivering the opening narration ("Know, o prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities...")

*** The owner of Ford's Kyentse Cowboy Bar & Grill (''The Scourge of God'') resembles [[Harrison Ford]]. The eaterie is located in Wyoming, where Ford has a ranch, and it's rumored that the owner built the place with his own hands. [[Harrison Ford]] has worked as a professional carpenter. (Also, we get a fair amount of information on the character, for all that [[Law of Conservation of Detail|he appears in only one scene]].)

*** Given that Harrison Ford would be well into his eighties by the time that scene takes place, his mere survival in this setting would qualify him for [[Badass Grandpa]] status far above and beyond the characters he's played.

** The quote is actually from "The Broken Sword" by Poul Anderson, though "The Long Ships" is also excellent and they probably like that one, too.

** Tiphaine and Delia's children are all named after characters in a book series that however remains unnamed so it's something of a stealth shoutout.

*** So, are you going to tell us or what?

* [[Smug Snake]]: Norman Arminger, Duke Iron Rod, Piotr Stavarov, Eddie Liu

* [[Society for Creative Anachronism]]: Many of the founding members of the PPA were originally members of this.

* [[Tomboy and Girly Girl]]: Tiphaine d'Ath and Delia de Stafford. Tiphaine is the [[Butch Lesbian|toughest woman]] -- arguably the toughest ''person'' -- in the Protectorate, dresses in male garb (usually a big no-no in that realm), wears her hair in a pageboy and would wear it shorter if she could, and doesn't like children. Her lover Delia is [[Lipstick Lesbian|a complete creampuff]], an expert weaver and needlewoman who never dresses in anything less than the height of feminine fashion, wears her hair long and lush, and loves babies. Naturally, they're inseparable.

* [[Unholy Matrimony]]: Probably best exampled by a quote:

Sandra Arminger: Mine was a monster. But don't think for a second that I loved mine any less than you loved yours. }}

* [[Villainous Valour]]: Whether outnumbered and pursued by the Mackenzies, surrounded by Astrid and friends, or betrayed by a member of her own band, [[Dark Action Girl]] Tiphaine d'Ath earns her victories with remarkable skill, ingenuity, and courage. She's not a particularly likable person, and her objectives are often other than admirable, but her wit and her grit are outstanding.

* [[The Virus]]: And if you think the CUT is chilling on general principle, you should see what happens when its influence is suddenly removed...

* [[Warrior Monk]]: The local monastery becomes an order of these after the change. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] frequently, in that they draw comparisons with the Shaolin and other martial orders and lament that they cannot spend more time simply studying and praying.

** Don't forget the Buddhist Monks in the Valley of the Sun where the party winters to {{spoiler|heal Rudi's shoulder after he sustained a nasty evil arrow wound.}} The monks also train the party so as they all [[Take a Level In Badass]].

** {{spoiler|[[Inferred Holocaust|It's kind of a shame that the next time is going to have to wait until the Earth's supplies of readily accessible metals, coal, oil and other traditionally non-renewable resources refresh themselves, really.]]}}

** {{spoiler|the theory behind solar power is still on the books, which the surviving universities are maintaining. Likewise wind power (they're already using windmills) and other renewable sources. Alcohol is available as an internal combustion fuel, and there's still more than enough coal left to jumpstart an industrial revolution once the normal laws of nature apply again. Even nuclear power is still an option--the point is that humanity will have learned to take nature more seriously the next time around (which will take place once the [[Powers That Be]] decide humanity has learned its lesson sufficiently.) It won't be easy, but neither was gearing down to medieval technology. In both cases, though, the hardest work has already been done.}}

** Although the premise spoilered above seems extremely high. And the human cost... **shudders**

*** Well, it's explicitly a compromise or something done 'behind the back' of the other powers "while Mind was divided", to avoid the futures where humanity goes extinct, and also to avoid a war between factions of the Mind that would destroy the universe - "something so terrible that only a greater terror made it possible to think it." The good powers didn't think this was a good option, just the least terrible one available - basically, the only one involving humanity surviving at all.

*** Consider that {{spoiler|Heaven exists and is run by the collective souls of all sentient beings, including those who died in the Change, who may very well have agreed to the whole thing. Human cost starts losing its meaning under these circumstances.}}

** If you like that idea, try Steven R. Boyett's "Ariel" series, Stirling's inspiration for the Change.

** it's remarked on in the books that if the Change had been a random event, it would probably have just turned everything into quark soup. However, it's done with "Clarke's Law" science by the {{spoiler|the Universal Mind}}, so it's a localized and directed Change. Humans can't understand how it was done; the analogy would be trying to explain algebra to a dog.

[[Category:Science Fiction Literature]]

[[Category:Emberverse]]