Emberverse: Difference between revisions

An enormous electrical storm of unknown properties encompasses the island of Nantucket and transports it back to the bronze age. The resultant time shock causes everyone on Earth to suffer an intense migraine at the exact same moment. The far more important consequence is that any device run off of electricity, gunpowder, explosives, internal combustion or steam power ceases to function. Permanently. In a single instant, [[The End of the World As We Know It|humanity has been, metaphorically, bombed back to the Stone Age.]]

 

 

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

* [[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.

* [[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.)

* [[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."

* [[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.

* [[No New Fashions in The Future]]: Inverted in many places, as many societies (Clan Mackenzie, PPA, Norrheim, Indian tribes, ranches) went back to ''old'' fashions.

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

* [[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.}}

* [[The Quest]]: A lot of characters, especially the aforementioned Tolkien fangirl comment on the auspiciousness of the fact that Rudi's journey will [[King Arthur|take him across the land to find a mythical sword]] and that he will have [[Lord of the Rings|nine members in his group.]]

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

* [[Rooting for The Empire]]: [[In Universe]]. The PPA base their soceity around ''[[The Lord of the Rings|Mordor and Sauron]]'', of all things.

* [[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.

* [[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]].