Felsic Current

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

"The benefit--as well as the mandate--of responsibility

is the ability to tell when one can afford to be irresponsible."
—General Jerima Precklesdough, Felsic Current

Felsic Current is an English-language fantasy novel written by French Canadian J-F Bibeau and published in 2010 by the author's company Diplodocus Design.

The setting of the story is a completely fictional world where five major countries live a fragile harmony. The main plot revolves around a mystical location called Mandlev Tower, whose shocking secrets and ancestral relevance ends up changing the course of this land's history.

The citizens of certain countries have access to a power called Current, in which a user affects the elements around him or herself through a series of full-body gestures. As such, it is often mistaken by foreigners as a "magic dance," earning Current-users the derogatory slang "diva."

The discovery of Mandlev Tower's secret occurs as a result of several subplots across the countries of the world. The book's early chapters introduce many seemingly unrelated sets of characters whose paths eventually intertwine and end up converging into one climactic culture clash at the site of the tower. The result is one ever-growing cast that keeps readers on their toes.

Felsic Current's sequel, Felsic Tension, is scheduled for release in the Spring of 2011.

Tropes used in Felsic Current include:
  • Astroturf: Bibeau has demonstrated a tendency toward priming his readers with things to say about him and soliciting positive reviews for his Amazon page. Both are, hilariously, done in public view on his Facebook fanpage. He recently deleted a thread in which he begged for good reviews when an Amazon reviewer pointed out that he'd done it.
  • Both Sides Have a Point
  • Character Filibuster: General Jerima Precklesdough speaks in nothing but filibusters. His run-on sentences tend to be so convoluted that none but the most astute and intellectual of listeners (and readers!) can keep up with him. This makes taking orders from him a particularly grueling challenge for his troops. He's also been known to lose himself within the mazes of his own verbal meanderings, to his great amusement.
  • The Chew Toy: Pawel Frossengellet is quite a bad-ass yet seems to be the target of repeated undeserved physical assaults. From serious incidents (being shot in the head by sniper Fritri Waxkin) to minor ones (pratfalling when Fullian Fishk steals his sword, which Frossengellet was leaning on at the time).
  • Dumb Is Good: Baube Lud is very dumb. Therefore, despite the mocking of his fellow troopers and his failed attempts at romance, it never occurs to him to be anything but fundamentally good-natured and good at his job. Very good.
  • The Eeyore: Gil Peaply falls under just about every trope that involves depression, cynicism, jadedness, whining and sarcasm, but The Eeyore is perhaps the best match for him.
  • Funny Schizophrenia: Thendy Bravura (also known by himself and others as a dozen other names) is the embodiment of Funny Schizophrenia. We are even treated to a chapter written entirely from his point of view, complete with internal conversations and bickering between his various personalities.
  • Grammar Nazi: Lassic Wert is a Grammar Nazi mainly through the constant presence of his partner Geal Tromautein, who could be described as a verbal dyslexic. Were Lassic not constantly busy correcting his friend's mifpronouciations (like that one), he might not have developed such a reflex for linguistic accuracy.
  • No Antagonist
  • Rouge Angles of Satin: Chapter 7 of Felsic Current, written from the point of view of Viakel Hollenmen, confuses axle with axel. Although originally assumed to be a mistake on the author's part, chapter 6 of the sequel, Felsic Tension, reveals that it's actually the character of Viakel himself who does not know the difference between the two words, being a relative neophyte to machinery.
  • Split Personality Makeover: Thendy Bravura (also known as another dozen names) incurs very visible personality changes. Often, others can tell he's just "done it again" merely by witnessing his facials features melt into a completely different countenance, before he even speaks. Their mounting exasperation to these frequent incidences is usually the source of comedy.
  • Take Our Word for It: The author relies heavily on this trope, in lieu of actually describing things.
  • Verbal Tic:

Sartain Stradius: "See." At the beginning of sentences, at the end, or after a comma. Basically anywhere. And often, see.

Geal: I don't like it when you make fun of me and correct me, 'kay? It's one thing to fix my mistakes, but it's another to be so, um, infuratingly desirive about it.
Lassic: It's 'infu-i-atingly' and 'de-ri-sive.'