History Literature / AlienChronicles

* PoliceBrutality: Standard procedure for Viis patrollers, who are fully authorized to use wrist-cutters to [[AmputativeSentencing remove the hands of criminals]]. Elrabin narrowly escapes such a fate.

* PoliceBrutality: Standard procedure for Viis patrollers, who are fully authorized to use wrist-cutters to remove the hands of criminals. Elrabin narrowly escapes such a fate.

* HurtingHero: Every time things look up for Ampris, the rug gets jerked out from under her.

** Indeed, the overall plot of the trilogy is surprisingly closely aligned with the original plan for ''Fanfic/AlienExodus'', though that's unsurprising since it was also taking cues from ''Book of Exodus''. ''Alien Exodus'' would have similarly involved the enslaved species of an interstellar empire fighting for their freedom, with Cosmo Hender being Ampris' equivalent. [[spoiler: This extends to them both dying after a daring escape from the empire to the PromisedLand, leaving their closest friend in charge before they pass.]]

** There are also a number of Viis terms used for titles (e.g. "Kaa" being their emperor, "Sri-Kaa" being the Kaa's heir, etc.) and life stages (e.g. "chune" for infants, "ta-chune" for children, "vi-adault" for teenagers / young adults, "lun-adult" for older adults, etc.).

** Israi's brother Oviel is painfully aware that the Viis Empire is in a very precarious position - far more than most Viis characters care to acknowledge - and believes that Israi is too incompetent to sit the throne. But once Sahmrahd Kaa dies, Israi easily outmaneuvres Oviel and his flimsy claim to the throne, becoming the next Kaa. Under Israi's rule, the Empire goes on to decline even further.

** Book 2 has Ampris taking it in her last gladiator bout. She'd already faced a Gorlican that, as an utterly untrained, condemned prisoner, nearly managed to take a chunk out of her in a desperation rush. In a later bout, she faces a unarmed Zhrel engineer in a similar situation, lets her guard down to attempt to talk to him, and gets rushed a second time - this one resulting in an injury that cripples her for life.

** While onboard the Shrazhak Ohr space station, Ampris learns that it controls the long-dormant gate to the paradise world of Ruu-113, considered sacred to the Zhreli and a potential source of resources to the Viis. It lays the seeds for Ampris' plan to convince the Zhreli to open the gate for the abiru, making Ruu-113 a new home for them. [[spoiler: By the end of the third book, her plan succeeds.]]
** During one of her later gladiator bouts, when Ampris is serving as a [[CondemnedContestant glorified executioner to untrained prisoners]], a helpless, barely-armed Gorlican nearly runs her through in a blind rush when she lets her guard down. When she does the same thing trying to talk to a Zhreli prisoner about the gate to Ruu-113, he manages to cripple her leg.

* MosesArchetype: Ampris was raised in the Viis royal household, and ends up seeking to lead the Viis' slaves to freedom in the PromisedLand. The influence of the Eye of Clarity even indicates a supernatural hand in her struggle.