History Literature / AlienChronicles

* ActionGirl: Ampris. Some may argue that her actions in the third book constitute FauxActionGirl, but at least when she's in the gladiator rings she's definitely kicking ass.

* FeudalFuture: The Viis Empire operates as an absolute hereditary monarchy, with seemingly little in the way of oversight on the decisions of the ruling Kaa. The Empire does seem to have formal political parties, including a Reformist party that seeks to grant citizenship to the abiru, though their influence is unclear. While Chancellor Gaveid maintains that the parties are necessary for Viis citizens and nobles to air their grievances peacefully, Sahmrahd Kaa looks down upon their existence and expresses his desire to have them abolished.

** "Ruvt" is another insult that gets used against Ampris at one point. She's quite angered by it and notes that its meaning is very dirty, though the exact meaning isn't specified.

** Chancellor Gaveid also believes that the Viis species and its empire are doomed to decline, even through Sahmrahd Kaa refuses to believe such suggestions. Many of Gaveid's suggestions and warnings go unheeded with predictable results.

* CassandraTruth: 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.

* FeudalFuture: The Viis Empire operates as an absolute hereditary monarchy, with seemingly little in the way of oversight on the decisions of the ruling Kaa. The Empire does seem to have formal political parties, including a Reformist party that seeks to grant citizenship to the abiru, but the Kaa looks down upon the parties in general and even expresses his desire to have them abolished.

* FeudalFuture: The Viis Empire operates as an absolute hereditary monarchy, with seemingly little in the way of oversight on the decisions of the ruling Kaa.

** A small minority of Viis propose reform to improve conditions for the abiru, though their government is largely opposed to such suggestions.

** [[spoiler: After a crippling injury ends her gladiator career, Ampris is sent to a research lab where several abiru women [[MedicalRapeAndImpregnate are used to create]] [[Artificial Hybrid half-Viis hybrids]], with the ultimate goal being splicing abiru resistance to the [[ThePlague Dancing Death]] over to the Viis. The resultant children are often dissected, and the abiru women themselves are taken away and implied to be killed if they can no longer bear children. After being forced to bear a litter of half-Viis cubs, and having her sole daughter dissected less than a day after her birth, Ampris manages to escape with the other prisoners while destroying the facility behind her.]]

** [[spoiler: After a crippling injury ends her gladiator career, Ampris is sent to a research lab to become this. See MedicalRapeAndImpregnate.]]

** [[spoiler: Despite the end of the trilogy seeing Ampris' victory and the Empire's downfall, the future of the Viis is still somewhat open. On the one hand, the Viis are still in ongoing genetic decline from the Dancing Death, meaning that the Rejects likely represent the species' future in the long term. The Empire itself is decapitated by Israi's death, is in the grips of anarchic panic over a possible return of the Dancing Death, and was already on its last legs long beforehand thanks to Viis hubris. Zrheli sabotage of the stargates has left many worlds increasingly isolated and suffering from economic decline, with the Empire's capital Viismyel suffering from severe ecological decline on top of this. Rebellion is raging on several fronts, including by the growing population of Viis Rejects, the unnamed rebellion in the outer colonies, and any remaining Freedom Network supporters among the many abiru unable to join the exodus. However, the last we see of the imperial government, it is still barely functioning and is in contact with at least some colonies and parts of the military. Israi's brother Oviel - previously implied to be painfully aware of the Empire's decline and desperate to reverse it - is also still alive, and likely to seize the throne. A big point is also made of Ehssk escaping from Ampris' revenge, leaving his fate potentially open as well. Whatever happens to the Viis - or whatever might come to replace the Empire in the looming power struggles - is purely speculative, but there is enough of a foundation that further stories could have been told in the setting after the events of the trilogy.]]

** The Zrheli constantly sabotage efforts to open the gate to the paradise planet Ruu-113, which they consider sacred and fear will be exploited by the Viis. This often results in entire flocks of Zrheli being executed when their sabotage is discovered. Interestingly, heroic sacrifices are actually part of Zrheli culture, with one outright saying “It is the Zrheli way. It is the Zrheli belief.” [[spoiler: Said Zrheli was part of the flock that helped Ampris escape from Vess Vaas laboratory, sacrificing themselves in the process by blowing up the facility. Not only does this neatly destroy evidence of the escape, but it spells the end of the horrific experimentation being performed there.]]

Oh, and did we mention that no humans exist anywhere in the series? That's right: only aliens. Articles on the now-defunct website (which lives on only as a [[https://web.archive.org/web/20040210180115/http://www.lucasaliens.com/index.html Wayback Machine backup]] on the Website/InternetArchive) explain that it was inspired by ''Monsters and Aliens From George Lucas'', a book of ''Franchise/StarWars'' aliens released a few years earlier. The book's success spurred plans for a series of novels to flesh out some of the species depicted.

However, the original plans was much different to the end result, not least of all by actually being set in the ''Star Wars'' universe. Creator/RobertJSawyer was originally tapped to write the trilogy, with the first installment to be known as ''Fanfic/AlienExodus''. Ironically, humans would have taken center stage, with ''Alien Exodus'' serving as an origin story for humanity in the ''Star Wars'' universe. But in the end, disagreements between Ace Books and Lucasfilm resulted in the decision that the books would not be associated with ''Star Wars'' after all. Sawyer departed the project, Chester was brought in, and thus ''Alien Chronicles'' - now set in an original but distinctly ''Star Wars''-esque universe - was born.

* AdaptationDistillation: The audio adaptation drops some scenes from Ampris' childhood in the first book and her gladiator training in the second.

* HumanPet: Again, not human specifically, but the Viis are known to keep members of the sentient abiru species as pets. Ampris being Israi's pet is the primary example, but there's also an elderly Viis widow Elrabin tries to scam mentioning that he reminds her of a Kelth she once kept as a pet.

** The granddady of them all is [[spoiler: what happened to the abiru who did not manage to get on the cargo ships headed to Ruu-113, such as those off the Viis homeworld Viismyel. All we know for sure is that the Empire is actively collapsing and that the Viis Rejects stay behind to reshape it, but what their plans for a new society look like - and how the abiru will fit into it - is purely speculative.]]

** [[spoiler: Nashmarl and Foloth, Ampris' half-Aaroun half-Viis children from her MedicalRapeAndImpregnate in the second book, display a good deal of this in the third book. Not only do the two frequently quarrel, but Nashmarl focuses on his Aaroun side while Foloth focuses on his Viis side.]]

** The Viis themselves fall into this as well, with only a handful being remotely sympathetic. And even then, most of them are Viis Rejects (an underclass wracked with genetic defects) rather than regular Viis.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Members of the Toth species pretty much only appear as criminals or enforcers throughout the series.

* ThePromisedLand: Ruu-113, a paradiscal world rich in resources. The Zrheli consider it akin to Mecca and continuously [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice]] themselves to keep the one gate to it closed so that the Viis can't exploit it for resources. [[spoiler: They only open it for Ampris and her abiru exodus, in exchange for said exodus taking some Zrheli with them. The final vision Ampris receives from the Eye of Clarity shows that the abiru will prosper on the planet, and build a free new society there.]]

* PleasurePlanet: Mynchepop, with its upside-down waterfalls and pink seas.

* ThePromisedLand: Ruu-113. The Zrheli consider it akin to Mecca and continuously [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice]] themselves to keep the one gate to it closed so that the Viis can't exploit it for resources. [[spoiler: They only open it for Ampris and her abiru exodus, in exchange for said exodus taking some Zrheli with them. The final vision Ampris receives from the Eye of Clarity shows that the abiru will prosper on the planet, and build a free new society there.]]

** [[spoiler: Despite the end of the trilogy seeing Ampris' victory and the Empire's downfall, the future of the Viis is still somewhat open. On the one hand, the Viis are still in ongoing genetic decline from the Dancing Death, meaning that the Rejects likely represent the species' future in the long term. The Empire itself is decapitated by Israi's death, is in the grips of anarchic panic over a possible return of the Dancing Death, and was already on its last legs long beforehand thanks to Viis hubris. Zrheli sabotage of the stargates has left many worlds increasingly isolated and suffering from economic decline, with the Empire's capital Viismyel suffering from severe ecological decline on top of this. Rebellion is raging on several fronts, including by the growing population of Viis Rejects, the unnamed rebellion in the outer colonies, and any remaining Freedom Network supporters among the many abiru unable to join the exodus. However, the last we see of the imperial government, it is still barely functioning and is in contact with at least some colonies and parts of the military. Israi's brother Oviel - previously implied to be painfully aware of the Empire's decline and desperate to reverse it - is also still alive, and likely to seize the throne. A big point is also made of Ehssk escaping from Ampris' revenge, leaving his fate potentially open as well. Whatever happens to the Viis - or whatever might come to replace the Empire in the looming power struggles - is purely speculative, but there is definitely a foundation for further stories to have been told in the setting after the events of the trilogy.]]

** The Zrheli constantly sabotage efforts to open the gate to the paradise planet Ruu-113, which they consider sacred and fear will be exploited by the Viis. This often results in entire flocks of Zrhelibeing executed when their sabotage is discovered. Interestingly, heroic sacrifices are actually part of Zrheli culture, with one outright saying “It is the Zrheli way. It is the Zrheli belief.” [[spoiler: Said Zrheli was part of the flock that helped Ampris escape from Vess Vaas laboratory, sacrificing themselves in the process.]]

** [[spoiler: As Israi's pursuit of the abiru exodus stalls thanks to the gate to Ruu-113 starting to close, the Zrheli navigator aboard her flagship seizes the controls and forces the ship into the gravitational maelstrom of the closing gate. The ship is destroyed, killing Israi and everyone else onboard.]]

** [[spoiler: Despite the end of the trilogy seeing Ampris' victory and the Empire's downfall, the future of the Viis is still somewhat open. On the one hand, the Viis are still in ongoing genetic decline from the Dancing Death, meaning that the Rejects likely represent the species' future in the long term. The Empire itself is decapitated by Israi's death, is in the grips of anarchic panic over a possible return of the Dancing Death, and was already on its last legs long beforehand thanks to Viis hubris. Zrheli sabotage of the the stargates has left many worlds increasingly isolated and suffering from economic decline, with the Empire's capital Viismyel suffering from severe ecological decline on top of this. Rebellion is raging on several fronts, including by the growing population of Viis Rejects, the unnamed rebellion in the outer colonies, and any remaining Freedom Network supporters among the many abiru unable to join the exodus. However, the last we see of the imperial government, it is still barely functioning and is in contact with at least some colonies and parts of the military. Israi's brother Oviel - previously implied to be painfully aware of the Empire's decline and desperate to reverse it - is also still alive, and likely to seize the throne. A big point is also made of Ehssk escaping from Ampris' revenge, leaving his fate potentially open as well. Whatever happens to the Viis - or whatever might come to replace the Empire in the looming power struggles - is purely speculative, but there is definitely a foundation for further stories to have been told in the setting after the events of the trilogy.]]

* WhamEpisode: Much of the ''The Crimson Claw'' is a Spartacus-esque tale of Ampris rising to prominence as a gladiator while laying the foundations for a resistance movement against Viis rule. [[spoiler: That's until the book veers into horror territory when she's crippled by a career-ending injury, and is sold to a research lab to become a BreedingSlave bearing half-Viis children. Though she manages to escape, she's left with two half-Viis sons to raise and the trauma of having her only daughter killed and dissected.]]

* InadequateInheritor: Deliberately invoked by Israi. Due to the lingering genetic effects of the [[ThePlague Dancing Death]], some of her offspring are very sickly. When she becomes Kaa, she deliberately choose her sickliest child to be Sri-Kaa so that they won't detract the public's attention away from her. She even counts on some of them dying young and needing to be replaced. When her first Sri-Kaa ends up dying, Israi is [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone genuinely shocked and reconsiders her choice]], but she ends up continuing the practice.