History Literature / ChildrenOfTheLastDays

* MissingMom: Maya to Zoe and Tyler (and Arrow in ''Eclipse of the Sun''). Young Mary to Rose.

* FreudianExcuse: The pedophile at Binemin's boarding school.

* MommyIssues: The {{Freudian Excuse}} of the pedophile in charge of the boarding school.

* BoardingSchoolOfHorrors: Where Binemin goes. A teacher there, Mr. McKenna, is a sadistic pedophile.

* SadistTeacher: Mr. McKenna, at Binemin's school.

* AnyoneCanDie: Including the protagonists of ''Strangers and Sojourners'', ''Plague Journal'', ''A Cry of Stone'', and ''Sophia House'', as well as Father Andrei, [[spoiler: Maurice, and Anna]].

* BoardingSchoolOfHorrors: Where Bimenim goes. It is run by a sadistic pedophile.

* SadistTeacher: The man in charge of Bimenim's school.

* AnyoneCanDie: Including the protagonists of ''Strangers and Sojourners'', ''Plague Journal'', ''A Cry of Stone'', and ''Sophia House'', as well as Father Andrei.

* BotheringByTheBook: How the Vatican protects Fr. Elijah after he has been framed for Anna's murder.

* CompletelyMissingThePoint. Maya's reaction to Arrow's prophetic dream. The commune is destroyed, and he is saved by a man from the convent (whom he met in the woods in real life, previoussly). Maya blames on the man from the convent for causing the nightmare.

* DepravedHomosexual: Averted with Pawel Tarnowski. Played straight with Count Smokrev, until his {{Heel Faith Turn}}.

* TheDragon: Maurice, before his {{Heel Face Turn}}.

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: What Fr. Elijah seeks to prevent, by converting the Antichrist. He fails.

* GovernmentConspiracy: The framing of Nathaniel Delaney and Fr. Elijah.

* HeelFaceTurn: Maurice.
* HeelFaithTurn: What Fr. Elijah tries to do to the Antichrist. He fails. He is successful with Count Smokrev.

** Euphrasia has one of these when she finds out that the love letters she was receiving were actually a cruel prank.

* HeroicSacrifice: Fr. Andrei and Pawel Tarnowski. Also, Maurice and Alice.

** Also, when Maurice gives Fr. Andrei the SadisticChoice of publically denouncing his religion or watching three depraved men rape Arrow into insanity.

* MeaningfulRename: Zig-zagged in ''Eclipse of the Sun''. When Fr. Andrei baptizes Arrow, he gives the boy the new name Aaron. Upon discovering the distruction of his childhood home, the drug commune, the boy resumes the name Arrow. However, in the end, when he reaches the sanctuary, he is once again called Aaron.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: To cover up their planned intrigue, Fr. Elihjah and Anna write fake love letters to each other. When Anna is killed, these love letters are used as a kmotive in framing Fr. Elijah.

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Maurice and Count Smokrev.

* ThanatosGambit: Faced with Mautrice's {{Sadistic Choice}}, Father Andrei pretends to agree to make the denunciation. During the speech, however, he makes provocative comments designed to incite Maurice to kill him. It works.

* YouCantFightFate: No matter how powerful the Antichrist's forces are, they are destined to lose in the end. Fr. Elijah tries, and fails, to convince the Antichrist of this. Fr. Andrei is somewhat more successful with Maurice.

* ''Sophia House'' (2005)
* ''Father Elijah: An Apocalypse'' (1996)
* ''Strangers and Sojourners'' (1997)
* ''Plague Journal'' (1999)
* ''Eclipse of the Sun'' (1998)
* ''A Cry of Stone'' (2003)

* AerithAndBob: Nathaniel and Maya's children are Tyler, Zoe, and Arrow.
* AfterTheEnd: In the prologue and epilogue of ''Eclipse of the Sun''
* TheAntichrist: In ''Father Elijah''.
* AnyoneCanDie: Including the protagonists of ''Strangers and Sojourners'', ''Plague Journal'', ''A Cry of Stone'', and ''Sophia House'', as well as Father Andrei.
* ApocalypseHow: An unspecified level 1 cataclysm that depopulates the globe.
* ApocalypseOfTheWeek: The premise of these books is the then-current idea that the world would end with the turn of the millennium.
* AuthorAvatar: Just read some of O'Brien's non-fiction, which is partially autobiographical, and compare it to excerpts of ''Plague Journal''.
* AuthorFilibuster: Plenty of these in ''Plague Journal''. The eponymous journal contains rather lengthy and {{Anvilicious}} excerpts of writing by the AuthorAvatar. Some of these articles have appeared in RealLife magazines, under the author's byline.
* BadassPreacher: Fr. Andrei.
* BadBoss: In ''Eclipse of the Sun'', Maurice and his superiors think nothing of liquidating employees who have outlived their usefulness.
* BatmanGambit: Maurice pulls one of these on Fr. Andrei. It fails.
* BigBad: The unnamed Antichrist
* BoardingSchoolOfHorrors: Where Bimenim goes. It is run by a sadistic pedophile.
* BotheringByTheBook: How the Vatican protects Fr. Elijah after he has been framed for Anna's murder.
* {{Brainwashed}}: What the teacher attempted to do to Jack Tobac's mother. Also, what Fr. Andrei and Fr. Potempko fear will happen to Arrow.

* CharacterFilibuster: ''Strangers and Sojourners'' and ''Plague Journal'' contain these. Some of them double as AuthorFilibuster.
* CrapsaccharineWorld: The goal of the global conspiracy.
* CreepyUncle: Or Creepy Great-Uncle. Pawel's Great-Uncle Nicholas molests him when he is six years old.
* CompletelyMissingThePoint. Maya's reaction to Arrow's prophetic dream. The commune is destroyed, and he is saved by a man from the convent (whom he met in the woods in real life, previoussly). Maya blames on the man from the convent for causing the nightmare.
* ConspiracyTheories: An entire chapter of ''Eclipse of the Sun'' is devoted to these. The Antichrist, along with the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Illuminati, and the Masons, are implicated in the plane crash deaths of Senators John Tower and John Heinz, and the Soviets' shooting down Korean Air Lines Flight 007.
* {{Cult}}: Colin was lured into one of these when he was young.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Colin, Stephen, Jan, and Pawel all have these.
* DeadpanSnarker: Maya and Alice.
* DepravedHomosexual: Averted with Pawel Tarnowski. Played straight with Count Smokrev, until his {{Heel Faith Turn}}.
* DeusExMachina: Implied to be the ultimate resolution of the conflict.
* DiabolusExMachina: Arrow becomes dangerously ill, and needs to be hospitalized. Beth takes him, pretending he is her son, Noah. Just as he is being released, and it looks like the ruse has worked, a doctor comes out of nowhere, and reveals that Arrow is not Noah Potter.
** In ''Sophia House'', Pawel and David are in the eponymous stor (which doubles as Pavel's home) after hours, when, out of nowhere, Count Smokrev walks in to discover them.

* DisappearedDad: Rose's father. Also, Nathaniel, in ''Eclipse of the Sun''. But then, the government "disappeared" him.
* DoubleStandard: In-universe. The state and the media are portrayed as employing these against anyone who disagrees with them, particularly traditional Christians.
* TheDragon: Maurice, before his {{Heel Face Turn}}.
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Arrow's dream of the attack on the commune, before it happens.

* EasyEvangelism: Averted, particularly with Anne and Colin.
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: What Fr. Elijah seeks to prevent, by converting the Antichrist. He fails.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Antichrist is simply known as the Antichrist or the President of the Europarliament.
** The Archbishop of Vancouver is also known simply by his title.
** So are the Pope and the Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. However, it is strongly implied that they are John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger, respectively.
* EvillyAffable: The Antichrist, Maurice, and many of the more liberal characters.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Arrow dreams of the destruction of his village before it happens.
* FreudWasRight: Subverted hard in ''A Cry of Stone''. Rose's critics have a tendency to wrongly interpret sexual meanings into her paintings.
* FreudianExcuse: The pedophile at Binemin's boarding school.
* FromACertainPointOfView: Used ''very'' liberally by Alice and Beth to protect Arrow in ''Eclips of the Sun''.
* GoodShepherd: The Archbishop of Vancouver, Fr. Ron, Fr. Andrei, the Pope.
* GovernmentConspiracy: The framing of Nathaniel Delaney and Fr. Elijah.
* GuileHero: Fr. Andrei. Just look at how he handles his interrogators in ''Eclipse of the Sun''.
* HeelFaceTurn: Maurice.
* HeelFaithTurn: What Fr. Elijah tries to do to the Antichrist. He fails. He is successful with Count Smokrev.
* HeroicBSOD: Arrow has one of these when he finds out his parents have been murdered.
** Euphrasia has one of these when she finds out that the love letters she was receiving were actually a cruel prank.
** Fr. Elijah comes close to having one of these when the Pope tells him the Apocalypse is near.
* HeroicSacrifice: Fr. Andrei and Pawel Tarnowski. Also, Maurice and Alice.
* HollywoodAtheist: Somewhat subverted. Fr. Andrei thinks Maurice is an atheist, but he is actually a member of the {{Religion of Evil}}.

** Averted with Anne and Colin, who later convert to Catholicism.
** Averted entirely with Anna, in ''Father Elijah''.
* HumanSacrifice: The shaman at the drug commune does this.

* InnocentInaccurate: Arrow's view of life at the drug commune.

* JesusSaves: Of course.
* KickTheDog: When Maurice coerces Fr. Andrei into looking at pornography -- by threatening to drag a real woman in and rape her if he refuses.

* LawyerFriendlyCameo: The Pope and the Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. No names are given; however, it is implied that they are John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger, respectively.
* LaResistance: The Underground in ''Sophia House''.
* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: ''Plague Journal''.
* MeaningfulRename: Zig-zagged in ''Eclipse of the Sun''. When Fr. Andrei baptizes Arrow, he gives the boy the new name Aaron. Upon discovering the distruction of his childhood home, the drug commune, the boy resumes the name Arrow. However, in the end, when he reaches the sanctuary, he is once again called Aaron.
* MissingMom: Maya to Zoe and Tyler (and Arrow in ''Eclipse of the Sun''). Young Mary to Rose.
* MistakenForCheating: Anne and the local Protestant minister in ''Strangers and Sojourners''.
* TheMole: Cardinal Vettore.
* MommyIssues: The {{Freudian Excuse}} of the pedophile in charge of the boarding school.
* {{Omniglot}}: The Antichrist.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: To cover up their planned intrigue, Fr. Elihjah and Anna write fake love letters to each other. When Anna is killed, these love letters are used as a kmotive in framing Fr. Elijah.
* OneWorldOrder: The goal of the Antichrist and his followers.
* ParentalAbandonment: What Rose's mother did to her. Also, what Maya did to Zoe and Tyler.
* ParentalBetrayal: Ashley does this to Nathaniel.
* ParentalIncest: What Nathaniel is falsely accused of in ''Plague Journal''.
* PeaceAndloveIncorporated: The global conspiracy seeks to present this as the public image of their front groups/governments, particularly UNITAS.
* RealityIsUnrealistic: Invoked in the foreword of ''Strangers and Sojourners''.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Maurice and Count Smokrev.
* ReleasedToElsewhere: What happens to most of the victims of the global conspiracy.
* SadistTeacher: The man in charge of Bimenim's school.
* SadisticChoice: Maurice offers Fr. Andrei a choice between denouncing the Catholic Church or watching three depraved men rape Arrow into insanity. This prompts Fr. Andrei's {{Thanatos Gambit}}.

A series of religious novels by Michael D. O'Brien. Termed the Catholic version of {{Left Behind}}, these stories discuss the lives of an interconnected group of people in Canada and Europe, over the span of a hundred years.

* FromACertainPointOfView: Used very liberally by Alice and Beth to protect Arrow in ''Eclips of the Sun''.

* HeelFaithTurn: What Fr. ELijah tries to do to the Antichrist. He fails. He is successful with Count Smokrev.

* TheWoobie: Pavel, Rose and Arrow.

* TheWoobie: Rose and Arrow.

* EvillyAffable: The Antichrist, Maurice, and many of the more liberal characters.

** Averted with Anne and Colin, who later convert to Catholicism.
** Played straight with Ashley, however.

* ShoutOut: The title of ''Plague Journal'' is one to Daniel Defoe. The books also feature a {{Shout Out}} to Arthur Ransome and G.K. Chesterton.
** Of course, given the genre, there is several to TheBible.

* CharacterFilibuster: ''Strangers and Sojourners'' and ''Plague Journal contain these. Some of them double as AuthorFilibuster.

* DepravedHomosexual: Averted with Pawel Tarnowski. Played straight with Count Smokrev, until his {{Heel Face Turn}}.

* MistakenForCbeating: Anne and the local Protestant minister in ''Strangers and Sojourners''.

** This is what the cult did to Colin in the backstory of ''Eclipse of the Sun''.

* ConspiracyTheories: An entire chapter of ''Eclipse of the Sun'' is devoted to these. The Antichrist, along with the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Illumanati, and the Masons, are implicated in the plain crash deaths of Senators John Tower and John Heinz, and the Soviets' shooting down Korean Air Lines Flight 007.

** The Archbishiop of Vancouver is also known simply by his title.
** So are the Pope and the Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. However, it is strongly implied that they are Johm Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger, sespectively.

* FreudWasRight: Subverted hard in ''A Cry of Stone''. Rose's critics have a tendancy to wrongly interpret sexual meanings into her paintings.

* LawyerFriendlyCameo: THe Pope and the Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. No names are given; however, it is implied that they are John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger, respectively.

* YouCantFightFate: No matter how powerful the Antichrist's forces are, they are destined to lose in the end. Fr. Elijah tries, and fails, to convince the Antichrist of this. Fr. Andrei is somewhate more successful with Maurice.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Once the global conspiracy doesn't need you anymore, they liquidate you.
* {{Zeerust}}: ''Father Elijah'', ''Plague Journal'' and ''Eclipse of the Sun'' were set at the turn of the millenium, believed to be when the end of the world would take place. It's already 2011, and we're still here.

* ConspiracyTheories: An entire chapter of ''Eclipse of the Sun'' is devoted to these. The Antichrist, along with the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Illumanati, and the Masons, are implicated in the plain crash deaths of Senators John Tower and John Heinz, and the Soveits' shooting down Korean Air Lines Flight 007.

* MistakenForCHeating: Anne and the local Protestant minister in ''Strangers and Sojourners''.

* OneWorldOrder

* AnyoneCanDie: Including the protagonists of ''Strangers and Sojourners'', ''Plague Journal'', and ''Sophia House'', as well as Father Andrei.

* TakingTheKids: Played partially straight. Maya leaves Nathaniel, taking baby Arrow. She doesn't take the older kids because she knows they would put up toomuch of a fight.

* SelfPlagiarism: Many of Nathaniel's articles in ''Plague Journhal'' originally appeared in RealLife magazines under the author's byline.

* {{Anvilicious}}

* MoralEventHorizon: In ''Strangers and Sojourners'', Ashley is portrayed somewhat sympathetically. Then he turns into a {{Hollywood Atheist}}. In ''Plague Journal'', Ashley crosses this when he refuses to believe in Nathaniel's innocence, preferring to believe that his son is a psychopathic pedophile and murderer rather than that he is being framed by the government, simply because of a political disagreement. Made even crueler by a flasback, in which Ashley promised to defend Nathaniel should his beliefs get him into trouble with the authorities.

** In ''Strangers and Sojourners'', look at some of the dates and Anne's age at the time. THey don't add up.

* AffiblyEvil: The Antichrist, Maurice, and many of the more liberal character -- until someone wants to debate their beliefs.

* Anvilicious:

* Badass Preacher: Fr. Andrei.

* Brainwashed: What the teacher attempted to do to Jack Tobac's mother. Also, what Fr. Andrei and Fr. Potempko fear will happen to Arrow.

* Cult: Colin was lured into one of these when he was young.

* Foreshadowing: Arrow dreams of the destruction of his village before it happens.

* Freudian Excuse: The pedophile at Binemin's boarding school.

* InnocentInnacurate: Arrow's view of life at the drug commune.

* Omniglot: The Antichrist.

* Satan: Of course, given the nature of these novels.

* Wish Fulfillment: The reforms of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, which begin with Fr. Ron's church.

* Zeerust: ''Father Elijah'', ''Plague Journal'' and ''Eclipse of the Sun'' were set at the turn of the millenium, believed to be when the end of the world would take place. It's already 2011, and we're still here.

* Badass Preacher: Fr. Andrei.

* HeroicBSOD: Arrow has one of these when he finds out his parents have been murdered. Euphrasia has one of these when she finds out that the love letters she was receiving were actually a cruel prank. Fr. Elijah comes close to having one of these when the Pope tells him the Apocalypse is near.
* HeroicSacrifice: Fr. Andrei and Pawel Tarnowski.

* Satan: Of course, given the nature of these novels.

* ThanatosGambit: Faced with the above {{Sadistic Choice}}, Father Andrei pretends to agree to make the denunciation. During the speech, however, he makes provocative comments designed to incite Maurice to kill him. It works.

* {{You Can't Fight Fate}}: No matter how powerful the Antichrist's forces are, they are destined to lose in the end. Fr. Elijah tries, and fails, to convince the Antichrist of this. Fr. Andrei is somewhate more successful with Maurice.

!! Provides Exaqmples of:

* AnyoneCanDie: Including the protagonists of ''Strangers and Sojourners'', ''Plague Journal'', and Sophia House, as well as Father Andrei.

* GovernmentConspiracy: The framing of Nathaniel Delaney and Fr. Elijah

* JesusSaves

* Zeerust: ''Father Elijah'', ''Plague Journal'' and ''Eclipse of the Sun'' were set at the turn of the millenium, believed to be the end of the world. Now that the end hasn't come...