History Literature / ClawingAtGlass

* GenocideFromTheInside: [[spoiler:Zada wipes out a huge portion of the wing-sages, including the Farseer Hypraith, when she allows House Noon to obliterate most of House Midnight.]]

''Clawing at Glass'' is the currently ongoing {{prequel}} to ''Literature/MirrorWorld'', and the second of the ''Literature/{{Inopticus}}'' series.

* DuelToTheDeath: ''The Fall of Inoptica'' features a pitched duel between Ahandi and Trick-Jack.

* WhamLine:
** From chapter sixteen, one line throws everything relevant prior to it into question:
-->'''[[spoiler:Zada]]''': [[spoiler:It's terrible so much blood had to be shed for this. Well... sometimes, you gotta ''really'' go the extra mile to get those fascinating things.]]
** The final line of chapter 21, which sheds some sobering light the King and Queen's plan:
-->'''Raphandas''': [[spoiler:''If we do not stop them, the Red King and the White Queen will be able to cross through to Earth.'']]

* YouAreBetterThanYouThink: [[spoiler:Avis is on the receiving end of this, from Jondi and Wydel, with indications he's able to consider he's more than just what Talvor tortured him into.]]

Inoptica, a world [[MirrorWorld adjacent to Earth]] ruled by the Houses of Dawn, Noon, Dusk and Midnight, is plunged into the brink of war when House Noon launches a near-genocide upon House Dusk. When the dust clears, Batlord Talvor, Noon's leader, is dead, assassinated as part of a much darker conspiracy behind the Red Dawn. With the fate of Inoptica at stake, a group of unlikely heroes--Jondi, a drug-addled former brood-surgeon from House Midnight; Wydel, the younger sister of Sprucequeen Ahandi, ruler of House Dawn and all Inoptica; and Avis, an enigmatic soldier within House Noon working as an agent for the powers behind the Red Dawn--must find a way to stop the forces behind the Red Dawn before they can consume Inoptica--and possibly Earth itself.

Inoptica, a world [[MirrorWorld adjacent to Earth]] ruled by the Houses of Dawn, Noon, Dusk and Midnight, is plunged into the brink of war when House Noon launches a near-genocide upon House Dusk. When the dust clears, Batlord Talvor is dead, assassinated as part of a much darker conspiracy behind the Red Dawn. With the fate of Inoptica at stake, a group of unlikely heroes--Jondi, a drug-addled former brood-surgeon from House Midnight; Wydel, the younger sister of Sprucequeen Ahandi, ruler of House Dawn and all Inoptica; and Avis, an enigmatic soldier within House Noon working as an agent for the powers behind the Red Dawn--must find a way to stop the forces behind the Red Dawn before they can consume Inoptica--and possibly Earth itself.

* AffablyEvil: A number of House Noon members, particularly Visca, are pleasant and friendly enough in spite of being genocidal nuts.

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Trick-Jack twists Ashorn into a perpetually-grinning effigy of himself that can do nothing but repeat defiant lines Trick-Jack has left him to say, and bear the horrific, prolonged torture of Kryce with a perpetual smile on his face. It's very heavily indicated there's at least ''part'' of Ashorn still under there, aware of everything happening but unable to do anything about it--[[KickTheDog something Trick-Jack subtly taunts him about.]]]]

In the mirror-world of Inoptica, the Red Dawn is successful and thousands have been slaughtered. A small smattering of radicals–the timid younger sister of the Sprucequeen, a haggard, drunken ex-doctor, and a shrewd soldier–must plunge into the conspiracy behind it and face their own buried, horrible secrets to stop the world itself from being bled out.

* WhamLine: From chapter sixteen, one line throws everything relevant prior to it into question:

* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: [[spoiler:Rook of House dusk is devoured right outta nowhere by Trick-Jack.]]

* VisualPun: [[spoiler:Trick-Jack jumps out of a box to kill rook. a 'Jack in the Box' if you will.]]

* FalseInnocenceTrick: [[spoiler:Zada plays the innocent little thing to a T while being a calculating sociopath under it.]]

* ApocalypseWow: ''The Fall of Inoptica'' features a massive battle with devastation all over as the final phase of Trick-Jack's plan.

* GenocideFromTheInside: [[spoiler:Zada wipes out a huge portion of the wing-sages, including the Farseer Hypraith, when she obliterates most of House Midnight.]]
* GoryDiscretionShot: [[spoiler:We don't see how Trick-Jack slaughters the residents of House Midnight, which is probably for the best with how gory it sounds.]]

* LetNoCrisisGoToWaste: Trick-Jack is doing all it can to profit off the chaos it plunges Inoptica into.
* TheManBehindTheMan: The mysterious doppleganger Trick-Jack makes a few appearances and seems to be pulling some major strings.

* TeamKiller: [[spoiler:Zada betrays House Midnight, resulting in Trick-Jack slaughtering a number of them.]]

* AnimalMotifs: Noon has the bat as their own, while ravens and corvids fit House Dusk. Birds are the recurring one for House Midnight.

* ActionGirl: Most female characters can kick ass.

* BreakingSpeech: Millivia gives Avis a brutal dressing down, saying how alone he is under his rhetoric. For perhaps the first time, Avis is unable to respond to the accusation.

* CulturalRebel: Millivia is this in House Noon, leading the faction charitably described as 'not insane,' which is hated by the rest that are.

* IronicEcho: Avis and Millivia have a small discussion about backstabbing and how Avis can't blame the "inevitable blade" for seeking a back that's turned. [[spoiler:This comes back to bite him in chapter 16 when Zada literally gets him InTheBack, all because he ends up distracted by Wydel]].

* EatTheEnemy: Ahandi's power is sucking the blood and life from her enemy to devour their life-force.