History Literature / TheLovers

* AcceptableBreakFromReality: [[spoiler: The book's twist hinges on Ozagen evolution leading to an HumanAlien, something highly unlikely made more so since Ozagen evolution took very different paths early on.]]

* CallingTheOldManOut: Figuratively (all kids are raised as wards of the ''Sturch'').

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler: Pornsen's death.]] The guy was a jerk, but his last moments were terrifying.

* LieDetector: The Elohimeter.

* WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: Pornsen's motto, and of sigmenites in general.

* ATasteOfTheLash: The favoured disciplining tool of ''gapts'' and urielites (priests) is the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scourge scourge]].

* AlternateCalendar: 3050 A.C. becomes 550 A.S. for the Haijac Union.

Hal Yarrow is a lowly ''joat'' linguist living in the oppressive Haijac Union, one of the major World powers in 3050 A.C. The Haijac Union is a puritan Theocracy based on a future religion called Serialism, an offshoot of Judeochristian beliefs mixed with a pseudo-scientific temporal theory called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_William_Dunne Dunnology]]. Adherence to ''realist'' actions is a matter of life and death, as citizens are rated regularly in their morals and those who consistently slip are "sent to H". Yarrow, unfortunately, is prone to ''unreal'' thinking, and he's not helped by his wife Marie, a proper, frigid, passive-aggressive Sigmenite who feels forced to rat out every minor ''unreality'' to their resident ''gapt'' Pornsen, a combination of confessor and political commissar.

* AlienLunch: Beetle juice, ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Pornsen.]]
* AuthorTract: Farmer is clearly on the side of GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex against the puritan Big Brother.

* [[spoiler:BittersweetEnding]]: [[spoiler: The Haijac plot against the wogs is stopped, Yarrow is free and he's a dad... but Jeannette is dead.]]

* BodyHorror: [[spoiler: ''Lalithas'' pregnancy looks like this to humans.]]

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler: Pornsen's death. The guy was a jerk, but his last moments were terrifying.]]

* HumanAliens: [[spoiler: ''Lalithas'' are to all the senses human.]]

* [[spoiler: ImmortalityImmorality]]: What ultimately led to the extinction of the Ozagen humanoids.

* [[spoiler: InterspeciesRomance]]: [[spoiler: Jeannette may look human but she's actually a ''lalitha'', a highly evolved arthropod.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler: Yarrow's tragically misguided attempt to cure Jeannette's alcoholism.]]

* [[spoiler:NonhumanLoverReveal]]: [[spoiler: By the time Yarrow finds out Jeannette is completely alien, he is far more devastated by her death.]]

* NuclearOption: [[spoiler: Only in case the DepopulationBomb fails...]]

* OutGambitted: [[spoiler: The wogs aren't ''that'' trusting... And can smell lies.]]

* ShutUpHannibal: [[spoiler: Fobo stopping Macneff's TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.]]

* YouRebelScum: [[spoiler: Sandalphon Macneff angry tirade at Yarrow after the AwfulTruth comes out, followed by TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.]]

* AgainstMyReligion

* BewareTheNiceOnes: The wogs' friendly demeanor seems genuine, just don't forget they exterminated the Ozagen humanoids. [[spoiler: And Yarrow can put up quite a fight when cornered.]]
* BigBrotherIsEmployingYou

* ColorCodedPatrician
* CrashIntoHello: Sort of.

* DamselInDistress

* FatBastard: Pornsen.
* FeminineWomenCanCook

* FutureSlang: Besides the NewSpeak additions, American has gotten a few loan words from polynesian and semithic languages.

* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Jeannette.

* [[spoiler: IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim]]

* InnocentFanserviceGirl

* IntimatePsychotherapy

* LivingForeverIsAwesome: ''Lalithas'' like living forever, Or at least a long time.

* LoveRedeems

* NubileSavage

* [[spoiler: OutGambitted]]: [[spoiler: The wogs aren't ''that'' trusting... And can smell lies.]]

* ScienceMarchesOn: Dunne's Time theory is almost forgotten today, but it was the rage in TheThirties.

* [[RaisedCatholic Raised Sigmenite]]: Yarrow still clings to some sigmenite customs even after he begins sheltering Jeannette. [[spoiler: With tragical results.]]

Hal Yarrow is a lowly ''joat'' linguist living in the oppressive Haijac Union, one of the major World powers in 3050 A.C. The Haijac Union is a puritan Theocracy based on a future religion founded by a prophet called Isaac Sigmen called Serialism, an offshoot of Judeochristian beliefs mixed with a pseudo-scientific temporal theory called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_William_Dunne Dunnology]]. Adherence to ''realist'' actions is a matter of life and death, as citizens are rated regularly in their morals and those who consistently slip are "sent to H". Yarrow, unfortunately, is prone to ''unreal'' thinking, and he's not helped by his wife Marie, a proper, frigid, passive-aggressive Sigmenite who feels forced to rat out every minor ''unreality'' to their resident ''gapt'' Pornsen, a combination of confessor and political commissar.

Eventually Yarrow's stubborn lack of specialization is his salvation, as he gets recruited (and thus saved from "H") for a top secret mission; be the resident linguist for a diplomatic expedition to Ozagen, the first inhabitable world found by the Haijac space program. Ozagen is populated by friendly, highly evolved sentient arthropods whose technological level is comparable to that of the early 20th century, derisively named ''wogglebugs'' (wogs for short) by the Haijacs; the expedition, though, is actually a genocidal mission who plans to kill the whole species using a SyntheticPlague. Wogs would join in extinction the other sentient species they used to share their planet with, [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality a mammalian anthropoid astonishingly similar to humans.]] It is while exploring some ruins of these man-like aliens that Yarrow meets one mysterious girl that shouldn't be there, or even exist, who makes him feel for the first time what his ''Sturch''-appointed wife never did. This and his growing friendship with Fobo, a wog psychologist, sends him into a downward spiral of ''unreality''.

This novel launched the career of Creator/PhilipJoseFarmer, won an Hugo in 1953, it is often listed as a landmark in ScienceFiction... and it pretty much stopped Farmer's professional writing career for the next decade, as it was a shining example of a book ahead of its time that no publisher in TheFifties would touch with a ten foot pole (in fact, it wasn't published in book form until 1961). ''The Lovers'' is credited with introducing Sex into ScienceFiction beyond the GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe, and mixing it with Religion, Politics, Psychology and [[PulpMagazine Pulp]], Farmer's favourite subjects.

* AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame: This book is mostly known for its TwistEnding, to the point that pretty much every SF history article and essay mentioning the book or Farmer's work in general gives it away. This wiki included.

Hal Yarrow is a lowly ''joat'' linguist living in the oppressive Haijac Union, one of the major World powers in 3050 A.C. The Haijac Union is a puritan Theocracy based on a future religion founded by a prophet called Isaac Sigmen called Serialism, an offshoot of Judeochristian beliefs mixed with a pseudo-scientific temporal theory called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_William_Dunne Dunnology]]. Adherence to ''realist'' actions is a matter of life and death, as citizens are rated regularly in their morals and those who consistently slip are "sent to H". Yarrow, unfortunately, is prone to ''unreal'' thinking, and he's not helped by his wife Marie, a proper, frigid, passive-agressive Sigmenite who feels forced to rat out every minor ''unreality'' to their resident ''gapt'' Pornsen, a combination of confessor and political commisary.

Hal Yarrow is a lowly ''joat'' linguist living in the oppressive Haijac Union, one of the major World powers in 3050 A.C. The Haijac Union is a puritan Theocracy based on a future religion founded by a prophet called Isaac Sigmen called Serialism , an offshoot of Judeochristian beliefs mixed with a pseudo-scientific temporal theory called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_William_Dunne Dunnology]]. Adherence to ''realist'' actions is a matter of life and death, as citizens are rated regularly in their morals and those who consistently slip are "sent to H". Yarrow, unfortunately, is prone to ''unreal'' thinking, and he's not helped by his wife Marie, a proper, frigid, passive-agressive Sigmenite who feels forced to rat out every minor ''unreality'' to their resident ''gapt'' Pornsen, a combination of confessor and political commisary.

* [[spoiler: OutGambitted]]: [[spoiler: The wogs aren't ''that'' trusting.]]

Eventually Yarrow's stubborn lack of specialization is his salvation, as he gets recruited (and thus saved from "H") for a top secret mission; be the resident linguist for a diplomatic expedition to Ozagen, the first inhabitable world found by the Haijac space program. Ozagen is populated by friendly, highly evolved sentient arthropods whose technological level is comparable to that of the early 20th century, derisively named ''wogglebugs'' (wogs for short) by the Haijacs; the expedition, though, is actually a genocidal mission who plans to kill the whole species using a SyntheticPlague. Wogs would join in extinction the other sentient species they used to share their planet with, [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality a mammalian anthropoid astonishingly similar to humans.]] It is while exploring some ruins of these man-like aliens that Yarrow meets one misterious girl that shouldn't be there, or even exist, who makes him feel for the first time what his ''Sturch''-appointed wife never did. This and his growing friendship with Fobo, a wog psychologist, sends him into a downward spiral of ''unreality''.