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HappinessInSlavery: Debatable example with the Ildirans, who are genuinely unable to refuse a command from the Mage-Imperator, but worship him as a God.
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* HappinessInSlavery: Debatable example with the Ildirans, who are genuinely unable to refuse a command from the Mage-Imperator, but worship him as a God.
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HappinessInSlavery: Debatable example with the Ildirans, who are genuinely unable to refuse a command from the Mage-Imperator, but worship him as a God.
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**Also the 70+ Basil Wencelas and 20-something Sarein, though romance may be the wrong word for their relationship
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* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: Peter and Estarra.
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* ForbiddenLove: Jess Tamblyn and Cesca Peroni, at first because Cesca is engaged to Jess's brother Ross. After Ross's death, one obstacle after another comes in between them. They eventually realize that their love for each other was never that secret, and they could have thrown caution to the wind years ago.
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* YouHaveGOTToBeKiddingMe: In the big climax, Basil storms the throne room and tells his security force to take Peter into custody and throw him in the dungeon. Looking around at how they're clearly outnumbered about four to one, the head of the force openly asks "Ah...how do you suggest we do that, sir?" Showing how far gone he is, Basil blames her as not being able to do her job.
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* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Very much so, it's just hard to tell because there are [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters so damn many of them]].
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* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Very much so, it's just hard to tell because there are [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters so damn many Every chapter is written from the point of them]].view of a character, and of course they always think they're right.
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** The [[spoiler:compies]] were more [[spoiler:that the people who owned them didn't realize that ''they'' weren't the masters.]]
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* YoureKiddingRight: In the big climax, Basil storms the throne room and tells his security force to take Peter into custody and throw him in the dungeon. Looking around at how they're clearly outnumbered about four to one, the head of the force openly asks "Ah...how do you suggest we do that, sir?" Showing how far gone he is, Basil blames her as not being able to do her job.
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* YoureKiddingRight: YouHaveGOTToBeKiddingMe: In the big climax, Basil storms the throne room and tells his security force to take Peter into custody and throw him in the dungeon. Looking around at how they're clearly outnumbered about four to one, the head of the force openly asks "Ah...how do you suggest we do that, sir?" Showing how far gone he is, Basil blames her as not being able to do her job.
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* BecomingTheMask: Peter soon rises up to become a true king leading the people against the various evils of the galaxy. When Basil rants about "he's not even a real king!" one of his underlings muses "Maybe he is. More than we ever knew."
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* BecomingTheMask: Peter soon rises up to become a true king leading the people against the various evils of the galaxy. When Basil rants about "he's not even a real king!" one of his underlings muses "Maybe he is. More than we ever knew."
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* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Sirix doesn't realize that DD actually ''likes'' the Colicoses, and is loyal to them for reasons other than programming.
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* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Sirix doesn't realize understand that DD actually ''likes'' the Colicoses, and is loyal to them for reasons other than his programming.
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* HumanAliens: The Ildirans, except for some of the more specialized castes, are virtually indistinguishable from humans. Thoroughly averted with the other alien species, though; you start with [[InsectoidAliens the klikiss]], and then get to the elemental races where things get ''really'' weird.
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* HumanAliens: The Ildirans, except for some of the more specialized castes, are virtually indistinguishable from humans.kiths, look very similar to humans; humans and Ildirans can even have children together. Thoroughly averted with the other alien species, though; you start with [[InsectoidAliens the klikiss]], and then get to the elemental races where things get ''really'' weird.
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* IdiotPlot: In-universe, Jorah considers his father and grandfather's plan to breed a communicator between them and the hydrogues to be this. Hundreds of years and untold suffering on a gamble when they could have used that time to make better weapons to fight their enemy instead!
* [[LastOfHisKind Last Of Its Kind]]: The nebula wental.
* NeverMyFault: [[spoiler: Basil Wencelas increasingly becomes this as the series progreses. It gets bad enough that former Hansa Chairman Maureen 'Battleaxe' Fitzpatrick accuses him of being pathologically incapable of admitting any wrongdoing.]]
* [[LastOfHisKind Last Of Its Kind]]: The nebula wental.
* NeverMyFault: [[spoiler: Basil Wencelas increasingly becomes this as the series progreses. It gets bad enough that former Hansa Chairman Maureen 'Battleaxe' Fitzpatrick accuses him of being pathologically incapable of admitting any wrongdoing.]]
to:
* IdiotPlot: In-universe, Jorah considers his father and grandfather's plan to breed a communicator between them and the hydrogues to be this. Hundreds of years and untold suffering on a gamble when they could have used that time to make better weapons to fight their enemy instead!
instead.
* [[LastOfHisKind Last Of Its Kind]]: The nebulawental.
Wental.
* NeverMyFault: [[spoiler: Basil Wencelas increasingly becomes this as the seriesprogreses.progresses. It gets bad enough that former Hansa Chairman Maureen 'Battleaxe' Fitzpatrick accuses him of being pathologically incapable of admitting any wrongdoing.]]
* [[LastOfHisKind Last Of Its Kind]]: The nebula
* NeverMyFault: [[spoiler: Basil Wencelas increasingly becomes this as the series
* MayDecemberRomance: The Ildiran Prime Designate Jora'h, who has adult children, and the teenage green priest Nira.
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* PuppetKing: Peter. [[spoiler: Until he's not.]]
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* PuppetKing: Peter. [[spoiler: Until he's not.he steps up.]]
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* BlackmailBackfire: As Peter's power grows, an increasingly manic Basil has the families of major admirals and general held hostage to force them to obey him. During the final battle, when one of his chief generals refuses to fire on an unarmed enemy vessel, Basil threatens the man's wife. Instead of cowering, the general declares that anyone who's reduced to threatening innocent lives to get ahead is no true ruler and switches sides with many of his fellow officers following suit.
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* BlackmailBackfire: As Peter's power grows, an increasingly manic Basil has the families of major admirals and general held hostage to force them to obey him. During the final battle, when one of his chief generals refuses to fire on an unarmed enemy vessel, Basil threatens the man's wife. Instead of cowering, the general declares that anyone who's reduced to threatening innocent lives to get ahead is no true ruler ruler, and switches sides sides, with many of his fellow officers following suit.
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** Adar Kori'nh is an old, obsolete soldier and he knows it knows it, but that doesn't stop him from doing everything in his power to whip the Solar Navy into shape.
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** Adar Kori'nh is an old, obsolete soldier and he knows it knows it, but that doesn't stop him from doing everything in his power to whip the Solar Navy into shape.
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* ApeShallNeverKillApe: The Ildirans hold to this, due to the ''thism''. [[spoiler: While it's painful to break, it is not an ironclad rule.]]
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* ApeShallNeverKillApe: The Ildirans hold to this, due to the ''thism''. [[spoiler: While it's painful to break, it is it's not an ironclad rule.]]
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* GunshipRescue: [[spoiler: The Wetal-Strengthened/Chained Hydrogue Warglobes coming to the aid of the Confederation and Ildiran fleets above Golgen, in the second last battle against the Faeros. Also a [[IronicEcho callback/ironic echo]] to the very first major Hydrogue attack.]]
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* GunshipRescue: [[spoiler: The Wetal-Strengthened/Chained Hydrogue Warglobes coming to the aid of the Confederation and Ildiran fleets above Golgen, in the second last second-to-last battle against the Faeros. Also a [[IronicEcho callback/ironic echo]] to the very first major Hydrogue attack.]]
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* IdiotPlot: In-universe, Jorah considers his father and grandfather's plan to breed a communicator between them and the hydrogues to be this. Hundreds of years and untold suffering on a gamble when they could have used that time make better weapons to fight their enemy instead!
to:
* IdiotPlot: In-universe, Jorah considers his father and grandfather's plan to breed a communicator between them and the hydrogues to be this. Hundreds of years and untold suffering on a gamble when they could have used that time to make better weapons to fight their enemy instead!
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* PunctuationShaker: epitomised by the Ildirans, though it has some justification due to their ranks being denoted by the {{PunctuationShaker}}s. Specifically, an Ildiran's personal name precedes an apostrophe, which is in turn followed a letter or syllable that denotes what [[FantasticCasteSystem kith]] the Ildiran belongs to. All Ildiran names follow this convention.
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* PunctuationShaker: epitomised by the Ildirans, though it has some justification due to their ranks being denoted by the {{PunctuationShaker}}s. Specifically, an Ildiran's personal name precedes an apostrophe, which is in turn followed by a letter or syllable that denotes what [[FantasticCasteSystem kith]] the Ildiran belongs to. All Ildiran names follow this convention.
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* HumanAliens: The Ildirans, except for some of the more specialized castes, are virtually indistinguishable from humans. Thoroughly averted with the other alien species, though.
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* HumanAliens: The Ildirans, except for some of the more specialized castes, are virtually indistinguishable from humans. Thoroughly averted with the other alien species, though.though; you start with [[InsectoidAliens the klikiss]], and then get to the elemental races where things get ''really'' weird.
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* PunctuationShaker: epitomised by the Ildirans, though it has some justification due to their ranks being denoted by the {{PunctuationShaker}}s. Specifically, an Ildiran's personal name precedes an apostrophe, which follows a letter or syllable that denotes what [[FantasticCasteSystem kith]] the Ildiran belongs to.
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* PunctuationShaker: epitomised by the Ildirans, though it has some justification due to their ranks being denoted by the {{PunctuationShaker}}s. Specifically, an Ildiran's personal name precedes an apostrophe, which follows is in turn followed a letter or syllable that denotes what [[FantasticCasteSystem kith]] the Ildiran belongs to.to. All Ildiran names follow this convention.
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* PunctuationShaker: epitomised by the Ildirans, though it has some justification due to their ranks being denoted by the {{PunctuationShaker}}s.
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* PunctuationShaker: epitomised by the Ildirans, though it has some justification due to their ranks being denoted by the {{PunctuationShaker}}s. Specifically, an Ildiran's personal name precedes an apostrophe, which follows a letter or syllable that denotes what [[FantasticCasteSystem kith]] the Ildiran belongs to.
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* SpaceElves: The Ildirans.
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* SpaceElves: The Ildirans.Ildirans, especially the long-lived, ethereally-beautiful royal kith.
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Starting in 2014, a SequelSeries, ''The Saga of Shadows'', is ongoing:
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# Eternity's Mind
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* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: the Klikiss robots. [[spoiler: And the Soldier compies, in later books.]]
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* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: the The Klikiss robots. [[spoiler: And the Soldier compies, in later books.]]
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** The Klikiss robots get complicated when it turns out they were ''meant'' to fight Klikiss, in a bid to control the Klikiss instinct to dominate. [[spoiler: The Klikiss just didn't account for the possibility that the Klikiss robots would bring in alien races against them.]]
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* HiredToHuntYourself: As a minor element, Eldred Cain. [[spoiler: Basil asks him to investigate who the leak to the media of Estarra's pregnancy is, which is revealed when Basil asks about it in light of it also getting leaked that the King and Queen are in effective house arrest.]] Cain takes the opportunity when asked how the investigation is going to suggest the perpetrator [[ButHeSoundsHandsome must be very clever for it to be so hard to find leads]].
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* FantasticSlurs: Hansa people call Roamers "Roachers." The Roamers call the Hansa "The Big Goose" and "Eddies." None of these is a compliment.
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* FantasticSlurs: Hansa people call Roamers "Roachers." The Roamers call the Hansa "The Big Goose" and "Eddies." None of these is a compliment.compliment -- though Eddies is sometimes used neutrally.
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* TheFederation: The Confederation.
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* TheEmpire: The Hansa and the Ildiran Empire.
* TheFederation: The Confederation.
* TheFederation: The Confederation.
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* TheEmpire: The Hansa (malevolent) and the Ildirans (more nuanced).
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* TheEmpire: The Hansa (malevolent) (malevolent, though according to the exposition it is ''supposedly'' organised on a confederal/alliance basis[[note]]being, in-universe, designed based on the Hansa of 14th-15th century northern Germany[[/note]]) and the Ildirans (more nuanced).
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* YoureKiddingRight: In the big climax, Basil storms the throne room and tells his security force to take Peter into custody and throw him in the dungeon. Looking around at how they're clearly outnumbered about four to one, the head of the force openly asks "Ah...how do you suggest we do that, sir?" Showing how far gone he is, Basil blames her as not being able to do her job.
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* BlackmailBackfire: As Peter's power grows, an increasingly manic Basil has the families of major admirals and general held hostage to force them to obey him. During the final battle, when one of his chief generals refuses to fire on an unarmed enemy vessel, Basil threatens the man's wife. Instead of cowering, the general declares that anyone who's reduced to threatening innocent lives to get ahead is no true ruler and switches sides with many of his fellow officers following suit.
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* BecomingTheMask: Peter soon rises up to become a true king leading the people against the various evils of the galaxy. When Basil rants about "he's not even a real king!" one of his underlings muses "Maybe he is. More than we ever knew."
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No spoilers above the example line. See Spoiler Policy.
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A series of seven SpaceOpera SciFi novels by Creator/KevinJAnderson, set in the Milky Way in TheFuture. The principal players are (initially) the Terran Hanseatic League, governed with an iron fist by its dictatorial chairman, Basil Wenceslas; the Roamers, gypsies/opportunistic explorers [[RecycledINSPACE in space]], [[spoiler: who are initially a small group, but go on to encompass most of humanity, led by King Peter, formerly of the Hansa]]; and the Ildirans, the light-loving, psychically-linked inventors of the faster than light stardrive whose homeworld is illuminated by the titular seven suns. As the first novel unfolds, the Hydrogues, evil diamond-ship-using, gas-giant-dwelling aliens, and the World-Forest (initially just a fairly esoteric means of FTL communication) become major players.
to:
A series of seven SpaceOpera SciFi novels by Creator/KevinJAnderson, set in the Milky Way in TheFuture. The principal players are (initially) the Terran Hanseatic League, governed with an iron fist by its dictatorial chairman, Basil Wenceslas; the Roamers, gypsies/opportunistic explorers [[RecycledINSPACE in space]], [[spoiler: who are initially a small group, but go on to encompass most of humanity, led by King Peter, formerly of the Hansa]]; space]]; and the Ildirans, the light-loving, psychically-linked inventors of the faster than light stardrive whose homeworld is illuminated by the titular seven suns. As the first novel unfolds, the Hydrogues, evil diamond-ship-using, gas-giant-dwelling aliens, and the World-Forest (initially just a fairly esoteric means of FTL communication) become major players.
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* BigBadDuumvirate: ''The Saga of Shadows'' has an alliance between the new Klikiss robot leader Exxos and [[spoiler: the Shana Rei]].
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* EldritchAbomination: Hydrogues, faeros, wentals and verdani are borderline examples.
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* EldritchAbomination: Hydrogues, faeros, wentals and verdani are borderline examples. The Shana Rei, mentioned in Ildiran legends [[spoiler: and taking a central role in the SequelSeries]] are the genuine article.
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* # The Dark Between the Stars
* # Blood of the Cosmos
* # Blood of the Cosmos
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* #: The Dark Between the Stars
* #: Blood of the Cosmos
* #: Blood of the Cosmos
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* #: # The Dark Between the Stars
*#: # Blood of the Cosmos
*
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* ##: The Dark Between the Stars
* ##: Blood of the Cosmos
* ##: Blood of the Cosmos
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* ##: #: The Dark Between the Stars
*##: #: Blood of the Cosmos
*
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Starting in 2014, a SequelSeries, ''The Saga of Shadows'', is ongoing:
* ##: The Dark Between the Stars
* ##: Blood of the Cosmos
* ##: The Dark Between the Stars
* ##: Blood of the Cosmos
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moved to namespace
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A series of seven SpaceOpera SciFi novels by Creator/KevinJAnderson, set in the Milky Way in TheFuture. The principal players are (initially) the Terran Hanseatic League, governed with an iron fist by its dictatorial chairman, Basil Wenceslas; the Roamers, gypsies/opportunistic explorers [[RecycledINSPACE in space]], [[spoiler: who are initially a small group, but go on to encompass most of humanity, led by King Peter, formerly of the Hansa]]; and the Ildirans, the light-loving, psychically-linked inventors of the faster than light stardrive whose homeworld is illuminated by the titular seven suns. As the first novel unfolds, the Hydrogues, evil diamond-ship-using, gas-giant-dwelling aliens, and the World-Forest (initially just a fairly esoteric means of FTL communication) become major players.
As the series progresses, other major protagonist groups are introduced including the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Klikiss]] and [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters their robot slaves]], and the Faeros and Wentals, who, along with the Hydrogues and Verdani (the World-forest) form a fairly traditional war of the elements plot, without the typical ElementalRockPaperScissors, however, as each is capable of fighting each of the others, and losing or winning, rather than one always beating the other.
The series consists of seven books, and a prequel graphic novel:
* Prequel: Veiled Alliances (Graphic Novel)
* Book 1: Hidden Empire
* Book 2: A Forest of Stars
* Book 3: Horizon Storms
* Book 4: Scattered Suns
* Book 5: Of Fire And Night
* Book 6: Metal Swarm
* Book 7: The Ashes of Worlds
----
!The series features the following tropes:
* ApeShallNeverKillApe: The Ildirans hold to this, due to the ''thism''. [[spoiler: While it's painful to break, it is not an ironclad rule.]]
* AlienSky: The title says it all, really. Ildira is BRIGHT.
* TheAlliance: The Roamer clans, [[spoiler: and later, the Confederation under King Peter]].
* AlwaysABiggerFish: The first appearance of the [[PlayingWithFire faeros]].
* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The Klikiss and their robots. The hydrogues, while inimical to corporeal races, are more an example of BlueAndOrangeMorality.
* AnyoneCanDie: Though once established, main characters tend to scrape by fairly well, it can be hard to tell who's going to be important and who's going to die, what with the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters sheer size of the cast]]
* BeePeople: The Ildirans have a limited HiveMind through the ''thism'' and castes for each function of their society, though the ruler is a male.
* BigBadEnsemble: Four of them (Basil, Sirix, Rusa'h, and the hydrogues) operating largely independently, though [[spoiler: Basil and Sirix have a tense partnership at one point]].
* ColonyDrop: Jess Tamblyn's attack on Golgen involves hitting the gas giant with several ''comets''.
* CosmicHorrorStory: Borderline, and less so as the series goes on. Still, the hydrogues are initially presented as an uncaring and invincible force of nature, and humans as bit players in the elemental conflict.
* CrapsackWorld: Earth devolves gradually into one of these during the series, mostly because of Basil Wenceslas. The world on which Nira is imprisoned is another.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: It ''can'' be done by humans or Ildirans. Really, you're better off [[SummonBiggerFish getting backup]].
** Early on, the only known way to defeat the Hydrogues [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu involved using ships as battering rams]].
* EarthShatteringKaboom: Well, moonshattering anyway, in ''Ashes of Worlds''.
** The hydrogues initial attack is a response to the destruction of one of their worlds with the [[WeaponOfMassDestruction Klikiss Torch]], which converts gas giants to suns.
* EasyEvangelism: The telink/''thism'' network. Mind you, there are strong insinuations that it involves (possibly unintentional) brainwashing. And it also turns out to be as much a weakness as a strength, and gets a lot of humans killed by the faeros who would have otherwise been safe.
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: Basil has one in the Whisper Palace.
* EldritchAbomination: Hydrogues, faeros, wentals and verdani are borderline examples.
* ElementalEmbodiment: Obviously. The [[BlowYouAway gaseous hydrogues]], the [[PlayingWithFire sun dwelling faeros]], the [[DishingOutDirt earth and]] [[GreenThumb plant based verdani]], and the [[MakingASplash living water creatures called wentals.]]
* ElementalRockPaperScissors: Averted in that none of the four elemental species trump another merely because of their affinity. The hydrogues and faeros are matched while the verdani are weakest without human help. [[spoiler: At least not initially. The Wentals TookALevelInBadass in the last book]].
* TheEmpire: The Hansa (malevolent) and the Ildirans (more nuanced).
* EnergyWeapons: Jazers
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Sirix doesn't realize that DD actually ''likes'' the Colicoses, and is loyal to them for reasons other than programming.
** Likewise, [[spoiler: Basil Wencelas's enmity with Peter. His ego and paranoia regarding Peter's criticisms and reservations leave him unable to understand that Peter is not trying to spite him, but trying to help humanity win the Hydrogue War.]]
* EvilChancellor: Basil Wenceslas plays with this. Officially, he's just the Prime Minister and answers to the King, but in practice the King is supposed to be a puppet. He gets closer and closer to this as the King assumes more power.
* FantasticSlurs: Hansa people call Roamers "Roachers." The Roamers call the Hansa "The Big Goose" and "Eddies." None of these is a compliment.
* ForgottenPhlebotinum
* FourStarBadass: Despite sometimes being a GeneralRipper, when he goes into action, General Lanyan reminds us why he's the commander of the Earth Defense Force.
** Adar Kori'nh is an old, obsolete soldier and he knows it knows it, but that doesn't stop him from doing everything in his power to whip the Solar Navy into shape.
** Adar Zan'nh combines Kori'nh's tactical skills and willpower with a level of ingenuity and flexibility that even humans are impressed by.
* GambitPileup: Each leader has their own idea of how best to save their people, however they define "their people." Mage-Imperator Jora'h takes note of this, because at least half of ''his'' plans are forced by someone else's dead hand.
* GuileHero: Udru'h almost single-handedly splattered [[spoiler: Rusa'h's rebellion]] by taking advantage of his enemy's mental flaws.
* GunshipRescue: [[spoiler: The Wetal-Strengthened/Chained Hydrogue Warglobes coming to the aid of the Confederation and Ildiran fleets above Golgen, in the second last battle against the Faeros. Also a [[IronicEcho callback/ironic echo]] to the very first major Hydrogue attack.]]
** Also, during the [[spoiler: battle for Earth]] the constant arrival of more and more factions.
* InterspeciesRomance: between Nira and Jora'h.
* HalfHumanHybrid: Nira's various children, the green priests, the various elemental incarnates, the various Verdani/Wental hybrids.
** The Ildirans have a breeding camp set up to produce these with various castes, as human genetic material produces Ildirans better at their inborn tasks. Nira's children were an attempt to strengthen the ''thism'' with her Green Priest telink ability.
* HiveMind: The ''thism'' is an incomplete example. Ildirans can act independently, but they're all connected together, instinctively know their place and obey the Mage-Imperator unless circumstances interfere. [[spoiler: Rusa'h's ''thism'']] is a straighter example.
** The elemental races are a straight example.
* HordeOfAlienLocusts: the Klikiss
* HumanAliens: The Ildirans, except for some of the more specialized castes, are virtually indistinguishable from humans. Thoroughly averted with the other alien species, though.
* HumansAreWarriors: Which is why Adar Kori'nh takes a crash course in human military history.
* IdiotPlot: In-universe, Jorah considers his father and grandfather's plan to breed a communicator between them and the hydrogues to be this. Hundreds of years and untold suffering on a gamble when they could have used that time make better weapons to fight their enemy instead!
* [[LastOfHisKind Last Of Its Kind]]: The nebula wental.
* NeverMyFault: [[spoiler: Basil Wencelas increasingly becomes this as the series progreses. It gets bad enough that former Hansa Chairman Maureen 'Battleaxe' Fitzpatrick accuses him of being pathologically incapable of admitting any wrongdoing.]]
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, many of whom have at least one chapter told from their point of view.
* NoBloodForPhlebotinum: Ekti, a form of hydrogen most often found in gas giants, is vital for stardrive fuel, and much of the conflict between the Hansa, Roamers and hydrogues is fought over the ekti supply.
* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Very much so, it's just hard to tell because there are [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters so damn many of them]].
* {{Precursors}}: The Klikiss have left behind ruins, strange technology, and powerful robots. They aren't all gone, though...
* PsychicLink: Between ALL the Ildirans, between Green Priests and the Verdani, and particularly between Nira's children.
* PunctuationShaker: epitomised by the Ildirans, though it has some justification due to their ranks being denoted by the {{PunctuationShaker}}s.
* PuppetKing: Peter. [[spoiler: Until he's not.]]
* RammingAlwaysWorks: Ramming is the ''only'' thing that works, initially. The hydrogue warglobes could not be damaged by anything other then a ship being used as a giant missile.
* RecycledINSPACE: the Roamers are basically frontiersmen/gypsies IN SPACE, not to mention the use of a traditional fantasy-style Elemental battles plot.
* RevengeBeforeReason: By the time of the fifth book [[spoiler: Eldred Cain believes Chairman Wencelas has fallen victim to this when he attempts to abort Estarra's baby and force her to commit suicide. He flat-out tells his boss that he believes the Chairman has allowed the existing enmity between himself and King Peter to escalate into a personal vendetta.]]
* SpaceElves: The Ildirans.
* SpaceOpera
* ShinyLookingSpaceships: the Ildiran navy are decked out in solar sails and other shininess. Most of their time is spent on displays.
* SmugSnake: Basil is certainly clever, and he starts off a borderline MagnificentBastard, but [[spoiler: as his prolonged VillainousBreakdown happens he gets much sloppier, and is solidly in this trope for much of the series]].
* StarfishAliens: The Elementals.
* SummonBiggerFish: Humanity's best hope for beating the hydrogues is to get other elementals as allies.
* TheEmpire: The Hansa and the Ildiran Empire.
* TheFederation: The Confederation.
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: the Klikiss robots. [[spoiler: And the Soldier compies, in later books.]]
** The [[spoiler:compies]] were more [[spoiler:that the people who owned them didn't realize that ''they'' weren't the masters.]]
* UsedFuture: Roamer ships invoke this aesthetic.
* VillainousBreakdown: Basil has a prolonged one beginning after the appearance of the Hydrogues proves he's not as on top of things as he thought, and getting worse from there.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Cyroc'h, Udru'h. Basil Wenceslas starts out this way, but after [[VillainousBreakdown breaking down]], becomes less "well-intentioned" and more "ItsAllAboutMe."
* WrenchWench: Zhett Kellum, Tasia Tamblyn.
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As the series progresses, other major protagonist groups are introduced including the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Klikiss]] and [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters their robot slaves]], and the Faeros and Wentals, who, along with the Hydrogues and Verdani (the World-forest) form a fairly traditional war of the elements plot, without the typical ElementalRockPaperScissors, however, as each is capable of fighting each of the others, and losing or winning, rather than one always beating the other.
The series consists of seven books, and a prequel graphic novel:
* Prequel: Veiled Alliances (Graphic Novel)
* Book 1: Hidden Empire
* Book 2: A Forest of Stars
* Book 3: Horizon Storms
* Book 4: Scattered Suns
* Book 5: Of Fire And Night
* Book 6: Metal Swarm
* Book 7: The Ashes of Worlds
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!The series features the following tropes:
* ApeShallNeverKillApe: The Ildirans hold to this, due to the ''thism''. [[spoiler: While it's painful to break, it is not an ironclad rule.]]
* AlienSky: The title says it all, really. Ildira is BRIGHT.
* TheAlliance: The Roamer clans, [[spoiler: and later, the Confederation under King Peter]].
* AlwaysABiggerFish: The first appearance of the [[PlayingWithFire faeros]].
* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The Klikiss and their robots. The hydrogues, while inimical to corporeal races, are more an example of BlueAndOrangeMorality.
* AnyoneCanDie: Though once established, main characters tend to scrape by fairly well, it can be hard to tell who's going to be important and who's going to die, what with the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters sheer size of the cast]]
* BeePeople: The Ildirans have a limited HiveMind through the ''thism'' and castes for each function of their society, though the ruler is a male.
* BigBadEnsemble: Four of them (Basil, Sirix, Rusa'h, and the hydrogues) operating largely independently, though [[spoiler: Basil and Sirix have a tense partnership at one point]].
* ColonyDrop: Jess Tamblyn's attack on Golgen involves hitting the gas giant with several ''comets''.
* CosmicHorrorStory: Borderline, and less so as the series goes on. Still, the hydrogues are initially presented as an uncaring and invincible force of nature, and humans as bit players in the elemental conflict.
* CrapsackWorld: Earth devolves gradually into one of these during the series, mostly because of Basil Wenceslas. The world on which Nira is imprisoned is another.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: It ''can'' be done by humans or Ildirans. Really, you're better off [[SummonBiggerFish getting backup]].
** Early on, the only known way to defeat the Hydrogues [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu involved using ships as battering rams]].
* EarthShatteringKaboom: Well, moonshattering anyway, in ''Ashes of Worlds''.
** The hydrogues initial attack is a response to the destruction of one of their worlds with the [[WeaponOfMassDestruction Klikiss Torch]], which converts gas giants to suns.
* EasyEvangelism: The telink/''thism'' network. Mind you, there are strong insinuations that it involves (possibly unintentional) brainwashing. And it also turns out to be as much a weakness as a strength, and gets a lot of humans killed by the faeros who would have otherwise been safe.
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: Basil has one in the Whisper Palace.
* EldritchAbomination: Hydrogues, faeros, wentals and verdani are borderline examples.
* ElementalEmbodiment: Obviously. The [[BlowYouAway gaseous hydrogues]], the [[PlayingWithFire sun dwelling faeros]], the [[DishingOutDirt earth and]] [[GreenThumb plant based verdani]], and the [[MakingASplash living water creatures called wentals.]]
* ElementalRockPaperScissors: Averted in that none of the four elemental species trump another merely because of their affinity. The hydrogues and faeros are matched while the verdani are weakest without human help. [[spoiler: At least not initially. The Wentals TookALevelInBadass in the last book]].
* TheEmpire: The Hansa (malevolent) and the Ildirans (more nuanced).
* EnergyWeapons: Jazers
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Sirix doesn't realize that DD actually ''likes'' the Colicoses, and is loyal to them for reasons other than programming.
** Likewise, [[spoiler: Basil Wencelas's enmity with Peter. His ego and paranoia regarding Peter's criticisms and reservations leave him unable to understand that Peter is not trying to spite him, but trying to help humanity win the Hydrogue War.]]
* EvilChancellor: Basil Wenceslas plays with this. Officially, he's just the Prime Minister and answers to the King, but in practice the King is supposed to be a puppet. He gets closer and closer to this as the King assumes more power.
* FantasticSlurs: Hansa people call Roamers "Roachers." The Roamers call the Hansa "The Big Goose" and "Eddies." None of these is a compliment.
* ForgottenPhlebotinum
* FourStarBadass: Despite sometimes being a GeneralRipper, when he goes into action, General Lanyan reminds us why he's the commander of the Earth Defense Force.
** Adar Kori'nh is an old, obsolete soldier and he knows it knows it, but that doesn't stop him from doing everything in his power to whip the Solar Navy into shape.
** Adar Zan'nh combines Kori'nh's tactical skills and willpower with a level of ingenuity and flexibility that even humans are impressed by.
* GambitPileup: Each leader has their own idea of how best to save their people, however they define "their people." Mage-Imperator Jora'h takes note of this, because at least half of ''his'' plans are forced by someone else's dead hand.
* GuileHero: Udru'h almost single-handedly splattered [[spoiler: Rusa'h's rebellion]] by taking advantage of his enemy's mental flaws.
* GunshipRescue: [[spoiler: The Wetal-Strengthened/Chained Hydrogue Warglobes coming to the aid of the Confederation and Ildiran fleets above Golgen, in the second last battle against the Faeros. Also a [[IronicEcho callback/ironic echo]] to the very first major Hydrogue attack.]]
** Also, during the [[spoiler: battle for Earth]] the constant arrival of more and more factions.
* InterspeciesRomance: between Nira and Jora'h.
* HalfHumanHybrid: Nira's various children, the green priests, the various elemental incarnates, the various Verdani/Wental hybrids.
** The Ildirans have a breeding camp set up to produce these with various castes, as human genetic material produces Ildirans better at their inborn tasks. Nira's children were an attempt to strengthen the ''thism'' with her Green Priest telink ability.
* HiveMind: The ''thism'' is an incomplete example. Ildirans can act independently, but they're all connected together, instinctively know their place and obey the Mage-Imperator unless circumstances interfere. [[spoiler: Rusa'h's ''thism'']] is a straighter example.
** The elemental races are a straight example.
* HordeOfAlienLocusts: the Klikiss
* HumanAliens: The Ildirans, except for some of the more specialized castes, are virtually indistinguishable from humans. Thoroughly averted with the other alien species, though.
* HumansAreWarriors: Which is why Adar Kori'nh takes a crash course in human military history.
* IdiotPlot: In-universe, Jorah considers his father and grandfather's plan to breed a communicator between them and the hydrogues to be this. Hundreds of years and untold suffering on a gamble when they could have used that time make better weapons to fight their enemy instead!
* [[LastOfHisKind Last Of Its Kind]]: The nebula wental.
* NeverMyFault: [[spoiler: Basil Wencelas increasingly becomes this as the series progreses. It gets bad enough that former Hansa Chairman Maureen 'Battleaxe' Fitzpatrick accuses him of being pathologically incapable of admitting any wrongdoing.]]
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, many of whom have at least one chapter told from their point of view.
* NoBloodForPhlebotinum: Ekti, a form of hydrogen most often found in gas giants, is vital for stardrive fuel, and much of the conflict between the Hansa, Roamers and hydrogues is fought over the ekti supply.
* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Very much so, it's just hard to tell because there are [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters so damn many of them]].
* {{Precursors}}: The Klikiss have left behind ruins, strange technology, and powerful robots. They aren't all gone, though...
* PsychicLink: Between ALL the Ildirans, between Green Priests and the Verdani, and particularly between Nira's children.
* PunctuationShaker: epitomised by the Ildirans, though it has some justification due to their ranks being denoted by the {{PunctuationShaker}}s.
* PuppetKing: Peter. [[spoiler: Until he's not.]]
* RammingAlwaysWorks: Ramming is the ''only'' thing that works, initially. The hydrogue warglobes could not be damaged by anything other then a ship being used as a giant missile.
* RecycledINSPACE: the Roamers are basically frontiersmen/gypsies IN SPACE, not to mention the use of a traditional fantasy-style Elemental battles plot.
* RevengeBeforeReason: By the time of the fifth book [[spoiler: Eldred Cain believes Chairman Wencelas has fallen victim to this when he attempts to abort Estarra's baby and force her to commit suicide. He flat-out tells his boss that he believes the Chairman has allowed the existing enmity between himself and King Peter to escalate into a personal vendetta.]]
* SpaceElves: The Ildirans.
* SpaceOpera
* ShinyLookingSpaceships: the Ildiran navy are decked out in solar sails and other shininess. Most of their time is spent on displays.
* SmugSnake: Basil is certainly clever, and he starts off a borderline MagnificentBastard, but [[spoiler: as his prolonged VillainousBreakdown happens he gets much sloppier, and is solidly in this trope for much of the series]].
* StarfishAliens: The Elementals.
* SummonBiggerFish: Humanity's best hope for beating the hydrogues is to get other elementals as allies.
* TheEmpire: The Hansa and the Ildiran Empire.
* TheFederation: The Confederation.
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: the Klikiss robots. [[spoiler: And the Soldier compies, in later books.]]
** The [[spoiler:compies]] were more [[spoiler:that the people who owned them didn't realize that ''they'' weren't the masters.]]
* UsedFuture: Roamer ships invoke this aesthetic.
* VillainousBreakdown: Basil has a prolonged one beginning after the appearance of the Hydrogues proves he's not as on top of things as he thought, and getting worse from there.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Cyroc'h, Udru'h. Basil Wenceslas starts out this way, but after [[VillainousBreakdown breaking down]], becomes less "well-intentioned" and more "ItsAllAboutMe."
* WrenchWench: Zhett Kellum, Tasia Tamblyn.
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