History Literature / TheStormOfM

The survivors of the Institute have settled down into communities of their own, with their families of bloody and [[FamilyOfChoice choice]]. Most of them have retreated from the outside world, living either on a remote mountain in the [[UsefulNotes/TheOtherRainforest North Cascades]], or within the [[PocketDimension DMA]].

The Storm of M is an UrbanFantasy novel by Stevie Barry. It’s the second novel in ''Literature/TheMUniverse'' [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stormofmtvtropes_4.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Batten down the hatches]]

* DoNotLikeShoes: Lorna and the twins. Lorna loves feeling the grass and the earth under her feet, and the twins took after her.

* ChildByRape: The twins, not that they know it. [[spoiler:They're the result of Von Rached raping Lorna in the first book.]]

* HotDad: Ratiri, who takes TallDarkAndHandsome to the next level. He's something of a CluelessChickMagnet as well (and is very uncomfortable whenever he's clued in).

* TheAtoner: Von Rached, at least where [[spoiler:[[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil Lorna]]]] is concerned. The rest of the shit [[PlayingWithSyringes he]] did, not so much. Gerald also has shades of this, even though nobody blames him for taking a job in the Institute — he didn't know what he was signing on for, and once he'd gone there, he was as stuck as the inmates.

* CreepyTwins: Mairead and Jerry can be adorable and unsettling in equal measure. They're adorable little children who [[TheSilentBob don't speak aloud]], [[StaringKid stare]], and [[TheUnblinking hardly ever blink]]. [[spoiler:Fitting, given who their real father is.]]

* ParentalAbandonment: Pat's ex abandoned him and Saoirse when the girl was two. Unusually for the trope, Pat doesn't blame her — she had an untreated mental illness.

* UnrequitedLoveLastsForever: Even after six years, Von Rached is still in love with Lorna. He's not happy about it, either; quite apart from the fact that A.) she's totally out-of-reach, B.) she justifiably hates him, and C.) he still considers emotion to be weakness. And yet he can't kill it.

* MarriageBeforeRomance: More like Relationship Before Romance. Ratiri was pretending to be the twins' father, but he and Lorna didn't get married for over two years—not until they were sure what they had was real, and would last.

* TheChainsOfCommanding: Katje doesn't actually ''want'' to take over the DMA after Miranda dies, but she's the only one both willing and able to, and winds up stuck with the job.

* SpannerInTheWorks: Jameson becomes one for Von Rached, when he refuses to follow [[BullyingADragon instructions]] and antagonizes the guards. [[spoiler:He was supposed to get caught infiltrating the DMA He wasn't supposed to get [[MindRape mind raped]] into a coma. As far as the potential repetition of history goes, Ratiri: in the Obliteration, Thorvald and Aelis were equivalent to Von Rached and Lorna, but Ratiri is unique to this time period, and Aelis means to use it.]]

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverKill: Von Rached, although he doesn't do it on purpose. [[spoiler:He wants to take out the DMA, but doesn’t realize that expending a massive amount of magic will lead to it discharging in the weather. The * * * TouchOfDeath: Ana's Gift, which kills just about instantaneously and has NoOffButton. Fortunately it's a rare one.

* DarkSecret: Lorna has made damn sure almost nobody knows that [[spoiler:her twins are the product of [[ChildByRape rape]], because she refuses to tell anyone [[spoiler:she was raped at all]]. Only Ratiri, Geezer, Katje, and Gerald know for certain, though a number of others quietly suspect.

%% * DoNotLikeShoes: Lorna and the twins.

%% * CreepyTwins: Mairead and Jerry can be adorable and unsettling in equal measure.

%% * MindRape: A staple of Von Rached's, but Lorna also has to perform some on Jameson and Thorvald. She's not happy about it.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone?: Von Rached meant to kill Miranda, but he didn't count on Lorna being in her head at the time. This puts Lorna in a temporary coma, and nearly kicks him into Villainous B.S.O.D.

%% * NeatFreak: Von Rached and Katje. Ratiri's not quite to that level.

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverKill: Von Rached, although he doesn't do it on purpose. [[spoiler:He wants to take out the DMA, but doesn’t realize that expending a massive amount of magic will lead to it discharging in the weather. The result is a continent-wide storm that does far, far more damage than he ever expected.]]
%% * TouchOfDeath: Ana's Gift. Fortunately it's a rare one.

%% * WalkingWasteland: Ana again, until Von Rached trains her.

%% * TheAtoner: Von Rached, at least where Lorna is concerned. The rest of the shit he did, not so much. Gerald also has shades of this, even though nobody blames him for taking a job in the Institute — he didn't know what he was signing on for.

* Fingore: Katje breaks two of Gerald's fingers while she's in labor.

%% * HotDad: Ratiri. He's something of a CluelessChickMagnet as well.

%% * RevenantZombie: Aelis and Company. Various characters refer to them as zombies, but they’re more accurately described as revenants.
%% * SealedEvilInACan: Thorvald, though he gets out of the metaphorical can at the end of the book.

%% * SpannerInTheWorks: Jameson becomes one for Von Rached, when he refuses to follow instructions. [[spoiler:As far as the potential repetition of history goes, Ratiri: in the Obliteration, Thorvald and Aelis were equivalent to Von Rached and Lorna, but Ratiri is unique to this time period, and Aelis means to use it.]]
%% * StayInTheKitchen: Jameson’s general attitude. He comes to regret it, albeit briefly.
%% * TheStoic: Katje manages to be this in public, when she takes over running the DMA [[spoiler:after Miranda's death]]. In private? Not so much.

* TheUnblinking: The twins inherited Von Rached’s seemingly apparent inability to blink more than once every five minutes.
%% * UndeadChildren: Aelis's twins.

%% * RaisedByGrandparents: Lorna's half-sister Mairead. Their mother was a [[TeenPregnancy teen mom]] when she had Mairead, and in no condition to take care of a baby.

* AllMythsAreTrue: Well, a lot of them, anyway; so far as anyone in the DMA knows, only vampires have no actual basis in anything. Most have some root in fact, even if the stories themselves got all screwed up in the retelling.

%% * LivingForeverIsAwesome: Thorvald certainly thinks so, which is why he seeks it. When he's granted it, however, it comes with a nasty price.

%% * NoSocialSkills: Saoirse. Nobody’s quite sure how much of it is the Asperger’s and how much is her just being a Donovan, but everyone just lets her be.

%% * PocketDimension: Von Rached found one, which is why the DMA has never been able to find ''him''.
%% * RaisedByGrandparents: Lorna's sister Mairead.

%% * TheStoic: Katje manages to be this in public, after she takes over. In private? Not so much.

* AntiVillain: Von Rached becomes one, though he's highly irritated about it. Personal growth was not in his plans, but it’s happening whether he likes it or not.

%% * AStormIsComing: Duh. They're caused by magical overload discharging itself in the weather.

%% * AllMythsAreTrue: Well, a lot of them, anyway. They have some root in fact, even if the stories themselves got all screwed up in the retelling.
%% * AntiVillain: Von Rached becomes one, though he's highly irritated about it. Personal growth was not in his plans, but it’s happening whether he likes it or not.
%% * ApocalypseHow: The Obliteration, Class 1 on the scale (for the Gifted, not the normals.)

%% * ChildByRape: The twins, not that they know it.

%% * MysticalPlague: What caused the Obliteration in the first place.

%% * PsychicDreamsForEveryone: Even more than in the first book.

* AStormIsComing: Duh. They're caused by magical overload discharging itself in the weather.

* AllMythsAreTrue: Well, a lot of them, anyway. They have some root in fact, even if the stories themselves got all screwed up in the retelling.
* AntiVillain: Von Rached becomes one, though he's highly irritated about it. Personal growth was not in his plans, but it’s happening whether he likes it or not.
* ApocalypseHow: The Obliteration, Class 1 on the scale (for the Gifted, not the normals.)

* TheAtoner: Von Rached, at least where Lorna is concerned. The rest of the shit he did, not so much. Gerald also has shades of this, even though nobody blames him for taking a job in the Institute — he didn't know what he was signing on for.

* TheChainsOfCommanding: Katje doesn't actually ‘’want’’ to take over the DMA after Miranda dies, but she's the only one both willing and able to, and winds up stuck with the job.

* ChildByRape: The twins, not that they know it.
* CreepyTwins: Mairead and Jerry can be adorable and unsettling in equal measure.

* DoNotLikeShoes: Lorna and the twins.
* DudeShesLikeInAComa: How Von Rached wakes Lorna up from her coma. Fortunately, she is unaware of this.

* HotDad: Ratiri. He's something of a CluelessChickMagnet as well.

* LivingForeverIsAwesome: Thorvald certainly thinks so, which is why he seeks it. When he's granted it, however, it comes with a nasty price.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Far more than in ''Literature/TheCurseOfM''.

* MindRape: A staple of Von Rached's, but Lorna also has to perform some on Jameson and Thorvald. She's not happy about it.

* MysticalPlague: What caused the Obliteration in the first place.
* NeatFreak: Von Rached and Katje. Ratiri's not quite to that level.
* NoSocialSkills: Saoirse. Nobody’s quite sure how much of it is the Asperger’s and how much is her just being a Donovan, but everyone just lets her be.

* PocketDimension: Von Rached found one, which is why the DMA has never been able to find ''him''.
* PsychicDreamsForEveryone: Even more than in the first book.
* RaisedByGrandparents: Lorna's sister Mairead.

* RevenantZombie: Aelis and Company. Various characters refer to them as zombies, but they’re more accurately described as revenants.
* SealedEvilInACan: Thorvald, though he gets out of the metaphorical can at the end of the book.

* SpannerInTheWorks: Jameson becomes one for Von Rached, when he refuses to follow instructions. [[spoiler:As far as the potential repetition of history goes, Ratiri: in the Obliteration, Thorvald and Aelis were equivalent to Von Rached and Lorna, but Ratiri is unique to this time period, and Aelis means to use it.]]
* StayInTheKitchen: Jameson’s general attitude. He comes to regret it, albeit briefly.
* TheStoic: Katje manages to be this in public, after she takes over. In private? Not so much.

* TouchOfDeath: Ana's Gift. Fortunately it's a rare one.

* UndeadChildren: Aelis's twins.

* WalkingWasteland: Ana again, until Von Rached trains her.

* BadDreams: For everyone from time to time, but especially Geezer and Von Rached.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Von Rached wants to steal his children. Steal them he does, and immediately wishes he hadn't. Likewise Thorvald, who sought immortality, and had great cause to regret it once he did.

Now everyone—Gifted and normal, friends and enemies, the living and the dead—have to cooperate, or face [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the end of the world as they know it.]]

The Storm of M is an UrbanFantasy novel by Stevie Barry. It’s the second novel in ''Literature/TheMUniverse''

* NamesTheSame: Lorna's half-sister and daughter are both called Mairead. Sister-Mairead's husband and youngest son are both called Kevin.

* DeadGuyJunior: Katje and Gerald name their baby daughter Miranda.