History Literature / WestOfEden

* BadassBoast: The scientist Ambalasi thinks rather highly of herself:
-->Fat gilded-beetle to be crushed! Decayed worm from the lowest dungpit! Before you stands Ambalasi highest of the high, eistaa[[labelnote:Translation]]Leader of a city.[[/labelnote]] of science, intelligence of the world, possessor of infinite powers. I should sentence you to death for your ill-speaking. I consider that now.

* ImGladIThoughtOfIt: Ambalasi pulls this on Enge after [[spoiler:learning about the primitive Yilanè and deciding to advance efforts to talk with them]], to Enge’s barely-concealed irritation.

* MaliciousMisnaming: Ambalasi's exasperation with the Daughters of Life leads her to address them with unflattering spins on their name, such as Daughters of Lassitude and Daughters of Talk.

* SlaveLiberation: In ''Winter in Eden'', Ambalasi does a variant, [[spoiler:rescuing Enge and the Daughters of Life imprisoned in her city's orchard groves and fleeing with them to an as-yet-undiscovered land]].

* StartingANewLife: After their escape, Ambalasi, Enge, and the Daughters of Life from Ikhalmanets evetually do this [[spoiler:somewhere on the South American coast, where they discover a primitive tribe of Yilanè and begin studying them]].

* TookALevelInJerkass: Herilak goes from respecting Kerrick and his knowledge of the hated murgu in ‘’West of Eden’’ to treating him like a traitor and angrily leaving with the other Tanu in ‘’Winter of Eden’’ after Kerrick refuses to [[spoiler:abandon the ruins of Alpèasak or kill the two males who survived the fire]].

* LivingWeapon: Alpèasak is guarded by all kinds of living traps, but the one that gets the most mention is the hesotsan, a genetically modified monitor lizard that shoots poisoned darts and is the Yilanè's main personal weapon.

* KillItWithFire: [[spoiler:In the climax of ''West of Eden'', Kerrick and some of the other hunters burn Alpèasak, killing the vast majority of the Yilanè on their continent.]]

* ReallyGetsAround: The Paramutan are as frisky as bonobos.

* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Although mammals ("[[FantasticSlurs ustuzou]]") are equally abhorrent to the Yilanè.

* BadassBoast: The scientist Ambalasei thinks rather highly of herself:
-->Fat gilded-beetle to be crushed! Decayed worm from the lowest dungpit! Before you stands Ambalasei highest of the high, eistaa[[labelnote:Translation]]Leader of a city.[[/labelnote]] of science, intelligence of the world, possessor of infinite powers. I should sentence you to death for your ill-speaking. I consider that now.
* BizarreAlienBiology: The Yilan&egrave are intelligent mosasaurs that reproduce like [[MisterSeahorse seahorses]]. Their bio-engineered tools are even more bizarre, including living dart guns; microscopes that are actually highly modified ''frogs''; squid and icthyosaur vehicles...

* EncyclopediaExposita: Some editions of the book carry a brief index of Yilanè bio-technology, as well as brief sections on Tanu and Paramutan culture.

* FantasticRacism: Humans and Yilanè are not on speaking terms.

* GuiltFreeExterminationWar: Explored. The majority of Yilanè just see massacring ustuzou (humans) as pest control, and most humans return the favor. Vaintè at first considers useful ustuzou like Kerrick to be worth keeping around as tools (and later becomes psychotically obsessed with their destruction), but the Daughters of Life recognize ustuzou as sapient beings worthy of life and respect. Kerrick (after rejoining the humans) rejects the position that Yilanè are AlwaysChaoticEvil, and draws a demarcation between Yilanè who are killing humans and Yilanè who humanity can coexist with.

* KillItWithFire: [[spoiler:In the climax of ''West of Eden'', Kerrick and some of the other hunters burn Alpèasak to the ground, killing the vast majority of the Yilanè on their continent.]]

* [[CallARabbitASmeerp Call A Dinosaur A Smeerp]]: Nearly all the dinosaurs depicted are referred to by their Yilanè names ("epetruk" for ''T. rex'', "nenitesk" for ''Triceratops'' and so on.)

* LadyLand: Yilanè culture is ruled by the females; they control politics, science, and the military, and have free access to the entire city. Males are artisans, poets and brood mares, kept isolated in a particular part of the city and only interacting with females when breeding or on the birthing beaches.

* LizardFolk: The Yilanè, human-sized bipedal mosasaurs directly descended from [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tylosaurus Tylosaurus]].

* TranslationConvention: A given, as the English language doesn't actually exist in the setting. The Yilanè have no written language, and any such translation of their speech is a particular challenge, which is acknowledged in the appendices in ''West of Eden''. "Fish of great size abound. Desire to catch/eat. Will small/soft go with us?", for example

* BizarreAlienBiology: Intelligent mosasaurs that reproduce like [[MisterSeahorse seahorses]]. Their bio-engineered tools are even more bizarre: living dart guns, microscopes that are actually highly modified ''frogs'', squid and icthyosaur vehicles...

* FantasticCasteSystem: A Yilanè's status is largely determined by how well the language is mastered. Fargi (Yilanè who are still in the learning process) are second-class citizens and used as servants by those with a better grasp of the language.

* {{Koan}}: Franchise/SherlockHolmes' saying about the truth being what's left when the impossible is eliminated is invoked almost word for word in Vaintè's thoughts as she tries to process [[spoiler:the lie Kerrick told which led to his first escape attempt, or rather, the very concept of being able to say something and it not be the truth]].

* LivingShip: Yilanè sail the seas using genetically modified icthyosaurs with a compartment in their dorsal fin. They also have modified squid as smaller boats.

* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Enge and the other Daughters Of Life believe that anything that has enough intelligence to understand the concepts of life and death is deserving of the chance to grow and thrive. This philosophy runs extremely counter to the normal, utilitarian-minded Yilanè mindset, and as a result the Daughters are seen as subversive lunatics, shunned at best and outright persecuted at worst. Vaintè frequently has them used as cannon fodder in her hunt for Kerrick; Enge only survives similar treatment because she and Vaintè were broodmates and she has certain skills that Vaintè finds useful.
* OrganicTechnology: ''Everything'' used in Yilanè society is a product of genetic engineering. Even the ancient Yilanè began by hunting using ''living crabs'' instead of stone tools, though one Yilanè scientist suggests that early on, the Yilanè did indeed use "artefacts."

* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Enge, and the other Daughters Of Life. They believe that anything that has enough intelligence to understand the concepts of life and death is deserving of the chance to grow and thrive. This philosophy runs extremely counter to the normal, utilitarian-minded Yilanè mindset, and as a result the Daughters are seen as subversive lunatics, shunned at best and outright persecuted at worst. Vaintè frequently has them used as cannon fodder in her hunt for Kerrick; Enge only survives similar treatment because she and Vaintè were broodmates and she has certain skills that Vaintè finds useful.

* OutsideContextProblem: The Yilanè have evolved a society with no knowledge of fire, as they have engineered living things to account for everything that fire could do for them. [[spoiler:Kerrick, after realizing this, leads a group of Tanu and Sasku men to Alpèasak and burns the city.]]

--> "Fat gilded-beetle to be crushed! Decayed worm from the lowest dungpit! Before you stands Ambalasei highest of the high, eistaa[[labelnote:Translation]]Leader of a city.[[/labelnote]] of science, intelligence of the world, possessor of infinite powers. I should sentence you to death for your ill-speaking. I consider that now."

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The Yilanè's BizarreAlienBiology leads to them having a strange moral compass. For example, lying is impossible (and the concept never even occurs to them until [[spoiler:Vaintè learns about it from Kerrick]]), and they are absolutely loyal to their communities to the point of dying upon exile; exiles who ''don't'' seize up and die are completely insane by Yilanè standards.

* LivingWeapon: ... specifically a genetically modified lizard that shoots poisoned darts.

* StarfishLanguage: The Yilanè speak in concepts rather than actual words, and the language itself is a '''complicated''' combination of spoken sounds, postures, gestures with the hands, jaw, and tail, and color signals, described in ''West of Eden'' as having thousands of separate pieces and 125 billion combinations. Many Yilané never even get the hang of it and are basically ignored by the rest of the community, and Ysel, the girl that was captured with Kerrick, doesn't pay attention to the language lessons they're given and is killed when she completely botches her attempt to talk and unwittingly insults Vaintè. Kerrick, lacking a tail, can't accurately make certain movements, but he can fake it well enough to get by, and Enge teaches him a version of the language used for low-light communication which helps even more.

* LanguageOfTruth: The nature of Yilanè language and thought processes makes them incapable of lying...[[spoiler:until Vaintè discovers the concept after seeing Kerrick do it]].

* LivingWeapon: ...specifically a genetically modified lizard that shoots poisoned darts.

Set in an AlternateHistory where dinosaurs never went extinct (outside of North America, where modern mammals and eventually humans evolved), the story centers around the conflict between humans and the Yilanè, a race of intelligent amphibious reptiles. The main character, Kerrick, is a human who was raised by Yilanè from childhood after his tribe was wiped out by them, but eventually flees and returns to his people, where he must reacquaint himself with a life he no longer remembers and deal with the suspicions and fears his strange ways cause, while the fallout from his presence reverberates throughout the Yilanè city and influences the fate of its leader.

* PunctuationShaker: The Yilanè language is as much about particular gestures and postures as it is sounds, although [[JustifiedTrope the various typographical symbols are intended to represent specific sounds]].
:: This is played for drama in two separate ways in ''West of Eden''. The girl that was captured along with Kerrick doesn't pay attention to the language lessons they're given and is killed when she completely botches her attempt to talk and unwittingly insults Vaintè. Later on, after Kerrick and his tribemates defeat a major force of Yilanè raiders, he rages defiantly at them as the survivors flee, but doesn't realize he's slipped into Yilanè-speak to do this until he notices a friend looking at him funny.

* StarfishLanguage: The Yilanè speak in concepts rather than actual words, and the language itself is a '''complicated''' combination of spoken sounds, postures, gestures with the hands, jaw, and tail, and color signals, described in ''West of Eden'' as having thousands of separate pieces and 125 billion combinations. Many Yilané never even get the hang of it and are basically ignored by the rest of the community. Kerrick, lacking a tail, can't accurately make certain movements, but he can fake it well enough to get by, and Enge teaches him a version of the language used for low-light communication which helps even more.

In ''Winter in Eden'', Kerrick and his lover Armun travel into the frigid northlands and meet the playful, promiscuous Paramutan people, while the cultural and military shifts continue amongst the Yilanè, threatening to completely destabilize their ways of life.

* DeathByChildbirth: Male Yilanè will not survive their third pregancy.

* LizardFolk: The Yilanè, human-sized bipedal mosasaurs.

* MyCountryRightOrWrong: Hardwired into Yilanè biology. If a Yilanè is exiled from its city, its body shuts down. [[spoiler:Some of them, however, are loyal to something other than their city, and their shutdown reflex will occur in response to different stimuli. This is how the first Daughter of Life was able to survive and spread her teachings. The Yilanè are not quite sure how to cope with this.]]
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Enge, and the other Daughters Of Life. They believe that all life is interconnected and anything that shows the possibility of sentience is deserving of the chance to grow and thrive. This philosophy runs extremely counter to normal utilitarian-minded Yilanè belief systems, and as a result the Daughters are seen as subversive lunatics, shunned at best and outright persecuted at worst. Enge only survives similar treatment because she and Vaintè were broodmates and she has certain skills that Vaintè finds useful.

* PunctuationShaker: The Yilanè language, although [[JustifiedTrope the various typographical symbols are intended to represent specific sounds]]. Kerrick, lacking a tail, can't accurately make certain movements, but he can fake it well enough to get by, and Enge teaches him a version of the language used for low-light communication which helps even more.
:: This is played for drama in two separate ways in ''West of Eden''. The girl that was captured along with Kerrick doesn't pay attention to the language lessons they're given and is killed when she unwittingly insults Vaintè. Later on, after Kerrick and his tribemates find a group of humans killed by Yilanè raiders, he goes into a rage and vows vengeance on them, but slips into Yilanè-speak to do this, which freaks out everyone else.

* StarfishLanguage: A '''complicated''' combination of spoken sounds, positioning/gestures and color signals, described in ''West of Eden'' as having thousands of separate conceptual pieces and 125 billion combinations. Many Yilané never even get the hang of it.

* TranslationConvention: A given, as the English language doesn't actually exist in the setting. The Yilanè's StarfishLanguage is sometimes rendered with odd syntax ("Fish of great size abound. Desire to catch/eat. Will small/soft go with us?"), especially in ''Return to Eden''.

Set in an AlternateHistory where dinosaurs never went extinct (outside of North America, where modern mammals and eventually humans evolved), the story centers around the conflict between humans and the Yilanè, a race of intelligent amphibious reptiles. The main character, Kerrick, is a human who was raised by Yilanè from childhood after his tribe was wiped out by them, but eventually flees and returns to his people, where he must reacquaint himself with a life he no longer remembers and deal with the suspicions and fears his strange ways cause, while the fallout from his presence in Yilanè culture reverberates throughout their culture.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The Yilanè's BizarreAlienBiology leads to them having a strange moral compass. For example, lying is impossible (and the concept never even occurs to them until [[spoiler: Vaintè learns about it from Kerrick]]), and they are absolutely loyal to their communities to the point of dying upon exile; exiles who ''don't'' seize up and die are completely insane by Yilanè standards.

* DeathByChildbirth: Male Yilanè will not survive being pregnant more than three times.

* LadyLand: The Yilanè -- females control politics, science, and the military; males are artisans, poets and brood mares.

* MisterSeahorse: Yilanè reproduce in a similar manner to, you guessed it, seahorses.
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: Hardwired into Yilanè biology. If a Yilanè is exiled from its city, its body shuts down. [[spoiler:Some of them, however, are loyal to something other than their city, and their shutdown reflex will occur in response to different stimuli. The Yilanè are not quite sure how to cope with this.]]
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Enge, and the other Daughters Of Life.

* PunctuationShaker: The Yilanè language, although [[JustifiedTrope the various typographical symbols are intended to represent specific sounds]]. Kerrick, lacking a tail, can't accurately make certain movements, but he can fake it well enough to get by.
:: This is played for drama in two separate ways in ''West of Eden''. The girl that was captured along with Kerrick doesn't pay attention to the language lessons they're given and is killed when she unwittingly gives an insult. Later on, after Kerrick and his tribemates find a group of humans killed by Yilanè raiders, he goes into a rage and vows vengeance on them, but slips into Yilanè-speak to do this, which freaks out everyone else.

* StarfishLanguage: A '''complicated''' combination of spoken sounds, positioning/gestures and color signals, described as so difficult that many Yilané never even get the hang of it.

Set in an AlternateHistory where dinosaurs never went extinct (outside of North America, where modern mammals and eventually humans evolved), the story centers around the conflict between humans and the Yilanè, a race of intelligent amphibious reptiles. The main character, Kerrick, is a human who was raised by Yilanè.

* MyCountryRightOrWrong: Hardwired into Yilanè biology. If a Yilanè is exiled from its city, its body shuts down. [[spoiler: Some of them, however, are loyal to something other than their city, and their shutdown reflex will occur in response to different stimuli. The Yilanè are not quite sure how to cope with this.]]

* PunctuationShaker: The Yilanè language, although [[JustifiedTrope the various typographical symbols are intended to represent specific sounds]]. Kerrick, lacking a tail, can't accurately make certain movements but he can fake it well enough to get by.

* StarfishLanguage: A '''complicated''' combination of spoken words, positioning/gestures and color signals, described as so difficult that many Yilané never even get the hang of it.

* PunctuationShaker: The Yilanè language, although [[JustifiedTrope the various typographical symbols are intended to represent specific sounds]].

* AcceptableHardLuckTargets: Armun has a harelip which she covers with her hair, as she's frequently made fun of for it.

* StarfishAliens: The Yilanè are ''somewhat'' humanoid in shape, but quite different in physiology and psychology. The main conflict of the trilogy stems from them and humans being repulsed by their differences.
* StarfishLanguage: A complicated combination of spoken words, positioning/gestures and color signals, described as so difficult that many Yilané never even get the hang of it.

* [[CallARabbitASmeerp Call A Dinosaur A Smeerp]]

* [[InterspeciesRomance Interspecies Sex]]: [[RapeAsDrama You can't really call it "romance."]]

* SlidingScaleOfAlternateHistoryPlausibility: X-III or X-IV. Possibly a very loose III if you decide that the dinosaurs' survival isn't an [[AlienSpaceBats ASB]] element.

* [[AlternateHistory Alternate Prehistory]]
* AllThereInTheManual: Some editions of the book carry a brief index of Yilanè bio-technology.

* DatingCatwoman
* DeathBySex: Male Yilanè will not survive being pregnant more than three times.
* EncyclopediaExposita

* {{Fictionary}}

* InterspeciesRomance: For, erm, [[RapeAsDrama a loose definition]] of "romance."

* LizardFolk

* SomewhereAPaleontologistIsCrying
* StarfishAliens: The Yilanè are ''somewhat'' humanoid in shape, but that's all that's humanoid about them.

* ThunderboltIron
* TranslationConvention