History YMMV / AlienChronicles

* MoralEventHorizon: Many of them are perpetrated 'upon' Ampris, in case you were wondering. Israi, who never was very moral to begin with, crosses this completely [[spoiler:after Ampris holds her temporarily prisoner in the Palace Archives in Book 3. She immediately retaliates by '''''destroying the Archives''''', including all knowledge of how to save the empire. Just for good measure, when things start to really go pear-shaped, the first thing Israi does is set up Holocaust-style death camps and start a mass slaughter of the abiru]].

* WoobieSpecies: Most of the abiru, really. Their original histories and cultures have been all but destroyed by the Viis, who treat them as expendable slave labor kept in line with violence and poverty. The Aaroun especially are said to have had a very rich and vibrant culture, along with the military prowess to initially fend off Viis subjugation. It was only when the Viis resorted to biological warfare that they were forced into surrendering, reducing the once-proud species into glorified slave labor valued only for their physical strength. Two centuries later when the trilogy starts, Aaroun culture is at serious risk of dying out, with precious few scraps surviving despite its discussion being deemed illegal by the Viis.

* CompleteMonster: Ehssk is the Viis Empire's most esteemed scientist, whose work in genetics is considered crucial to undoing the genetic damage of the Dancing Death. The main line of research we see from him is attempting to splice the genes of the Dancing Death-resistant abiru over to the Viis. His method? [[spoiler: Using [[BreedingSlave captive abiru women]] [[MedicalRapeAndImpregnate to produce]] [[ArtificialHybrid Artificial Hybrids]], with the hybrids often being dissected and the women themselves killed when they are no longer useful. Ampris is subject to his experiments after her career-ending injury, giving birth to a litter of his hybrids. Ehssk admonishes Ampris for giving birth while he was at a conference, denying him the opportunity to observe, before taking her only daughter away for dissection. Although Ampris manages to escape with her two sons and the surviving captives, destroying the lab behind her, Ehssk was away at a festival at the time.]] Worse still, it's heavily implied that his research produces little if anything in the way of useful results, meaning that the ordeals he puts his test subjects through is AllForNothing. Especially with much of his vast funding seemingly going into his own pockets. And then there's his final appearance in the third book, where he manages to pull a KarmaHoudini by fleeing from Ampris before she can enact her revenge on him, leaving him alive as of the trilogy's conclusion.

** Despite playing a big role in Ampris' personal journey, very little is explained about the Eye of Clarity. There's mention of multiple Eyes of Clarity appearing across several species' histories, which only raises more questions on their nature. The Eye's range of powers is also ambiguous, with its ability to teleport Ampris in the third book coming out of left field and never being acknowledged again. It doesn't help that the setting is seemingly devoid of the supernatural outside of the Eye, with it playing surprisingly little role in Ampris' plans to liberate the abiru.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Throughout the series, we hear secondhand discussion of a rebellion growing on the fringes of the Viis Empire. By the time of the third book, it has come to encompass much of the Empire's rim worlds, cutting the rest off from vital resources. It has also gathered enough power to actually defeat the Imperial forces sent to combat it, destroying two thirds of the flotilla and sending the rest limping away. However, it's never established what the rebellion's motivations are or who comprises it. The Freedom Network doesn't reach out to them at all, and it doesn't directly factor into their plans.

** During her time imprisoned in the Vess Vaas, Ampris is introduced to a number of prisoners already held in the facility and used as test subjects in its horrific research. These include Ophah (one of two Phiveans named in the entire trilogy) and Shevin (a Kelth stated to be little older than a child, possibly being a mere teenager). However, both of them are taken away and implied to be killed before Ampris can organize an escape. Considering that the only other Phivean in the trilogy had some very interesting things to say about the Eye of Clarity, and that Shevin could have awakened some parental instinct in Elrabin (who had a very poor relationship with his own family) or Ampris ([[spoiler:who is subject to the same [[MedicalRapeAndImpregnate nightmarish]] [[ArtificialHybrid experimentation]] as Shevin, and subsequently has her own daughter taken away and dissected]]) for the purposes of character growth, it seems like a waste to have them killed off. Especially since of the three named characters that do escape the lab with Ampris, one abruptly stops getting mentioned halfway through the third book and one is simply never mentioned again after the second book at all.

* CompleteMonster: Ehssk is the Viis Empire's most esteemed scientist, whose work in genetics is considered crucial to undoing the genetic damage of the Dancing Death. The main line of research we see from him is attempting to splice the genes of the Dancing Death-resistant abiru over to the Viis. His method? [[spoiler: Using [[BreedingSlave captive abiru women]] [[MedicalRapeAndImpregnate to produce]] [[ArtificialHybrid Artificial Hybrids]], with the hybrids often being dissected and the women themselves killed when they are no longer useful. Ampris is subject to his experiments after her career-ending injury, giving birth to a litter of his hybrids. Ehssk admonishes Ampris for giving birth while he was at a conference, denying him the opportunity to observe, before taking her only daughter away for dissection. Although Ampris manages to escape with her two sons and the surviving captives, destroying the lab behind her, Ehssk was away at a festival at the time.]] Worse still, it's heavily implied that his research produces little if anything in the way of useful results, meaning that the ordeals he puts his test subjects through is AllForNothing. Especially with much of his vast funding seemingly going into his own pockets. [[spoiler: And then there's his final appearance in the third book, where he manages to pull a KarmaHoudini by fleeing from Ampris before she can enact her revenge on him, leaving him alive as of the trilogy's conclusion.]]

** Ylea is a female Aaroun gladiator on the team Ampris ends up in. The two get off to a very bad start, and even with Ampris' attempts to reconcile Ylea tries to get her killed during a two-on-two fight they were teamed up for. [[spoiler: After Ampris is forced to kill Ylea in self-defense, Elrabin reveals that Ylea was once a member of the free abiru that live in the wilderness outside of Viis cities. She was captured by slavers, her family was slain, and she was conditioned to become a rage-filled killing machine for gladiatorial entertainment. Ampris is deeply sorrowful over Ylea's past, but Elrabin believes that if Ampris had known about it then she might have let her guard down enough for Ylea to have killed her.]]

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Throughout the series, we hear secondhand discussion of a rebellion growing on the fringes of the Viis Empire. By the time of the third book, it has come to encompass much of the Empire's rim worlds, cutting the rest off from vital resources. It has also gathered enough power to actually defeat the Imperial forces sent to combat it, destroying two thirds of the flotilla and sending the rest limping away. However, it's never established what the rebellion's motivations are or who comprises it. The Freedom Network doesn't reach out to them at all, and it doesn't directly factor into their plans.

** During her time imprisoned in the Vess Vaas, Ampris is introduced to a number of prisoners already held in the facility and used as test subjects in its horrific research. These include Ophah (one of two Phiveans named in the entire trilogy) and Shevin (a Kelth stated to be little older than a child, possibly being a mere teenager). However, both of them are taken away and implied to be killed before Ampris can organize an escape. Considering that the only other Phivean in the trilogy had some very interesting things to say about the Eye of Clarity, and that Shevin could have awakened some parental instinct in Elrabin (who had a very poor relationship with his own family) or Ampris ([[spoiler:who is subject to the same [[MedicalRapeAndImpregnate nightmarish]] [[ArtificialHybrid experimentation]] as Shevin, and subsequently loses her own daughter as the cub is taken away and dissected]]) for the purposes of character growth, it seems like a waste to have them killed off. Especially since of the three named characters that do escape the lab with Ampris, one abruptly stops getting mentioned halfway through the third book and one is simply never mentioned again after the second book at all.

* TastesLikeDiabetes: Some of Ampris' speeches or reactions to {{Jerkass}} complaints can come across like this.

* NarmCharm: In the audiobook adaptation, it's clear many of the voice actors are going all in. Aaroun characters growl and yowl, Kelth characters whine and whimper, and Viis characters make liberal use of SssssnakeTalk. But it's the Phivean and Zhreli characters who sound truly bizarre, if not outright silly. It all still comes across as quite charming, though.

** During her time imprisoned in the Vess Vaas, Ampris is introduced to a number of prisoners already held in the facility and used as test subjects in its horrific research. These include Ophah (one of two Phiveans named in the entire trilogy) and Shevin (a Kelth stated to be little older than a child, possibly being a mere teenager). However, both of them are taken away and implied to be killed before Ampris can escape. Considering that the only other Phivean in the trilogy had some very interesting things to say about the Eye of Clarity, and that Shevin could have awakened some parental instinct in Elrabin (who had a very poor relationship with his own family) or Ampris ([[spoiler:who is subject to the same [[MedicalRapeAndImpregnate nightmarish]] [[ArtificialHybrid experimentation]] as Shevin, and subsequently loses her own daughter as the cub is taken away and dissected]]) for the purposes of character growth, it seems like a waste to have them killed off. Especially since of the three named characters that do escape the lab with Ampris, one abruptly stops getting mentioned halfway through the third book and one is simply never mentioned again after the second book at all.

** During her time imprisoned in the Vess Vaas, Ampris is introduced to a number of prisoners already held in the facility and used as test subjects in its horrific research. These include Ophah (one of two Phiveans named in the entire trilogy) and Shevin (a Kelth stated to be little older than a child, possibly being a mere teenager). However, both of them are taken away and implied to be killed before Ampris can escape. Considering that the only other Phivean in the trilogy had some very interesting things to say about the Eye of Clarity, and that Shevin could have awakened some parental instinct in Elrabin (who had a very poor relationship with his own family) or Ampris ([[spoiler:who is subject to the same [[MedicalRapeAndImpregnate horrific]] [[ArtificialHybrid experimentation]] as Shevin, and subsequently loses her own daughter as the cub is taken away and dissected]]) for the purposes of character growth, it seems like a waste to have them killed off. Especially since of the three named characters that do escape the lab with Ampris, one abruptly stops getting mentioned halfway through the third book and one is simply never mentioned again after the second book at all.

** During her time imprisoned in the Vess Vaas, Ampris is introduced to a number of prisoners already held in the facility and used as test subjects in its horrific research. These include Ophah (one of two Phiveans named in the entire trilogy) and Shevin (a Kelth stated to be little older than a child, possibly being a mere teenager). However, both of them are taken away and implied to be killed before Ampris can escape. Considering that the only other Phivean in the trilogy had some very interesting things to say about the Eye of Clarity, and that Shevin could have awakened some parental instinct in Elrabin (who had a very poor relationship with his own family) or Ampris ([[spoiler:who is subject to the same [[MedicalRapeAndImpregnate horrific]] [[ArtificialHybrid experimentation]] as Shevin, and subsequently has her own daughter taken away and dissected]]) for the purposes of character growth, it seems like a waste to have them killed off. Especially since of the three named characters that do escape the lab with Ampris, one abruptly stops getting mentioned halfway through the third book and one is simply never mentioned again after the second book at all.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Throughout the series, we hear secondhand discussion of a rebellion growing on the fringes of the Viis Empire. By the time of the third book, it has come to encompass much of the Empire's rim worlds, cutting the rest off from vital resources. It has also gathered enough power to actually defeat the Imperial forces sent to combat it, defeating two thirds of the flotilla and sending the rest limping away. However, it's never established what the rebellion's motivations are or who comprises it. The Freedom Network doesn't reach out to them at all, and it doesn't directly factor into their plans.

** Israi gets a bit of this, especially in the third book as her reign as Kaa progresses. The weight of ruling a crumbling empire is clearly taking a toll on her, not helped by the typical scheming and intrigue of the royal court. And where her father at least had strong bonds with his family, she realizes that she has spent so little time with her own children that they treat her like a dignitary who occasionally visits their nursery rather than a loved one. She's also noted as missing her nursemaid Subi after the old Kelth passes away, and has bittersweet nostalgia for her carefree childhood and friendship with Ampris.