Line #17 Literature/BoneDance


1	[[quoteright:276:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bone_dance_technophile.png]]
2	''Bone Dance: A Fantasy for Technophiles'' is a 1991 {{urban fantasy}}/{{cyber punk}} novel written by Creator/EmmaBull. The protagonist Sparrow makes a living by selling pre-war artifacts in a post-nuclear war North American city, until being caught in the power struggle against the secret ruler of the city. Contains a lot of hoodoo, tarot, and popular culture reference. Nominated for Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Awards.
3
4	----
5	!!Contains examples of:
6	* AfterTheEnd: The western hemisphere has been largely destroyed by a nuclear war. No one mentions what happens to the other half of the world, though.
7	* TheAllConcealingI: Used in order to hide that [[spoiler:Sparrow has no gender]].
8	* AngstComa: Happens to Sparrow after being tortured by Beano.
9	* AnyoneCanDie: About half of the characters are killed off, in chronological order: [[spoiler:Cass, Dana, Mick, Tom and Dusty.]]
10	%%* TheAtoner: [[spoiler:Frances]], to the point of being a DeathSeeker
11	%%* BodySnatcher: The Horsemen.
12	%%* BrotherSisterTeam: Dusty and Myra. [[spoiler:Until she kills him.]]
13	%%* CityNoir: The setting.
14	* CityWithNoName: The setting is only referred to as The City, though there are enough locations specified to indicate that it used to be [[UsefulNotes/TwinCities Minneapolis]], where Bull was living at the time.
15	%%* FightingFromTheInside: Headfights among Horsemen, plus [[spoiler:Sparrow against Tom Worecski]].
16	* GreyAndGreyMorality: The BigBad Tom Worecski keeps his host alive, while Frances, while being one of the good guys, [[spoiler:has already killed her current host]].
17	%%* IShouldWriteABookAboutThis
18	* LineOfSightName: A sparrow is the first thing Sparrow saw after [[spoiler:waking up for the first time]].
19	%%* MissingTime: That's where Sparrow realizes there's something strange happening.
20	* TheMole: [[spoiler:Mick Skinner is working, if unwillingly, for Tom Worecski. Ironically, Frances works this out immediately, but when she finds out she's wrong about where Tom is she assumes she must be wrong about this as well.]]
21	%%* MysticalWaif: Sherrea.
22	%%* NoBiologicalSex: [[spoiler:Sparrow]].
23	* PronounTrouble: [[spoiler:Sparrow is neither male nor female]], and as such, causes some confusion among some other characters at one point. When a hoodoo ceremony is performed, [[spoiler:Sparrow]] is referred to as "this person" wherever the pronouns usually would go.
24	* RapeDiscretionShot: It's heavily implied that [[spoiler:Beano]] rapes [[spoiler:Sparrow]], but whatever happens isn't described.
25	* SexByProxy: Due to a post-possession mental link, Sparrow gets to--''very'' unwillingly--eavesdrop on Frances and Mick.
26	* ShoutOut: At one point, Sparrow listens to an old album; it isn't named, but the lyrics are from ''Another Way to Travel'' by Cats Laughing, of which Bull was a member.
27	* TarotMotifs: All chapters are named after a tarot card, and tarot readings are sometimes used to foreshadow the fate of characters.
28	%%* WatchingTroyBurn
29	* WeCanRuleTogether: Tom offers this to Fran. She is not impressed.
30	----

Context Literature / BoneDance