Line #41 Literature/StarShardsChronicles


1	[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/large_scorpionshards_6773.jpg]]
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3	''The Star Shards Chronicles'' is a trilogy of novels by Creator/NealShusterman. It follows the struggles of six {{Ordinary High School Student}}s who were conceived at the same instant that a star exploded light-years away. The coincidence of their birth caused them to receive extraordinary powers; however, as our story begins, our heroes' abilities have been corrupted and twisted against their true purpose by unknown forces.
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5	The three books in the trilogy:
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7	* ''Scorpion Shards'': The six protagonists struggle to discover the source of their strange and horrific abilities and their connection to one another, and to overcome the otherworldly parasites that have corrupted their powers.
8	* ''Thief of Souls'': Our heroes must face an ancient, malevolent, soul-eating foe who has escaped from his long imprisonment.
9	* ''Shattered Sky'': Powerful and terrifying invaders appear from a parallel dimension, and only the Star Shards have the power to stop this new force... but can they join together in time?
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11	----
12	!! This trilogy contains examples of:
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14	* TheAtoner: Dillon becomes this in the second book, and Tessic views himself as one in the third book.
15	* BadassNormal:
16	** Maddie, before she obtains [[spoiler:Deanna's soul]].
17	** Arguably, Drew.
18	* BlessedWithSuck: Star Shard superpowers would be a lot more fun if they didn't attract {{Eldritch Abomination}}s.
19	* BodyHorror: Caused by the parasites.
20	* ButterflyOfDoom: {{Invoked}} by Dillon in the first book.
21	* CantHaveSexEver: If Michael goes too far with a girl, bad things happen.
22	* CherryTapping: Dillon raises this to an artform, destroying an aquarium with a poker chip and [[spoiler:the Hoover Dam]] with ''a freaking pebble!''
23	* Myth/ClassicalMythology: ''Thief of Souls'' reveals that the Greek gods were Star Shards as well.
24	* DarkerAndEdgier: The series is fairly dark to start out, but the third book, with its older main and supporting cast, shows an increase in sex and profanity.
25	* DeathIsCheap: With Dillon's power to resurrect the dead, the Happy Campers begin to believe this. As do the Shards while under [[spoiler:Okoya's]] control.
26	* DoppelgangerReplacementLoveInterest: In the third book, after [[spoiler:Michael]] dies, [[spoiler:Lourdes attempts to create these and fails]]. In an even stranger example, [[spoiler:Maddy]] replaces [[spoiler:Deanna]] at the very end by [[spoiler:giving up her own soul to be replaced by Deanna's]].
27	* EccentricMillionaire: Tessic, who believes in spending his fortune to do good deeds in unusual ways.
28	* EldritchAbomination: The parasites. Also, [[spoiler:Okoya and the Vectors. Hell, their entire ''species'' qualifies.]]
29	* EmpathicEnvironment: {{Justified\|Trope}}. Michael's superpower is that he can control the weather with his emotions--thus, EmpathicEnvironment.
30	* EnemyMine: With [[spoiler:Okoya]] in the third book. It's also how the Shards treat [[spoiler:Dillon]] at the beginning of the second book.
31	* EnemyWithin: The parasites, which corrupt the protagonists' powers and feed off of them whenever they're used.
32	* FantasticAesop: Would it be morally correct to resurrect the six million victims of the Holocaust? I don't know, let's try it and see how it works out.
33	* AGodAmI: [[spoiler:Dillon]]
34	* TheHedonist:
35	** [[spoiler:Lourdes]] in the third book.
36	** [[spoiler:Okoya]] at the end of the third book. Being kept locked a facility described as catering to your every want can't be too horrible a fate.
37	* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Five out of six protagonists go bad and good again at least once, and some do so twice.
38	* {{Hermaphrodite}}: Okoya. Leads to some PronounTrouble when the other characters can't decide on his gender; the narration refers to him with masculine pronouns "for brevity".
39	* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: An odd retroactive variation in the third book when the Shards discover they have the power to bring back the dead, and are forced by an EccentricMillionaire to bring back all the victims of several of the Nazis' death camps.
40	* HustlingTheMark: In Scorpion Shards, [[TheChessmaster Dillon]] does this with several games of pool. He loses the first, bombs the second, and pulls out his wallet, demanding a rematch. When his opponent (convinced that Dillon's doing this to impress his [[TheHeart girlfriend]]) throws down his own wallet, Dillon [[CurbstompBattle doesn't even let his opponent get one shot in]].
41	* IncompatibleOrientation: [[spoiler:Drew]] is gay, but [[spoiler:Michael]] is canonically asexual.
42	* InnocentBystander: [[spoiler:Tory]] gets mistaken for this after [[spoiler:her death]].
43	* LoveItOrHateIt: Michael in the first book, InUniverse. Except for the other Star Shards, every woman he meets immediately develops an intense lust for him, and every man he meets immediately hates him with equal intensity. Unintentionally {{Lampshaded}} by his guidance counselor.
44	* MassResurrection: The main characters discover they can combine their powers to raise the dead. At some point they are hijacked by an EccentricMillionaire, who forces them to go to Germany and resurrect the victims of the Holocaust.
45	* MassSuperEmpoweringEvent:
46	** The supernova that grants the Star Shards their powers.
47	** The mass supernovae at the end of the trilogy.
48	* MoralityChain: Deanna, for Dillon.
49	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Infecting Okoya with all the parasites and sending him into an alternate dimension]] in ''Thief of Souls'' turns out to be a very bad idea when [[spoiler:the parasites run amok in the alternate dimension and displace its inhabitants, who decide to emigrate to Earth]] in ''Shattered Sky''.
50	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: The Vectors expelling Okoya leads to him assisting the Shards in their fight.
51	%%* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent
52	* PeoplePuppets: [[spoiler:Lourdes]] gains this ability as her powers develop. Also, anyone who [[spoiler:gets taken as a host by Okoya and the Vectors.]]
53	* PowerIncontinence: Zigzagged throughout the books. At the start of the series most of the Star Shards have no control over their powers whatsoever. Even after exorcising the parasites from their souls and learning how to control their powers, they still don't have perfect control, and their powers are sort of always on (most notably Dillon's). They eventually gain complete control of their powers.
54	* PronounTrouble: Okoya is a {{Hermaphrodite}}. The other characters aren't really sure what pronoun to use.
55	* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Dillon attempts this at the end of the second book. [[spoiler: It doesn't work.]]
56	%%* ResistTheBeast
57	* RiseOfZitboy: {{Exaggerated}} with Tory, who begins the story with an ''extreme'' case of acne--she's completely covered in zits. Her zits have zits.
58	* SealedEvilInACan:
59	** Okoya in ''Thief of Souls''. He's freed by an earthquake in the prologue.
60	** The parasites in the first book. The only thing keeping them in check is the will of their hosts, as evidenced when [[spoiler:Dillon]] loses control and almost destroys the entire Pacific North West.
61	** Okoya once again at the end of the third book; he is confined in Dillon's cell and fairly well pampered, content to be there in exchange for not eating souls anymore.
62	* SelfMadeOrphan: Dillon, whose mere touch can cause insanity, accidentally destroyed his parents' minds.
63	* TailorMadePrison: Tessic designs one for Dillon in ''Shattered Sky''.
64	* VoluntaryShapeshifting:
65	** [[Myth/GreekMythology Zeus]], as seen in the prologue of ''Thief of Souls''.
66	** Okoya and the Vectors, in a different manner. They can change bodies but only with the death of their current host.

Context Literature / StarShardsChronicles