A fantasy trilogy by Samit Basu, an [[UsefulNotes/{{India}} Indian]] author, consisting of ''The Simoqin Prophecies'', ''The Manticore's Secret'', and ''The Unwaba Revelations''.

Two hundred years ago, the [[OurElvesAreDifferent ravians]] defeated the [[EvilOverlord Dark Lord]] Danh-Gem and [[TheMagicGoesAway disappeared from the world]]. According to prophecy, after two hundred years, Danh-Gem would return to lead his army of darkness and a ChosenOne would rise up to defeat him.

In the present, Danh-Gem's former allies are organizing in the shadows, magic is [[TheMagicComesBack growing in power]] and magical creatures are reappearing, and the ChosenOne has been found and must be trained before everyone runs out of time.

Except this is Literature/{{Discworld}}-esque setting where people are much [[GreyAndGreyMorality more]] [[GambitPileup complicated]] than good versus evil.

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!!This series provides examples of:
* AllTrollsAreDifferent: Similar to Literature/{{Discworld}} trolls, pashans are made of stone, the exact kind depending on where their egg was incubated.
* BeastMan: The vanars are intelligent ape-men.
* BettyAndVeronica: The main love triangle with Maya stuck between Kirin and Asvin, though it turns into more of a LoveDodecahedron with various secondary love interests for both of the boys.
%%* TheChosenOne: Asvin
* CosmicChessGame: [[spoiler: In ''Manticore's Secret'', it turns out that the big war and the Second Age of Terror everyone's been worrying about? A trifling concern compared to how much the JerkassGods are planning to screw the world for their own amusement. By ''Unwaba Revelations'' some of the characters have actually figured this out and are [[RageAgainstTheHeavens working on the problem]].]]
* DeliveryStork: Pashan eggs are delivered to safe nests by storks after their laid, but their conceived the normal way.
%%* DidNotGetTheGirl: Asvin
%%* EvilOverlord: Danh-Gem. [[spoiler: Later, Kirin]]
* FantasticRacism: Every species and culture feels this about most everyone else. It's one of the major plot points and themes throughout. The asurs and vanars definitely get the short end of the stick though, and the ravians and the rakshas really didn't get along.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Kol is New Delhi/New York/[[Literature/{{Discworld}} Ankh-Morpork]], Avranti is an UsefulNotes/{{India}}n principality, Ventelot is [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Camelot]], Durg is a LadyLand full of [[ActionGirl warrior women]], Xi'en is a mix of China and Japan, Skuanmark is Viking Scandinavia, Psomedea is classical Greece, Artaxerxia is Persia, Bolvudis is Hollywood/Bollywood, Elaken is Egypt, and so on.
* HeroAcademy: The Hero School used to train adventurers and knights, now it trains politicians and accountants (aka, the people who actually run the world nowadays). Enki Univeristy is a more straight example of a WizardingSchool.
* TheHerosJourney: Asvin has a very standard, archetypal ones hitting all the bullet points along the way... up until he finally gets in a position to fight the BigBad.
* HumansAreWhite: Averted. Most of the characters are some shade of brown, but there is quite a spectrum and clear ethnic divides between countries, from the very dark Durgans to the Nordic blondes of Skuanmark.
* HybridMonster: [[spoiler: Kirin. Neither part is human either. Also, all human spell-binders are actually HalfHumanHybrid hybrids with some rakshas blood somewhere in their family trees.]]
* LivingADoubleLife: [[spoiler: Danh-Gem manages to be both the EvilOverlord and TheMole with his enemies, without any of the ravians, including his wife, being aware.]]
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler: Danh-Gem to Kirin. Made even more complicated by the fact Kirin thought he already knew who his parents were... and was correct.]]
* MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter: Maya, though Mantric is a {{Mentor}} rather than villain.
* MalignedMixedMarriage: Narak and Isara got exiled over this, being [[{{Expy}} Expies]] of [[Literature/TheSilmarillion Beren and Lúthien]] after all.
* MindRape: The ravian specialty, but Myrdak in particular
* TheMole:
** [[spoiler: Narak, who is not just working for but ''is'' Danh-Gem.]]
** [[spoiler:Kirin]] initially, before things get more complicated
* OneWordTitle: Also a {{Portmantitle}} and an example of ThePlace.
* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Vaman are your standard fantasy dwarves, and they don't take well to that highist-slur. Except Gaam. [[spoiler: The third book gets into more details about just how much they're keeping from the surface-dwellers in terms of technology and cosmic horrors from the deep.]]
* OurMermaidsAreDifferent: Sirens attract sailors not through song or looks but through scent pheromones.
* OurElvesAreDifferent: Ravians have much stronger magic than humans, including [[JediMindTrick mind-control powers]] that make everyone think really well of them. [[spoiler: Most of them are intolerant, authoritarian jerks and their reappearance in book 2 is not a turn for the better. By the third book they're leveling human cities with [[TechnologicallyAdvancedFoe spaceship-born laser weapons]], because they can and humans are vermin to them.]]
* OutsideContextProblem: [[spoiler:When the war between the ravians and the rakshas is interrupted by horrific subterranean monsters the gods sent to wipe the gameboard clean, everyone is very surprised. Only the dragons and the vaman had any idea this was going on up until then. The army of the undead [[ApocalypseHow bringing about the end of times]] was also not something people were prepared to deal with.]]
* ShoutOut: [[ReferenceOverdosed Full of them]]. The books are constantly referencing, if not quoting, from anywhere and everywhere. The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana, the Odyssey, Robin Hood...
* TheoryOfNarrativeCausality: This is an actual force in the story, doing things like pushing Asvin and Maya together because the Hero Always Gets the Girl.
** The AnthropicPrinciple is a subset of this. Asvin's most common epitaph is: "The Chosen One. A Person to Whom Things Happen. Many Things."
%%* VoluntaryShapeshifting: The main ability of rakshases

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