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''The Tenabran trilogy'' is a fantasy trilogy by Creator/DaveLuckett, consisting of ''A Dark Winter'', ''A Dark Journey'', and ''A Dark Victory''.

In the first book, rumours arise that the EvilOverlord, defeated long ago, is returning. Things get worse from there.

!!This series provides examples of:
* TheEmpire: The BigBad is the Emperor. He isn't an EvilOverlord, just a regular historically-plausible dictator; in the long run, much more dangerous.
* EvilOverlord: Deconstructed. The author started writing it to explore questions like "Just what does the EvilOverlord get out of lurking in {{Mordor}} and trying to take over the world?" and "Where does he get the AlwaysChaoticEvil cannon fodder from?"
* HenchmenRace: Deconstructed. Goblins are thought to be an AlwaysChaoticEvil henchman race, because the only time they've interacted significantly with humans was as the EvilOverlord's mooks; it turns out that they're actually a peaceful and artistic people when left to themselves, but as a species they have a low resistance against telepathic domination that makes them really handy to anyone with mind control powers and a sudden desire to field an army.
* LeftJustifiedFantasyMap: There's a map, bordered with an ocean on the west, but the usual associations are inverted -- instead of having the EvilOverlord in the east, the heroes living in the west, and an Avalon-equivalent over the ocean, the heroes live in the east and the EvilOverlord's heartland is over the ocean to the west. There are watchtowers all along the coast.
* MagicIsEvil: A lot of people believe this. The SorcerousOverlord probably had something to do with it, but it's also pointed out in ''A Dark Journey'' that magic is by definition unnatural: magic causes things to happen that go against the laws of nature, that's how you know it's magic.
* MedievalEuropeanFantasy: Written by somebody who's studied actual medieval history, not just read a lot of earlier MedievalEuropeanFantasy.
* OurGoblinsAreDifferent: When they're not being enslaved by the SorcerousOverlord, they're the closest thing this setting has to Our Elves.
* PredecessorVillain: The EvilOverlord who was defeated in a costly battle a generation earlier. Over the course of the trilogy, several people attempt to set themselves up as his successor, for various reasons of their own.
* PuppetState: In ''A Dark Winter'', the protagonist's homeland has become a puppet state of TheEmpire. A significant plot point concerns the revelation of how far another character is prepared to go secure its independence.
* SorcerousOverlord: The EvilOverlord is of this type.
* TwoPartTrilogy: ''Winter'' was originally written as a standalone novel. ''Journey'' and ''Victory'' were plotted together after the publisher started thinking in trilogies, and form two parts of a single story.
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