Whereas the Roman-style names of the major Amorran protagonists are done according to classical convention (on the praenomen-nomen-cognomen pattern), many other characters have names that sound much sloppier, or even ones that are clearly not Latin at all, but merely somewhat Latinized Germanic or Semitic ones (e.g.: Herwaldus, Habakkus). To the reader, this might first seem an inconsistency. However, after a while a clear pattern emerges: the full "proper Roman" names consistently tend to belong to old, established Amorran families, while the simpler or non-native ones are held by lower-class or aspiring middle-class people. The final impression is that Amorr, much like the present-day United States, has a Melting-Pot Nomenclature, with the native-born Amorrans in the place of Anglo-Saxons and the others having immigrated from other nations.
The apparent discrepancy between the calendar in Summa Elvetica and that in A Throne of Bones is probably not actually an error. In Summa, the year when the Papal bull on the elvish soul controversy is issued is 1043 after the coming of the Savior, whereas in A Throne of Bones (which takes place about two years later), the current year is given as 416 after the founding of the Amorran Republic. However, a careful reading shows that the 416 dates are always used to refer to secular matters, as opposed to the Church business that is said to take place in 1043. The truth, then, is seemingly that Amorr has two calendars, one secular for current affairs and one traditional that is used in religious contexts. While this is not the norm in modern Christian societies in real life, it's fairly common in non-Christian countries, such as Israel or Japan, who use the Christian calendar for most business and their own traditional one for religious festivals and other such matters.
The Divided Man's talking head. In real life, of course, a disembodied head should not be able to speak—it has no lungs to pass air through its vocal system. Here, however, its ability to do so in spite of this offers another, subtler proof of the achievements of the complex magic that also keeps it alive in the first place.
Savondir is straight Nightmare Fuel due to its totalitarianism, Super Breeding Program, Human Resources and general inhuman villainy, but some of the horrifying things about it are more subtle as well. One that emerges only gradually is the elites' complete disregard for the proles—not just the blatantly psychopathic ones like the royal family, but even someone like Roheis (who is at the very least trying to appear sympathetic to Fjotra). To the rulers, the lower classes don't matter at all as people, but only as workers and cannon fodder. Basically, they have internalized Adam Smith's economistic view of society.
There is an offhand mention that the werewolves breed true with normal wolves. That's potentially horrifying itself, but becomes more so when it is revealed that they have learned to assume human form. Given their mechanical view of such things, and complete Lack of Empathy otherwise, it seems at least somewhat likely that they will try that with humans as well to increase their numbers...
