A 2008 book by Karen Maitland, about a company of travelers in 1349. Our party is formed as the characters try to outrun The Plague, but little did they know that it was the least of their concerns.
WARNING: This page is spoiler heavy as the story is largely based on twists. You have been warned.
This book provides examples of:
- Ambiguously Bi: Rodrigo has had relations with women, even has a baby-mama, but also participated in the steamy barn sex scene with Jofri.
- Anyone Can Die: literally the point of the entire book.
- Arc Number: Nine, according to Narigorm.
- Asshole Victim: Zophiel when he was murdered.
- Bestiality Is Depraved: Inverted, several times. With Camelot's supposed step-father, Cygnus's origin, and the wolf-lady who Pleasance helped in labor.
- Benevolent Boss: Rodrigo to Jofre.
- Big Bad: Only revealed very late in the book, first we think the wolf is the big bad, but it turns out to be Narigorm all along.
- Break the Cutie: Rodrigo was always the kind, optimistic member of the party, a voice of reason and reassurance, but by the end of the book, the death of Jofre drove the once compassionate man to a great atrocity, namely the murder of Zophiel.
- Bury Your Gays: Jofre's horrific death.
- Cassandra Truth: Played with. At the end of the book, Camelot tries to tell what was left of the party that Narigorm is evil, but none of them believed him. We don't know what happened next.
- Creepy Child: Narigorm is heartless, and has none of the innocence that can be attributed to a child.
- Driven to Suicide:
- Pleseance kills herself out of fear of being discovered as a Jew.
- Cygnus becomes insane from the swans tormenting him, and from the guilt of thinking that Rodrigo committed murder for him.
- Averted with Rodrigo, who maybe(?) attempts to die by poisoning from the swampy gas but is saved by Camelot and Osmond before the poison took him.
- Ensemble Cast: The story is told from Camelot's perspective, but it focuses almost equally on the stories of all nine characters.
- Fortune Teller: Narigorm reads the runes to tell the future.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Zophiel is the king of this trope.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: We don't really know if Narigorm was really an evil sorceress, or maybe she was just wicked good at manipulation and suggestion.
- Meaningful Name: Cygnus is named after the swan constellation, under which he was born.
- Historical Fiction: The story is set during the onset of the plague.
- Kick the Dog: Zophiel repeatedly says cruel and hurtful things to everyone in the party, but especially Cygnus and Jofre.
- Significant Anagram: Narigorm is an anagram of Morrigan.
- Sinister Minister: Many examples throughout the book, including the Pardoner, Zophiel and the Bishop's men.
- The Sociopath: Narigorm, BIG TIME.
- Teacher/Student Romance: Briefly between Rodrigo and Jofre in the barn sex scene.
- Unreliable Narrator: the story is told from Camelot's perspective, who may or may not have a bias against Narigorm.
