A Boy and his Fire Dog
17-year-old Jackson Hunt dreams of being a professional Djinn Tamer, however there are a few problems with that. His grandmother and Jackson don’t have enough money for him to get a Djinn. Not to mention ever since his mother, renowned Djinnologist Jennifer Hunt, disappeared on a research trip his grandmother had refused to let him own a Djinn. So, Jackson does his best to toil out his days on the local breeder ranch till he turns 18 and she no longer has a say in the matter. However, when he finds out that their house is about to be foreclosed on Jackson’s plan is forced to speed up. Planning on running away and finding a way to become a Tamer without his grandmother’s knowledge, things are again thrown for a loop when in a hidden compartment in his mother’s study Jackson finds a ring containing a rare dog Djinn, Asena the Lyote. Jackson, thrust into the world of Djinn Taming and Battles, finds out very quickly how hard the world can be as he fights not only for his house but his dreams of being a professional tamer.
Djinn Tamer is a LitRPG novel by Derek Alan Siddoway and AJ Cerna. A slightly more adult variation of many of the mon genre that came before it. Currently, only the Bronze League Trilogy is available, but the authors have promised more to come.
The Bronze League Trilogy:
- Djinn Tamer: Starter
- Djinn Tamer: Rivals
- Djinn Tamer: Evolution
Examples:
- Ability Mixing: Not only can the various Djinn have multi-typing but attacks can as well.
- A Birthday, Not a Break: Jackson and his grandmother receive the news about his mother's death on his twelfth birthday
- Abnormal Ammo: As a Mon story this is expected, Everything from fireballs, feathers, water, boulders and more get used as projectiles
- A Boy and His X: Many of the tamers are shown to have a very close bond with their Djinn, in fact it makes them stronger combatants
- Absurdly High-Stakes Game: Jackson takes a bet to double his winnings in the underground, which would give him enough to save the house, but he has to wager everything he has earned and saved over the last few months with only a few weeks till the deadline
- Accent Interest: His accent is part of what tipped Jackson off that he was talking to legendary tamer Vance McAllister
- Action Pet: It's the core of the series.
- Adrenaline Makeover: Jackson, Appleby, and Fiona are all described as having a different air come over them in battle, contrasting to their quiet, shy, normal selves.
- Adults Are Useless: Averted, Most of the adults in the series try to/and do their best by the main characters, and not only are the older Tamers well-respected and admired, but they consistently give the right advice to help the younger more impulsive tamers succeed.
- Aerith and Bob: The names are all over the place for both humans and Djinn alike
- Jackson, Fiona, and Jane talking to the like of Cassius, Vance, and Lei
- On the Djinn side we have somewhat regular pet names like Killer and Billy versus names like Asena and Valkariss
- A Father to His Men: The best tamers develop this relationship with their Djinn
- Affably Evil: After The Reveal Vega de Rivera, who up to that point had been mostly Affable if pushy. Even after he still rarely drops his "charming" demeanor
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: All over the place. The Djinn and their masters are as much pets and owners as they are combatants. Petting and other forms of praise are very common
- Affectionate Nickname: Unlike Pokémon, Naming one's Djinn is not only the norm but expected, and possibly even necessary to really build the bond between them and their tamer.
- Affluent Ascetic: Somewhat subverted, Fiona is the daughter of world renown Djinn breeders who run a very large ranch in the main trio's hometown of Tyle and doesn't ever really want for money however she would rather earn it herself to prove to her parents she can be a tamer and strives hard to do so
- After-Action Patch-Up: Kay's entire job as Jackson's "Rehabber"
- After-Combat Recovery: Djinn fighting is a core of the series, this is to be expected.
- A Lesson in Defeat: Towards the end of the first book, Jackson begins to get cocky and arranges bets on himself knowing he can win. Layla, lures him into a trap and matches him off on an armored target after talking him, with very little effort, into betting all his savings in the hopes of doubling them. He is beaten in the unfair fight and even temporarily loses Briggs as a coach. The defeat from this match forces a large dose of the character development to allow him to become the Jackson from later in the story.
- All or Nothing: After the match that opens the story, the commentator, various people online, and Jackson himself complain about one of the competitors pulling their horribly injured Djinn instead of going for what could be a knock out, possibly at the cost of the Djinn's life.
- Jackson's last match in the underground is an all or nothing gamble to save his grandmother's house.
- All There in the Manual: Unfortunately there isn't much information on a lot of the Djinn species mentioned and encountered the authors have included a handful of descriptions in the back of each book, they also have a limited encyclopedia with Pokémon style art available here
- The characters themselves tend to fall into this, relying on Holowatches for battle stats and even a Djinncyclopedia app
- All Myths Are True: Can be assumed with many of the Djinn described looking like the stuff of legends.
- Almost Kiss: In Evolution Akamu interrupts Fiona and Jackson at the Bronze League Awards dinner
- Aloof Ally: Fiona for the first two books Briggs tries to be but Jackson knows what buttons to press
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Fiona Sato, implied to be Asian, fits the bill.
- Alpha Bitch: Fiona looks to be heading this direction for most of the first book only to be averted for the rest of the series
- Alpha Strike: Many Djinn battles are two on two and the strategies tend to focus on ganging up on one of the opponents monsters with all the tamer can muster
- Djinn teams who work together often can also develop strong moves that take EP from both monsters on the battlefield
- Already Done for You: Jackson can't compete in The Vance McAllister invitational without registering Asena but he wont be eighteen till two weeks after the tournament. After going through all the effort to blackmail Fiona for a clean bill of health for his Lyote and forge his grandmother signature he found out his Missing Mom did so six years earlier
- Already the Case: All over, from the holowatch warnings, Briggs giving his wisdom, or even Black telling various people off
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Alternative Character Interpretation: Is Jackson a immature child or a late teenager with his every dream coming true, Is Fiona a rich Alpha Bitch or a sheltered kid trying to move out into her own life - Always a Bigger Fish: At least once a book the characters get reminded that they are still fairly inexperienced and there are much stronger teams out there. The one time Jackson and Fiona witness Vance and Briggs duel, Jackson calls it an "all out battle" but Briggs admonishes him and informs him that Vance had been fighting at half-speed
- Always in Class One: A variation at the Bronze League training camp, all of the main characters introduced up to this part of the story are in barracks four
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Jane Hunt, Jackson's grandmother, has shades of this. His mother is hinted to have been perfectly capable as well
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: As expected the Djinn have colors ranging from real world possible to glittering gem feathers and even beyond
- Amazon Chaser: Jackson eventually realizes he has feelings for Fiona, She reciprocates......kind of
- Ambiguously Absent Parent: No mention is ever made of Jackson's father or Grandfather.
- Anachronism Stew: Holotech and Hovertech are rampant but they seem to become so within the last generation. Briggs owns a combustion engine truck and Jane and Jessica are said to be/were very fond of old fashioned pen and paper writing
- Anachronistic Animal: Djinn are all over the place, a Saber Tooth Tigers and a Triceratops versus a Wolf and a Donkey are perfectly possible
- And Another Thing...: Kay and Briggs are fond of this trope. Occasionally Jackson and Fiona get in on the fun too
- And Call Him "George": Catching a Wild Djinn works like this. The tamer lasso launches out of the ring and binds the would be tamer to the monster till either the connection is severed or the Djinn gives in. Briggs reveals scars across his chest from when he tamed Midnight in his basic form. Later Jackson and Fiona are almost drowned as Jackson attempts to tame Triton
- And I'm the Queen of Sheba: Briggs throws a few of these around from time to time
- And I Must Scream: Asena was stuck in her ring for almost six years before Jackson found her on a whim
- Although most Djinn preserves are monitored well, there is also a very real possibility of Tamers dying when on expeditions to find rare Djinn in the more remote areas such as Lombardia meaning the Djinn they bring along could very well never be freed again.
- Androcles' Lion: The Ponizu\Aquestria herd that saves Jackson when he falls off Black's ferry comes back and saves Fiona and him later when they are surrounded by an Arkodon pack. He recognizes a particularly large scared stallion and returns the favor.......by taming him
- …And That Little Girl Was Me: It's obvious there is more to the old lady, Black, than what she seems to be but it takes till the end of their adventures on Lombardia for her to reveal herself as Erin Black, the gold league champion whose Lycanris, the fully evolved form of Lyote, Asena was named after.
