The Prism Pentad is a series of five books written by Troy Denning and set in the world of Athas.The desertic wastelands of Athas are ruled by the despotic Sorcerer Kings, and Borys, the legendary Dragon, roams in the desert and force the Sorcerer Kings to pay him a tribute of a thousand slaves each year. In this grim land, a small and improbable band of heroes (Agis of Asticles, Rikus the half-dwarf, Neeva the gladiator, Sadira the half-elf and Tithian of Mericles) fights for the freedom of their home town, Tyr. Eventually, their path will lead them to a great battle with the fate of Athas itself at stake.The books are:
The Verdant Passage: Where our heroes gathers and start a quest in order to defeat the dispotical Sorcerer King Kalak of Tyr.
The Crinsom Legion: Narrates Rikus' battle against the invading armies of King Hamanu. However, he'll have to endure many trials in order to succed.
The Amber Enchantress: Sadira starts a dangerous journey in order to reach the legendary Tower of Primords, in order to find a power strong enough to stop Borys.
The Obsidian Oracle: Where Agis chase after Tithian in order to arrest him and recover the Obsidian Lens, the artifat required for slaying the Dragon. Sadly things ends badly.
The Cerulean Storm: Where the final battle against our heroes and the Dragon Boys takes place.
Authority Equals Asskicking: The Sorcerer Kings are the strongest spellcasters around, masters of psionic fight and have super strength. And they rule Athas or, at least, most of it.
Badass: Most of the cast, as well as the Sorcerer Kings.
Body Horror: The land around the Tower of Primords is filled with magic, so much that a small scratch results in a Resident Evilesque mutation. Some of the Sorcerer Kings have a creepy appearance.
Breakable Weapons: Justified, as the weapons are often made of bone and obsidian. In the last book, the Scourge of Rkard broke, "bleeding" a weird, mutating goo, but is repaired. It's broken again when used to kill Borys.
Continuity Nod: Usually events from the first books are mentioned in the sequels.
Continuity Snarl: In the first book, Kalak's plans for becoming a Dragon were considered abnormal and almost apocalyptic. Then two books later we find out that all Sorcerer Kings, as Rajaat's former Champions, are basically Dragons in nothing but their physical bodies, making Kalak's ambition downright silly.
Crapsack World: Almost no plants, full of monsters, the Sea is silt and there are the Sorcerer Kings around....
Dark Is Not Evil: When Sadira obtains the powers of the Sun Magic, her skin and breath become black and her lips and eyes get blue. She's still good. Played straight with Umbra and later the whole Shadow people.
Dead Guy Junior: Caelum and Neeva's son is called Rkard, just like the hero who defeated Borys.
Dem Bones: Usually animated by the Wraiths. Also the two giant undead dwarves Jo'orsh and Sa'ram.
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: By the end of the series, our heroes have killed TWO Sorcerer Kings and the Dragon, AND managed to re-seal Rajaat forever.
Dirty Coward: Tithian, even after becoming King of Tyr.
Downer Ending: The fourth book ends with Tithian killing Agis and fleeing with the Dark Lens.
The Dragon: The Sorcerer Kings to The Dragon Borys. Shadow leader Khidar to Rajaat.
First book: Tithian sides with our heroes in order to take a chance at killing Kalak and taking the crown.
Third book: The shadows helps Sadira to gain power to kill Borys.
Fourth book: Between Agis, Tithian and the two Giant Leaders with tons of Heel Face Revolving Door in it.
Last book: First, the shadows and Tithian help the heroes against Borys, then after the Dragon's death the remaining Sorcerer Kings sides with Sadira and Rikus against Rajaat.
Ethical Slut: Sadira loves both Agis and Rikus, and eventually even marries both.
Evil Is Cold: The Black, homeworld of the Shadow People.
Fate Worse than Death/Laser-Guided Karma: When a Dwarf fails to complete his objective, he turns into a ghost when he dies. Tithian is exiled to another dimension by the Dark Lens during Rajaat's demise, and despite his newfound powers he can't escape.
Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Tyr is based on Tyre, Urik on Babylon/Uruk, Nibenay on Ancient China/Angkor, Balic on Greece, Draj on the Aztec empire, Raam on India mixed with a bit of Egypt, Gulg on Africa. Elves here may be seen as Gypsy/Beduin analogues.
Fantastic Racism: The main reason why Rajaat started the great Epuration in the past. Fallen races include Ogres, Orcs, Goblins, Gnomes, Kobolds, Pixies and Trolls.
Femme Fatalons: Abalach-Re, Sorceress Queen of Raam. Also Lady Joy of the Spirit Lords.
Giant Mook: Half Giants serving the Sorcerer Lords.
Giant Spider: A friendly aversion inhabiting the jungles of the Ringing Mountains. They're even Ugly Cute and have a cat-like behaviour.
A God Am I: All the Sorcerer Kings. Actually justified, as they're so powerful that they can allow templars to cast spells. This applies expecially to Tectucticklay (who claims to be a moon god) and Lalali-Puy (the forest goddess).
Grand Theft Me: In book two, Rikus is partly possessed by Tamar's spirit.
Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have: The two Sorceress Queens are over 1,000 years old, and yet look beautiful... if you're willing to ignore things like claws and fangs.
Half Breed: Many. In the main circle, Rikus and Rkard (Mul or Half Dwarves) and Sadira (half elf).
Happily Married: Neeva with Caelum and Sadira with both Agis and Rikus.
Heel Face Turn: The surviving Sorcerer Kings after the big, final battle.
Heroic Bastard: Rikus and Neeva. Also Fylo, who's a half-breed giant.
Heroic Blue Screen Of Death: Happens to several people. The hardest one is Sadira, after seeing Agis amongst the dead.
Heroic Sacrifice: Fylo does a tear-jerking one against a giant attack in order to buy Agis some times. Made even more Tear inducing by the fact that Agis, the only witness, is killed shortly after, making it a senseless sacrifice.
Kick the Dog: In the first book, the mute halfling girl Anezka, who's guiding our heroes in the forest, attack the harmless Singing Spider befriended by Agis and rips her open in order to feast on her eggsac.
Kick the Son of a Bitch: In the last book, Sadira engages Borys's Wraiths (who did horrible things to Rikus in the second book) and kill them all. Also Jo'orsh and Sa'ram's ghosts almost ages Tithian to death. Oh, and the Saram leader curb-stomping Tithian in a psionic battle.
MacGuffin: The Heartwood Spear in the first book. The Chronicles of Kemalok in the second. The Power of the Tower of Primords in the third and the Dark Lens in the fourth. The last two are needed along with the Scourge of Rkard to kill Borys.
Mage Tower: The Tower of Primords used to be Rajaat's base.
Magic Knight: The Sorcerer Kings, being former Champions of Rajaat and all....
Making a Splash: After being released from the Hollow, Rajaat cover his body in clouds and starts a flood.
Mama Bear: Neeva toward Rkard. Especially when Borys kidnap him in the last book.
Moral Event Horizon: Wizards on Athas drain the energy for their spells from plants. A wizard who takes too much energy makes them wither and die along with the very ground they grow on, and they're considered complete monsters.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In the past, most of the Champions of Rajaat eventually turned against him when they learned that he meant to take their powers back.
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