History Literature / ArciaChronicles

''The Dark Star''[[note]]then titled ''Izbrannitsa Preispodney'', meaning "The [female] [[TheChosenOne Chosen One]]/{{Love Interest|s}} of Hell/Abyss", which was presumably deemed too kitschy -- not to mention lore-breaking, since there is no concept of "hell" in Tarra[[/note]] started off as a HighFantasy DeconstructionFic based on Creator/NickPerumov's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfHjorvard'' but eventually lost all connections to the source material (with only slight conceptual overlaps, such as the "True Mages"), and when Perumov himself discovered the manuscript, [[AscendedFanfic he took it straight to his publisher]]. A total of six books had been published between 2001 and 2003, before Kamsha switched her attention to her second series, ''Literature/ReflectionsOfEterna'', for what turned out to be the next fifteen years. The official line since has been that ''Arcia'' will be completed after ''Eterna'', but unfortunately, it looks increasingly like [[OrphanedSeries it will never happen]], due to a combination of the author's interests and style evolving in completely [[LowFantasy different]] [[AlternateHistory directions]] and [[FairForItsDay the zeitgeist changing too much in the intervening decade]] for the plot she had originally drafted (at least, according to the WordOfGod, although her comments from [[http://forum.kamsha.ru/index.php?topic=20.msg2797#msg2797 early 2018]] suggest that she hasn't ''fully'' abandoned hope of one day giving the series a proper closure).

* BastardAngst: Pierre Tartue/Lumen comes from a bastard bloodline of the Lumens--one of the two clans vying for the throne of Arcia from book three onwards. He does a lot of very unsavory things to cover up his illegitimacy both before and after he usurps the throne, and hates being reminded that he is still a bastard.

* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: [[spoiler:The magical power of the Orders comes from the belief of the congregation. In a twist, TheChurch originally had little to no magic but since the Elven magic during the War of the Deer was intentionally attributed to clerics to uphold TheMasquerade, the people started believing in miracles, allowing them to [[ViciousCycle perform even more miracles]]... Also of note, the only Order who don't have their own magic are the Erastians--because all power gathered by them goes directly to Erasti (who is still alive!) himself.]]

* SedgwickSpeech: [[spoiler:Lupe's drunkard husband]] is shot to death by a Tarskan lackey after reading a rousing poem against Tarskan occupation of Tayana in public. With his dying breath, he calls out to the onlookers to fight the occupiers--and [[DyingMomentOfAwesome actually manages to spark a massive uprising that eventually frees Tayana]].

* SparkOfTheRebellion: The overthrow of the Tarskan occupation in Tayana is kicked off by the murder of Rodolph Gleo--an otherwise completely unremarkable drunkard poet--who reads a rousing poem in public, is shot by a Tarskan lackey, and, with his dying breath, calls upon the onlookers to liberate Tayana.

* TrustPassword: Throughout the first duology, the goblin Urrik signs his secret missives to Rene with ''emiko'', the Elvish word for "friend". This works because Rene is pretty much the only human in Arcia who speaks Elvish, and Urrik only learned that word from Roman when the two of them briefly teamed up to save Shander Gardani from Godoy. Even though Rene has never met Urrik (assuming it to be Princess Ilana for a time), he correctly infers that anyone using that penname ''must'' have had contact with his elf allies, and if they let him live, he must be trustworthy.

* WhiteSheep: Basil Grizier (based on Anthony Woodville, who unexpectedly survives), the completely irrelevant member of the "poodles" who suddenly becomes one of Arcia's leading diplomats and courtiers--all while retaining the self-deprecating attitude to himself as a result of his family history.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Starting from the third novel, Arcia becomes very much like the England during the the UsefulNotes/WarsOfTheRoses. Ifrana is France (King Joseph is obviously Louis XI), Orgonda is the Duchy of Burgundy, Cantisca is Vatican, Miria is Spain, Darnian Union is the Swiss Confederacy, Er-Atev is the Abbasid Caliphate, Tayana is Muscovite Russia, Frontera is Ukraine, Escota is Scotland, etc. Original Eland from the first duology is Viking Scandinavia.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Owing to its [[DeconstructionFic origins]], the first duology is crammed with light-hearted elements aimed mainly at deconstructing fantasy staples--in a rather jarring contrast to the author's later, [[ShooOutTheClowns much more somber]] and politics-heavy LowFantasy.

* UnstoppableRage: When Eanke [[spoiler:kills Asten]], Gerika taps into TheDarkSide for the first time. Let's just say that all that's left of both Eanke and her escort afterwards can be put into a small box. A very small box.

* TheWildCard: Estel Oskora, the Dark Star, is prophesied to wield tremendous power, but the prophecy is vague on whether she will use it in service of or against the Roigians who created her. [[spoiler:Gerika's evil father Mihaly grooms her to be devoid of any willpower, so she wouldn't even conceive of rebelling against him and his masters, but then another, much more determined woman's soul takes over Gerika's body, who eventually falls in love with Rene and allies herself with him against Mihaly and the Roigians.]]

* LatinLover: Subverted with the toreador and Alexander's BestFriend Raphael, who is the most popular guy among Arcian noblewomen--but has [[CelibateHero rarely entered relationships with any of them]].

''The Dark Star'' started off as a HighFantasy DeconstructionFic based on Creator/NickPerumov's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfHjorvard'' but eventually lost all connections to the source material (with only slight conceptual overlaps, such as the "True Mages"), and when Perumov himself discovered the manuscript, [[AscendedFanfic he took it straight to his publisher]]. A total of six books had been published between 2001 and 2003, before Kamsha switched her attention to her second series, ''Literature/ReflectionsOfEterna'', for what turned out to be the next fifteen years. The official line since has been that ''Arcia'' will be completed after ''Eterna'', but unfortunately, it looks increasingly like [[OrphanedSeries it will never happen]], due to a combination of the author's interests and style evolving in completely [[LowFantasy different]] [[AlternateHistory directions]] and [[FairForItsDay the zeitgeist changing too much in the intervening decade]] for the plot she had originally drafted (at least, according to the WordOfGod, although her comments from [[http://forum.kamsha.ru/index.php?topic=20.msg2797#msg2797 early 2018]] suggest that she hasn't ''fully'' abandoned hope of one day giving the series a proper closure).

** TheAgeless: Elves.

* TheSoulless: Orcs.

''The Dark Star'' started off as a HighFantasy DeconstructionFic based on Creator/NickPerumov's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfHjorvard'' but eventually lost all connections to the source material (with only slight conceptual overlaps, such as the "True Mages"). When Perumov was finally shown the manuscript, [[AscendedFanfic he took it straight to the publisher]]. A total of six books had been published between 2001 and 2003, before Kamsha switched her attention to her second series, ''Literature/ReflectionsOfEterna'', for what turned out to be the next fifteen years. The official line since has been that ''Arcia'' will be completed after ''Eterna'', but unfortunately, it looks increasingly like [[OrphanedSeries it will never happen]], due to a combination of the author's interests and style evolving in completely [[LowFantasy different]] [[AlternateHistory directions]] and [[FairForItsDay the zeitgeist changing too much in the intervening decade]] for the plot she had originally drafted (at least, according to the WordOfGod, although her comments from [[http://forum.kamsha.ru/index.php?topic=20.msg2797#msg2797 early 2018]] suggest that she hasn't ''fully'' abandoned hope of one day giving the series a proper closure).

** Also, Orcs, another race much older than humanity (though not as old or immortal as the Elves), have a kind feral beauty some humans admire (while others are intimidated by their appearance).

* ShakespeareInFiction: His {{Expy}} is portrayed rather unfavorably in ''Tower of Fury''.

* AbortedArc: [[http://forum.kamsha.ru/index.php?PHPSESSID=7104bb3a6e09a21e563a407610b9f818&topic=20.msg38946#msg38946 According]] to the WordOfGod, the original series conclusion, which would have comprised the ''Wild Wind'' duology, has been abandoned as early as 2005 and will be rewritten from scratch, should Kamsha ever return to the series. She has incorporated elements of this abandoned arc into her 2005 short novel ''Literature/CrataegusSanguinea'',[[note]]whose plot can be summarized as "UsefulNotes/RichardIII's ghost teams up with UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc to fight UsefulNotes/{{Nazi|Germany}} dwarves",[[/note]] which she describes as her "farewell to Arcia and to Richard York".

* AbortedArc: [[http://forum.kamsha.ru/index.php?PHPSESSID=7104bb3a6e09a21e563a407610b9f818&topic=20.msg38946#msg38946 According]] to the WordOfGod, the original series conclusion, which would have comprised the ''Wild Wind'' duology, has been abandoned as early as 2005 and will be rewritten from scratch, should Kamsha ever return to the series. She has incorporated elements of this abandoned arc into her 2005 short novel ''Literature/CrataegusSanguinea'',[[note]]whose plot can be summarized as "UsefulNotes/RichardI's ghost teams up with UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc to fight UsefulNotes/{{Nazi|Germany}} dwarves",[[/note]] which she describes as her "farewell to Arcia and to Richard York".

* YouShallNotPass: In his personal CrowningMomentOfAwesome, [[IdiotHero Arthur Barrot]] stays back to hold off an entire enemy army on a narrow bridge while his TrueCompanions are bringing the reinforcements. [[spoiler:And he survives.]]

''The Dark Star'' started off as a HighFantasy DeconstructionFic based on Creator/NickPerumov's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfHjorvard'' but eventually lost all connections to the source material (with only slight conceptual overlaps, such as the "True Mages"). When Perumov was finally shown the manuscript, [[AscendedFanfic he took it straight to the publisher]]. A total of six books had been published between 2001 and 2003, before Kamsha switched her attention to her second series, ''Literature/ReflectionsOfEterna'', for what turned out to be the next fifteen years. The official line since has been that ''Arcia'' will be completed after ''Eterna'', but unfortunately, it looks increasingly like [[OrphanedSeries it will never happen]], due to a combination of the author's interests and style evolving in completely [[LowFantasy different]] [[AlternateHistory directions]] and [[FairForItsDay the zeitgeist changing too much in the intervening decade]] for the plot she had originally drafted (at least, according to the WordOfGod, although her comments from [[http://forum.kamsha.ru/index.php?topic=20.msg2797#msg2797 early 2018]] suggest that she hasn't ''fully'' abandoned hope of one day finishing the series).

''The Dark Star'' started off as a HighFantasy DeconstructionFic based on Creator/NickPerumov's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfHjorvard'' but eventually lost all connections to the source material (with only slight conceptual overlaps, such as the "True Mages"). When Perumov was finally shown the manuscript, [[AscendedFanfic he took it straight to the publisher]]. A total of six books had been published between 2001 and 2003, before Kamsha switched her attention to her second series, ''Literature/ReflectionsOfEterna'', for what turned out to be the next fifteen years. The official line since has been that ''Arcia'' will be completed after ''Eterna'', but unfortunately, it looks increasingly like [[OrphanedSeries it will never happen]], due to a combination of the author's interests and style evolving in completely [[LowFantasy different]] [[AlternateHistory directions]] and [[FairForItsDay the zeitgeist changing too much in the intervening decade]] for the plot she had originally drafted (at least, according to the WordOfGod).

[[caption-width-right:300:René (front), Roman, Gerika (mounted), and the Riders of Tayana (background) [[note]]on the cover of ''Tarra: Edge of the Storm'', the 2009 UpdatedRerelease of the original duology[[/note]]]]

[[caption-width-right:300:René (front), Roman, and Gerika (on horsebacks)[[note]]on the cover of ''Tarra: Edge of the Storm'', the 2009 UpdatedRerelease of the original duology[[/note]]]]

The first book in the series, ''The Dark Star'', is set two and a half millenia after the Great Exodus and opens with two men, a WanderingMinstrel named Roman and Duke René Arroy of Eland, a notorios [[BoldExplorer explorer]] and {{pirate}}, stumbling across a series of mysterious brutal murders in Arcia's south-eastern neighbor, the Kingdom of Tayana. Following the evidence, they soon clash with the {{Cult}} of Roigu, the last surviving Old God, which aims to incarnate their evil god as a child of a mortal woman, who happens to be René's distant relative, the meek princess Gerika Godoya. Fortunately, Roman is not a simple bard but, in fact, an undercover Elven spy among the humans, while [[BornLucky Lucky]] René is a descendant of both Elves and the Old Gods, making him uniquely suited to withstand dark magics. Together, they take up arms against the Roigians to protect Gerika, the future "Dark Star", but in doing so, also kick off the devastating War of the Deer (named after Roigu's totem form)...

''The Dark Star'', the first book in the series, started off as a HighFantasy DeconstructionFic based on Creator/NickPerumov's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfHjorvard'' but eventually lost all connections to the source material (with only slight conceptual overlaps, such as the "True Mages"). When Perumov was finally shown the manuscript, [[AscendedFanfic he took it straight to the publisher]]. A total of six books had been published between 2001 and 2003, before Kamsha switched her attention to her second series, ''Literature/ReflectionsOfEterna'', for what turned out to be the next fifteen years. The official line since has been that ''Arcia'' will be completed after ''Eterna'', but unfortunately, it looks increasingly like [[OrphanedSeries it will never happen]], due to a combination of the author's interests and style evolving in completely [[LowFantasy different]] [[AlternateHistory directions]] and [[FairForItsDay the zeitgeist changing too much in the intervening decade]] for the plot she had originally drafted (at least, according to the WordOfGod).

The ''Arcia Chronicles'' (''Хроники Арции'') is a HighFantasy novel series by Russian author Vera Kamsha, set in a ConstructedWorld of Tarra, which itself is a part of a [[TheMultiverse multiverse]]. What makes Tarra stand out among other worlds is that unlike them, it doesn't have any {{god}}s: some nine thousand years ago, seven alien deities known as the "Lightbringers" conquered Tarra, [[DeathOfTheOldGods slaughtered the native Old Gods]] and whatever worshipers they had, and ruled Tarra for seven thousand years in the name of the "[[LightIsNotGood Light]]". After that, the "Light" called them back, leaving Tarra [[GodsHandsAreTied effectively defenseless against cosmic threats]]. Therefore, it is up to local humans and a handful of [[OurElvesAreBetter Elves]] (left behind by two renegade Lightbringers) to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu punch out cosmic monstrosities]] eying Tarra. The books are mostly set in Arcia (hence the title), a VestigialEmpire (later, kingdom) in what is likely the most densely populated region of the world.

The ''Arcia Chronicles'' (''Хроники Арции'') is a HighFantasy novel series by Russian author Vera Kamsha, set in a ConstructedWorld of Tarra, which itself is a part of a [[TheMultiverse multiverse]]. What makes Tarra stand out among other worlds is that unlike them, it doesn't have any {{god}}s: some nine thousand years ago, seven alien deities known as the "Lightbringers" conquered Tarra, [[DeathOfTheOldGods slaughtered the native Old Gods]] and whatever worshipers they had, and ruled Tarra for seven thousand years in the name of the "[[LightIsNotGood Light]]". After that, the "Light" called them back, leaving Tarra [[GodsHandsAreTied effectively defenseless against cosmic threats]]. Therefore, it is up to local humans and a handful of [[OurElvesAreBetter Elves]] (left behind by two renegade Lightbringers) to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu punch out cosmic monstrosities]] eying Tarra. The books are mostly set in Arcia (hence the title), a VestigialEmpire (later, TheKingdom) in what is likely the most densely populated region of the world.

-->"You must wait; wait, even when it sounds like madness. Wait and remember. The seeds have been sown. They need time. The Year of Three Stars will come, and the Last of Kings will raise his sword. The Blue Star will sink in sea, the Red one will rise again, the Dark one will not fade. She was lit by the Chosen One but will light the way for the Last, heralding victory. Don't fear the Night, don't fear the Day. Darkness will protect from Darkness; Light, from Light. Don't weep for those leaving for war. The Lynx Constellation... The Dark Star... They cannot converge, but their light is timeless..."

''The Dark Star'', the first book in the series, started off as a HighFantasy DeconstructionFic based on Creator/NickPerumov's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfHjorvard'' but eventually lost all connections to the source material (with only slight conceptual overlaps, such as the "True Mages"). When Perumov was finally shown the manuscript, [[AscendedFanfic he took it straight to the publisher]]. A total of six books had been published between 2001 and 2003, before Kamsha switched her attention to her second series, ''Literature/ReflectionsOfEterna'', for what turned out to be the next fifteen years. The official line since has been that ''Arcia'' will be completed after ''Eterna'', but unfortunately, it looks increasingly like [[OrphanedSeries it will never happen]], due to a combination of the author's interests and style evolving in completely [[LowFantasy different]] [[AlternateHistory directions]] and [[FairForItsDay zeitgeist changing too much in the intervening decade]] for the plot she had originally drafted (at least, according to the WordOfGod).

''The Dark Star'', the first book in the series, started off as a HighFantasy DeconstructionFic based on Creator/NickPerumov's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfHjorvard'' but eventually lost all connections to the source material (with only slight conceptual overlaps, such as the "True Mages"). When Perumov was finally shown the manuscript, [[AscendedFanfic he took it straight to the publisher]]. A total of six books had been published between 2001 and 2003, before Kamsha switched her attention to her second series, ''Literature/ReflectionsOfEterna'', for what turned out to be the next fifteen years. The official line has since been that ''Arcia'' will be completed after ''Eterna'', but unfortunately, it looks increasingly like [[OrphanedSeries it will never happen]], due to a combination of the author's interests and style evolving in completely [[LowFantasy different]] [[AlternateHistory directions]] and [[FairForItsDay zeitgeist changing too much in the intervening decade]] for the plot she had originally drafted (at least, according to the WordOfGod).