History Literature / Cerberon

* MagicAIsMagicA: It's clear that the practice of magic follows certain rules, and to work a certain spell correctly and consistently, one must learn the appropriate procedure. Those with access to sufficiently powerul magic, such as unicorns, can shape magic wiith their will to create just about any effect they can imagine within the bounds of physics and biology, but without following a practiced procedure, the results are unpredictable.

* BeastMan: Several. Sascia is a hackal. Junapur is big, imposing and strong, with (four) BoobsOfSteel. Jena is a mule half, just as big, strong and intimidating as Junapur, but not as nice, and without such remarkable cleavage. She introduces herself to Thedrik with a punch in the face.

* BoobsOfSteel: Junapur has large breasts and she's a skilled fighter.

The first published novel by Fredric R. Stewart, ''Cerberon'' is unusual blend of Regency Romance and High Fantasy. The novel opens in Regency England several years after the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, with George making a final, desperate, and futile attempt to convince a wealthy widow to marry him, with the begrudging assistance of a unicorn called Cerberon. After being kicked off of the widow's estate, George and Cerberon soon encounter another widow, Margaret, who is significantly less wealthy than the ones George had been unsuccessfully courting. George promises to escort her and her children to their destination, which they then discover is America. They decide to follow through on this promise by taking them through an alternate fantastic world full of magic, strange creatures, and danger. George enters into a romantic relationship with Margaret while Cerberon learns more about what it means to be a unicorn than he ever suspected.

The first published novel by Fredric R. Stewart, ''Cerberon'' is unusual blend of Regency Romance and High Fantasy. The novel opens in Regency England several years after the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, with George making a final, desperate, and futile attempt to convince a wealthy widow to marry him, with Cerberon's begrudging assistance. After being kicked off of the widow's estate, George and Cerberon soon encounter another widow, Margaret, who is significantly less wealthy than the ones George had been unsuccessfully courting. George promises to escort her and her children to their destination, which they then discover is America. They decide to follow through on this promise by taking them through an alternate fantastic world full of magic, strange creatures, and danger. George enters into a romantic relationship with Margaret while Cerberon learns more about what it means to be a unicorn than he ever suspected.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Hackals kick this tropes ass and make it follow their orders.

* ProudWarriorRace: Arguably hackals, who have combat as a central part of their culture and believe AsskickingEqualsAuthority. Unanimously regarded as the most capable and fearsom fighters in the world, but they don't seem to value the concept of honor as deeply as the typical ProudWarriorRaceGuy.

* {{Beastess}}: Several. Sascia is a hackal. Junapur is big, imposing and strong, with (four) BoobsOfSteel. Jena is a mule half, just as big, strong and intimidating as Junapur, but not as nice, and without such remarkable cleavage. She introduces herself to Thedrik with a punch in the face.

* FantasticCasteSystem: Implied. Dragons are at the very top of the order of intelligent races. Skraad, sidhe, unicorns and hackals occupy a level beneath them, though the order (if any) isn't entirely clear. Human civilization seems to be organized with humans at the top, haflings in the servant/slave class, and beast halfs very definitely at the bottom, barely above animals.

** Theurgy is demonstrated by Eduard, when he calls on Edu, the god of death, to forcibly remove a posessing spirit from Aladavan's body.

* TheInsomniac: Aladavan has been using an elixer of artificial sleep for days. He's had to take the elixer with increasing frequency and decreasing effectiveness until it runs out and its effects wear off. The results arent pretty.

* PowerLevels: Magicians are ranked according to the amount of power they can weild. Mages are the weakest, and tend to focus their skills into very specialized fields. Examples in the novel include battle mages, healers, a clerical mage, and a lithomancer. Wizards are able to work more powerful magic and tend not to specialize, as they can do just about anything, but must still operate within the framework of known spellcraft, following specific magical procedures for specific magical effects. Sourcers can draw massive amounts of power directly from the Source, and can shape it according to their will as they desire, without necessarily following prescribed procedures. A higher level of power is mentioned, Dreamers, and no mention is made on any limits they might have to their power and ability. The one dreamer identified in the novel became an actual god after she died (Edu, the godess of death).

* DefectorFromDecadence: Aladavan claims to be one of these, but he's actually in exile for being just as deadly or worse than anyone else in the DeadlyDecadentCourt he comes from. However, considering how easily he was suckered by King Norrith's court, the fact that TheFairFolk are made of DeadlyDecadentCourt, and that Aladavan doesn't seem to mind being in exile at all, he just might really be a DefectorFromDecadence.

* EvilOverlord: The Dragon Queen. Most of the people understandably think of her and describe her as an EvilOverlord: Solitary ruler of the world? Check. Lives in a [[SupervillainLair fortress of doom atop an active volcano]]? Check. Employs [[TheDragon an enforcer]] with a [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Name to Run Away From Very Fast]]? Check. Personally responsible for the [[AMillionIsAStatistic deaths of thousands if not millions]]? Check. [[IAmAHumanitarian Eats people as a standard part of her diet]]? Check. Except that she's actually a subversion. It turns out that she's really a ReasonableAuthorityFigure who has to ShootTheDog. Unfortunately the dog in this case happens to be a [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters human nation]] ruled by a KnightTemplar who want to [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman exterminate the dragons and a few other races they don't like]], and we only see things from their point of view for most of the book.

* BadassGrandpa: Merlen and Oethelzeiren are both over a thousand years old and are renowned worldwide for their power. The one person who dared to directly defy Merlen was vaporized mid-sentence with a glance. Oethelzeiren easily kick's Merlen's ass because he doesn't mind causing collateral damage.

* ExtremeOmnisexual: Probably describes a large portion of the human population of the world, considering the number and variety of half-human hybrids encountered. George might also qualify, as he's shamelessly attracted to a PettingZooPerson (Junapur) and a [[OurCentaursAreDifferent centauress]] (Zofi).

* PettingZooPeople: Junapur has mostly human features with distinctly (though nonspecific) animal characteristics. She's probably closer to LittleBitBeastly on the scale.
** Beast halfs (like Pavel and Jena, who are mule halfs) are your more typical petting zoo people--opposite end of PZP scale from Junapur, they're borderline PZP.

* AsYouKnowBob: Played with in this exchange, where Aladavan passes along information which is common knowledge in his world, but which George, and the reader, couldn't possibly know :
-->'''Aladavan''': You should know that in the Silarsi tribe, humans and hackals share equal standing.
-->'''George''': No. I did not know that at all.
-->'''Aladavan''': I know, which is why I told you.

* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: When it's pointed out to Merlen that his entire arm is missing, he nonchalantly says, "Oh this? I got into a little fight with Oethelzeiren. I'll be fine." In that fight, Merlen had vaporized Oethelzeiren's wings, and he has a similar underreaction: "I hardly ever used them anyway." Of course they're both recognized as two of the most BadAss sorcerors in the world, so such reactions from them isn't surprising.

* EvilOverlord: The Dragon Queen. Most of the people understandably think of her and describe her as an EvilOverlord: Solitary ruler of the world? Check. Lives in a [[SupervillainLair fortress of doom atop an active volcano]]? Check. Employs [[TheDragon an enforcer]] with a [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Name to Run Away From Very Fast]]? Check. Personally responsible for the [[AMillionIsAStatistic deaths of thousands if not millions]]? Check. [[IAmAHumanitarian Eats people as a standard part of her diet]]? Check. Except that she's actually a subversion. It turns out that she's really a ReasonableAuthorityFigure who has to ShootTheDog. Unfortunately the dog in this case happens to be a [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters human nation]] ruled by KnightsTemplar who want to [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman exterminate the dragons and a few other races they don't like]], and we only see things from their point of view for most of the book.

* OurGodsAreGreater: Gods exist in this world who have specific areas of interest, such as Edu, the godess of death, Elohda, a god of luck/fate, and Lada and Danae, who are mentioned in relation to betrothal/marriage ceremonies. Even fake gods are worshipped, such as Avander, who is the human-invented god of the north star. Edu makes an appearance in the novel when she's called on to exorcise a powerful spirit.

** Inverted when George, Margaret, et al. finally arrive in antebellum Virginia. The black slaves are most certainly [[CaptainObvious not happy with their condition]].

* BigBadassBirdOfPrey: The skraad are basically huge carrion birds and PerfectPacifistPeople. But when Aladavan severely pisses off Lama, she demonstrates their natural weapons are just as effective at rending living flesh as dead.

* EvilOverlord: The Dragon Queen. Most of the people understandably think of her and describe her as an EvilOverlord: Solitary ruler of the world? Check. Lives in a [[SupervillainLair fortress of doom atop an active volcano]]? Check. Employs [[TheDragon an enforcer]] with a [[NamesToRunAwayFromVeryFast Name to Run Away From Very Fast]]? Check. Personally responsible for the [[AMillionIsAStatistic deaths of thousands if not millions]]? Check. [[IAmAHumanitarian Eats people as a standard part of her diet]]? Check. Except that she's actually a subversion. It turns out that she's really a ReasonableAuthorityFigure who has to ShootTheDog. Unfortunately the dog in this case happens to be a [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters human nation]] ruled by KnightsTemplar who want to [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman exterminate the dragons and a few other races they don't like]], and we only see things from their point of view for most of the book.

** To be fair though, King Norrith was quite willing and eager to personally lead his forces in battle against the Dragon Queen, and probably would have if she hadn't attacked first. Considering the overwhelming scale of destruction and death she brought down on him, the only sensible thing for him to do was to get [[RunOrDie right the hell out of town]]. He even steps up and faces [[TheDragon Oethelzeiren]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromVeryFast the Slayer]] when he's found hiding among refugees, despite knowing he was hopelessly doomed at that point.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Averted with hackals, which can vary from CompleteMonster to civilized BeastMan, depending on their tribe, clan, and individual disposition. This doesn't stop most people from considering all of them AlwaysChaoticEvil maneating monsters anyway.

* {{Unobtainium}}: Alicorn, produced by unicorns in their horns and hooves, which they are understandably reluctant to give up, has many valuable properties. It's a powerful healing agent, a magic collector/amplifier, pwerful aphrodesiac, poison neutralizer, and an extremely hard material that is great for an AbsurdlySharpBlade.

* SheIsTheKing: The Dragon Queen rules in her own right. The title of queen only indicating she is a female ultimate ruler of the dragons, not that her power is derived from a king. From what little is shown of dragon culture, they don't seem to place the same value on marital relationships as humans do.

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: The human nobles in Loethess seem to be mostly busy with their on schemes and social activities, leaving their bloated bureaucracy to do most of the actual work. In contrast, the dragon nobility are shown to be actively involved with their duties: the Queen personally leads her forces in the attack on Loethess, and afterwards is demonstrated as being quite busy with the process of installing new nobles to replace the ones that had been killed. The Marquis of Wenthoerl was tasked with setting up the underground explosives to take down the city of Loethess, and to secure a safe vantage point from which to help direct the battle. Prince Aeronweyir is a close advisor to the Queen, and one of his responsibilities is to ensure her visitors are properly vetted so as to not waste her time or present a threat to her. This is in addition to his job managing a great stonegate which is a major axis of travel, communication and commerce, and also directly connected to the Queen's palace. In fact the royal titles among the dragons seem to be more like job titles indicating social rank and including significant privileges, and not inherited, so it is expected of them to actually do something.

* MadLove: Sascia for Aladavan after his More Than Mind Control treatment of her.
* MagicAIsMagicA: It's clear that the practice of magic follows certain rules, and to work a certain spell correctly and consistently, one must learn the appropriate procedure. Those with access to sufficiently powerul magic, such as unicorns, cna shape magic wiith their will to create just about any effect they can imagine within the bounds of physics and biology, but without following a practiced procedure, the results are unpredictable.

* AmazonChaser: George towards Junapur.

On their journey, they receive help from a villainous elven wizard that they're afraid to refuse, since they already know about TheFairFolk. Other strange creatures join the traveling group, forming a RagtagBunchOfMisfits each joining the traveling group for their own reason. They discover the country they are traveling through is marked for annihilation by the Dragon Queen, the supreme ruler of all the world's dragons. An epic battle ensues, while George and Cerberon seek to escape it, their only duty being the safety of their charges. They eventually make it to America, bringing with them guests from the fantastic world, including a dragon and a centaur, but antebellum America is not what they had expected.

* CursedWithAwesome: Darkram's curse gives him [[ImprobableAimingSkills perfect aim with his bow]], the ability to put [[TrickArrow magical effects into his arrows]] and some PsychicPowers. It's also [[{{Metamorphosis}} turning him from a human into some kind of]] [[TheGrotesque demonic creature]], he emits an [[EnemyToAllLivingThings evil aura]], and his EyesOfGold tend to creep people out. It is later revealed that he's not actually cursed, he's just [[TheAntichrist the half-human offspring of a demon]]. He takes this news surprisingly well considering all his angst about it before learning the truth.

* EyesOfGold: Darkram's eyes are yellow, and have a golden glow when he uses his powers. Both are attributed to his half demon heritage.
** Dragons are described as having amber eyes, and they are all creatures of great power.

* EnsembleCast: The story starts out with its focus on the George/Cerberon duo, but as additional characters are introduced, the focus and drive of the story expands to include them, eventually splitting into three unrelated story lines which get nearly equal treatment.

* EvilOverlord: The Dragon Queen. Most of the people understandably think of her and describe her as an EvilOverlord: Solitary ruler of the world? Check. Lives in a [[SupervillainLair fortress of doom atop an active volcano]]? Check. Employs [[TheDragon an enforcer]] with a [[NamesToRunAwayFromVeryFast Name to Run Away From Very Fast]]? Check. Personally responsible for the [[AMillionIsAStatistic deaths of thousands if not millions]]? Check. [[IAmAHumanitarian Eats people as a standard part of her diet]]? Check. Except that she's actually a subversion. It turns out that she's really a ReasonableAuthorityFigure who has to ShootTheDog. Unfortunately the dog in this case happens to be a [[HumansAreBastards human nation]] ruled by KnightsTemplar who want to [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman exterminate the dragons and a few other races they don't like]], and we only see things from their point of view for most of the book.

* EloquentInMyNativeTongue: When Cerberon speaks in Aramish, it's pretty broken but not difficult to understand, while in English he can be very eloquent and occasionally poetic.