History Literature / ChildeCycle

* YouKeepingUsingThatWord: Anea keeps calling Donal a '''Mercenary''' in trying to insult him. However, he points out that the term doesn't mean what she thinks (A selfish, unscrupulous hireling). The term in-universe generally refers to any solider hired to fight, and as the Dorsai prove can just be as honorable.

* PlanetOfHats: Many of the colonized planets have developed into highly specialized "Splinter Cultures". [[spoiler: The reasons for this is that humanity is unconsciously trying to figure out what is the most important aspects of humanity.]] In addition, with trained specialists as the interstellar currency, planets have no choice but to either fit into an economic niche or fail. See the [[Characters/ChildeCycle Character Page for details]].

* RetCon: The original versions of Dorsai and Necromancer listed Newton orbiting Arcturus. This was revised to have the planet located in the Alpha Centauri system.

* TitleDrop: Somewhere in each book or story, the title will be mentioned.

* ExcitedShowTitle: Dorsai!

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: What kicks off the plot of ''Soldier Ask Not'' - a Friendly fanatic massacres [=POWs=], which Tam Olyn is helpless to prevent. With his only chance to help his sister (the only person he cared for) gone, Tam decides [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge to get revenge by destroying the Friendly culture]].

* RobotWar: The Chantry Guild versus the World Complex.

* AllThereInTheManual: ''The New Dorsai Companion'' by David W. Wixon. Based on details from Dickson, it provides details on the universe of the Childe Cycle not mentioned in the novels.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: The Friendlies are publicly disliked because of their fanaticism. To prove his objectivity, Tam Olyn writes a series of articles that paint the culture in good light. [[spoiler: It's part of his plan of revenge.]]

* BadassArmy: The Dorsai.

* CannonFodder: The Friendlies' only major export. Ironically because they corner this market, the Friendlies still make better soldiers than the inexperienced Cassidaian conscripts.

** The Dorsai will ''never'' give up a fight, even when all else is lost. It is better to die than to be defeated.
** Ian Graeme exemplifies this Dorsai trait in ''Warrior''. He goes to Earth to confront a gangster who was responsible for the death of one of Ian's officers. Never mind Ian didn't even like the officer, that the officer was executed rightfully, or that the gangster is well protected (both legally and physically). Ian will not let any of that prevent him from fulfilling his own duty.
** The Friendlies will never give up on their Faith, no matter what. They will keep on believing, even unto death.

* IronicName: The Friendlies are far from being warm and nice. Likewise, their homeworlds of Harmony and Association are plagued by inter-sect violence.

* PlanetOfHats: Many of the colonized planets have developed into highly specialized "Splinter Cultures". [[spoiler: The reasons for this is that humanity is unconsciously trying to figure out what is the most important aspects of humanity.]] In addition, with trained specialists as the interstellar currency, planets have no choice but to either fit into an economic niche or fail. The Splinter Cultures include:
** The Dorsai, who represent Courage - PrivateMilitaryContractors, ProudWarriorRace, [[AwesomeByAnalysis Brilliant Strategists]]
** Cassida - [[TheEngineer Engineers and technicians]].
** Coby - Miners
** Harmony and Association, home of The Friendlies who represent Faith - CultColony, ChurchMilitant, TheFundamentalist
** Mara and Kultis, home of the Exotics, a [[TechnicalPacifist ruthlessly peaceful]] people who represent [[ThePhilosopher Philosophy]] - TheMedic, [[RobeandWizardHat Robes]], PerfectPacifistPeople
** Newton and Venus - [[TheProfessor Hard Science planets]] that also highly [[TheSpock value logic]].
** Ste. Marie - Catholic farmers
** Ceta - Master Entrepreneurs
** Freiland - European decent, known for their Bureaucratic tendencies.

* PrivateMilitaryContractors - Both the Dorsai and the Friendlies depend largely on revenue from jobs as mercenaries. The Dorsai tend to be the elite forces, while the Friendlies specialized in providing more numerous, fanatical CannonFodder. The other worlds also hire out troops, but the Dorsai and Friendlies corner the market.

* TheUnfettered: Tam Olyn. He will let nothing stop his quest [[spoiler: to destroy the Friendlies as a culture.]]

* UniverseCompendium: ''The New Dorsai Companion'' by David W. Wixon, Dickson's assistant.
* UnstoppableRage: The Dorsai are noted for these - you do ''not'' want an angry Dorsai after you.

* WallOfWeapons: Though true for many Dorsai, it is subverted in the ''Lost Dorsai'': the titular hero has wall of musical instruments displayed as if they were weapons which convinces the narrator that he truly has become a pacifist.

* AuthorExistenceFailure

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The Childe Cycle was a rather ambitious undertaking. Not only there were six sf novels, but also three planned historical novels and three novels set in the present. Sadly, with Dickson's passing, we'll probably never get to see the full picture.

* NGOSuperpower: The Newsman's Guild. Thanks to the main currency being professional skills, and everyone needing accurate news, the Guild was rich. Thanks to their wide readership, it is also influential, and it's members were exempt from their contracts being traded without consent.

* NamingYourColonyWorld: The Cycle has fun with this, using New Something, Symbolica, and Mnemosyne. Though one wonders what "Dorsai" and "Kultis" means.

* AbsentAliens* ArmorPiercingQuestion - After Cletus Graeme has forced Melissa Khan to marry him as part of his overarching strategy, Melissa has only one question; "Then you never loved me?" "Did I ever say I did?" Cletus responds, and leaves the room. This tells Melissa all she needs to know. [[spoiler: He loves her. If the answer was no he wouldn't have evaded the question.]]

** ''Soldier, Ask Not'' with Tam Olyn.

* CannonFodder: The Friendlies only major export. Ironically because they corner this market, the Friendlies still make better soldiers than the inexperienced Cassidaian mercenaries.

* GalacticConqueror: Donal Graeme, though not exactly. He does become the Protector of the human worlds.

* LiteraryAllusionTitle: to Robert Browning's ''Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came''

** Cletus' original family name was Americanized into "Grahame". He latter changes it back to "Graeme".
** Conversed in ''Necromancer''. When Burton McLeod is introduced, the protagonist pronounces it "McCloud". Burton then points out how the spelling is different.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: The Friendlies are publicly disliked because of their fanaticism. To prove his objectivity, Tam Olyn writes a series of articles that paint the culture in good light. [[spoiler: It's part of Tam's plan to destroy their society.]]
* AbsentAliens
* ArmorPiercingQuestion - After Cletus Graeme has forced Melissa Khan to marry him as part of his overarching strategy, Melissa has only one question; "Then you never loved me?" "Did I ever say I did?" Cletus responds, and leaves the room. This tells Melissa all she needs to know. [[spoiler: He loves her. If the answer was no he wouldn't have evaded the question.]]

* TropeCodifier: With ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'' and HBeamPiper's ''Uller Uprising'', ''Dorsai!'' helped shape the modern conception of MilitaryScienceFiction. ''Dorsai!'' in particular introduced cunning and hyper-aware military commanders, psychopathic aides, religious-focus fanatics, and space mercenaries. Donal traits can be seen in [[CoDominium Col. Falkenberg]] and [[TheThrawnTrilogy Grand Admiral Thrawn]]. Lee serves as the seed for the psychopathic [[HammersSlammers Joachim Steuben]]. The Friendlies tend to invoke the fanatical [[CommandAndConquerTiberium Brotherhood of Nod]].

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* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: The Friendlies are publicly disliked because of their fanaticism. To prove his objectivity, Tam Olyn writes a series of articles that paint the culture in good light. [[spoiler: It's part of Tam's plan to destroy their culture.]]

* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Cletus Graeme, Donal Graeme, most other major Dorsai characters

* BadassArmy: The Dorsai
* BadassBookworm: Cletus Graeme

* BigBookOfWar: Written by Cletus Graeme

* FasterThanLightTravel: space travel is achieved through a series of jumps called phase shift, where the ship is annihilated at one spot and reconstituted in another. The jumps not only have to be extensively calculated (the ship must be located absolutely in the universe, and its destination point must also be exactly calculated, to the same degree), the jump itself has a psychological effect on the crew and passengers, so the more often the jump, the greater the psychic shock and the closer the people on board get to insanity. Tranquilizers are made available to help lessen the experience, but cannot nullify it. This is a subplot point in Dorsai!, where the effect is shown during a raid on a planet - something nobody thinks possible.
* FictionalFieldOfScience: The Exotics have a social science called ontogenetics that allow them to perceive patterns in human history and to a certain degree predict which individuals and events will be key points in the evolution of humans to a higher state of being. While the exact details are intentionally left vague, it is said to involve calculations that take into account every person in all the world, as well as how institutions and societies shape the pattern of history and human evoltion. One component of the science is the idea that certain individuals have an unusually large impact on the pattern of history. Gordon R. Dickson often uses this as something of an lampshade and in-universe justification for the fact that his MainCharacters (some arguably rising to the level of TheChosenOne) all play a major role in the movement of the Myth Arc toward his planned final ending

* GuileHero: Donal and Cletus Graeme.

** AbusiveParent: Mathias isn't physically violent nor neglectful, providing his home with his niece and nephew. The problem is that his nihilistic attitude - it discourages Tam and Eileen severely.

* ThePoliticalOfficer: The Friendlies have "Conscience Guardians" who seek out heresy among their troops. Interestingly enough, the Guardians authority is only over their Church members and not foreign mercenaries. In addition, they keep their forces from bickering with each other over issues of religious doctrine, preventing tensions within their army.
* PracticalCurrency: Due to high transport costs, interstellar currency largely consists of the trade of skilled professionals. So if a planet needs something or someone, they simply hire out another person in exchange. Many planets have specialized in certain fields to survive. In fact, the system not only affects interstellar politics, but drives the plot in several stories.

* VillainousBreakdown: At the end of ''Dorsai!'' [[spoiler: William of Ceta suffers a nasty one when Donal stops his plans. He's so out of it, William takes it out by killing Donal's brother and leaving him on display.]]

* TheDeterminator:
** The Dorsai are noted that they will never give up fighting, even when all else is lost. It is better to die than to be defeated.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity:
** William of Ceta in ''Dorsai!''. [[spoiler: As part of his manipulations, he sets up a crisis that gains his support to take over all the inhabited worlds.]]

* TheDeterminator: Ian Graeme in ''Warrior''. He goes to Earth to confront a gangster who was responsible for the death of one of Ian's officers. Never mind Ian didn't even like the officer, that the officer was executed rightfully, or that the gangster is well protected (both legally and physically). Ian will not let any of that prevent him from fulfilling his own duty.

* HeroicWillpower

** ''Soldier, Ask Not'' with Tam Olyn

** AbusiveParent: Mathias isn't physically violent nor neglectful, providing his home with his niece and nephew. The problem is that his nihilistic attitude - it depresses Tam and Eileen severely.
* TheObstructiveLoveInterest: Anea Marlivana from ''Dorsai'' and Melissa Khan from ''Tactics of Mistake''

* PracticalCurrency: Due to high transport costs, interstellar currency largely consists of the trade of skilled professionals. So if a planet needs something or someone, they simply hire out another person in exchange. As a result, many planets have specialized in certain fields to survive. In fact, the system not only affects interstellar politics, but drives the plot in several stories.

* SpaceColdWar: In "Tactics of Mistake", the Western Alliance and the Eastern Coalition are vying for influence with the new colonies.

# ''Dorsai!'' (1959)
# ''Necromancer'' (1962)

Additional short storys and novellas include:
* "Lost Dorsai" (novella) and "Warrior" (short story), published together in ''Lost Dorsai'' (1981)
* "Amanda Morgan" (novella) and "Brothers" (short story), published together in ''The Spirit of Dorsai'' (1979)

The Childe Cycle provides examples of:

* BadassAbnormal: Donal Grahame, arguably. He can travel through time by shear force of will, for example.

* CannonFodder: The Friendlies

* DefensiveFeintTrap: ''The Tactics of Mistake''. The title comes from the hero's tactical doctrine, which calls for a series of feints, that gradually draw the enemy into an untenable position, at which point he attacks, and demolishes them. In fact, his latter decedents will use this to great effect.
* DeflectorShields: Not for most of the books, but in ''The Final Encylopedia'' one is established around the entire Earth.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The Friendlies are [[FantasyCounterpartCulture based roughly]] on the Roundheads of the The EnglishCivilWar, while The Dorsai are loosely based on Swiss mercenaries.

* MagicalSociety: ''The Chantry Guild'' in ''Necromancer''. It's a loose alliance of alternative groups from Luddites to anarchists to satanists. They're all connected by the Guild's founder who wishes to destroy technological society to save mankind.

* NietzscheWannabe: Tam's Uncle, who raised him and his sister

** Played with Ceta. Despite the various nation-states, William has de facto control of the planet thanks to his economic manipulations.

* {{Reincarnation}}: In a manner of speaking

* SwissArmyGun: The "dallygun" from ''Tactics of Mistake''
* TheUnfettered

* TitleDrop

* GreatBigLibraryOfEverything:The Final Encyclopedia, which is a database of all human knowledge.

* TheLibraryOfBabel: The Final Encyclopedia is similar to this, albeit in computer format and without the death traps and monsters.

The ''Childe Cycle'' is an unfinished science fiction series by [[GordonRDickson Gordon R. Dickson]], with a setting stretching from the late 21st century into the 24th. Many of the stories in the series feature the Dorsai, an extremely capable warrior people who hire out to interstellar society as mercenaries.

* TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar: The Mercenaries Code

** Played straight with the Exotics, the Friendlies, Newton and Cassida. They're all worlds governed by strong, central planetary governments. Though the Friendly worlds suffered from Sectarian violence, their theocratic republic was the main power.

** Subverted with the Dorsai's United Cantons. Since the Dorsai are fierce individualists, so the planetary government has no real power.

* NietzscheWannabe: Tam's Uncle, who raised him and his sister.

* FictionalFieldOfScience: The Exoctics have a social science called ontogenetics that allow them to perceive patterns in human history and to a certain degree predict which individuals and events will be key points in the evolution of humans to a higher state of being. While the exact details are intentionally left vague, it is said to involve calculations that take into account every person in all the world, as well as how institutions and societies shape the pattern of history and human evoltion. One component of the science is the idea that certain individuals have an unusually large impact on the pattern of history. Gordon R. Dickson often uses this as something of an lampshade and in-universe justification for the fact that his MainCharacters (some arguably rising to the level of TheChosenOne) all play a major role in the movement of the Myth Arc toward his planned final ending