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* OrphanedSeries: [[https://catvalente.livejournal.com/676890.html?rfrom=yuki_onna Thea author]] has gone on record saying that the closing of the series' original publisher has put the third novel on hiatus until she can find a way of distributing it.
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%%* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
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* HatedByAll: The people like John well enough, but nobody likes the Christian teachings he brings with him.
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* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: The people like John well enough, but nobody likes the Christian teachings he brings with him.
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* HalfHumanHybrid: John's daughters Sefelet (half-blemmyae) and Anglitora (half-crane).
to:
* HalfHumanHybrid: John's daughters Sefelet Sefalet (half-blemmyae) and Anglitora (half-crane).
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** [[spoiler: Ysra and Ymra are Gog and Magog.]]
** [[spoiler: Hajji is Imtithal.]]
** [[spoiler: Hajji is Imtithal.]]
to:
** [[spoiler: Ysra [[spoiler:Ysra and Ymra are Gog and Magog.]]
**[[spoiler: Hajji [[spoiler:Hajji is Imtithal.]]
**
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* UnexpectedSuccessor: It's debated whether or not John should be allowed to take part in the Abir when he knows so little of Pentexore's ways, because what if he becomes someone important? And then he's the king. [[spoiler: He cheated.]]
to:
* UnexpectedSuccessor: It's debated whether or not John should be allowed to take part in the Abir when he knows so little of Pentexore's ways, because what if he becomes someone important? And then he's the king. [[spoiler: He [[spoiler:He cheated.]]
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* IJustWantToBeNormal: Sefalet is a freak of nature, even to Pentexore. And the possessed mouth really doesn't help her lovability.
to:
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Sefalet is a freak of nature, even to Pentexore. And Pentexore, and the possessed mouth really doesn't help her lovability.
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* MadOracle: Sefalet's left-hand mouth.
to:
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* OurGriffinsAreDifferent: Fortunatus.
to:
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* ParentsAsPeople: John and Hagia.
to:
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* PlantPerson: What everyone [[spoiler: even Thomas Didymus]] becomes after they die in Pentexore. The bodies of the dead are planted and become trees.
to:
* PlantPerson: What everyone [[spoiler: even [[spoiler:even Thomas Didymus]] becomes after they die in Pentexore. The bodies of the dead are planted and become trees.
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* ShroudedInMyth: Jesus.
to:
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* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Hiob von Luzern, Alexander the Great
to:
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Hiob von Luzern, Alexander the GreatGreat.
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%%* OurMonstersAreDifferent:
to:
%%* OurMonstersAreDifferent: OurMonstersAreDifferent
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* ParentalSubstitute: After her parents go to war, Sefelet is cared for by Vyala, Hadulph's mother.
to:
* ParentalSubstitute: After her parents go to war, Sefelet Sefalet is cared for by Vyala, Hadulph's mother.
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* PublicDomainCharacter: Prester John, John Mandeville
to:
* PublicDomainCharacter: Prester John, John MandevilleMandeville.
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* CreationMyth: The Garden of Eden story pops up here and there, but each of the races of Pentexore have their own myths of how the world came to be.
** Later, John tries to rewrite Genesis to fit Pentexore in it, because he simply can't let it go.
* CrisisOfFaith: Drives a lot of the plot. John tries hard to be a good Christian king of a kingdom of, in his view, heathen monsters.
** Later, John tries to rewrite Genesis to fit Pentexore in it, because he simply can't let it go.
* CrisisOfFaith: Drives a lot of the plot. John tries hard to be a good Christian king of a kingdom of, in his view, heathen monsters.
to:
* CreationMyth: The Garden of Eden story pops up here and there, but each of the races of Pentexore have their own myths of how the world came to be.
**be. Later, John tries to rewrite Genesis to fit Pentexore in it, because he simply can't let it go.
*CrisisOfFaith: CrisisOfFaith:
** Drives a lot of the plot. John tries hard to be a good Christian king of a kingdom of, in his view, heathen monsters.
**
*
** Drives a lot of the plot. John tries hard to be a good Christian king of a kingdom of, in his view, heathen monsters.
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* FantasticRacism: Averted, mostly. John is terrified of Pentexore's inhabitants, but he warms to them over time.
to:
* FantasticRacism: FantasticRacism:
** Averted, mostly. John is terrified of Pentexore's inhabitants, but he warms to them over time.
** Averted, mostly. John is terrified of Pentexore's inhabitants, but he warms to them over time.
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* [[ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty Immortality Begins at Thirty]]: Justified. People take their third pilgrimage to the Fountain at thirty, freezing them in time at that age.
to:
* [[ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty Immortality Begins at Thirty]]: ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty: Justified. People take their third pilgrimage to the Fountain at thirty, freezing them in time at that age.
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* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
to:
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* OurMonstersAreDifferent:
** OurAngelsAreDifferent: Qaspiel is an anthropteron. John's complete fascination with it confuses everyone.
** OurGriffinsAreDifferent: Fortunatus.
** OurAngelsAreDifferent: Qaspiel is an anthropteron. John's complete fascination with it confuses everyone.
** OurGriffinsAreDifferent: Fortunatus.
to:
* OurMonstersAreDifferent:
**OurAngelsAreDifferent: Qaspiel is an anthropteron. John's complete fascination with it confuses everyone.
** * OurGriffinsAreDifferent: Fortunatus.Fortunatus.
%%* OurMonstersAreDifferent:
**
%%* OurMonstersAreDifferent:
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* TheReveal: [[spoiler: Ysra and Ymra are Gog and Magog.]]
to:
* TheReveal: TheReveal:
** [[spoiler: Ysra and Ymra are Gog and Magog.]]
** [[spoiler: Ysra and Ymra are Gog and Magog.]]
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* SuccessionCrisis: Invoked and deliberately averted by the Abir, which decides the king by lottery. And even the the king does die, just plant him and wait a little while. He'll keep ruling in tree form.
to:
* SuccessionCrisis: Invoked and deliberately averted by the Abir, which decides the king by lottery. And even the when the king does die, just plant him and wait a little while. He'll keep ruling in tree form.
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* GrowsOnTrees: The tree of Prester John produces ''books.''
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* [[ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty Immortality Begins at Thirty]]: Justfied. People take their third pilgrimage to the Fountain at thirty, freezing them in time at that age.
to:
* [[ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty Immortality Begins at Thirty]]: Justfied.Justified. People take their third pilgrimage to the Fountain at thirty, freezing them in time at that age.
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* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: The people like John well enough, but nobody likes the Christian teachings he brings with him.
to:
* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: The people like John well enough, but nobody likes the Christian teachings he brings with him.him.
-----
-----
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* BilingualBonus: "Imtithal" is the Arabic for "obedience".
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# ''The Spindle of Necessity'' (2012)
to:
# ''The Spindle of Necessity'' (2012)
(TBA)
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* WeakerTwinSavesTheDay: More like weaker twin Thomas goes off to have much wilder adventures than
to:
* WeakerTwinSavesTheDay: More like weaker twin Thomas goes off to have much wilder adventures than adventures.
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* FountainOfYouth: It's notlhing like what the characters think it should be.
to:
* FountainOfYouth: It's notlhing nothing like what the characters think it should be.
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* SwitchingPOV: Each volume contains three books Hiob, or his assistance Alaric.
to:
* SwitchingPOV: Each volume contains three books books, and the frame narrative of Hiob, or his assistance Alaric.Alaric.
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* UnexpectedSuccessor: It's debated whether or not John should be allowed to take part in the Abir when he knows so little of Pentexore's ways, because what if he beocmes someone important? And then he's the king. [[spoiler: He cheated.]]
to:
* UnexpectedSuccessor: It's debated whether or not John should be allowed to take part in the Abir when he knows so little of Pentexore's ways, because what if he beocmes becomes someone important? And then he's the king. [[spoiler: He cheated.]]
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* BlueAndOrangeMorality: John's moral standards are perverse to the people of Pentexore, as are their moral standards to him.
to:
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: John's moral standards are perverse and inexplicable to the people of Pentexore, as are their moral standards to him.
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''A Dirge for Prester John'' is a fantasy trilogy by CatherynneMValente. It consists of:
to:
''A Dirge for Prester John'' is a fantasy trilogy by CatherynneMValente.Creator/CatherynneMValente. It consists of:
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''A Dirge for Prester John'' is a fantasy trilogy by Catherynne M. Valente. It consists of:
to:
''A Dirge for Prester John'' is a fantasy trilogy by Catherynne M. Valente.CatherynneMValente. It consists of:
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[[quoteright:309:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/PresterJohn_7934.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:309: A book about books. Edible books.]]
''A Dirge for Prester John'' is a fantasy trilogy by Catherynne M. Valente. It consists of:
# ''The Habitation of the Blessed'' (2010)
# ''The Folded World'' (2011)
# ''The Spindle of Necessity'' (2012)
In 1699, renowned orientalist Hiob von Luzern voyages to India in search of the legendary kingdom of Prester John, where strange mythological creatures have been converted to the Christian faith. Upon arrival, he discovers only a small village and a woman in yellow, who informs him that Prester John is gone. Unwilling to accept this, Hiob looks for some evidence of the lost kingdom. The woman in yellow shows him an impossible tree, one which grows books.
The books tell the story of the final days of the land of Pentexore, told by John himself, but also his wife, the blemmye Hagia. The third book is a curious little volume that tells the story of an earlier time before Pentexore adopted the Abir, the lottery by which people's lots in life are chosen. This book is told by Imtithal, an account of her task to care for the queen's children and the stories she tells them.
The more Hiob reads, the more his obsession with Prester John grows, and the more his obsession grows, the greater lengths he is willing to go to get the full story of what happened to the man who sent a letter to the western world several centuries ago.
----
!! ''A Dirge for Prester John'' provides examples of:
* AbdicateTheThrone: Abir gives up being queen at the second lottery.
* TheAgeless: No one who drinks from the Fountain three times will age.
* AngstySurvivingTwin: Thomas, after the crucifixion of Christ.
* ArmyOfThievesAndWhores: The army John brings to fight the Crusades. They're the cream of Pentexore, but they have no idea how to form an actual army.
* ArrangedMarriage: Every marriage in Pentexore is arranged via the Abir, though the people feel free to make that work or not, and take lovers whether they are happy or not with their spouse.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: John's moral standards are perverse to the people of Pentexore, as are their moral standards to him.
* CreationMyth: The Garden of Eden story pops up here and there, but each of the races of Pentexore have their own myths of how the world came to be.
** Later, John tries to rewrite Genesis to fit Pentexore in it, because he simply can't let it go.
* CrisisOfFaith: Drives a lot of the plot. John tries hard to be a good Christian king of a kingdom of, in his view, heathen monsters.
** In the frame story, Hiob's faith is also shaken by John's account of Pentexore.
* EndOfAnAge: John's reign is the downfall of Pentexore.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The woman in yellow, called Theotokos, which is clearly not her real name.
* FantasticRacism: Averted, mostly. John is terrified of Pentexore's inhabitants, but he warms to them over time.
** The people of Pentexore themselves don't feel this towards each other. Unless you count the people on the other side of the diamond wall.
** In the second volume, John leads an army out of Pentexore to help fight the Crusades. The humans react badly.
* FountainOfYouth: It's notlhing like what the characters think it should be.
* FramingDevice: Hiob's account of his voyage to India.
* FromTheMouthsOfBabes: Sefalet's left-hand mouth says things no child should say. And she has no control over it.
* {{God}}: Christ is almost a DeathByOriginStory character via accounts of Thomas Didymus, but whether or not he was divine is unclear.
* GrayAndGreyMorality: The people on either side of the diamond wall view themselves as the real Pentexore.
* GrowingUpSucks: Lamis, Ikram, and Houd hate leaving the nursery.
* HalfHumanHybrid: John's daughters Sefelet (half-blemmyae) and Anglitora (half-crane).
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Hiob von Luzern, Alexander the Great
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Sefalet is a freak of nature, even to Pentexore. And the possessed mouth really doesn't help her lovability.
* [[ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty Immortality Begins at Thirty]]: Justfied. People take their third pilgrimage to the Fountain at thirty, freezing them in time at that age.
* ImmortalityBisexuality: Not to mention taking lovers from a number of different species.
* ImmortalityImmorality: Thomas and John believe Pentexore is an abomination because no one should have life everlasting on Earth.
* InnocentBigot: John, who doesn't catch on for a long time that he's offensive or why.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
* MadOracle: Sefalet's left-hand mouth.
* TheMagicGoesAway: As yet, the reason why has not been revealed.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: John realizes too late that leading his people to war was entirely the wrong thing to do.
* OurMonstersAreDifferent:
** OurAngelsAreDifferent: Qaspiel is an anthropteron. John's complete fascination with it confuses everyone.
** OurGriffinsAreDifferent: Fortunatus.
* ParentsAsPeople: John and Hagia.
* ParentalAbandonment: Both Hagia and John go to fight in the Crusades, and neither of them seems to miss Sefalet that much.
* ParentalSubstitute: After her parents go to war, Sefelet is cared for by Vyala, Hadulph's mother.
* PlantPerson: What everyone [[spoiler: even Thomas Didymus]] becomes after they die in Pentexore. The bodies of the dead are planted and become trees.
* PoorCommunicationKills: John and his people have completely different ideas of what war is. He knows it means a lot of bloodshed (even if he naively also thinks of glory). His people think of the mating season of the cranes and pygmies.
* PreachersKid: Sefalet more than Anglitora. Sefalet is both angelic and diabolic.
* PublicDomainCharacter: Prester John, John Mandeville
* RashomonStyle: Not present through the whole text, but events are sometimes told from different, and conflicting, points of view. Namely John and Hagia's narration.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Just about everyone in Pentexore.
* TheReveal: [[spoiler: Ysra and Ymra are Gog and Magog.]]
** [[spoiler: Hajji is Imtithal.]]
* SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny: John struggles with sexuality.
* ShroudedInMyth: Jesus.
* SplitPersonality: Sefalet's right and left-hand mouths.
* StoryWithinAStory: The story of Prester John is told by books Hiob reads in the framing narrative.
* SuccessionCrisis: Invoked and deliberately averted by the Abir, which decides the king by lottery. And even the the king does die, just plant him and wait a little while. He'll keep ruling in tree form.
* SwitchingPOV: Each volume contains three books Hiob, or his assistance Alaric.
* TrappedInAnotherWorld: Getting into or out of Pentexore is impossible most of the year, effectively trapping anyone who isn't keeping a strict eye on the Rimal.
* UnexpectedSuccessor: It's debated whether or not John should be allowed to take part in the Abir when he knows so little of Pentexore's ways, because what if he beocmes someone important? And then he's the king. [[spoiler: He cheated.]]
* UnreliableNarrator: Mandeville just comes out and says he is one.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: The general response to Sefalet with regards to her left-hand mouth.
* WeakerTwinSavesTheDay: More like weaker twin Thomas goes off to have much wilder adventures than
* WhatTheHellHero: No one is really happy with anything John does, and he is often called out for his prejudice. Even Hiob, several centuries later, judges John for falling away from Christian teaching.
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Invoked and deliberately averted. The Abir exists to change up people's lives every couple centuries to make sure no one is bored or dissatisfied with living forever.
* WickedStepmother: Averted. When Anglitora comes to meet John, Hagia practically [[LikeASonToMe adopts her as her own]].
* YearOutsideHourInside: Time flows differently depending which side of the Rimal you're on. Which leads to John realizing that the world he knew is pretty much gone.
* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: The people like John well enough, but nobody likes the Christian teachings he brings with him.
[[caption-width-right:309: A book about books. Edible books.]]
''A Dirge for Prester John'' is a fantasy trilogy by Catherynne M. Valente. It consists of:
# ''The Habitation of the Blessed'' (2010)
# ''The Folded World'' (2011)
# ''The Spindle of Necessity'' (2012)
In 1699, renowned orientalist Hiob von Luzern voyages to India in search of the legendary kingdom of Prester John, where strange mythological creatures have been converted to the Christian faith. Upon arrival, he discovers only a small village and a woman in yellow, who informs him that Prester John is gone. Unwilling to accept this, Hiob looks for some evidence of the lost kingdom. The woman in yellow shows him an impossible tree, one which grows books.
The books tell the story of the final days of the land of Pentexore, told by John himself, but also his wife, the blemmye Hagia. The third book is a curious little volume that tells the story of an earlier time before Pentexore adopted the Abir, the lottery by which people's lots in life are chosen. This book is told by Imtithal, an account of her task to care for the queen's children and the stories she tells them.
The more Hiob reads, the more his obsession with Prester John grows, and the more his obsession grows, the greater lengths he is willing to go to get the full story of what happened to the man who sent a letter to the western world several centuries ago.
----
!! ''A Dirge for Prester John'' provides examples of:
* AbdicateTheThrone: Abir gives up being queen at the second lottery.
* TheAgeless: No one who drinks from the Fountain three times will age.
* AngstySurvivingTwin: Thomas, after the crucifixion of Christ.
* ArmyOfThievesAndWhores: The army John brings to fight the Crusades. They're the cream of Pentexore, but they have no idea how to form an actual army.
* ArrangedMarriage: Every marriage in Pentexore is arranged via the Abir, though the people feel free to make that work or not, and take lovers whether they are happy or not with their spouse.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: John's moral standards are perverse to the people of Pentexore, as are their moral standards to him.
* CreationMyth: The Garden of Eden story pops up here and there, but each of the races of Pentexore have their own myths of how the world came to be.
** Later, John tries to rewrite Genesis to fit Pentexore in it, because he simply can't let it go.
* CrisisOfFaith: Drives a lot of the plot. John tries hard to be a good Christian king of a kingdom of, in his view, heathen monsters.
** In the frame story, Hiob's faith is also shaken by John's account of Pentexore.
* EndOfAnAge: John's reign is the downfall of Pentexore.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The woman in yellow, called Theotokos, which is clearly not her real name.
* FantasticRacism: Averted, mostly. John is terrified of Pentexore's inhabitants, but he warms to them over time.
** The people of Pentexore themselves don't feel this towards each other. Unless you count the people on the other side of the diamond wall.
** In the second volume, John leads an army out of Pentexore to help fight the Crusades. The humans react badly.
* FountainOfYouth: It's notlhing like what the characters think it should be.
* FramingDevice: Hiob's account of his voyage to India.
* FromTheMouthsOfBabes: Sefalet's left-hand mouth says things no child should say. And she has no control over it.
* {{God}}: Christ is almost a DeathByOriginStory character via accounts of Thomas Didymus, but whether or not he was divine is unclear.
* GrayAndGreyMorality: The people on either side of the diamond wall view themselves as the real Pentexore.
* GrowingUpSucks: Lamis, Ikram, and Houd hate leaving the nursery.
* HalfHumanHybrid: John's daughters Sefelet (half-blemmyae) and Anglitora (half-crane).
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Hiob von Luzern, Alexander the Great
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Sefalet is a freak of nature, even to Pentexore. And the possessed mouth really doesn't help her lovability.
* [[ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty Immortality Begins at Thirty]]: Justfied. People take their third pilgrimage to the Fountain at thirty, freezing them in time at that age.
* ImmortalityBisexuality: Not to mention taking lovers from a number of different species.
* ImmortalityImmorality: Thomas and John believe Pentexore is an abomination because no one should have life everlasting on Earth.
* InnocentBigot: John, who doesn't catch on for a long time that he's offensive or why.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
* MadOracle: Sefalet's left-hand mouth.
* TheMagicGoesAway: As yet, the reason why has not been revealed.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: John realizes too late that leading his people to war was entirely the wrong thing to do.
* OurMonstersAreDifferent:
** OurAngelsAreDifferent: Qaspiel is an anthropteron. John's complete fascination with it confuses everyone.
** OurGriffinsAreDifferent: Fortunatus.
* ParentsAsPeople: John and Hagia.
* ParentalAbandonment: Both Hagia and John go to fight in the Crusades, and neither of them seems to miss Sefalet that much.
* ParentalSubstitute: After her parents go to war, Sefelet is cared for by Vyala, Hadulph's mother.
* PlantPerson: What everyone [[spoiler: even Thomas Didymus]] becomes after they die in Pentexore. The bodies of the dead are planted and become trees.
* PoorCommunicationKills: John and his people have completely different ideas of what war is. He knows it means a lot of bloodshed (even if he naively also thinks of glory). His people think of the mating season of the cranes and pygmies.
* PreachersKid: Sefalet more than Anglitora. Sefalet is both angelic and diabolic.
* PublicDomainCharacter: Prester John, John Mandeville
* RashomonStyle: Not present through the whole text, but events are sometimes told from different, and conflicting, points of view. Namely John and Hagia's narration.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Just about everyone in Pentexore.
* TheReveal: [[spoiler: Ysra and Ymra are Gog and Magog.]]
** [[spoiler: Hajji is Imtithal.]]
* SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny: John struggles with sexuality.
* ShroudedInMyth: Jesus.
* SplitPersonality: Sefalet's right and left-hand mouths.
* StoryWithinAStory: The story of Prester John is told by books Hiob reads in the framing narrative.
* SuccessionCrisis: Invoked and deliberately averted by the Abir, which decides the king by lottery. And even the the king does die, just plant him and wait a little while. He'll keep ruling in tree form.
* SwitchingPOV: Each volume contains three books Hiob, or his assistance Alaric.
* TrappedInAnotherWorld: Getting into or out of Pentexore is impossible most of the year, effectively trapping anyone who isn't keeping a strict eye on the Rimal.
* UnexpectedSuccessor: It's debated whether or not John should be allowed to take part in the Abir when he knows so little of Pentexore's ways, because what if he beocmes someone important? And then he's the king. [[spoiler: He cheated.]]
* UnreliableNarrator: Mandeville just comes out and says he is one.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: The general response to Sefalet with regards to her left-hand mouth.
* WeakerTwinSavesTheDay: More like weaker twin Thomas goes off to have much wilder adventures than
* WhatTheHellHero: No one is really happy with anything John does, and he is often called out for his prejudice. Even Hiob, several centuries later, judges John for falling away from Christian teaching.
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Invoked and deliberately averted. The Abir exists to change up people's lives every couple centuries to make sure no one is bored or dissatisfied with living forever.
* WickedStepmother: Averted. When Anglitora comes to meet John, Hagia practically [[LikeASonToMe adopts her as her own]].
* YearOutsideHourInside: Time flows differently depending which side of the Rimal you're on. Which leads to John realizing that the world he knew is pretty much gone.
* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: The people like John well enough, but nobody likes the Christian teachings he brings with him.
