Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Deleted line(s) 17,18 (click to see context) :
Added DiffLines:
* DivergingEvolutionaryPhases: The sequel, ''Pandemonium'', reveals that many of [[DeathWorld Hender's Island]]'s organisms are actually different forms of the same species, such as the disk-ants being capable of metamorphosing into several varieties of tree-like {{planimal}}s or the near-microscopic "nano-ants" that crawl over the skin of larger animals as symbionts, and the Hender's rat, which can be induced to transform into the gargantuan spiger by other rats. This, along with the fact they're almost all {{Explosive Breeder}}s, means that just ''one'' Hender's Island organism is needed to turn new land into a self-sustaining ecosystem.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 25 (click to see context) from:
** The entire premise of the Henders' species breeding and eating each other fast enough for their ecosystem remain stable runs afoul of trophic levels, meaning each organism only processes so many nutrients of their food, thus resulting in diminishing returns that would make their ecosystem unsustainable.
to:
** The entire premise of the Henders' species breeding and eating each other fast enough for their ecosystem tp remain stable runs afoul of trophic levels, meaning each organism only processes so many nutrients of their food, thus resulting in diminishing returns that would make their ecosystem unsustainable.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Up To Eleven is a defunct trope
Changed line(s) 10,11 (click to see context) from:
Turns out the island is a remnant of an ancient supercontinent from the Precambrian era, where everything has been evolving separately for 570 million years and the inherent savagery of life has been [[UpToEleven turned up to eleven]]; an orgy of violence where the food chain is thrown out the window and ''[[EverythingIsTryingToKillYou everything eats everything]]'' - the dominant lifeform being a land-going species of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_shrimp mantis shrimp]] capable of single-hand(claw?)edly shredding and devouring '''tanks.'''
to:
Turns out the island is a remnant of an ancient supercontinent from the Precambrian era, where everything has been evolving separately for 570 million years and the inherent savagery of life has been [[UpToEleven turned up to eleven]]; eleven; an orgy of violence where the food chain is thrown out the window and ''[[EverythingIsTryingToKillYou everything eats everything]]'' - the dominant lifeform being a land-going species of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_shrimp mantis shrimp]] capable of single-hand(claw?)edly shredding and devouring '''tanks.'''
Changed line(s) 63 (click to see context) from:
* TheHunterBecomesTheHunted: A pack of badger mantis-shrimps chases a group of Henders rats, but when one of the badgers trip, the rats turn around and devour it, followed by swarms of wasps and ants; then ''everything'' is eaten by a dog-sized animal that springs from the canopy, bringing this trope UpToEleven.
to:
* TheHunterBecomesTheHunted: A pack of badger mantis-shrimps chases a group of Henders rats, but when one of the badgers trip, the rats turn around and devour it, followed by swarms of wasps and ants; then ''everything'' is eaten by a dog-sized animal that springs from the canopy, bringing this trope UpToEleven.up to eleven.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 65 (click to see context) from:
* InfantImmortality: Both Fragment (Copepod the bull terrier) and its sequel (Ivan the Samoyed) have a dog in it, and both dogs survive to the end. Averted with [[spoiler: Kuzu, who as ''Pandemonium'''s BigBad is killed despite being pregnant at the time.]]
to:
* InfantImmortality: ImprobableInfantSurvival: Both Fragment (Copepod the bull terrier) and its sequel (Ivan the Samoyed) have a dog in it, and both dogs survive to the end. Averted with [[spoiler: Kuzu, who as ''Pandemonium'''s BigBad is killed despite being pregnant at the time.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* AlienKudzu: Henders clover is a vaguely lichen-like organism that can adapt its biochemistry pretty much instantly to absorb and process just about any material. It's everywhere, it grows like crazy, it destroys hardened buildings by literally eating them layer by layer, and wherever it is, a whole host of even nastier species comes with it because the clover forms the basis of the island's entire food chain.
Added DiffLines:
* ArmorPiercingAttack: Henders Island uses the local equivalent of woodpeckers, HollywoodAcid-spewing fern, flying worms with drills at one end, and sheer brute force to demolish armored structures and vehicles in record time. The military has to clear an entire area of ''all'' life just to be able to set up a base that doesn't get torn to pieces within two or three days at most.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** Every single species on Henders Island is born pregnant. Babies often already mate while still in the womb, and if they don't, they do so almost immediately after birth and then start popping out more offspring indefinitely until they're killed. They're also born completely developed and ready to partake in the island's endless slaughter from the get-go.
Added DiffLines:
* DeadlyDisc: [[spoiler:The hendropods]] defend themselves by launching these at attackers, with a single good hit being enough to bisect a fully-grown spiger at the waist. It's never mentioned where they get the ammo from, but they seem to have a generous supply of them ready at all times.
Added DiffLines:
* EyeScream: A lot of eyes suffer unpleasant fates over the course of the story. Some Henders species like drill-worms specifically target their victim's eyes first.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 37 (click to see context) from:
* BizarreAlienLocomotion: The white "bugs" are wheel-shaped, and can roll on their edges.
to:
* BizarreAlienLocomotion: The white "bugs" disc-ants are wheel-shaped, and can roll on their edges.edges. Larger species like Henders rats or spigers have prehensile tails that they can fold under their bodies to use like a powerful spring system that enables them to perform a DeadlyLunge over considerable distances.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 38 (click to see context) from:
* CallASmeerpARabbit: Henders "rats" aren't. Not even close. Meanwhile Henders "ants" are more like tires than ants. There's also a plantlike organism that changes the pigments it uses to photosynthesize depending on the level of light. It is named "clover." The book at least has the decency to include multiple arguments between scientists about how to name all the stuff on the island, mainly because most of them simply don't have a proper equivalent in known nature, so they're usually named after whatever comes closest in terms of biological niche.
to:
* CallASmeerpARabbit: Henders "rats" aren't. Not even close. Meanwhile Henders "ants" are more like tires than ants. There's also a plantlike organism that changes the pigments it uses to photosynthesize depending on the level of light. It is named "clover." The book at least has the decency to include multiple arguments between scientists about how to name all the stuff on the island, mainly because most of them it simply don't doesn't have a proper equivalent in known nature, so they're it's usually named after whatever comes closest in terms of biological niche.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 38,39 (click to see context) from:
* CallASmeerpARabbit: Henders "rats" aren't. Not even close. Meanwhile Henders "ants" are more like tires than ants.
** There's also a plantlike organism that changes the pigments it uses to photosynthesize depending on the level of light. It is named "clover."
** There's also a plantlike organism that changes the pigments it uses to photosynthesize depending on the level of light. It is named "clover."
to:
* CallASmeerpARabbit: Henders "rats" aren't. Not even close. Meanwhile Henders "ants" are more like tires than ants.
**ants. There's also a plantlike organism that changes the pigments it uses to photosynthesize depending on the level of light. It is named "clover."" The book at least has the decency to include multiple arguments between scientists about how to name all the stuff on the island, mainly because most of them simply don't have a proper equivalent in known nature, so they're usually named after whatever comes closest in terms of biological niche.
**
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 85 (click to see context) from:
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The early subplot involving Nell's nightmares about her 'monster' and her mother's death, sort of vanished and was never mentioned again. Then again, maybe she repressed those memories to focus on the [[EverythingTryingtoKillYou other monsters on the island.]]
to:
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The early subplot involving Nell's nightmares about her 'monster' and her mother's death, sort of vanished and was never mentioned again. Then again, maybe she repressed those memories to focus on the [[EverythingTryingtoKillYou other monsters on the island.]]]]
* TheWorfEffect: ''Fragment'' uses a mongoose, one of the hardiest invasive species in the world, to showcase just how ludicrously dangerous Henders Island is. The one the scientists let loose with a camera on its back barely survives for two minutes before meeting a gruesome end at the claws of the local equivalent of ''[[KillerRabbit a rat]]''.
* TheWorfEffect: ''Fragment'' uses a mongoose, one of the hardiest invasive species in the world, to showcase just how ludicrously dangerous Henders Island is. The one the scientists let loose with a camera on its back barely survives for two minutes before meeting a gruesome end at the claws of the local equivalent of ''[[KillerRabbit a rat]]''.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
** Most of the larger species (with "larger" starting at cat-sized) have two brains, the second one being located at the middle of their back where it serves as a semi-autonomous surveillance system that manages the additional eyes there.
Changed line(s) 47 (click to see context) from:
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: Henders "rats" have a second set of eyes at the middle of their backs.
to:
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: Henders "rats" rats and spigers have a second set of eyes at the middle of their backs.backs that allows them to literally watch their backs at all times. Disc-ants have stereoscopical eyes all around their circumference.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Being seconds away from ending between a giant spiger's jaws, one character in ''Fragment'' prefers self-inflicted [[NotTheFallThatKillsYou death by gravity]] over a fate like this.
Added DiffLines:
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Given the countless horrific ways the Henders species continuously kill each other, almost every human that dies on the island suffers one of these. Getting [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe bitten in half]] by a giant spider-tiger chimera is actually one of the most merciful ways to go out there.
Added DiffLines:
* MixAndMatchCritters: Henders creatures are apparently all descendents of prehistoric crustaceans, but they also sport fur, endoskeletons and other biological traits that crustaceans don't normally have.
Added DiffLines:
* WeaksauceWeakness: The Henders creatures are deathly allergic to... salt water. Hilariously, this results in the military arming their ground troops with squirt guns that prove more effective than regular boomsticks.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* ForgottenFallenFriend: Nell's close friendship with [[spoiler:her mentor Dr. Cato]] is mentioned repeatedly, but when he pulls a SenselessSacrifice near the climax of ''Fragment'', she doesn't even notice that he's missing. Nor do the others of their group, and the rest of the book treats the character as if he never existed.
Added DiffLines:
* NukeEm: Unsurprisingly, the US military's first, last and only plan to deal with Henders Island and everything on it is to drop a megaton nuke on it. [[spoiler:They go through with it in the end.]] Given the horrific threat the wildlife on this island poses to the entire rest of Earth's biosphere, it might just be one of the rare cases where it's actually justified.
Added DiffLines:
* SenselessSacrifice: Near the climax of ''Fragment'', [[spoiler:Dr. Cato]] leaves the relative safety of his vehicle to distract a horde of Henders creatures that are assaulting Nell and some others. It works long enough to get him killed, only for someone to cry out in horror and immediately draw the creatures' attention back to them.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 22 (click to see context) from:
* ArtisticLicenseBiology: The entire premise of the Henders' species breeding and eating each other fast enough for their ecosystem remain stable runs afoul of trophic levels, meaning each organism only processes so many nutrients of their food, thus resulting in diminishing returns that would make their ecosystem unsustainable.
to:
* ArtisticLicenseBiology: ArtisticLicenseBiology:
** The entire premise of the Henders' species breeding and eating each other fast enough for their ecosystem remain stable runs afoul of trophic levels, meaning each organism only processes so many nutrients of their food, thus resulting in diminishing returns that would make their ecosystemunsustainable. unsustainable.
** The entire premise of the Henders' species being hyper-vulnerable to salt water due to having evolved from ancient species before the oceans salinified. Every species on Earth had ancestors from that time, so the Henders' species had just as much time to adapt as everything else.
** The entire premise of the Henders' species breeding and eating each other fast enough for their ecosystem remain stable runs afoul of trophic levels, meaning each organism only processes so many nutrients of their food, thus resulting in diminishing returns that would make their ecosystem
** The entire premise of the Henders' species being hyper-vulnerable to salt water due to having evolved from ancient species before the oceans salinified. Every species on Earth had ancestors from that time, so the Henders' species had just as much time to adapt as everything else.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 24 (click to see context) from:
** Henders Island is populated by a lot of Ediacaran Fauna, in addition to various arthropods and Cambrian fauna. The problem? All of the weird Ediacaran fauna ''died out'' before the big Cambrian diversification. Not to mention the fact that the book suggests that all arthropods all the way down through mantis shrimp evolved there (which means that the [[KillItWithWater death-by-saltwater Henders Island animals]] would have had to of left the island over a dozen times!)
to:
** Henders Island is populated by a lot of Ediacaran Fauna, in addition to various arthropods and Cambrian fauna. The problem? All of the weird Ediacaran fauna ''died out'' before the big Cambrian diversification. Not to mention the fact that the book suggests that all arthropods all the way down through mantis shrimp evolved there (which means that the [[KillItWithWater death-by-saltwater Henders Island animals]] would have had to of have left the island over a dozen times!)
