History Literature / GreenRider

* TriangRelations: Type 4. Karigan and Zachary are in love with each other, [[spoiler:and Estora is in love with Zachary]].

* OurElvesAreDifferent: The Elt or Eletians, [[NotUsingTheZWord elves in all but name]]. They're incredibly arrogant and very conscious of how much innate magic they have compared to humans. On occasion, though, [[ScrewYouElves the human characters will call them on it]] -- and on how unhelpful they can be when the fate of the world is at stake.
The [[spoiler:the villain of the first book is an Eletian gone bad]].

* {{Diary}}: Excerpts from the Diary of Hadriax el Fex are used to provide [[BackStory backstory]] for ''First Rider's Call''.

In ''Blackveil'' (2010), a joint expedition between the Eletians and Sacoridians, including Karigan, enters Blackveil Forest in order to determine the fate of Argenthyne, the lost capital of the Eletians. Grandmother also enters Blackveil after receiving a vision that she must "wake the Sleepers." At the Wall, Alton and Estral Andovian race to uncover the mysteries of its making and how it may be repaired, if it can be at all.

''Green Rider'' is both a series of SpeculativeFiction novels by Creator/KristenBritain and the name of the first novel in the series. They follow the adventures of Karigan G'ladheon, one of the titular Green Riders. The Green Riders are a messenger service in the Kingdom of Sacoridia who are magically called to service by the winged horse brooches, which amplify and enable their special magical talents.

In ''Green Rider'', Karigan discovers a young man dying from a pair of ominous black arrows. He is a Green Rider, and begs her to [[IAmDyingPleaseTakeMyMacGuffin carry his "life or death" message]] to the king. With his dying breath, he bids her to beware the shadow man. Karigan's promise changes her life forever. Pursued by unknown assassins, following a path only her horse seems to know, and accompanied by the silent specter of the original messenger, she herself must rise above being a simple schoolgirl and become one of the Green Riders of legend. Caught up in a world of deadly danger and complex magic, compelled by forces she cannot understand, Karigan is hounded by dark beings bent on seeing that the message, and its reluctant carrier, never reach their destination.

In ''First Rider's Call'', Karigan has gone back home to work in her father's trading business, but finds that resisting the call of the messenger service is far harder than she thought it would be. Returning to Sacor City, she finds the messenger service much diminished. Many riders die on their dangerous missions, but no new riders are answering to take their places. Rider magic is becoming unpredictable or failing entirely. Wild magic is scouring the land, and an ancient evil is stirring in the Blackveil Forest.

In ''The High King's Tomb'', the country of Sacoridia struggles to reclaim magical documents and knowledge lost since the long war to prepare for the confrontation with Mornhavon the Black. Meanwhile, the Second Empire, descendants of the original Empire led by Mornhavon, are ready to make their move to assert sovereignty over the nations once again.

In ''Blackveil'', a joint expedition between the Eletians and Sacoridians, including Karigan, enters Blackveil Forest in order to determine the fate of Argenthyne, the lost capital of the Eletians. Grandmother also enters Blackveil after receiving a vision that she must "wake the Sleepers." At the Wall, Alton and Estral Andovian race to uncover the mysteries of its making and how it may be repaired, if it can be at all.

In ''Mirror Sight'', Karigan finds herself two hundred years in the future, in a Sacoridia which fell to the Second Empire. Now she must find a way to return to her own time in order to prevent her country's fall.

In ''Firebrand'', Karigan, while still recovering from her travel into Blackveil and through time, is sent on another mission, while a creation of the Second Empire kidnaps the king and takes his place.

In ''Winterlight'', Karigan, returning from a mission to recruit the ph'edrose to help stand against Mornhavon, finds that Second Empire is readying itself for an all-out assault on Sacoridia, and that they have aligned themselves with the Darrow Raiders, a notorious group of brigands thought exterminated by Colonel Mapstone a generation before.

''Winterlight'', the seventh book in the series, is forthcoming.

** She finally attains level one status in ''Firebrand'', making her a rarity among Riders (Most Riders with swordmaster potential spend so much time on the road that they never get the training time needed to reach their full potential, and most of the rest end up dying in the line of duty). The King is level 3. All the Black Shields are level 4.

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Beryl Spencer manages to identify and turn all of [[spoiler:Spane]]'s allies in court and intercept all of his blackmail material [[spoiler:on the queen]] between chapters. Not bad for someone who's previous appearances as TheMole always ended with her being exposed and captured.

** Estora realizes the king has been replaced when he starts doting over her - very unusual behavior in a man who only married her for reasons of politics and is secretly in love with another woman.

* RankUp: In Book 6 the Riders are upgraded to a Colonel's command to give formerly-Captain Mapstone more authority when dealing with the rest of the military. This results in several other Riders (including Karigan) also getting promotions as this creates more rank slots under her.

** Also [[spoiler: Graelalia.]] [[spoiler: Especially considering that she's the sister of Eletia's Prince, but her death was necessary for Karrigan to succeed.]]

* NotUsingTheZWord: See OurElvesAreBetter.

* OurElvesAreBetter / TheFairFolk: The Elt or Eletians, [[NotUsingTheZWord elves in all but name]]. They're incredibly arrogant and very conscious of how much innate magic they have compared to humans. On occasion, though, [[ScrewYouElves the human characters will call them on it]] -- and on how unhelpful they can be when the fate of the world is at stake. The trope is also subverted when [[spoiler:the villain of the first book is an Eletian gone bad]].

* Expy: [[spoiler: Damian Frost and his wife, Lady]] are heavily reminiscent of Tom Bombadil and Goldberry.