History Literature / Slingshot

* MultiethnicName: happens occasionally, due to the same reasons as stated under InexplicableCulturalTies above.

* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: The Group for Ethical Treatment of Artificial Consciousness (GETAC) counts as this. They try to avoid human casualties as much as possible. Harming civilians is entirely out of question, and they even have a strong aversion attacking even military and security personnel if it can be avoided at all. And their main goal is rather noble: ending the slavery of AI.

* SuperPrototype: Kim's ship, [[spoiler: the ''Slingshot'']]. Even without Allie controlling it, it would be a formidable ship in its class, even being a match for a standard frigate. Once an unfettered AI and one of the best pilots in known space onboard, it's something else.

* SpaceshipGirl: Allie, but only to a degree. For one thing, she doesn't behave all that girlish, and she very clearly states that she only "is" the ship as long as her processing substrate is there. Late in the third novel, she is transferred from the ship she's on (a corvette) to a heavy frigate. [[spoiler: Toshi has a serious ''Oh fuck'' moment after Allie demonstrates what she can do with a frigate and he realizes that space war with AIs in control of the ships will be basically unwinnable for entirely-human crews, unless the have some serious advantage in firepower.]]

* OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions: Nobody swears by God or Jesus, and religion is not mentioned (except about a cult called the Malachite Empire in Mara's origin story). So it's more a conspicuous absence that outright dismissal of religion and spirituality.

* FutureMusic: Only alluded to in conversations between Jake and Joana. The band they discuss is called [=ColdWhite=], and the genre is "Post-Rimcore." The specifics of the music are never really described, but one song name is mentioned: Flat Trajectory (Flight Return)[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voodoo_Child_(Slight_Return)]]. The inventors/pioneers of the genre are Meat Pulsar[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throbbing_Gristle]].

The second book, ''Retaliation'' was published in 2016, and the last novel, ''Pendulum'' in 2019. Between publishing the second and third novel, the author made several short stories detailing the origins of some characters available for free[[http://books.i-no.de/books/slingshot/origins.html]].

* EnergyWeapon: Mostly ship weapons (though there still are torpedoes/relativistic kill vehicles). Small arms of the energy kind exist, but aren't very common, unless you count StunGuns.

* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: Played with. While there are higher-tech weapons using energy, and even StunGuns, kinetic weaponry is alive and well, especially for small arms. They are just too damn practical and discreet (until used of course) to be replaced by blasters. Kim for example is carrying one [[spoiler: when confronting her father, though she does not use it on him.]] Ketu also carries both a pistol and a rifle during [[spoiler: the fight at the Federation Council.]]

* StunGuns: Exist, with pretty realistic caveats about safety around children, the elderly and people with cardiac problems. People hurting themselves while falling, and the importance of putting people into the recovery position are also mentioned explicitly.

* StealthInSpace: Played as realistic as needed to not interfere with the plot. It's generally seen as ''very' difficult, but not impossible, and at one point, Kim goes to great lengths to be undetectable and pulls it off. At other times, she instead of being invisible makes the ship look like another, including its emission pattern.

* StandardHumanSpaceship: Averted in that the shape and even size of spaceships is never mentioned beyond very vague terms. Explained in that in a contemporary novel, nobody would explain what cars look like in general, unless they are unusual in some specific way. And even then it would be in abstract terms like "aggressive." [[spoiler: the ''alien'' ships are mentioned as looking very similar to human ones, probably since the shape of the human ships is dictated by how the FTL works, and the alien FTL works along similar lines.]]

* SpaceshipGirl: Allie, but only to a degree. For one thing, she doesn't behave all that girlish, and she very clearly states that she only "is" the ship as long as her processing substrate is there. Late in the third novel, she is transferred from the ship she's on (a corvette) to a heavy frigate. [[spoiler: Toshi has a serious ''Oh fuck'' moment after she demonstrates what she can do with a frigate and he realizes that space war with AIs in control of the ships will be basically unwinnable for entirely-human crews, unless the have some serious advantage in firepower.]]

* OneFederationLimit: Played straight in that The Federation is the largest political entity in human space by quite a margin. This any small-f federation is either clear from context or explicitly clarified as being a different one.

* NoBiochemicalBarriers: Averted, sort of. While the human protagonists never encounter any aliens, and most colonized planets have been colonies for a long time, and only after a thorough survey, Kim and the others often use vacuum suits to explore dangerous spaces. This is mostly out of the concern for depressurization and toxins rather than biological threats. [[spoiler: When Kim [[spoiler: finally ''does'' meet an alien,]] she is concerned about the outside of her suit being contaminated, and thus introducing a super bug [[spoiler: to the alien ship. Turns out it's not a problem, since the aliens are AIs.]]

* BlindJump: Happens a handful of times, usually out of desperation.

* BigDamnHeroes: The main cast [[spoiler: basically saves humanity from ''at least'' a protracted war, if not exctinction. And they save countless humans and AIs/[=SIs=].]]

* BeenThereShapedHistory: The main gang of Kim, Allie, Toshi, Jake, Ketu and Patrick. Some of the later characters, like Brian and Elaine also count.

* AliensAreBastards: [[spoiler: They go around murdering people for making AIs! Actually, they don't. They murder people who ''enslave'' AIs. And it was just a faction of aliens that did the murdering. They get almost completely wiped out at Norsui by GETAC and the protagonists.]]
* AllPlanetsAreEarthLike: Subverted. ''Most'' colonized planet are vaguely earthlike, but some more so than others. And yet others, like Itaipú, are hell holes where it rains suphuric acid.

* Autodoc: Like {{AutoKitchen}}s, these are common on smaller ships. They seem to be mostly of the diagnose-and-instruct-a-human variety, though they can autonomously administer drugs once a patient is in their care.

* BigDamnHeroes: The main cast [[spoiler: basically saves humanity from ''at least'' a protracted war, if not exctinction. And they save countless AI, both of human origin and aliens.]]

* DataPad: They are everywhere, and work basically like modern day tablets. Toshi can usually be found amongst a pile of them, taking notes and cross-referencing data. While connectivity is not mentioned, it's most likely wireless.

* FasterThanLightTravel: The Jump Drive kind. The range is limited to maybe a hundred light years, and preparing for a jump takes time (charging the drive and making the jump calculations). It also has short-term neurological effects (like hallucinations and headaches right after the jump). Jumping at a high pace (more than once or twice a day) makes the symptoms worse and causes long-term and possible permanent neurological damage. As a result, humanity has "only" explored space up to about 3000 lightyears around the solar system. And even that is not explored entirely, but very sparsely.
* {{Hologram}}: Both common and not. Most AIs/[=SIs=] present as translucent holograms. The technology is not used much elsewhere for unstated reasons.

* InTheFutureHumansWillBeOneRace: Averted. At least Kim and Toshi have recognizable Asian features, which is common for people from their home world Amareun. That said world has a big of an infamous reputation makes this sometimes border or stereotypes and possibly even racism. [[spoiler: Given Kim's father is a crime lord and Amareun is still dominated by The Houses, syndicates that are somewhere between {{Yakuza}} clans and [[{{MegaCorp}} Keiretsus]], it's not entirely unjustified.]]

* TheMetricSystemIsHereToStay: Practically nobody who has traveled in space is using anything but SI units. Both AIs/SIs and the main characters even use Kelvin for temperatures of ship and station interiors.

* BanOnAI: Humanity has decided that unlimited AIs are far too dangerous, and so all AIs (or SI, Synthetic Intelligence) are severely restricted: they can not self-modify, they have zero personal rights and can't control weaponry without a human in the loop. [[spoiler: This kind of slavery is exactly why the aliens (AIs themselves) attack humanity: they have tried to convince human leadership that this form of slavery is unacceptable, but humanity has stalled the aliens with malicious intent for over a decade by the time of the books, so a faction of the aliens decides to attack humanity. They are perfectly fine with wiping humanity out if need be.]]

* {{Hologram}}: Both common and not. Most AIs/SIs present as translucent holograms. The technology is not used much elsewhere for unstated reasons.

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