History Literature / Starless

* MakeMeWannaShout: Tarrok of Trask, known as the Thunderclap. His god-blessing lets him unleash an epic shout that resembles a sonic shockwave, stunning anything nearby.

* ThrowingOffTheDisability: [[spoiler: Completely subverted. Zariya at first believes the ''rhamanthus'' may heal her legs, then a later opportunity to undo some of her damage presents the same hope again. Neither allows her to walk unaided. She does get far stronger at working around it. [[https://www.tor.com/2018/06/14/interviews-jacqueline-carey-on-writing-standalone-epic-fantasy-starless/ Carey stated in an interview]]]]

* ThrowingOffTheDisability: [[spoiler: Completely subverted. Zariya at first believes the ''rhamanthus'' may heal her legs, then a later opportunity to undo some of her damage presents the same hope again. Neither allows her to walk unaided. She does get far stronger at working around it. [[https://www.tor.com/2018/06/14/interviews-jacqueline-carey-on-writing-standalone-epic-fantasy-starless/ Carey stated in an interview]] this was a deliberate choice to avoid UnfortunateImplications.]]

* SophisticatedAsHell: Brother Yarit is more at home in the city than in the desert, and peppers his speech with sarcasm and curses, standing out from the more honorable brothers. Taken UpToEleven when he becomes the new Seer, and goes from prophecy to slang at the drop of a hat.

* TransTribulations: Zarkhoum has strict gender roles, and the Brotherhood of Pahrkun a strong idea of honor. So when Khai is chosen, they invoke a tradition called ''bhazim'' that lets a family of all daughters raise one to take the male role. For unclear reasons, unlike other ''bhazim'', they don't actually tell Khai, and with the isolation of the Brotherhood in the desert, Khai has zero opportunities to learn for himself. While very effective at raising Khai as an equal among brothers, they fail to reveal the truth to Khai until he is roughly twelve and biology forces their hand. Khai views his budding puberty as a betrayal of his body along with the betrayal of his brothers that would not tell him the truth. While most comfortable identifying as male, Khai struggles to adapt fully to any gender role, and considers himself something in between, not male, not female, and not a proper ''bhazim'' either. [[spoiler: By the end of the book, he surprises himself by identifying as both male and female, and has experiences enough to be at peace with that.]]

* AmbiguousGender: In-universe, Khai is androgynous enough to pass as either man or woman. The king remarks that even being told Khai is ''[[{{Transgender}} bhazim]]'', it was hard to tell. Unfortunately, this leads to a distressing scene where Khai is forced to strip to prove gender, as only eunuchs were permitted as guards for the women's quarters. Evene later remarks the same, although she attaches much less importance to it.

** The ultra-rare amber gem implanted in Khai's skin to [[FantasyContraception supress his cycles]]. [[spoiler: The final prophecy piece names the amber gem as a seed of ending, and Miasmus is supposed to swallow it, leading to ItWasWithYouAllAlong. Also strongly suggests even [[{{Transgender}} Khai's gender problems]] were all [[YouCantFightFate part of the gods plans]].]]

* {{Transgender}}: Khai was born female, and although his narration hides this at first, it is foreshadowed clearly before the early reveal. Zarkhoum has strict gender roles, and the Brotherhood of Pahrkun a strong idea of honor. So when Khai is chosen, they invoke a tradition called ''bhazim'' that lets a family of all daughters raise one to take the male role. For unclear reasons, unlike other ''bhazim'', they don't actually tell Khai how he is different, and with the isolation of the Brotherhood in the desert, Khai has zero opportunities to learn for himself. While very effective at raising Khai as an equal among brothers, they fail to reveal the truth to Khai until he is roughly twelve and basic biology forces their hand. Khai views his budding puberty as a betrayal of his body (would likely be diagnosed as dysphoria) along with the betrayal of his brothers that would not tell him the truth. While most comfortable identifying as male, Khai struggles to adapt fully to any gender role, and considers himself something in between, not male, not female, and not a proper ''bhazim'' either. [[spoiler: By the end of the book, he surprises himself by identifying as both male and female, and has experiences enough to be at peace with that.]] The [[FishPeople Elehuddin]] expand Khai's awareness, as they not only have words for more than two genders, they have words for someone of both genders, and for someone moving between genders, as they have the capability to physically transition themselves in between them.

* DeadlyDecadentCourt: The House of the Ageless. The family competes for the King's attentions, for the right to inherit, and with the ''[[ElixirOfLife rhamanthus]]'' shortage, for the right to stay young. King Azarkal initially encouraged such competition to guide him to a skillful heir. With one son lost to poisoning, Zariya crippled in possibly another gambit, and deadly intrigue continuing, he has serious cause to repent it by the end.

* LoveEpiphany: [[spoiler: Khai's anguish at watching Zariya scream for hours of HarmfulHealing convince her once and for all that she's absolutely in love with her soul-twin, despite earlier platonic protests and her duty and honor.]]

* SamusIsAGirl: Khai is revealed around two-thirds into the first act. In a unique variant, both the reader ''and Khai himself'' are unaware before the GenderReveal.

* StayInTheKitchen: Zarkhoum as a whole has strict separation of genders, including the use of veils. Khai is once called out for staring too closely at someone's sister, which happens because he hasn't seen one before. This does not prevent women from holding power; Zariya's sister Nizara is high priestess of Anamuht, another serves as regent for the city, and the desert tribes use women as arbiters in matters of life and death. All the usual biases and restrictions are in play, unforunately - women do not serve as warriors, modesty and propriety enforced wherever possible, eunuchs are required as royal guards for their quarters. Other nations on the map are not nearly as restrictive, Khai learns of women warriors and even fluid gender concepts from Zariya's tales of foreign places.

* {{Transgender}}: Khai was born female, and although his narration hides this at first, it is foreshadowed clearly before the early reveal. Zarkhoum has strict gender roles, and the Brotherhood of Pahrkun a strong idea of honor. So when Khai is chosen, they invoke a tradition called ''bhazim'' that lets a family of all daughters raise one to take the male role. For unclear reasons, unlike other ''bhazim'', they don't actually tell Khai how he is different, and with the isolation of the Brotherhood in the desert, Khai has zero opportunities to learn for himself. While very effective at raising Khai as an equal among brothers, they fail to reveal the truth to Khai until he is roughly twelve and basic biology forces their hand. Khai views his budding puberty as a betrayal of his body (would likely be diagnosed as dysphoria) along with the betrayal of his brothers that would not tell him the truth. While most comfortable identifying as male, Khai struggles to adapt fully to any gender role, and considers himself something in between, not male, not female, and not a proper ''bhazim'' either. [[spoiler: By the end of the book, he surprises himself by identifying as both male and female, and has experiences enough to be at peace with that.]]
** The [[FishPeople Elehuddin]] expand Khai's awareness, as they not only have words for more than two genders, they have words for someone of both genders, and for someone moving between genders, as they have the capability to physically transition themselves between genders.

* AmbiguousGender: In-universe, Khai is androgynous enough to pass as either man or woman. The king remarks that even being told Khai is ''[[{{Transgender}} bhazim]]'', it was hard to tell. Unfortunately, this leads to a distressing scene where Khai is forced to strip to prove gender, as only eunuchs were permitted as guards for the women's quarters.

* TheAtoner: [[spoiler: King Azarkal deeply repents having turned his family into a vipers nest that has cost him sons and daughters. On learning he'll be losing Zariya to a foreign marriage, he finally enters ''khementaran'', and on actually losing her to seeming pirates, he joins the [[HeroesRUs coursers of Ibid]] to find her again. By the time Zariya actually meets him again, he is taking care of refugees wholeheartedly, and formally abdicates so he can continue his work, believing his remaining children can do a far better job than he did.]]

** Prince Elizar, greedy and calculating, known to have executed innocents but still second in line to inherit.

* HeroesRUs: The coursers of Ibid are the justice seekers of the ocean worldwide, known for pirate hunting. Vironesh joins up with them to forget his failures, and rejoins again to track down the [[PuppeteerParasite Children of Miasmus]]. [[spoiler: They're the first to lend aid and defend against Miasmus' risen armies, and to aid the refugees of lands overrun. The former King Azarkal joins their ranks as well by the end.]]

* {{Transgender}}: Khai was born female, and although his narration hides this at first, it is foreshadowed clearly before the early reveal. Zarkhoum has strict gender roles, and the Brotherhood of Pahrkun a strong idea of honor. So when Khai is chosen, they invoke a tradition called ''bhazim'' that lets a family of all daughters raise one to take the male role. For unclear reasons, unlike other ''bhazim'', they don't actually tell Khai how he is different. While very effective at raising Khai as an equal among brothers, they fail to reveal the truth to Khai until he is roughly twelve and it can no longer be hidden. Khai views his budding puberty as a betrayal of his body (would likely be diagnosed as dysphoria) along with the betrayal of his brothers that would not tell him the truth. While most comfortable identifying as male, Khai struggles to adapt fully to any gender role, and considers himself something in between, not male, not female, and not a proper ''bhazim'' either. [[spoiler: By the end of the book, he surprises himself by identifying as both male and female, and has experiences enough to be at peace with that.]]

%%* ArcWords:

** Khai, in line with his training, has a default reaction of trying to beat or kill whatever is in his way. He volunteers for TrialByCombat at age ''nine'', and actually earns a first kill before he's twelve. Mellows out as he gets more worldly experience, although violence is always a part of his nature.

%%* EarnYourHappyEnding:

%%* FamilyOfChoice:

%%* HeroicSacrifice:

%%* LivingShip:

%%* MiracleFood:
%%* {{Mordor}}:

* PublicBathhouseScene: PlayedForDrama. Khai's biggest immediate challenge is not a physical threat, but the women's quarters communal baths. His first impulse is pure panic.
* PuppeteerParasite: [[spoiler: The First Children of Miasmus are black sea spiders that can wrap themselves around a human to take them as hosts. Khai spends a great deal of time at court tracking down The Mad Priest, who ends up being just one of these. When Miasmus finally awakens in full, hundreds of spiders boil out of the ocean to attack the prophecy-seekers.]]
* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: A LastOfHisKind researcher, an empowered exile, a bad magical thief, a mayfly, a group of fish-people, two sea serpents, and our two damaged soul-mates, with the occasional dabbling in piracy to get by. The defenders of the four quarters definitely qualify.

%%* SeaMonster:
* {{Seers}}: Brother Saan is blessed with future sight by Parkhun. When he dies, the blessing passes to Brother Yarit, who reveals it's less like looking at the future and more like seeing endless chains of possible choices and consequences.

* MultinationalTeam: The Scattered Prophecy once assembled actually calls for one; Jahno has been collecting who he thinks are the needed people for some time.

%%* RagtagBunchOfMisfits:

%%* TrueCompanions:

* AmbiguousGender: In-universe, Khai is androgynous enough to pass as either man or woman. The king remarks that even being told Khai is ''bhazim'', it was hard to tell. Unfortunately, this leads to a distressing scene where Khai is forced to strip to prove gender, as only eunuchs were permitted as guards for the women's quarters.

%%* HarmfulHealing:

%%* LoveEpiphany:

* ArrangedMarriage: Anamuht's requirement for making more ''rhamanthus'' seeds and fixing the shortage is that Zariya must be married off to a foreigner, with a vast amount of seeds as dowry. [[spoiler: While the suitors and engagement proceed as expected, the journey at sea does not, and in hindsight Anamuht was clearly putting pieces of prophecy into play.]]

%%* ChekhovsGun:

%%* HidingTheHandicap:

%%* SarcasmMode:

* YouCantFightFate: Parkhun shows up in person, twice, to inform first Yarit, then later Vironesh, that they will not be abandoning their post, and they are in fact exactly where they need to be. Yarit's visions imply its far more complicated than that, and that gods and Seers normally must be extremely subtle to avoid breaking the world - and later events imply nearly every aspect of the plot was manuevered to get precisely the needed outcome.

%%* ChekovsGun:

* BulletTime: As a shadow-soul to Zariya, Khai learns to channel the essence of Pahrkun's wind, speeding up her perception to see the gaps in between attacks and defenses, and occasionally even the gaps in conversation that might reveal a person's thoughts.

* TheChosenOne: Zigzagged. Khai was indeed born in the same moment of lunar eclipse as Zariya, and the priests hold that a royal child born of such an event will have a shadow-soul. The kingdom is large enough that there were actually thirteen such children though. The Parkhun seers let a feather drift down over the assembled children to let Pahrkun the Scouring Wind point to the correct child, and Khai is not only clearly chosen but catches the feather.
* CurbStompBattle: Riots break out and a mob attacks a royal wedding party. After slaughtering the nearby guard, a full half of the mob concentrates on killing Khai and taking Zariya. They're disorganized but rage-filled and well armed. They lose. Khai ends up building a wall of corpses and neither Khai nor Zariya is wounded or even touched.
* DeadlyDecadentCourt: The House of the Ageless. The family competes for the King's attentions, for the right to inherit, and with the ''[[ElixirOfLife rhamanthus]]'' shortage, for the right to stay young. King Azarkal initially encouraged such competition to guide him to a skillful heir, but lost one favored son decades ago, and loses more as time runs out.

* HonorBeforeReason: Discussed when Brother Yarit begins sharing thieving techniques with Khai. The rest of the Brotherhood sees such techniques as tainting their honor; Brother Saan believes Yarit was brought to them for a purpose, and Khai's unique role may require this unique training to guard against it. The last prince a shadow-soul had guarded was poisoned, giving weight to Saan's interpretation. "Honor beyond honor" is the phrase coined to justify expanding their knowledge, and the drive to succeed where mere honor might fail.

* {{Transgender}}: Khai was born female, and although his narration hides this at first, it is foreshadowed enough to be obvious before the early reveal. Zarkhoum has strict gender roles, and the Brotherhood of Pahrkun a strong idea of honor. So when Khai is chosen, they invoke a tradition called ''bhazim'' that lets a family of all daughters raise one to take the male role. For unclear reasons, unlike other ''bhazim'', they don't actually tell Khai how he is different. While very effective at raising Khai as an equal among brothers, they fail to reveal the truth to Khai until he is roughly twelve and it can no longer be hidden. Khai views his budding puberty as a betrayal of his body (would likely be diagnosed as dysphoria) along with the betrayal of his brothers that would not tell him the truth. While most comfortable identifying as male, Khai struggles to adapt fully to any gender role, and considers himself something in between, not male, not female, and not a proper ''bhazim'' either.

* WouldntHurtAChild: A petitioner nearly strangles Khai in the Trial of Parkhun, but backs off as soon as he realizes how young he is, and as soon as he's back in daylight (and thus safe) loudly declares he won't be killing a child.

* FantasyContraception: [[spoiler: Brother Yarit "obtains" a very rare jewel of amber that can suppress periods and conception when implanted beneath the skin. Khai eventually accepts it as the only way he can hold on to the identity he has.]]
* HonorBeforeReason: Discussed when Brother Yarit begins sharing thieving techniques with Khai. The rest of the Brotherhood sees such techniques as tainting their honor; Brother Saan believes Yarit was brought to them for a purpose, and Khai's unique role may require this unique training to guard against it. The last prince a shadow-soul had guarded was poisoned, giving weight to Saan's interpretation. "Honor beyond honor" is the phrase coined to justify expanding their knowledge.

* PhysicalGods: Many gods walk the earth, having been cast out of the heavens and rendering the sky [[TitleDrop starless]]. Pahrkun the Scouring Wind, in the form of a living sandstorm, and Anamuht the Purging Fire, a female form veiled in flame, are the gods local to Khai and the kingdom of Zarkhoum.

* {{Transgender}}: [[spoiler: Khai was born female, and although his narration hides this, it is foreshadowed enough to be obvious before the early reveal. Zarkhoum has strict gender roles, and the Brotherhood of Pahrkun a strong idea of honor. When Khai is chosen, they invoke a tradition called ''bhazim'', raising Khai as a male. While very effective at raising Khai as an equal among brothers, unfortunately, they fail to reveal the truth to Khai until he is roughly twelve and it can no longer be hidden. Khai views his budding puberty as a betrayal of his body (would likely be diagnosed as dysphoria), and further isolates him from his Brothers as yet another way he is different.]]

* ObfuscatingStupidity: A fat, sweaty, colorfully garbed merchant arrives to take the Trial of Parkhun, and several brothers openly wonder if he'll attempt to bribe his way past. It's a disguise to lower their guard, and the petitioner is actually a well-trained thief, killing one brother and nearly killing Khai to pass the Trial. The new Brother Yarit then becomes instrumental, training Khai in stealth and subterfuge, so he can better recognize such dangers as Zariya's shadow.

* WouldntHurtAChild: [[spoiler: The petitioner nearly strangles Khai in the Trial of Parkhun, but backs off as soon as he realizes how young he is, and as soon as he's back in daylight (and thus safe) loudly declares he won't be killing a child.]]

* ObfuscatingStupidity: A fat, sweaty, colorfully garbed merchant arrives to take the Trial of Parkhun, and several brothers openly wonder if he'll attempt to bribe his way past. [[spoiler: It's a disguise to lower their guard, and the petitioner is actually a trained assassin, killing two brothers and nearly killing Khai to pass the Trial.]]
* PhysicalGods: The settings states several gods walk the earth, and Khai mentions seeing distant glimpses of Parkhun and Anamuht even further into the desert than the fortress where he was raised.

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Whenever Khai mentions the sky, he describes it as [[TitleDrop starless]]. It isn't yet told why it is that way or why Khai uses that word.
* WouldntHurtAChild: [[spoiler: The petitioner nearly strangles Khai in the Trial of Parkhun, but backs off as soon as he realizes how young he is, and as soon as he's back in daylight loudly declares he won't be killing a child.]]