History Literature / TheDivineCities

''The Divine Cities'' is a fantasy series authored by Robert Jackson Bennett.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: In ''City of Blades,'' [[spoiler: Rada Smolisk, survivor of the Battle of Bulikov, is the one trying to bring about the apocalypse]]. In a way, [[spoiler:Nokov in ''City of Miracles'' also qualifies, at least in his own eyes.]]

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: In ''City of Blades,'' [[spoiler: Rada Smolisk, survivor of the Battle of Bulikov, is the one trying to bring about the apocalypse]]. In a way, [[Nokov in ''City of Miracles'' also qualifies, at least in his own eyes.]]

* HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs: Philosopher's Stones, which have roughly the same effect as LSD, were historically used to commune with the Divine. As such, as Shara learns first-hand in a desperate last-minute plan near the end of the first book, while taking an enormous dose will drive you mad, [[spoiler:if you happen to know how to cast Miracles, they will make your casting of said Miracles *far* more powerful. She then creates *new* miracles, starts wiping out a whole Divine army with them, and basically temporarily becomes a god, all while high as a kite.]]

* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: It turns out that by the time ''City of Stairs'' is set, three divinities - Kolkan, Jukov, and Olvos - are actually still around, only the first two have been hidden away for a long time and the latter is voluntarily living in anonymity among mortals.]]

** By the time ''City of Stairs'' takes place, automobiles exist already, as do telephones and radio, and ironclad battleships (dreadnoughts) - any of that usually being wholly absent from the many examples of the StandardFantasySetting. However, at the same time, there are no firearms, only "bolt-shots" which seem to be something like crossbows. Needless to say, in our reality, (non-rifled) firearms were invented several centuries before either the telephone or the radio, much less the automobile.

** By the time of the finale, ''City of Miracles'', the level of technology approaches something like the TheThirties of our reality, with regular forays into TheFifties and beyond, what with large-scale electrification, automobiles and buses that are utterly commonplace, glass-and-steel skyscrapers with elevators in them, a heavy-duty cable car system, hand-held automatic firearms and much more. One distinct difference to the real world (apart from the whole Divinities thing, that is), however, is the utter lack of non-miraculous, purely technological aviation, of which there is not a single example even by the time of third book - although, by the standards of Saypuri technology in general at that point, they at the very least ought to have figured out the basic principles comfortably.
* SealedEvilInACan: While the Divinities aren't evil per se, [[spoiler:the Bulikovian restorationists in ''City of Stairs'' plot to release Kolkan and Jukov from where they have been held in order to help in their fight against Saypur. Since the gods CameBackWrong, it doesn't end well for anyone involved.]]

** In an ironic turn of events, [[spoiler:the Kaj himself was part Divine, though he didn't know this until the last Divinity told him]]. It was the only reason, in fact, why and how he managed to develop a weapon strong enough to kill the gods, [[spoiler:as a non-Blessed human could not have accomplished that]].

** [[spoiler:Vinya Komayd, Shara's aunt and head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs]], on the other hand, turns out to be Blessed, meaning her entire political career was not her own achiement. Her bitterness over that discovery is what kicks the plot of ''City of Stairs'' off by ordering the death of Dr. Efrem Pangyui, who made the discovery in the first place.

* TheseHandsHaveKilled: The source of Mulaghesh's trauma is [[spoiler: having killed innocents when she first started out as a soldier after being ordered to by her superior officer and not having questioned it.]] Her regrets over these actions define her later years as depicted in ''City of Blades''.

* TricksterGod: Jukov was the trickster Divinity of pleasure, corruption, chaos, madness, rebellion and a few other things. Stories of him playing tricks on his believers, like changing their form or luring them somewhere, abound. His favourite animal was the starling, but he seemed to favour birds in general, often turning himself or his followers into birds.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: In ''City of Blades,'' [[spoiler: Rada Smolisk, survivor of the Battle of Bulikov, is the one trying to bring about the apocalypse]].

* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: In ''City of Miracles'', when Sigrud and Ivanya Restroyka team up to bring down an enemy operative, Ivanya proceeds to shoot the target from a distance while Sigrud attacks directly, with a knife. However, [[SubvertedTrope: the roles switch around later]], with Sigrud using a pistol to distract a seneschal (human turned into a Divine entity) so that Ivanya can kill it with Sigrud's [[CoolSword: magic sword]].

* FantasyGunControl: Downplayed. Guns exist, but since the dominant tech culture is a nation lacking saltpeter, the weapons in ''City of Stairs'' are mostly advanced crossbows. Guns are fully present in the next book, thanks to Saypur starting to support the Continent's industry.

** Also Vallaicha Thinadeshi, the woman who explored the Continent after Saypur took over before suddenly disappearing from the face of the earth. In the second book she turns out to be NotQuiteDead -- Mulaghesh encounters her [[spoiler: in Voorya's afterlife where she was forced to [[GodJob take over the role of the dead god]].]]

** Saypuri scholars, including Shara herself, speculate that rather than dictating to their followers, [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve the Divinities were actually bound to humanity's wishes and needs, which directly influenced the gods' development and to some extent even shaped their personalities.]] The narration doesn't confirm or deny this.

* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: In ''City of Miracles'', when Sigrud and Ivanya Restroyka team up to bring down an enemy operative, Ivanya proceeds to shoot the target from a distance while Sigrud attacks directly, with a knive.

* DugTooDeep: The soldiers stationed in Fort Thinadeshi in ''City of Blades'' have found an ore with odd miraculous properties in the ground that they wish to mine and likely use for weaponry. Of course it turns out that [[spoiler:the ore is what's left of a giant grave of buried swords which are directly connected to tens of thousands of undead Voortyashtani warriors bent on destroying the living. And mining the swords woke them up. Oops.]]

* DeityIdentityConfusion: Jukov, the trickster god, lost his identity and started to believe that he was another god, [[spoiler:Kolkan when he concealed himself in a pane of glass that was a prison intended only to hold Kolkan]].