History Literature / TheFallOfTheSeaPeople

''The Fall of the Sea People'' is an epic fantasy series by Creator/HenryHallan. The first volume, ''Venus and the Sea People'', sees a singer return from life at [[LandOfOneCity The City]] to her home village nearly nine hundred years after she departs. She is befriended by two local girls, who persuade her to take them to the City. The rest of the first volume follows the rise to power of one of those girls, and ends on a [[CliffHanger cliffhanger]].

%%* AllDeathsFinal: because raising the dead is forbidden art

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Sixty named characters introduced in the first volume.

* AllDeathsFinal: because raising the dead is forbidden art
* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Geana and Eala. Possibly plot-significant in that they [[spoiler: both carry a magical gene]]
* AngstySurvivingTwin: [[spoiler: The Mentor]]

* StrangerInAFamiliarLand: Éirime is this
* TheFogOfAges: the Mentor can't remember what [[spoiler: his wife]] looked like.

* TwinDesynch: [[spoiler: inevitable after Eala is Selected]]
* TwinSwitch: Geana and Eala did this to Ordóg
* TwoSiblingsInOne: strongly implied with [[spoiler: the Mentor and his dead brother]]

* UnresolvedSexualTension: Aclaí and Éirime

%%* DeadlyDecadentCourt: the favourites, and their circles in turn

''The Fall of the Sea People'' is an epic fantasy series by Henry Hallan. The first volume, ''Venus and the Sea People'', sees a singer return from life at [[LandOfOneCity The City]] to her home village nearly nine hundred years after she departs. She is befriended by two local girls, who persuade her to take them to the City. The rest of the first volume follows the rise to power of one of those girls, and ends on a [[CliffHanger cliffhanger]].

* {{AngstySurvivingTwin}}: [[spoiler: The Mentor]]
* {{AnyoneCanDie}}: half of [[spoiler: Eala's]] novice companions are dead before the end of the first book.

* [[spoiler:{{Atlantis}}]]
* CasualKink: quite a few
* CharmPerson: [[spoiler: Initiation]]
* CliffHanger: more literal than most
* ConstructedWorld: An in-universe example - Anleacán, possibly others

* CountryMouse: [[spoiler: Eala]]
* CrapsackWorld: the City. And a lot of the rest of the world, too.
* DeadlyDecadentCourt: the favourites, and their circles in turn
* DistantPrologue: although it is all set [[spoiler: in the time of Atlantis]], the first chapter is set about 900 years before the rest. Somewhat averted in that the main character of the prologue is also a significant character in the rest of the first book.
* DontGoInTheWoods: except that most Novices have to. Trying to avoid Forest Service is a major motivator for Novices.
* DontSplitUsUp: Eala goes to Selection because she wants to stay with her sister. [[spoiler: She was Selected, her sister was sent home. So if she hadn't gone, they'd have been together back home.]]
* EldritchAbomination: in the Forest. And Fómhar, helping on the waterfront in the City.
* EverybodyHasLotsOfSex: certainly some is lampshaded by Abhainne as [[CastingCouch a way to win favour from higher Ranks]], more is possibly justified among the Novices as GladToBeAliveSex.
* {{FantasticRankSystem}}: The City has three tiers of ranks, Novice, Veteran and Immortal, with eight levels in each. The FantasticHonorifics are simple: someone in a higher tier is addressed as "Lord/Lady", and the Mentor is addressed as "Mentor". But peasants address all of them, including the Mentor, as "Lord/Lady".
* {{FlatEarthAtheist}}: Literal examples, especially justified by Aclaí, who can stand in Anleacán and worry who created the world, since ''he did it himself.''
* ForegoneConclusion: If you recognise the epigraph, you know the subject is [[spoiler: Atlantis]]
* FreeLoveFuture: well, free love ''past''
* FunctionalMagic: of course
* HealingFactor: Immortal Breath is a skill which must be learned, and kept up.

* ImmodestOrgasm: Éise when the Mentor gives her boyfriend back
* LadyDrunk: Éirime is a rather older version than most.
* LandOfOneCity: one city that counts, anyway
* LanguageOfMagic: the Sea People utter Words of Power; in Caora's case, she sings them
* LifeWillKillYou: "Immortality doesn't mean living forever"
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Sixty named characters introduced in the first volume
* {{MagicKnight}}: no [[SquishyWizard Squishy Wizards]] these!
* {{Magitek}}: much of it weapons-grade. And they need it.
* MatchmakerCrush: Rónmór is a particularly grim example
* MayflyDecemberRomance: [[spoiler:Geana and Éirime]], and [[spoiler: Eala and the Mentor]] if she doesn't figure out Immortal Breath in time
* {{MildlyMilitary}}: there are ranks, and a chain of command, but it is the effects of Initiation which keep the City focused.
* MuggingTheMonster: some hunters attempt to rob the Mentor.
* NoPeriodsPeriod: Justified when [[spoiler: Eala]] enters the City, as a magical effect
* NoSocialSkills: Cathúa
* NotSoImaginaryFriend: [[spoiler: the Mentor and his dead brother]]
* OurFairiesAreDifferent: the Forest People are genetically engineered to guard humanity from the Forest
* {{OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions}}: poor Abhainne and her household gods
* {{PortalDoor}}: One way to get to alternative universes. The Gate that leads to Anleacán is near the City, but there is another one, the Sky Gate, on the other side of the world.
* {{PunctuationShaker}}: averted as the accent marks (called ''fada'' in Irish) come from a real-world language

* {{Worldbuilding}}: Anleacán, in-character and lampshaded by Cathúa over dinner with the Governor of the Two Rivers

[[caption-width-right:240:{{Arcadia}}: if you look closely, you can see the sheep]]

* IrishNames: or at least names that have a meaning in Irish. A glossary and pronunciation guide is provided.

* {{Worldbuilding}}: Anleacán, in-character and lampshaded by Cathúa over dinner with the Governor of the Two Rivers

* EldritchAbominations: in the Forest. And Fómhar, helping on the waterfront in the City.

The Fall of the Sea People is an epic fantasy. The first volume, Venus and the Sea People, sees a singer return from life at [[LandOfOneCity The City]] to her home village nearly nine hundred years after she departs. She is befriended by two local girls, who persuade her to take them to the City. The rest of the first volume follows the rise to power of one of those girls, and ends on a [[CliffHanger cliffhanger]].

!!''Venus and the Sea People'' provides examples of:

* GreenEyedRedhead: redheaded twins, no less!

* HairOfGold: mostly played straight with Eala, subverted with Geana

* {{Immortality}}: Type III. Immortal Breath is a skill which must be learned, and kept up.

* AllDeathsFinal: because raising the dead is forbidden art

* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Geana and Eala. Possibly plot-significant in that they [[spoiler: both carry a magical gene]]

* {{AngstySurvivingTwin}}: [[spoiler: The Mentor]]

* AnyoneCanDie

* {{Arcadia}}: Anleacán. Éirime is even called The Shepherdess because she comes from Anleacán.

* ArcWords: "Immortality doesn't mean living forever" and "The Sea People do not marry"

* [[spoiler:{{Atlantis}}]]

* BlackAndGrayMorality

* CasualKink: quite a few

* CharmPerson: [[spoiler: Initiation]]

* CliffHanger: more literal than most

* ConstructedWorld: An in-universe example - Anleacán, possibly others

* CoolSword: the weapon of choice of the Sea People. Just having them made of metal makes them advanced weapons technology in the setting, but they also have battlefield communications and are used to direct magical attacks.

* CountryMouse: [[spoiler: Eala]]

* CrapsackWorld: the City. And a lot of the rest of the world, too.

* DarkFantasy

* DeadlyDecadentCourt: the favourites, and their circles in turn

* DistantPrologue: although it is all set [[spoiler: in the time of Atlantis]], the first chapter is set about 900 years before the rest. Somewhat averted in that the main character of the prologue is also a significant character in the rest of the first book.

* DontGoInTheWoods: except that most Novices have to. Trying to avoid Forest Service is a major motivator for Novices.

* DontSplitUsUp: Eala goes to Selection because she wants to stay with her sister. [[spoiler: She was Selected, her sister was sent home. So if she hadn't gone, they'd have been together back home.]]

* EldritchAbominations: in the Forest. And Fómhar, helping on the waterfront in the City.

* EverybodyHasLotsOfSex: certainly some is lampshaded by Abhainne as [[CastingCouch a way to win favour from higher Ranks]], more is possibly justified among the Novices as GladToBeAliveSex.

* {{FantasticRankSystem}}: The City has three tiers of ranks, Novice, Veteran and Immortal, with eight levels in each. The FantasticHonorifics are simple: someone in a higher tier is addressed as "Lord/Lady", and the Mentor is addressed as "Mentor". But peasants address all of them, including the Mentor, as "Lord/Lady".

* {{FlatEarthAtheist}}: Literal examples, especially justified by Aclaí, who can stand in Anleacán and worry who created the world, since ''he did it himself.''

* ForegoneConclusion: If you recognise the epigraph, you know the subject is [[spoiler: Atlantis]]

* FreeLoveFuture: well, free love ''past''

* FunctionalMagic: of course

* GreenEyedRedhead: redheaded twins, no less!

* HairOfGold: mostly played straight with Eala, subverted with Geana

* HumansAreWhite: Averted. Many of the characters in the City are recognisably of other races, and several are described as mixed-race. It appears from the description of the Favourites that the Mentor prefers other races to the [[RavenHairIvorySkin dominant Celtic type]]. Justified in Anleacán, which was designed and created by a white teenager.

* ImmodestOrgasm: Éise when the Mentor gives her boyfriend back

* {{Immortality}}: Type III. Immortal Breath is a skill which must be learned, and kept up.

* IrishNames: or at least names that have a meaning in Irish. A glossary and pronunciation guide is provided.

* LadyDrunk: Éirime is a rather older version than most.

* LandOfOneCity: one city that counts, anyway

* LanguageOfMagic: the Sea People utter Words of Power; in Caora's case, she sings them

* LifeWillKillYou: "Immortality doesn't mean living forever"

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Sixty named characters introduced in the first volume

* {{MagicKnight}}: no [[SquishyWizard Squishy Wizards]] these!

* {{Magitek}}: much of it weapons-grade. And they need it.

* MatchmakerCrush: Rónmór is a particularly grim example

* MayflyDecemberRomance: [[spoiler:Geana and Éirime]], and [[spoiler: Eala and the Mentor]] if she doesn't figure out Immortal Breath in time

* {{MildlyMilitary}}: there are ranks, and a chain of command, but it is the effects of Initiation which keep the City focused.

* MuggingTheMonster: some hunters attempt to rob the Mentor.

* NoPeriodsPeriod: Justified when [[spoiler: Eala]] enters the City, as a magical effect

* NoSocialSkills: Cathúa

* NotSoImaginaryFriend: [[spoiler: the Mentor and his dead brother]]

* OurFairiesAreDifferent: the Forest People are genetically engineered to guard humanity from the Forest

* {{OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions}}: poor Abhainne and her household gods

* {{PortalDoor}}: One way to get to alternative universes. The Gate that leads to Anleacán is near the City, but there is another one, the Sky Gate, on the other side of the world.

* PowerIsSexy

* {{PunctuationShaker}}: averted as the accent marks (called ''fada'' in Irish) come from a real-world language

* PygmalionPlot: Literal example, with Aclaí as Pygmalion and Éirime as Galatia - with Anleacán for her pedestal. Then she is Selected and he never speaks to her again.

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Damhánalla, Éirime, probably others

* SacrificialLamb: flocks of them. Three quarters of Novices die within a year of being Selected.

* SacrificialLion: starting with [[spoiler: Rósa, Lách and Learó]] and [[spoiler: possibly ending with Eala]]

* SpiritAdvisor: played straight with Rónmór; horribly subverted by [[spoiler: the Mentor's dead brother]]

* StrangerInAFamiliarLand: Éirime is this

* TheFogOfAges: the Mentor can't remember what [[spoiler: his wife]] looked like.

* TheOlderImmortal: It is the older Immortals who run the City

* TwinDesynch: [[spoiler: inevitable after Eala is Selected]]

* TwinSwitch: Geana and Eala did this to Ordóg

* TwoSiblingsInOne: strongly implied with [[spoiler: the Mentor and his dead brother]]

* {{Unobtainium}}: The Metal the City uses for swords and armour. [[spoiler:Presumably {{Orichalcum}}]]

* UnresolvedSexualTension: Aclaí and Éirime

* {{Worldbuilding}}: Anleacán, in-character and lampshaded by Cathúa over dinner with the Governor of the Two Rivers

[[caption-width-right:240:Arcadia: if you look closely, you can see the sheep]]

[[quoteright:240:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vatsp-t_8850.jpg]]