History Literature / TheFeyAndTheFallen

[[caption-width-right:350:Father son reunion]]

The Fey and the Fallen is a two book {{UrbanFantasy}}/{{HistoricalFantasy}} series written by Stina Leicht that takes place in Ireland during UsefulNotes/TheTroubles.

After his wrongful arrest and traumatizing stay in prison, sixteen year old Liam discovers that he has supernatural abilities, including the ability to shapeshift and ''convince''' people to leave him alone. Unbeknownst to him, this is because his birth father, Bran, is a Puca and Fianna-- a faerie warrior, a fact hidden from him by his mother Kathleen, who fears what danger the knowledge would bring.

The fey are at war with the Fallen, angels who fell from Heaven, as they try to invade Faerie and Earth. Now Liam is in danger not only from the growing tensions between the British and the IRA, but also from his father's enemies who would gladly strike at him to get to Bran, as well as the Catholic church's monster hunting sect who can't tell the fey apart from demons.

The first novel covers several years of Liam's life as he tries to start a family in increasingly dangerous times. The second follows Liam and Father Murray as they try to make peace between the [[CreatureHunterOrganization The Order of Milites Dei]] and the Fianna.

* AbortionFalloutDrama: Near the beginning of their marriage, to Liam's complete obliviousness, Mary Kate becomes pregnant and leaves town to have an abortion. This is because [[spoiler: Father Murray convinced her to, as he knows Liam is a HalfHumanHybrid and assumed the child would be a demon]]. She and the others involved tell Liam that she's only ill and seeing a doctor friend, and after she is clearly traumatized by the situation. It's not until much, much later that Liam learns of it, and it is one of the things that contributes to his DespairEventHorizon. When [[spoiler: Mary Kate's ghost]] appears in the second book, working through the abortion is one of the things they must do [[spoiler: for her to be at peace]].

* AddledAddict: Liam becomes one for a time, though he gets better. [[FunctionalAddict Mostly]]. It becomes a problem when [=MI6=] agent Haddock forcibly kicks him OffTheWagon in order to make Liam's Provo crew think he's a liability and turncoat.

* TheAtoner: after learning that he and the church have been killing (probably mostly) innocent fairies, Father Murray is racked with guilt and dedicates himself to trying to convince the church to accept that the fair folk are real and spectate entities from the Fallen in order to end the violence. [[spoiler: it doesn't work, so he takes up vigilantism]].

* BadassDriver: Liam becomes a [[spoiler:getaway driver for the IRA]] and participates in races for fun. While he's skilled at it on his own, his magic can unconsciously manifest and allow him to drive in ways that shouldn't be possible.

* ChurchMilitant: The Order of Milites Dei, an entire secret sect of the Catholic church dedicated to killing the Fallen. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, they can't tell them apart from the Sidhe, who are ALSO trying to kill the Fallen.]]

* ColdIron: Fey from Ireland are weak against cold iron, and sensitive to most metals that have iron as a component, though it's implied that this isn't the case for all types of fairy, and the English Red Cap is specifically stated not to be bothered by it. Liam develops the habit of touching metal whenever he loses his temper and feels his magic starting to break out, as the metal neutralizes it.

* CreatureHunterOrganization: The Catholic church has a special branch just for demon hunting.

* DespairEventHorizon: Liam has one after [[spoiler: Mary Kate is murdered]].

* DramaticIrony: The reader knows from the start that Liam is half fairy, and that his father is a high ranking fey "Fianna" warrior in a war against fallen angels. Liam doesn't figure out that he's actually fey until the last 3rd of the first novel, and only gets things properly explained to him at the end of the book.

* EnemyWithin: Liam's "monster," which appears to be a manifestation of his magic's primal need to protect himself and his loved ones. Unfortunately, the best way it thinks to do so is by transforming Liam into a monster and killing people.

* EmptyShell: In the second book, Father Murray uses hypnosis techniques to help Liam keep the wolf inside him asleep. Because the monster is actually [[spoiler: an aspect of Liam's fey magic that he has intentionally othered and alienated because he blames it for everything wrong with himself, literally causing himself to come apart]], this results in Laim's emotions being heavily muted and himself feeling strangely empty.

* FallenAngel: The Fallen, who are currently at war with the fair folk.

* GiveHimANormalLife: Why Kathleen hides Liam's heritage from him, and why she forbids Bran from speaking to him.

* HalfHumanHybrid: Liam is the child of one of the fair folk and a human woman, and he inherits his father's magic. However, though the reader knows this from chapter two of the first book, ''Liam'' has no idea until much, much later.

* HeroicBSOD: Liam has a few. One following his [[PrisonRape trauma at Kesh]], the other after [[spoiler: Mary Kate is murdered]]. For the latter, he completely checks out for two months in a drug-fueled haze, and doesn't wake up until Oran comes to get him.

* ICannotSelfTerminate: After his DespairEventHorizon, Liam reflects that no matter how much he wants to die, the "beast" won't let him until he's taken revenge on [[spoiler: Mary Kate's murderers]].

* IKnowYourTrueName: The Redcap tells Liam that with his kind of English magic, true names have power over others. He intends touse Liam's true name to make him murder his parents and Father Murray. [[spoiler: Too bad for him that he didn't know Liam's entire name]].

* MissingReflection: It is mentioned that the fey can't be photographed unless they want to be. This makes Kathleen's photos of Bran all the more meaningful.

* OurAngelsAreDifferent: While we don't see any still-holy angels, the fallen we see all smell like rotting corpses and are grotesque monsters hiding beneath their human facades.

* OurFairiesAreDifferent: The different kinds of traditional [[TheFairFolk faeries]] exist, and are currently at war with fallen angels. Bran is specifically a Puca who prefers to shapeshift into a wolfhound, while Sceolin prefers the form of a hawk.

* PoorCommunicationKills: the fey are ancient magical creatures that lived before humans, but went dormant. Humans and the Fallen came into being around the same time, and their presence woke the Fianna up. The fey specifically war against the Fallen, but the Catholic Church can't tell the difference between the two supernatural groups and wind up killing more of the fair folk than anything else. When Father Murray finds this out, he has a HeroicBSOD realizing that the Church had been killing the innocent children of its allies this entire time.

* PowerIncontinence: Liam has trouble controlling what abilities he has. Some magic works unconsciously, and others he has to actively fight to control. In the second book, thanks to Murray's help, he begins the book having quieted the "monster" inside him, but loses the ability to shapeshift.

* TraumaButton: Do ''not'' touch Liam's back.

* WindsOfDestinyChange: Bran tells Kathleen that a specific trait of the fair folk when it comes to humans is that humans who do them harm tend to have very bad luck, and those who help them tend to have very good luck. While we never see the latter, and Liam is a bit of a DoomMagnet, we certainle see the former. As the story progresses, Liam racks up a sizeable body count of people (mostly prison guards, bullies, and British soldiers) who have hurt or threatened him and then suffer coincidental and untimely demises. As per the DramaticIrony of the story, while others around him believe these deaths to have something to do with Liam, Liam is completely oblivious to it.

* DemonicPossession: One of the many threats the Fallen pose is their ability to control people.

* AddledAddict: Liam becomes one for a time, though he gets better. [[FunctionalAddict Mostly]]. It becomes a problem when MI6 agent Haddock forcibly kicks him OffTheWagon in order to make Liam's Provo crew think he's a liability and turncoat.

* Demonic Possession: One of the many threats the Fallen pose is their ability to control people.

* TheShrink: Father Stevenson, the doctor in the second book assigned byt he church to monitor Liam, is the first one to actually conduct any kind of psychological assessment on Liam, and the results aren't comforting. He accurately deduces that Liam is developing neurotic symptoms and dissassociation (caused by him alienating part of his fey magic), he notices that Liam is expressing symptoms of sexual trauma, and he sees his increasingly severe depression.

* ChurchMilitant: The Order of Milites Dei, an entire secret sect of the Catholic church dedicated to killing the Fallen. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, they can't tell them apart from the Sidhe, who are ALSO trying to kill the Fallen.]]

* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Mary Kate and Liam have been friends since they were nine years old, and Liam's been carrying a torch for her since. They finally get married after Liam's second prison stint.

* ParentalMarriageVeto: When Liam's stepfather Patrick and Mary Kate's father show up to stop the two from meeting one night, Liam proposes to Mary Kate on the spot. Mr. Gallaghar is resigned to it, knowing he wouldn't be able to talk Kate out of anything, but Patrick refuses to accept it, and the ensuing fight between he and Liam irrevocably drives a wedge between the two.

* AddledAddict: Liam becomes one for a time, though he gets better. [[FunctionalAddict Mostly]]. It becomes a problem when M16 agent Haddock forcibly kicks him OffTheWagon in order to make Liam's Provo crew think he's a liability and turncoat.

** After letting the wolf in him take over, Liam realizes that it likely killed many innocent people along with those who have done him actual wrong. The turning point comes when he [[spoiler: kills Detective Haddock]] by setting of his own car bomb, and after the explosion, he remembers that there had been a woman and children on the street, and he sees the woman's bloodied shoe. [[spoiler: The children were fine, and the woman was injured, but will fully recover. The incident still haunts him, and it's the point where he attempts to lock up the wolf permanently.]]
** After Father Murray realizes that the Fey are real and separate entities from the demons he hunts, he suffers immense guilt from [[spoiler: convincing Mary Kate to abort her and Liam's baby]].

* OurFairiesAreDifferent: The different kinds of traditional [[TheFairFolk faeries]] exist, and are currently at war with fallen angels. Bran is specifically a Puca who prefers to shapeshift into a wolfhound, while Sceolin ).

* RevengeByProxy: The Redcap is sent after Liam and Kathleen in retaliation for war crimes comitted by Bran's men. [[spoiler: At least, that's what Bran ''thought''. . . ]]

* SuicideByCop: Liam is falling apart in the second book, switching between EmptyShell and TheBerserker. Father Murray and Father Stephens are genuinely concerned by his complete lakc of self preservation and his growing depression, and fear that Liam may attempt to get himself killed by the church militia on purpose (something that nearly happens in the beginning of the novel when wanders into a smuggling operation for no reason).

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Conor and Eirnín are introduced as other half-breed children from different fey clans that are currently at odds with Bran's. Conor gives Liam an enchanted jacket to protect him, and Eirnín tries to barter with Liam for peace between the different fey clans (hoping he can convince his father). Eirnín vanishes from the novel entirely after that, and Conor arrives forthe BigDamnHeroes moment, only to be never mentioned of again.

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: as far as the church is concerned, there are humans, ghosts, and angels (Fallen or not). Ghosts are exorcised and the Fallen and their spawn are to be exterminated. When it comes to light that TheFairFolk exist and are also enemies of the Fallen, getting the church to change their extermination policies becomes one of the driving plot points.

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