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* IfItsYouItsOkay: There's nothing indicating that either Harry or Vincent is anything other than heterosexual, but their interactions have a slight sexual/romantic undertone. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in that this only ever stays a BelligerentSexualTension, and nothing ''concrete'' ever happens between the two of them (see WillTheyOrWontThey below). Though at the end of the book, by the time he's in his 15th life and spending much time with Vincent, Harry outrightly states he certainly would have sex with Vincent if give the chance.
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* IfItsYouItsOkay: There's nothing indicating that either Harry or Vincent is anything other than heterosexual, but their interactions have a slight sexual/romantic undertone. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in that this only ever stays a BelligerentSexualTension, and nothing ''concrete'' ever happens between the two of them (see WillTheyOrWontThey below). Though at the end of the book, by the time he's in his 15th life and spending much time with Vincent, Harry outrightly states he certainly would have sex with Vincent if give given the chance.
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* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: Harry and Vincent have a discussion about this. Both of them always live their lives before and through WWII; they talk at a certain point about whether they would kill Hitler before WWII. Harry seriously considers it, but Vincent says that it would be of no use. In this universe, kalachakras can only change their personal lives but can't change the world at large [[note]]In fact, the fact that Vincent himself later, somewhat hypocritically, goes against this, is what later causes the end of the entire world[[/note]] If Hitler would be killed, either another person would just take his place and do what Hitler would have done; or something would happen instead that would be ''even worse'' than WWII was.
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* DoomsdayDevice: Unintended one. [[spoiler: The quantum mirror.]]
** [[spoiler: That said, the book implies that the mirror won't destroy the world itself - it's the constant leapfrogging of tech from the early 2000's being brought back to the 1940's to make the mirror possible that does the real damage, as the second half of the 20th century becomes a mad rush to show off new technology without thinking about consequences.]]
** [[spoiler: That said, the book implies that the mirror won't destroy the world itself - it's the constant leapfrogging of tech from the early 2000's being brought back to the 1940's to make the mirror possible that does the real damage, as the second half of the 20th century becomes a mad rush to show off new technology without thinking about consequences.]]
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* DoomsdayDevice: Unintended one. [[spoiler: The quantum mirror.]]
** [[spoiler:]] That said, the book implies that the [[spoiler: mirror won't destroy the world itself - it's the constant leapfrogging of tech from the early 2000's being brought back to the 1940's to make the mirror possible that does the real damage, as the second half of the 20th century becomes a mad rush to show off new technology technology]] without thinking about consequences.]]
** [[spoiler:
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* IfItsYouItsOkay: There's nothing indicating that either Harry or Vincent is anything other than heterosexual, but their interactions have a slight sexual/romantic undertone. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in that this only ever stays a BelligerentSexualTension, and nothing ''concrete'' ever happens between the two of them (see WillTheyOrWontThey below).
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* IfItsYouItsOkay: There's nothing indicating that either Harry or Vincent is anything other than heterosexual, but their interactions have a slight sexual/romantic undertone. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in that this only ever stays a BelligerentSexualTension, and nothing ''concrete'' ever happens between the two of them (see WillTheyOrWontThey below). Though at the end of the book, by the time he's in his 15th life and spending much time with Vincent, Harry outrightly states he certainly would have sex with Vincent if give the chance.
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The website for the book can be found [[http://harryaugust.net here]].
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* LongList: By the time he lives his 14th life, Harry tells the reader a list of all the gathering
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* {{Polyglot}}: By being Really700YearsOld, Vincent has ample time to learn languages--and he gladly does so, including some more difficult and "exotic" (from the viewpoint of a native English speaker) ones such as Sanskrit, Mandarin Chinese, Korean and Thai. He also learns a lot of accents--he can speak English, as needed for the situation, with his own accent, or an RP accent, Scottish or American accent. It's almost an ExageratedTrope because he even learns to speak other languages with ''each other''s accent--for instance when he goes to China pretending to be a Russian, and speaks Mandarin with a Russian accent (though he notes that one was particularly difficult to pull off).
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* RenaissanceMan: Because of being ReallySevenHundredYearsOld, as well as having the ability to do a different line of work/study in every life, Harry has a ''vast'' amount of knowledge in many different fields. In one of his first lives, he is a doctor; this medical knowledge comes in handy in later lives. Later he becomes, amongst other things, a scientist conducting research in a lab, or a criminal (which comes in handy in later lives whenever he needs to bribe someone or forge papers).By the time he lives his 14th life, he decides to this time study Law at university, just for the heck of it because it's a field he doesn't know yet. Also, he learns to speak an incredible amount of languages, amongst which some rather unusual and difficult ones like Mandarin Chinese or Thai, just for fun.
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* YouCantFightFate: It is inevitable that (except for lives he dies much younger, because of murder or suicide), Harry gets cancer (multiple myeloma) in his 70s/80s and will die of this. One live he manages to live to 84 years old before the illness sets in, which surprises himself. This seems to be true for every kalachakra, actually; each one (again, barring murder/suicide/accidents) has a set life span and will always die of the same causes.
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* ContrivedCoincidence: The only way Harry manages to deceive Vincent after the latter does the Forgetting on him, is because there's another boy also named Harry August and also of around the same age as the protagonist. What's more, this other Harry is also adopted like the protagonist is (which is needed for protagonist Harry to be able to mislead Vincent, because Vincent needs to think there is no known biological mother); and to top it off this boy conveniently died at 8 years old, which is how (protagonist) Harry managed to steal/use his identity because stealing the identity of a living adult would raise suspicion. Because "August" isn't really a common last name, the chances of a boy of the same age who also shares the same first name are already small--but this boy having no known biological parents too, and dying at such a young age?
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* MissingMom: Happens to poor Harry ''twice''. First, his biological mother dies giving birth to him, so he has never known her. Then, at 8 years old he loses his adoptive mother, too, which might be even more heartbreaking because he actually knew her... and he has to experience it in ''every'' one of his lives knowing there's no way to prevent her death.
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alphabetization
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* SignsOfTheEndTimes: Message from the future kalachakras is quite clear. "The world is ending and we cannot prevent it."
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* SignsOfTheEndTimes: Message from the future kalachakras is quite clear. "The world is ending and we cannot prevent it."
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* IfItsYouItsOkay: There's nothing indicating that either Harry or Vincent is anything other than heterosexual, but their interactions have a slight sexual/romantic undertone. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in that this only ever stays a BelligerentSexualTension, and nothing ''concrete'' ever happens between the two of them (see WillTheyOrWontThey below).
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* TheSlowPath: Kalachakras stuck in an unpleasant situation can end their life to be reborn, relive to the current moment, and avoid the problem, but it is considered tedious (especially the first few years), and most try to avoid it, if possible. The Chronus Club and it's members will also sometimes send messages this way, with messages going backwards sometimes taking multiple cycles to reach their recipients. Henry meets one Kalachakra who spends his lives as a mercenary, picking a different side to fight for each time. They meet when the mercenary kidnaps a group of journalists, but treats Henry as an honored guest and lets him go.
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* TheSlowPath: Kalachakras stuck in an unpleasant situation can end their life to be reborn, relive to the current moment, and avoid the problem, but it is considered tedious (especially the first few years), and most try to avoid it, if possible. The Chronus Cronus Club and it's its members will also sometimes send messages this way, with messages going backwards sometimes taking multiple cycles to reach their recipients. Henry meets one Kalachakra who spends his lives as a mercenary, picking a different side to fight for each time. They meet when the mercenary kidnaps a group of journalists, but treats Henry as an honored guest and lets him go.
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[[caption-width-right:310:Harry August is on his deathbed. ''[[ResurrectionDeathLoop Again.]]'']]
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* TragicTimeTraveler: The Kalachakras are people who are stuck in a time loop starting from their birth and ending in their death, only to go be reborn and go through the cycle again. However, some have it worse than others, like the titular Harry, who seems to suffer some kind of misfortune no matter how many loops he goes through, whether it's from being tortured simply for trying to share his secrets with "linears", or being constantly pitted against his EvilFormerFriend Vincent Rankin.
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* TemporalAbortion: As the Kalachakra all possess BornAgainImmortality by way of a GroundhogDayLoop, the only way of killing one of them permanently is for an older Kalachakra to prevent the target's birth in their next life, most commonly by feeding abortifacients to the mother during pregnancy - or just flat-out murdering her. [[BigBad Vincent Rankin]] uses this method to decimate the ranks of the [[SocietyOfImmortals Cronus Club]] before they can stop him from enacting his apocalyptic plan; for good measure, the fact that nobody knows his date or place of birth prevents anyone from enacting the same trick on him. [[spoiler: However, after [[LongGame spending multiple lifetimes pretending to be Vincent's brainwashed comrade]], Harry August is finally able to trick him into admitting to when and where he was born, and the book ends with a "fuck you" note from Harry to Vincent as he sets off to erase his EvilFormerFriend from existence.]]
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* KilledOffForReal: If a timeline is changed enough to prevent a kalachakra from being born, they're gone for good in all future timelines as well.
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* KilledOffForReal: If a timeline is changed enough to prevent a kalachakra from being born, they're gone for good in all future timelines as well. Kalachakra therefore keep their exact birthplace and parentage a closely guarded secret.
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* TheSlowPath: Kalachakras stuck in an unpleasant situation can end their life to be reborn, relive to the current moment, and avoid the problem, but it is considered tedious (especially the first few years), and most try to avoid it, if possible. The Chronus Club and it's members will also sometimes send messages this way, with messages going backwards sometimes taking multiple cycles to reach their recipients.
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* TheSlowPath: Kalachakras stuck in an unpleasant situation can end their life to be reborn, relive to the current moment, and avoid the problem, but it is considered tedious (especially the first few years), and most try to avoid it, if possible. The Chronus Club and it's members will also sometimes send messages this way, with messages going backwards sometimes taking multiple cycles to reach their recipients. Henry meets one Kalachakra who spends his lives as a mercenary, picking a different side to fight for each time. They meet when the mercenary kidnaps a group of journalists, but treats Henry as an honored guest and lets him go.
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* ArmorPiercingQuestion: In Harry's third life, Franklin Phearson breaks down and berates Harry, asking him "What is the point of you?" when Harry is both unable and unwilling to help him. The question sticks with Harry, and despite ignoring its context, it tortures him throughout his remaining lives, eventually leading to [[spoiler:his betrayal of Vincent.]]
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* ArmorPiercingQuestion: ArmorPiercingQuestion:
** In Harry's third life, Franklin Phearson breaks down and berates Harry, asking him "What is the point of you?" when Harry is both unable and unwilling to help him. The question sticks with Harry, and despite ignoring its context, it tortures him throughout his remaining lives, eventually leading to [[spoiler:his betrayal of Vincent.]]]]
** In another life, Rory Hulne pleads with Harry to use his fortune to save the family home from being sold to developers, growing increasingly outraged at Harry's utter apathy. Harry icily replies, "[[ChildByRape When you raped my mother]], did she scream?" The wind is completely taken out of his biological father's sails.
** In Harry's third life, Franklin Phearson breaks down and berates Harry, asking him "What is the point of you?" when Harry is both unable and unwilling to help him. The question sticks with Harry, and despite ignoring its context, it tortures him throughout his remaining lives, eventually leading to [[spoiler:his betrayal of Vincent.
** In another life, Rory Hulne pleads with Harry to use his fortune to save the family home from being sold to developers, growing increasingly outraged at Harry's utter apathy. Harry icily replies, "[[ChildByRape When you raped my mother]], did she scream?" The wind is completely taken out of his biological father's sails.
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* ChildByRape: Harry is the son of Rory Hulne and one of the household maids, and though whether his mother had any real say in the rough sexual encounter that produced him is left a matter of QuestionableConsent, Harry ultimately believes that the incident was indeed rape. In a later life, once given the opportunity to do so, he gives Hulne a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech and leaves him to suffer through the downfall of his family.
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Cutting down to simplify
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* TimeyWimeyBall: Definitely the kind of work where the author simply bends the rules of causality in the manner that best serves the next plot twist. For example, the characters' ability to lead completely different lives from one rebirth to the next is handwaved by stating that a single person is never enough to change the grand events of history, yet the end of the novel revolves around a single person doing exactly that. Okay, it's never stated it's plain impossible, and the change happens because certain person is trying ''really'' hard, but are we really to believe that no one has ever inadvertently knocked some dominoes out of place?
** Not only large events, but small as well. How come the circumstances of Harry's birth are always exactly the same despite there being thousands of kalachakra living out their cycles long before that moment, having plenty of opportunities to unwittingly twist history in unexpected ways?
*** Perhaps upon death, a kalachakra simply returns to that certain point of origin and history only begins to branch after that? But in such a case, why do they make such a fuss of the fact that only way to kill kalachakra seems to be to either kill their mothers or cause them to miscarry before they are born? Would that not mean said kalachakra's birth is prevented in only THAT timeline, yet somehow events happen before the birth that do affect things like whether there even are Cronus Clubs in the first place, but NEVER the exact circumstances of a single kalachakra's birth, unless of course, the parents are deliberately killed... uh yeah, it's definitely one of those works where you should not think about it too closely.
** Also, what makes a certain ball (the birth of a kalachakra) *start*?
** Not only large events, but small as well. How come the circumstances of Harry's birth are always exactly the same despite there being thousands of kalachakra living out their cycles long before that moment, having plenty of opportunities to unwittingly twist history in unexpected ways?
*** Perhaps upon death, a kalachakra simply returns to that certain point of origin and history only begins to branch after that? But in such a case, why do they make such a fuss of the fact that only way to kill kalachakra seems to be to either kill their mothers or cause them to miscarry before they are born? Would that not mean said kalachakra's birth is prevented in only THAT timeline, yet somehow events happen before the birth that do affect things like whether there even are Cronus Clubs in the first place, but NEVER the exact circumstances of a single kalachakra's birth, unless of course, the parents are deliberately killed... uh yeah, it's definitely one of those works where you should not think about it too closely.
** Also, what makes a certain ball (the birth of a kalachakra) *start*?
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* TimeyWimeyBall: Definitely the kind of work where the author simply bends the The rules of time travel and causality in the manner that best serves the next plot twist. For example, the characters' ability to lead completely different lives from one rebirth to the next is handwaved by stating that a single person is never enough to change the grand events of history, yet the end of the novel revolves around a single person doing are not exactly that. Okay, concrete; a popular concern among the Cronus Club is that they have to coexist peacefully with the Linears or risk permanently removing each other from history through clumsy alterations to the timeline... and yet multiple Kalachakra can exist throughout history and do almost anything short of deliberate alterations without accidentally removing each other via the butterfly effect. Plus, it's never stated it's plain impossible, and established what prompts any of them to exist in the change happens because certain person is trying ''really'' hard, but are we really to believe that no one has ever inadvertently knocked some dominoes out of place?
** Not only large events, but small as well. How come the circumstances offirst place. Harry's birth are always exactly own theorizing puts another wrinkle in the same despite there mix: he believes that Kalachakra aren't merely time travelers, but {{Dimensional Traveler}}s, with each life being thousands of kalachakra living out their cycles long before that moment, having plenty of opportunities to unwittingly twist history situated in unexpected ways?
*** Perhaps upon death,an alternate reality - his reason for being a kalachakra simply returns to that certain point of origin more conscientious immortal than most. It's never specified if he's correct and history only begins to branch after that? But in such a case, why do they make such a fuss of the fact that only way to kill kalachakra seems to be to either kill their mothers or cause them to miscarry before they are born? Would that not mean said kalachakra's birth is prevented in only THAT timeline, yet somehow events happen before the birth that do affect things like whether there even are Cronus Clubs in the first place, but NEVER the exact circumstances of a single kalachakra's birth, unless of course, the parents Club experts on Kalachakra are deliberately killed... uh yeah, it's definitely one of those works where you should not think wrong about it too closely.
** Also, what makes a certain ball (the birth of a kalachakra) *start*?the rules.
** Not only large events, but small as well. How come the circumstances of
*** Perhaps upon death,
** Also, what makes a certain ball (the birth of a kalachakra) *start*?
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* ImmortalApathy: The Kalachakra all possess BornAgainImmortality via GroundhogDayLoop, being destined to restart their lives at the moment of birth regardless of how many times they die. Given that they can't reveal their natures without being locked up in asylums or tortured by government agents for their knowledge of the future, Kalachakra often grow detached from mortals ''and'' the notion of lasting consequences; the members of the Cronus Club are downright apathetic towards "[[FantasticSlur Linears]]", and rarely stir themselves from their hedonistic lifestyles unless a future-destroying apocalypse is on the way. Harry himself is considered a bit of an oddball because he still cares about Linears after a fashion and believes that his actions have lasting consequences in other timelines... and even he has no qualms about regularly murdering a SerialKiller.
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* UndyingWarrior: The Kalachakra only possess BornAgainImmortality via GroundhogDayLoop, so most prefer to avoid violence - especially given that they usually end up reborn feeling the aftereffects of any trauma they experienced. The one exception to this is Fidel Gussman, who prefers to spend eternity on war, though he freely admits that he has no hope of changing the outcome of any of the conflicts he gets involved in, and fights simply because [[BloodKnight he enjoys the thrill of violence]] more than the luxury offered by the [[SocietyOfImmortals Cronus Club]]. Plus, he honestly prefers dying in battle to dying of cancer - his most common cause of death.
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* InconspicuousImmortal: The Kalachakra possess BornAgainImmortality by way of GroundhogDayLoop; while many of them live large and devote themselves to extravagant lives of adventure, hedonism, philosophy, or scientific research, others are more than happy to spend entire lifetimes on a perfectly mundane existence. Harry himself has taken this path more than once, abandoning a decadent period of "wine, women, and song" in favour of becoming a labourer in Jerusalem. [[spoiler: Harry also spends an entire lifetime as an unassuming journalist, simply in order to lull [[BigBad Vincent]] into believing that he successfully erased Harry's memories during their previous encounter.]]
