History Literature / TheLeftHandOfGod

* {{Adorkable}}: Vague Henri is a lot softer than his comrades [[JerkAss Kleist]] and [[TheStoic Cale]], genuinely sees the latter as a friend, can get embarassed quite easily, and is the kindest of the trio about Riba. Considering the kind of environment he was raised in, and [[CrapsackWorld the world they live in]], this is enough to make him invoke this trope. It doesn't stop him from kicking some ass when the situation calls it.

* AntiChrist: [[spoiler: Redeemer Bosco believes Cale to be an {{inversion}} of this: sent in to bring about the end of the world, but by God, not the devil.]]

* CliffHanger: [[spoiler: the last part shows Cale being brought back to the Sanctuary by Bosco. His TrueCompanions are shown to be following them in the very last paragraph.]]

* [[spoiler:DownerEnding]]: [[spoiler:Cale is betrayed by Arbell,found by Bosco, revealed to be the responsible for the destruction of the world, and is sent back to the Sanctuary he hated so much. Also, the Redeemers won an unlikely battle against the Materazzi, leaving their forces in a shambles.]] Luckily, this is just the first part of the trilogy.

* CrystalDragonJesus: The Redeemers are blatantly like Christianity while obviously not the same religion, the subtlety of which analogy is perfectly captured by the fact that their object of worship is a Son of God who was hanged. The briefly touched details of their schism with the Antagonists makes it further clear that the Redeemers correspond to Roman Catholicism and the Antagonists to Protestantism. The Redeemers are also a distillation and exaggeration of everything that was ever wrong about the church. A [[{{Jesus}} Jesus of Nazareth]] is actually mentioned in the novel, but the most we hear is that someone at least thinks he played the role of Jonah in the story about being swallowed by a fish.

The story continues in a sequel, ''Literature/TheLastFourThings''. The trilogy is set to conclude with ''The Beating of His Wings'', to be released in late 2013.

* LowFantasy: So low it's not even certain there is ''anything'' fantastic in the whole book. Only a couple of things suggest it -- the sweet-smelling substance recovered from inside a tortured young woman's body doesn't seem like a natural thing, and Kitty the Hare appears to be not exactly human. Of course, if Cale's mentor is right about him, that's certainly a fantasy element.

The story continues in a sequel, ''Literature/TheLastFourThings''. The trilogy is set to conclude with ''The Beating of His Wings'', set to be released in late 2013.

The story continues in a sequel, ''Literature/TheLastFourThings''.

* Adorkable: Vague Henri is a lot softer than his comrades [[JerkAss Kleist]] and [[TheStoic Cale]], genuinely sees the latter as a friend, can get embarassed quite easily, and is the kindest of the trio about Riba. Considering the kind of environment he was raised in, and [[CrapsackWorld the world they live in]], this is enough to make him invoke this trope. It doesn't stop him from kicking some ass when the situation calls it.

* [[spoiler:DownerEnding]]: [[spoiler:Cale is betrayed by Arbell, is found by Bosco, is revealed to be the responsible for the destruction of the world, and is sent back to the Sanctuary he hated so much. Also, the Redeemers won an unlikely battle against the Materazzi, leaving their forces in a shambles.]] Luckily, this is just the first part of the trilogy.

* CliffHanger: [[spoiler: the last part shows Cale being brought back to the Sanctuary by Bosco. His TrueCompanions are shown to be folowing them in the very last paragraph.]]

* CrystalDragonJesus: The Redeemers are blatantly like Christianity while obviously not the same religion, the subtlety of which analogy is perfectly captured by the fact that their object of worship is the son of God who was hanged. The briefly touched details of their schism with the Antagonists makes it further clear that the Redeemers correspond to Roman Catholicism and the Antagonists to Protestantism. The Redeemers are also a distillation and exaggeration of everything that was ever wrong about the church. A [[{{Jesus}} Jesus of Nazareth]] is actually mentioned in the novel, but the most we hear is that someone at least thinks he played the role of Jonah in the story about being swallowed by a fish.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Besides of the CrystalDragonJesus thing, Hoffman throws in real world names of peoples and places without any particular logic. Cultures may be inspired by elements of ones in the real world without adhering to them too closely, whereas in some cases he just flat out puts in some "Jews" who sound to be in about the same situation as they would have been in the real world at a similar historical era.

The books story continues in a sequel, ''Literature/TheLastFourThings''.

The setting of the novel is of great importance. The actual geography of the setting is ambiguous, but there are cultural elements and names that are very familiar.

The setting of the novel is of great importance. The actual geography of the setting is ambiguous, but there are cultural elements and names that are very familiar. It slowly dawns that the world is our own but changed in fundamental ways.

* AfterTheEnd : Seemingly the only possible explanation for the similarities between our world and the one that Thomas Cale lives in. The world has seemingly regressed to a medieval / renaissance level of technology and society. That said, there isn't any explicit evidence for why the world is the way it is.
* AsTheGoodBookSays: The Bible is quoted by characters, but the apocalypse has [[FutureImperfect screwed with some of the details]].
* CrystalDragonJesus : Played with. The Redeemers can easily be analogised with an extremely hardline medieval militant Christian sect but the history of the religion is different in several ways. The Jesus analogue is the "Hanged Redeemer" (this is the one detail that remains constant). Ironically, [[{{Jesus}} Jesus Christ]] is mentioned in the novel, but no one knows exactly what he did. One person confuses him with Jonah, of the whale fame.

A novel by Paul Hoffman, released in 2010. Raised by the zealous and militant Redeemers, Cale Thomas has been subjected to a life of brutal hardships and TrainingFromHell. When he finally gets an opportunity to escape, he flees to the city of Memphis, where he must survive political intrigue and the rigours of a new life. However, the Redeemers are unnaturally interested in getting him back. And their purpose might spell doom for the whole world...