History Literature / TheMachineriesOfEmpire

* HasTwoMommies:
** Kel Brezan has three fathers.
** Kel Khiruev has two mothers and a father (at least until the latter was executed).

* SexualExtortion: It's mentioned that sexual relationships between Kel, [[UnequalPairing especially Kel of different rank]], are strictly forbidden, because the formation instinct means the junior Kel has no choice but to obey a superior, making it impossible for the sex to be truly consensual. Despite draconian punishments, and attempts to reduce the problem with libido-suppressing drugs and plenty of [[ADateWithRosiePalms porn]], it still happens quite frequently.

* HealingFactor: Throughout ''Glass Cannon'', [[spoiler: Jedao Two's alien biology [[ExploitedTropeis repeatedly abused]] to BlackComedy levels.]]

* {{Kitsune}}: Called the ninefox, it's the symbol of the Shuos faction, as well as Shuos Jedao himself. It's associated with cunning and trickery, as is the real kitsune.

* FingerlessGloves: Back in Jedao's days, people who served with the Kel but came from other factions wore fingerless gloves to show that they are not Kel (who wear full gloves). For Shuos Jedao, as the most famous of those generals, this became an IconicItem, to the point where this tradition was dropped after the Hellspin Massacre because of the association.

* MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness: You could cut it with a butter knife. Conventional technology still exists, of course; it's referred to as 'invariant' compared to the variable nature of exotics, but the sheer power of exotics (within the areas they can be maintained) rules the day by comparison. Invariant weapons are ''nothing'' compared to full-force exotics.

* {{Transgender}}:
** Meng and Zehun are non-binary, and referred to by "them".
** Mikodez's sibling Istradez, born his sister, was body modded to be his double, and has completely adapted to being male.
** Kel Brezan is a trans man.

* SplitPeronsalityMerge: In ''Glass Cannon'', [[spoiler: Cheris successfully transfers Jedao's memories to Jedao Two, for all intents and purposes recreating the original Jedao.]]

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating:
** Shuos Jedao, "thanks" to his actions at Hellspin Fortress, when he killed over one million people on both sides, is distrusted and disliked by absolutely everyone, though Cheris and her subordinates come to respect him for his genius.
** Nirai Kujen [[TheManBehindTheMan keeps a much lower profile]], but everyone who knows who he is would really like to have him assassinated. If they [[BodySurf can figure out how]].
** Played with by Shuos Mikodez, who cultivates a reputation for ruthlessness and unpredictability among his rivals, but is benevolent to those who can be trusted.

------
!Tropes present in the series are:

* ''Revenant Gun''

* GambitPileup: In book three the schemes of [[spoiler: Cheris!Jedao, Kujen, Mikodez, Moth!Jedao and the Moths’]] collide.

* GeometricMagic: Formation channeling is based around this: by arranging troops - or ships - in a particular formation and putting them in right frame of mind, Kel units can manifest exotic effects such as force shields and energy lances.
* TheGhost: Kel Command, who are responsible for putting Kel Cheris and Shuos Jedao together; they are more dangerous to Cheris than the heretics are because of how much they want Jedao to be dead and because of how incompetently they are using their army. They are a composite mind. We don't meet any of them in ''Ninefox Gambit'', but in ''Raven Stratagem'', one of them, Kel Tsoro, participates in meetings of the Hexarchs. [[spoiler:By the end of the book, they're all dead.]]

* BadassLesbian: Kel Cheris is a lesbian military captain (brevetted to general). Not that "lesbian" is really a concept in Hexarchate society, where diverse individuality of sexual orientations is unremarkable.