History Literature / ThePaleAncientAndTheHouseOfMirrors

* UncannyValley: The woman who accompanies Huang Tan. She has the same face as Huang Tan. Daniel can't look at her for long.

!!The Pale Ancient and the House of Mirrors contains examples of:

* UncannyValley: The woman who accompanies Huang Tan. She has the same face as Huang Tan. Daniel can't look at her for long.

* The beginning of Daniel's part could serve as an epilogue, [[spoiler: if you believe the evidence that he's writing all this ''after'' the events of the book.]]

''The Pale Ancient and the House of Mirrors'' is a novel by Travis Lee, scheduled for release in May 2017.

* {{City With No Name}}: The small Hubei town where the Pale Ancient lurks is never named. Justified in-universe: Mary doesn't want people going there and endangering themselves.
* {{Companion Cube}}: Steve the fortune cat, who Daniel talks to because he has no other friends.

* {{Foregone Conclusion}}: It doesn't take long to identify the mute foreigner in part 1, leaving readers to wonder how long Richard will be with Mary and Frank.
* {{Everythings Worse With Bees}}: Outside the abandoned house you hear a strange buzz that sounds like bees.
** After reading the cult's messages, several people hear bees. Daniel ''sees'' them too.

* {{Ironic Echo}}: When Tan Chu Li's widow is telling Daniel about her husband's murder, she refers to him as a "so stubborn man". Later, Xiao Liu calls Daniel "so stubborn man" when he insists on confronting Huang Tan.
* {{Jerk with a Heart of Gold}}: Daniel is angry, spiteful, hates all other China blogs but his own, deals drugs and is implied to have cheated on his wife several times, leading their current Sexless Marriage. Yet, [[spoiler:he risks his life to save Richard and destroy the Pale Ancient.]]

* {{Language Barrier}}: Frank has lived in China for seven years, but his Mandarin is terrible.

* {{Maybe Magic Maybe Mundane}}: The source of Daniel's hallucinations is very likely The Pale Ancient, though they could be a product of his drug use.

* {{Mysterious Stranger}}: Richard, when Mary and Frank first meet him. He is likewise vague about his reasons for going to the small Hubei town, until Mary sees him reading one of the cult's messages.
* {{Naked on Arrival}}: Richard, when the constable finds him in the flash-forward that opens the book.
* {{Nostalgic Narrator}}: Chris's part strikes a much {{Lighter and Softer}} tone than the rest of the book, [[spoiler: at least until they find Daniel near death.]]
* {{Nothing is Scarier}}: The three special Chinese characters that appear in the cult's messages. We never learn what they are, only that once you see them you can't ''unsee'' them.

* {{Odd Friendship}}: Daniel and Richard.
* {{Sexless Marriage}}: Daniel and Xia Xue. He daydreams about better days in their marriage and it's heavily implied from Xia Xue's behavior that they haven't had sex ''in years''.
* {{Unusual Euphemism}}: Daniel refers to his cocaine use as "feeding the reindeer".
* {{The Alcoholic}}: Frank. The low point is when he pukes on his son's feet.
* {{The Conscience}}: Steve the fortune cat plays this too. He calls Daniel out for giving Tan Chu Li's widow false hope while using her to gain information about the cult.
* {{Uncanny Valley}}: The woman who accompanies Huang Tan. She has the same face as Huang Tan. Daniel can't look at her for long.
* {{What Did I Do Last Night}}: The main characters in Chris's part try to find out what happened to Daniel after a wild night of partying.
* {{Where Are They Now Epilogue}}: Chris narrates everyone's fates at the end of his part:

** Daniel also stays in China, gets married and founds Dragon Eye nation. Chris is unaware of Daniel's criminal activities.

** He refuses to stop the investigation, even when Xiao Liu warns him that Huang Tan will kill him.

'''Part 1 - The Mute Foreigner & the Policeman''': Set in August 2014 A constable brings a mute foreigner to his sergeant, '''Ying Li'''. The foreigner writes out three odd Chinese characters...

''The Pale Ancient and the House of Mirrors'' is a novel by Travis Lee, scheduled for release in May 2017. [[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_1986_5.JPG]]

''The Pale Ancient and the House of Mirrors'' is a novel by author Travis Lee, scheduled for release in May 2017. [[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_1986_5.JPG]]

* {{Jerk with a Heart of Gold}}: Daniel is angry, spiteful, hates all other China blogs but his own, deals drugs and is implied to have cheated on his wife several times, leading their current Sexless Marriage. Yet, [[spoiler:he puts his life on the line to save Richard and destroy the Pale Ancient.]]

* {{Mysterious Stranger}}: Richard is this to Mary and Frank when they first meet him. He is likewise vague about his reasons for going to the small Hubei town, until Mary sees him reading one of the cult's messages.

* {{Uncanny Valley}}: The woman who accompanies Huang Tan. She has the same face as Huang Tan. Daniel can't look at her for long.

** Averted with the rest of the cast, who have no problems communicating in Mandarin. Even Mary, who has been in China the least amount of time, speaks better Chinese than Frank.

** Averted with the rest of the cast, who have no problems communicating in Mandarin.

* {{The Conscience}}: Steve the fortune cat plays this too. He calls Daniel out for giving Tan Chu Li's widow false hope while using her to gain information about the cult.

* {{Mysterious Stranger}}: Richard is this to Mary and Frank when they find him napping behind a gas station, after their bus accidentally leaves them. He is likewise vague about his reasons for going to the small Hubei town, until Mary sees him reading one of the cult's messages.

* {{The Alcoholic}}: Frank. The low point is when he pukes on his son's feet.

* {{Sexless Marriage}}: Daniel and Xia Xue. He daydreams about better days in their marriage and it's heavily implied from Xia Xue's that they haven't had sex ''in years''.

''The Pale Ancient and the House of Mirrors'' is a novel by author Travis Lee, scheduled for release in May 2017.

* {{Mysterious Stranger}}: Richard is this to Mary and Frank when find him napping behind a gas station, after their bus accidentally leaves them. He is likewise vague about reasons for going to the small Hubei town, until Mary sees him reading one of the cult's messages.

* {{The Conscience}}: Steve the fortune cat plays this too. He calls Daniel out for using Tan Chu Li's widow to gain information about the cult, allowing her to assume that he had come to bring Tan Chu Li's murderers to justice.

* {{Nothing is Scarier}}: Invoked several times, including the three special Chinese characters that appear in the cult's messages.

* {{Ironic Echo}}: When Tan Chu Li's widow is telling about her husband's murder, she refers to him as a "so stubborn man". Later, Xiao Liu calls Daniel "so stubborn man" when he insists on confronting Huang Tan.

* {{Complete Monster}}: Huang Tan. Not only does he murder a high school principal during the Cultural Revolution, [[after his execution and subsequent revival by the Pale Ancient he participates in Tiananmen Square and preys on children whose parents bring them to his restaurant.]]

* Complete Monster: Huang Tan. Not only does he murder a high school principal during the Cultural Revolution, [[after his execution and subsequent revival by the Pale Ancient he participates in Tiananmen Square and preys on children whose parents bring them to his restaurant.]]
* Unusual Euphemism: Daniel refers to his cocaine use as "feeding the reindeer".
* The Alcoholic: Frank. The low point is when he pukes on his son's feet.