History Literature / Unsong

** Theonomic corporations (like [[Website/{{Facebook}} Countenance]], [[Website/{{Google}} Gogmagog]], [[Website/{{eBay}} eLeshon]]) and [=UNSONG=] are a thinly-veiled allegory of the real-world software industry. The Unitarian choir corresponds to the free software/open-source movement; in particular, Reverend Raymond E. Stevens is named after [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_S._Raymond Eric Steven Raymond]] (although his character seems to bear more resemblance to Richard Stallman). Kabbalah is mathematics/programming, while klipot is UsefulNotes/{{DRM}}. ArchangelUriel himself references ([[AnachronismStew quite anachronistically]]) the Gale-Shapley algorithm, a "part_sea function", and Ruby on Rails. [[spoiler:Ensouling a computer]] is basically creating an ArtificialIntelligence. Many more parallels like this can be drawn, and the point is driven further by quotations from a Tumblr blog populated with the [[WordSaladLyrics output of a Markov chain]] mixing [[Literature/TheBible the King James Bible]] with, among other things, ''Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs''.

* SoapBoxSadie: The Comet King's plan to breed an army of his superhuman children is met by widespread protests, with critics accusing him of [[ANaziByAnyOtherName trying to create a blonde, blue-eyed master race]] and of [[BabyFactory exploiting women for their wombs.]] The Comet King releases public statements to the effect that one, he's Asian-Indian and thus unlikely to produce any blonde and blue-eyed offspring, and two, being TheMessiah with a HundredPercentAdorationRating, he's already got ''thousands'' of women volunteering to bear his children so the [[StrawFeminist protestors']] wombs will not be required, thank you all the same. Subverted in that after the birth of his oldest daughter (and learning about the prophecy about his children’s fate to die cursing his name), the Comet King decides that fathering children as a means to an end is morally abhorrent, making the protestors RightForTheWrongReasons.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Uriel is somewhat... off for an angel, and appears to have some kind of autism spectrum disorder. It probably helps that the author is a psychiatrist.

* DarkSkinnedBlond: Jalaketu West is of Indian descent, but has white hair.

* UncannyValley: [[invoked]] Thamiel is described as occupying it.

* UnfortunateImplications: [[invoked]] Diplomats at a [=UN=]-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian peace conference flip out when Uriel admits that [[spoiler: Africans aren't being given souls, because there isn't enough divine light getting through to Earth to keep up with human population growth and Africa is the geographic region with the most suffering.]] Their reaction is so intense that Uriel panics and blows up the entire city rather than let the secret get out.

* AfterTheEnd: The breaking of the sky might count as an apocalypse in and of itself, but the death of the Comet King left the world - or at least the United States - a complete mess. The Midwest is ruled by petty warlords with names like "Paulus the Lawless" and "the Witch-King of Wichita", Hell has established colonies, and there's an ongoing guerrilla war in the Appalachians.
* AlienCatnip: Holy water has an intoxicating effect on fallen angels, enabling them to fly again.

* AllMythsAreTrue: well, all [[UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}} Judeo]]-[[Literature/TheBible Christian]] myths, anyway. A few other bits and pieces of other religions and mythologies do show up in distorted form, however.

* ArchangelUriel: Apparently has the role of cosmic sysop, and has been very busy since humanity broke the sky.

* ArcWords: "None of this is a coincidence, because [[ThereAreNoCoincidences nothing is ever a coincidence]]." As seen most prominently in the page quote above.

* AwesomeButImpractical: The Bulletproof Name takes five seconds to pronounce, and stops exactly one bullet.
* BadassBoast: Several people make them, but the most badass one of all surely comes from the Comet King - while he's speaking to the devil himself, no less.

* BadLiar: Sataniel, when he first fell. Fortunately for him, angels are ''incredibly'' gullible.

* BlowYouAway: Presumably the Tempestuous Name used in [[http://unsongbook.com/chapter-15-o-where-shall-i-hide-my-face/ Chapter 15]], as tempests are a type of wind.

* BookEnds: The Comet King's reign began and ended with a duel with a massively powerful evil supernatural creature - Thamiel at the beginning and the Other King at the end.
* BrokenAngel: "Fallen angels", who are neither demons nor evil - they're angels who have crossed the DespairEventHorizon and lost their ability to fly. Because they can never become cynical enough to cope with the human world, they're plunged into a never-ending cycle of disappointment and despair.
* BrownNote: "The Broadcast", a documentary about Hell, filmed in Hell, which shows just what those damned to Hell are going to experience. Unlike most examples of this trope, there's very little TakeOurWordForIt here - just be glad you're only reading about it instead of watching it yourself.

* CardCarryingVillain: Thamiel, and demons in general. Among (what are presumably) humans, the Other King and Dick Cheney.

* ContentWarnings: The Interlude chapter "The Broadcast" has one.
* ContrivedCoincidence: Lampshaded and ultimately [[spoiler: averted as a trope and invoked as an in-universe event. The universe in which Unsong takes place only exists because those coincidences must happen, because only these coincidences allow it to ultimately be a good universe. As Metatron puts it, the Unsong-verse is in the middle of a "vast waste" where no other universes were created, presumably because one of the many ForWantOfANail events fail to happen and thus Hell is never destroyed.]]
* CrapsackWorld: The LegionsOfHell have enslaved all of Russia and Canada and are actively working on making sure that everyone everywhere becomes as evil as possible, so as to ensure that they face eternal damnation after they die - said damnation, by the way, being both unspeakably painful and carefully documented so that everyone ''knows'' what's waiting for them. Most of western America has fallen to a necromancer who commits war crimes terrible enough that [[EveryoneHasStandards even his hardened mercenaries]] get uncomfortable. Mexico is a HiveMind controlled by an Aztec god looking to spread his reign north. The few parts of the world that still have something resembling a regular government are controlled by massive corporations who holds the copyright to the sacred Names of God and by the brutal international organisation devoted to stomping out all resistance to them, while the politicians nominally in charge range from merely corrupt and incompetent to horrifically and gleefully evil. And all of this is about to get ''even worse'', because the celestial machine that maintains some semblance of natural law and keeping supernatural forces from running unchecked is quickly breaking down. All of this is slightly balanced out by the undeniable existence of divinity and goodness, but even that is either so StupidGood as to be all but useless or so overpoweringly holy that it will devour you if you get too close to it.

* DiscOneFinalBoss: The story initially looks like it's going to be about [[LaResistance the heroic singers]] fighting against the oppressive bureaucracy of UNSONG and its AmbiguouslyHuman leader Malia Ngo. The fact that the story is literally named after it doesn't do anything to offset that impression. However, after the first quarter or so of the story, the stakes rise considerably higher than intellectual property rights and UNSONG fades into the background, to be replaced by the likes of [[{{Satan}} Thamiel]], the [[EvilOverlord Other King]] and the [[HiveMind Drug Lord]]. [[spoiler: And in the end, UNSONG turns out to be a NecessaryEvil run by a NobleDemon.]]

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything
** Theonomic corporations (like [[Website/{{Facebook}} Countenance]], [[Website/{{Google}} Gogmagog]], [[Website/{{eBay}} eLeshon]]) and [=UNSONG=] are a thinly-veiled allegory of the real-world software industry. The Unitarian choir corresponds to the free software/open-source movement; in particular, Reverend Raymond E. Stevens is named after [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_S._Raymond Eric Steven Raymond]] (although his character seems to bear more resemblance to Richard Stallman). Kabbalah is mathematics/programming, while klipot is UsefulNotes/{{DRM}}. ArchangelUriel himself references ([[AnachronismStew quite anachronistically]]) the Gale-Shapley algorithm, a "part_sea function" and Ruby on Rails. [[spoiler:Ensouling a computer]] is basically creating an ArtificialIntelligence. Many more parallels like this can be drawn; and the point is driven further by quotations from a Tumblr populated with the [[WordSaladLyrics output of a Markov chain]] mixing [[Literature/TheBible the King James Bible]] with, among other things, ''Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs''.

* EmptyChairMemorial: The Comet King's throne stands empty, even as his children continue ruling (what's left of) his kingdom. A handy visual reminder of how entirely irreplaceable he was.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: Part of Thamiel's [[WhatIsEvil pitch]] to the United Nations is pointing out that unlike other nations, Hell enjoys perfect equality of race, orientation, gender and creed. ''Everyone'' gets horribly tortured for all eternity, without discrimination.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: There are both subtle and heavy-handed examples throughout the story.

* FunWithPalindromes: Another type of plot-relevant wordplay.

* GenreSavvy: Dylan Alvarez prides himself on this and goes to great lengths to stay on the right side of narrative tropes. In fact, the entire art of Placebomancy hinges on bending reality toward the most dramatically satisfying outcomes.

* {{Golem}}: Naturally, there are several.

* AHellOfATime: "The Broadcast" promises that the very worst sinners get ''less'' torture in Hell, because Thamiel wants to encourage people who think they're going to be damned anyway to sin even more in the hopes of getting better treatment, rather than sin less - and because knowing that people like Hitler, Beria, and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphine_LaLaurie Delphine LaLaurie]] get off relatively easily makes Hell that much worse for everyone else.
* HellSeeker: The Other King is actively trying to be so horrifically evil that Thamiel can't deny him entrance into Hell when he dies. [[spoiler: Because he's actually the Comet King, trying to get into Hell the old-fashioned way after his attempt to storm its gates failed.]]

* HiveMind: Eating extract of peyote cactus makes you part of one, directed by the Drug Lord.

* HonorBeforeReason: Discussed. Most of the major characters agree on the fact that this trope is the way to go, because "[[ArcWords they enslave their children's children who make compromise with sin.]]" However, rather than solving anything, that just raises the question of what is the "honourable" thing to do that you should abandon "reason" for - for instance, is it "honour" to follow the course of love and loyalty and AlwaysSaveTheGirl and "reason" to perform the cold calculations and look to TheNeedsOfTheMany, or is that just a way of rationalising your own selfishness (reason) instead of [[IDidWhatIHadToDo carrying out a harsh moral duty]] (honour)?

** The world had a collective one with the rise of [[TheMessiah the Comet King]] who defeated Thamiel's previously unstoppable army and promised to conquer Hell and repair the universe. And then... he tried to do just that, and failed. At the start of the story he's been dead for many years and the world is heading steadily towards its end.
* HotLine: Played with - shortly after the sky is broken, Richard Nixon starts getting calls on the red telephone. Not the actual link to the Kremlin, the [[SupernaturalPhone plastic prop he keeps on his desk]].

** Erica pulls off a subverted version of this during the "placebomantic duel" with Malia Ngo - [[spoiler: she attacks Malia with the metal nameplate on her desk.]]

* IncrediblyLamePun: Word play is a central part of uncovering the secrets of reality, and something the lead character and his significant other have spent their lives doing. They really like their puns.

* TheMagicComesBack: Apollo 8's collision with the crystal sphere broke reality bad enough that Uriel had to move in personally to fix it. The Names of God can now work miracles, the Devil is now real, and there's something called "placebomancy".

* MagicVersusScience: Science is still around (computers are still being made and used) but the Names of God are effectively magic spells and undeniably real and powerful.

* MasterOfTheMixedMessage: Ana Thurmond. On one hand, she refuses to go on a date with Aaron and [[InsistentTerminology insists that she isn't his girlfriend or wife]]. On the other, she had no problem joining him in a PsychicLink ritual which she herself named "kabbalistic marriage" (in a universe which practically ''runs'' on MeaningfulName and ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve, to boot), of which she doesn't hesitate to remind him when [[spoiler:he is kindapped by Jane]].
* MeaningfulName: Goes with the WorldOfPun. This extends to effectively creating meanings for existing names, such as "Kissinger".

* MindlinkMates / PsychicLink: played with. The protagonist has this with Ana, but she's [[UsefulNotes/{{Asexuality}} asexual]] and they set one up [[MundaneUtility purely for the side-benefits]]. She also has a weaker one with Erica, their housemate.

* NoPlaceForMeThere: Uriel's plan to turn the universe mechanistic eventually erased even him from existence, which he was well aware that it would. He came back along with the other angels and demons once the celestial machine broke, though.
* NotCompletelyUseless: The Mortal Name kills anyone who speaks it. As magical spells go, that's pretty useless. ''Unless'' of course you're clever enough to put a row of syllables that are phonetically identical to the Name in a written message that you know one of your enemies will read out loud. Dylan Alvarez... is clever enough.

* OmniscientMoralityLicence: This, in essence, is [[spoiler: the Metatron]]'s answer to the problem of evil. [[spoiler: God created the universe with evil in it because he wanted to create the best possible multiverse rather than just one perfect universe, and the best possible multiverse contains all the possible universes with more good than evil, not just the perfect ones with no evil at all. As it happens, this world does not contain more good than evil ''right now.'' However, God foresaw the entire history of the universe before creating it, and brought it into being specifically because He knew that it would have more good than bad in it ''in the end'' - whereas He refrained from creating a number of similar possible universes because He foresaw that they would end up being more evil than good. And sure enough, while the Unsong universe has been a CrapsackWorld up to now, by the end of the story [[EarnYourHappyEnding it does look like things are about to take a cosmic turn for the better.]]]]
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Angels live in FluffyCloudHeaven and are AlwaysLawfulGood on a deep and fundamental psychological level - they're [[GoodCannotComprehendEvil almost completely incapable of understanding concepts like "deception"]]. Angels who are exposed to the harsh realities of the world eventually [[BrokenAngel lose the ability to fly]]. On the other hand, they're really good at killing demons with flaming swords. Angels falling after being exposed to humanity eventually became such a problem that the United States government had to establish a "Strategic Angel Reserve".
* OvershadowedByAwesome: Aaron, Ana and Erica are all fairly smart and capable, and even have a few special abilities that are, if not completely unique to them, then at least not available to a regular person in the Unsong universe. However, given the [[PhysicalGod kind]] [[TheArchmage of]] [[HumanoidAbomination people]] they quickly get tangled up with, their role is frequently reduced to keeping their head down, doing as they are told, and trying not to get caught in the crossfire.

* PostModernMagik

* PungeonMaster: Practically a job requirement for Kabbalists.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: Uriel tells Sohu a version of the Talmudic story of Elisha ben Abuyah, also known as "The Other One", a rabbi who saw a boy breaking a Torah law go unpunished while another who followed that same law fell out of a tree and died - and reacted to this injustice by becoming an enemy of the God who allowed it to happen. The present-day Other King is speculated to have once been this rabbi in ancient times.
* RealityIsOutToLunch: When the Apollo mission crashed into the crystal sphere, it broke physics and things were rather weird until Uriel managed to get things fixed enough to stabilize the world in its current state.

* RitualMagic: PlayedWith. Kaballah runs on a combination of this and WordsCanBreakMyBones, but "Ritual Magic" is entirely made-up rituals that seem impressive and [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve convince the universe that this is a magic ritual]].

* ShutUpKirk: [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Simeon Azore]] is entirely unmoved by Ana's well-rehearsed ReasonYouSuckSpeech against him and the industry he represents. Justified in that none of her arguments are new to him - he's heard them all before, including from his own family members.

* SignsOfTheEndTimes: The crystal sphere around the earth has been cracked, and things are definitely a little... off. Eagles pecking out the Pope's eyes, unattended babies rolling uphill, that sort of thing.
* SoapBoxSadie: The Comet King's plan to breed an army of his superhuman children is met by widespread protests, with critics accusing him of [[ANaziByAnyOtherName trying to create a blonde, blue-eyed master race]] and of [[BabyFactory exploiting women for their wombs.]] The Comet King releases public statements to the effect that one, he's Asian-Indian and thus unlikely to produce any blonde and blue-eyed offspring, and two, being TheMessiah with a HundredPercentAdorationRating, he's already got ''thousands'' of women volunteering to bear his children so the [[StrawFeminist protestor's]] womb will not be required, thank you all the same. Subverted in that after the birth of his oldest daughter (and learning about the prophecy about his children’s fate) the Comet King decides that fathering children as a means to an end is morally abhorrent, making the protestors RightForTheWrongReasons.

* ThanatosGambit: Robin West, the Comet King’s wife, sold her soul to Thamiel in exchange for... nothing. After the Comet King failed to reform Hell while still alive, she wanted to go to Hell herself to inspire the Comet King to find a way to save her. [[spoiler: It worked. The Comet King couldn’t be sure he’d go to hell “naturally” as long as he only had good reasons for doing evil deeds - but being willing to hurt others for his wife’s sake gave him an “evil” motivation for being evil and then reforming Hell anyway.]]

* ThereAreNoCoincidences: The work's overriding ethos, see [[ArcWords Arc Words]]

* UnreliableNarrator: The narrator, Aaron, goes on at great length about how coincidences don't exist and there are hidden meanings in everything. It's heavily implied [[spoiler:and eventually confirmed by God himself]] that he's wrong and his confirmation bias blinds him to coincidences all around him.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: The Comet King was one, and the Cometspawn are trying to take over where he left off. Aaron aspires to be one. Dylan is certainly one. On a much larger scale, so is Uriel. So, as it turns out, is [[spoiler: Malia Ngo. And Simeon Azore. And freaking ''[[{{Satan}} Thamiel]]''.]] Really, it's a running theme of the story that ''everyone'' thinks that they're the unsung hero of the story, simply [[IDidWhatIHadToDo doing what must be done,]] and that everything they do will be [[TheExtremistWasRight worth it in the end.]] [[spoiler: The ending implies that most of them, if not all, were quite right - everything all of them did was part of God's plan from the start.]]

* YouAreWorthHell: [[spoiler: The Comet King is actively trying to be damned to hell so he can rescue his wife from her eternal torment. Subverted in that once he's in, he's planning to use the Explicit Name [[HellOfATime to make Hell a lot nicer.]]]]

In 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 crashes into the crystal sphere that surrounds Earth. The logic of the world as we know it falls apart, the Names of God become [[IKnowYourTrueName magical spells]], and all of Judeo-Christian theology is suddenly true]]. [[MessianicArchetype The Messiah]] reads Peter Singer and founds a kingdom in Colorado, TheLegionsOfHell rise from a lake in Siberia and ally with Henry Kissinger against Soviet Russia, Silicon Valley giants research esoteric Jewish mysticism through brute-force algorithms, and the Unitarian Church leads a secret underground in opposition to the United Nations Subcommittee on the Names of God.

* DiscOneFinalBoss: The story initially looks like it's going to be about [[LaResistance the heroic singers]] fighting against the [[TheMan oppressive bureaucracy]] of UNSONG and its AmbiguouslyHuman leader Malia Ngo. The fact that the story is literally named after it doesn't do anything to offset that impression. However, after the first quarter or so of the story, the stakes rise considerably higher than intellectual property rights and UNSONG fades into the background, to be replaced by the likes of [[{{Satan}} Thamiel]], the [[EvilOverlord Other King]] and the [[HiveMind Drug Lord]]. [[spoiler: And in the end, UNSONG turns out to be a NecessaryEvil run by a NobleDemon.]]

In 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 crashes into the crystal sphere that surrounds Earth. The logic of the world as we know it falls apart, the Names of God become [[IKnowYourTrueName magical spells]], and [[AllMythsAreTrue all of Judeo-Christian mythology is suddenly true]]. [[MessianicArchetype The Messiah]] reads Peter Singer and founds a kingdom in Colorado, TheLegionsOfHell rise from a lake in Siberia and ally with Henry Kissinger against Soviet Russia, Silicon Valley giants research esoteric Jewish mysticism through brute-force algorithms, and the Unitarian Church leads a secret underground in opposition to the United Nations Subcommittee on the Names of God.

** Hell's legions are nonplussed by Russia's willingness to throw its soldiers' lives away. "In Soviet Russia, demons shocked by atrocities of ''you''!"

-> ''The timer read 4:33, which is the length of John Cage’s famous silent musical piece. 4:33 makes 273 seconds total. -273 is absolute zero in Celsius. John Cage’s piece is perfect silence; absolute zero is perfect stillness. In the year 273 AD, the two consuls of Rome were named Tacitus and Placidianus; “Tacitus” is Latin for “silence” and Placidianus is Latin for “stillness”. 273 is also the gematria of the Greek word eremon, which means “silent” or “still”.''

* PressXToDie: The shortest effective Name of God is the Mortal Name, which kills the speaker. It was the only Name of God that still worked even before the crystal sphere cracked, which is why Jewish law forbids saying "Jehovah" out loud.

* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: The Comet King single-handedly won the Drug War by taking peyote cactus himself and convincing the Drug Lord that he really, really didn't want the Comet King inside the HiveMind.
** Twenty years later, [[spoiler: Aaron, Ana, and Jinxiang West do it to him again]].

* ExactWords: Dylan Alvarez is fond of this. When he's involved, it's important to learn the difference between a bomb squad and a bomb ''removal'' squad.
** Thamiel also has his moments, such as when he mentions that he "helps blind children."

* [[ChildProdigy Sohu West]], the Comet King's daughter. She's the greatest human kabbalist and learns at the feet of [[TheRainMan Rain Man]] archangel Uriel, whose {{Magitek}} machine maintains what little mundane logic is left in the world (and whose portrayal conspicuously averts HollywoodAutism).

In 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 crashes into the crystal sphere that surrounds Earth. The logic of the world as we know it falls apart, the Names of God become [[IKnowYourTrueName magical spells]], and [[AllMythsAreTrue all of Judeo-Christian mythology is suddenly true]]. [[MessianicArchetype The Messiah]] reads Peter Singer and founds a kingdom in Colorado, TheLegionsOfHell rise from a lake in Siberia and ally with Henry Kissinger agaist Soviet Russia, Silicon Valley giants research esoteric Jewish mysticism through brute-force algorithms, and the Unitarian Church leads a secret underground in opposition to the United Nations Subcommittee on the Names of God.

* [[ChildProdigy Sohu]], the Comet King's daughter. She's the greatest human kabbalist and learns at the feet of [[TheRainMan Rain Man]] archangel Uriel, whose {{Magitek}} machine maintains what little mundane logic is left in the world (and whose portrayal conspicuously averts HollywoodAutism).

The nature of Unsong's magic system means that trivia, history, linguistics, and narrative have physical significance within the world, leading to a tone reminiscent of [[{{Creator/DouglasAdams}} Douglas Adams]] or [[{{Creator/NeilGaiman}} Neil Gaiman]]. It also includes heavy doses of AuthorAppeal exploration of utilitarian ethics under extreme circumstances, humanist philosophy (including a look at a [[NightmareFuel really disturbing humanist version of Hell]]), and terrible, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking terrible]] [[{{Pun}} puns]].

The nature of Unsong's magic system means that trivia, history, linguistics, and narrative have physical significance within the world, leading to a tone reminiscent of [[{{Creator/DouglasAdams}} Douglas Adams]] or [[{{Creator/NeilGaiman}} Neil Gaiman]]. It also includes heavy doses of AuthorAppeal exploration of utilitarian ethics under extreme circumstances, humanist philosophy (including a look at a [[NightmareFuel really disturbing humanist version of Hell]], and terrible, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking terrible]] [[{{Pun}} puns]].

-> ''"The timer read 4:33, which is the length of John Cage’s famous silent musical piece. 4:33 makes 273 seconds total. -273 is absolute zero in Celsius. John Cage’s piece is perfect silence; absolute zero is perfect stillness. In the year 273 AD, the two consuls of Rome were named Tacitus and Placidianus; “Tacitus” is Latin for “silence” and Placidianus is Latin for “stillness”. 273 is also the gematria of the Greek word eremon, which means “silent” or “still”. None of this is a coincidence because nothing is ever a coincidence."''

Aaron Smith-Teller works in a kabbalistic sweatshop in Silicon Valley, where he and hundreds of other minimum-wage workers try to brute-force the Holy Names of God. All around him, vast forces have been moving their pieces into place for the final confrontation. An overworked archangel tries to debug the laws of physics. Henry Kissinger transforms the ancient conflict between Heaven and Hell into a US-Soviet proxy war. A Mexican hedge wizard with no actual magic wreaks havoc using the dark art of placebomancy. The Messiah reads a book by Peter Singer and starts wondering exactly what it would mean to do ''as much good as possible''...

Aaron doesn't care about any of this. He and his not-quite-girlfriend Ana are engaged in something far more important – griping about magical intellectual property law. But when a chance discovery brings them into conflict with mysterious international magic-intellectual-property watchdog UNSONG, they find themselves caught in a web of plots, crusades, and prophecies leading inexorably to the end of the world.

'''Read it [[http://unsongbook.com/ here]]''', now complete at 72 chapters, some number of interludes, and an Epilogue.

'''Read it [[http://unsongbook.com/ here]]''' And it is now complete at 72 Chapters, some number of interludes, and an Epilogue.

* ShockAndAwe: Presumably the Fulminant Name used in [[http://unsongbook.com/chapter-15-o-where-shall-i-hide-my-face/ Chapter 15]], as "fulminata" in Latin, means "Thunderbolt".

* DarkSkinnedBlond: Jalaketu West is of Indian descent, but has [[HeroicAlbino white hair]].