Line #31 Literature/BedlamBoyz


1	[[quoteright:283:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bedlam_boyz3.png]]
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3	''Bedlam Boyz'' is an UrbanFantasy novel by Ellen Guon Beeman, published in 1993 by Baen Books. Prequel to ''Knights of Ghosts & Shadows'' and ''Summoned To Tourney.''
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5	Los Angeles runaway Kayla Smith was living the street life: hanging out with fellow runaways, sleeping in an abandoned office complex, and navigating the crime-filled world of the '90s. But when one of her friends is gunned down, Kayla discovers she has [[HealingHands healing powers]]. She heals her friend -- and the gang member who shot him. Now the city's gangs seek to use her magic for crime, and she attracts the attention of evil elves.
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7	The book can be read at Baen’s free online library [[https://www.baen.com/bedlam-boyz.html here]].
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9	!! ''Bedlam Boyz'' contains examples of:
10	* BigBad: Nataniel the elf, who uses the drug dealers of Los Angeles to distribute his narcotics.
11	* BlackMagic: In addition to her healing magic, [[spoiler:Kayla discovers a spell that can suck the life out of someone's body, which she promptly reverses]].
12	* ColdIron: The elves seem nervous around metal things like airplanes and handguns, and use the words "cold iron" to describe them.
13	* CoversAlwaysLie: The cover shows Kayla with long hair, even though she cuts it short early on. It also shows her hands lit up in gold, even though her magic is described as "blue fire".
14	* DarkIsNotEvil: Kayla wears a black leather jacket throughout the story, but she heals everyone, even her enemies.
15	* EnchantedForest: Inverted. The land of the elves is a dying world with dead trees and a lack of wildlife.
16	* {{Escapism}}: Kayla desperately wants to get back to her old life. She is frequently seen reading a fantasy book about horses.
17	* EvilInc: Nataniel's pharmaceutical company. It distributes drugs to dealers in Los Angeles, among other crimes to make money from humans.
18	* GangBangers: The two gangs depicted are the Tyrone Street Boys (Hispanic) and the T-Men (black).
19	* GratuitousSpanish: Used only rarely by the Hispanic characters, except that they always call Kayla "bruja", meaning "witch".
20	* HealingFactor: In addition to healing others, Kayla can recover from damage within a few seconds, although it's still painful.
21	* HealingHands: Kayla's powers manifest as the ability to heal the wounds of others.
22	* HellBentForLeather: Kayla always wears a leather jacket, because she thinks it's cool.
23	* JiveTurkey: Razz, the T-Men gang leader, sometimes slips into talking like this.
24	* MagicalNegro: Zig-zagged. Elizabet teaches Kayla magic lessons. However, Elizabet is a police psychologist, so it's her job to help runaway kids, though she eventually adopts Kayla. Elizabet was originally taught magic by her grandmother, a former slave in the South, who shows up as a ghost to also assist Kayla.
25	* MagicalWeapon: The silver elven swords are hidden from normal eyes and summoned when needed.
26	* TheMedic: Invoked by Carlos, who wants to attack the T-Men and then use Kayla as his gang's medic.
27	* MurderByInaction: Kayla heals everyone, even people who try to kill her. [[spoiler:Until the very end, when she refuses to heal Carlos and lets him die so she can be free of his influence.]]
28	* MustHaveCaffeine: The drink of choice for most of the characters is Coca-Cola.
29	* NotInKansasAnymore: Kayla says this when she's banished to the elven realm.
30	* OurElvesAreDifferent: The novel portrays elves as universally evil, or at the least callously indifferent. Nataniel uses humans as pawns to earn money, while the Queen of the Unseelie is a tyrant even to her own people.
31	* OurOgresAreHungrier: Kayla meets an ogre who eats the remains of gang members killed in shootouts.
32	* ParentalAbandonment: Kayla's parents disappeared when she was twelve years old.
33	* ProudWarriorRace: The elves all carry swords and armor, magically concealed under their human disguises. They can just use magic spells to kill people, but it seems they prefer melee weapons.
34	* RecessiveSuperGenes: Elizabet's parents had no magic, but her grandmother did, and taught Elizabet everything she knew.
35	* TheRunaway: Kayla and her original friends Billy and Leann were runaways. They survived by shoplifting, and they lived in an abandoned office.
36	* SpiritAdvisor: Elizabet's grandmother returns as a ghost to help Kayla learn more about her magic.
37	* StockholmSyndrome: After Carlos' gang kidnaps Kayla, she starts to develop feelings for Carlos' brother Ramon, and worrying about what would happen without her there to heal the gang's wounds.
38	* SupernaturalSensitivity: All of the magic characters can sense the use of magic from others, and attempt to conceal it, though this detection skill must be learned.

Context Literature / BedlamBoyz