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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_change_tales_of_downfall_and_rebirth.jpg]]
2
3-> ''The Year: 1998.''\
4''The Date: March 17.''\
5''The Time: 6:15 p.m. PST.''
6
7An enormous electrical storm of unknown properties encompasses the island of Nantucket and transports it back to the bronze age. The resultant time shock causes everyone on Earth to suffer an intense migraine at the exact same moment. The far more important consequence is that any device run off of electricity, gunpowder, explosives, internal combustion or steam power ceases to function. Permanently. In a single instant, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt humanity has been, metaphorically, bombed back to the Stone Age.]]
8
9Thus begins ''Dies the Fire'', the first "Novel of the Change" by Creator/SMStirling. The Novels of the Change, a.k.a. the Emberverse, concern what happens to the modern world after the island of Nantucket is hurled back through time in ''Literature/IslandInTheSeaOfTime'', the other side of the Emberverse coin.
10
11The Emberverse currently consists of two completed trilogies, a completed tetrology, a (presumably) concluding [[TrilogyCreep pentalogy]], four short stories ("Something for Yew", "Ancient Ways," "A Murder In Eddsford" and "Hot Night at the Hopping Toad"), and a shared-universe anthology.There is also [[http://www.ipinc.net/~kiers/SMSFanFiction/ an officially-sanctioned fanfiction page]].
12
13The first trilogy consists of:
14* ''Dies the Fire'' (2004): After the Nantucket Event, Michael Havel and the Larsson family make their way from Montana to the Larsson estate in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, picking up survivors on the way, and eventually forming the mercenary outfit "The Bearkillers". Meanwhile, in Corvallis, the Oregon State University "faculty senate" rallies the city survivors to their banner, while Juniper Mackenzie and her Georgian Wiccan coven form the "Clan Mackenzie" in the hills south of Lebanon, Oregon. Finally, history professor Norman Arminger rallies the members of his local branch of the UsefulNotes/SocietyForCreativeAnachronism and the criminal element of Portland to his "Portland Protective Association", based on a feudalistic monarchy with some minor Mordorian influences. All this is accomplished amid the backdrop of billions dying as most of the world's mass food production capabilities and rapid transport fail, leaving everyone to fend for himself.
15* ''The Protector's War'' (2005): Eight years after the Change, with the various factions of the Willamette Valley relatively settled, Lord Protector Arminger sets his sights on conquering the rest of the valley, something the Bearkillers, Mackenzies and Corvallans want no part of. This marks the start of the Protector's War
16* ''A Meeting at Corvallis'' (2006): The Protector's War ends, and peace finally comes to the Willamette Valley...for a time.
17
18The second trilogy takes place 22 years after the Change, after a 12-year TimeSkip:
19* ''The Sunrise Lands'' (2007): Ingolf Vogeler, a traveler from Readstown, Wisconsin, arrives at Dun Juniper, the capital of the Clan Mackenzie, searching for a man known as "The Son of the Bear Who Rules," so the Wisconsinite can take him to obtain "The Sword of the Lady," after a vision he received while visiting the island of Nantucket. He is pursued by assassins from the Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT), a religious cult who view the Change as punishment from God. Rudi Mackenzie, son of Juniper Mackenzie and Mike Havel, long ago prophesied as "The Lady's Sword" at his naming ceremony, leads Ingolf, Mathilda Arminger (his childhood friend and heiress to the PPA throne), her vassal Odard Liu, Rudi's sisters Mary and Ritva (both DĂșnedain Rangers), and Father Ignatius (a warrior-monk of the Benedictine order of Mount Angel). Together they embark on a cross-country quest to recover "The Sword of the Lady," which waits for Rudi back at Nantucket.
20* ''The Scourge of God'' (2008): The CUT gains in power, land and influence, apparently aided by otherworldly forces, threatening the entirety of the Willamette Valley and all of what used to be the United States. Meanwhile, Rudi and company make their way across the Midwest, and arrive at the Provisional Republic Of Iowa.
21* ''The Sword of the Lady'' (2009): Rudi and his companions finally arrive at Nantucket, and obtain the titular sword, as the war between the CUT and the Willamette forces takes a turn for the worse.
22
23The next series, a [[TrilogyCreep tetrology]], tracks Rudi and co.'s journey back to the Willamette to complete their quest, then wraps up the war with the CUT.
24
25* ''The High King of Montival'' (2010): Now in possession of the Sword, Rudi - Artos - must journey back to the western lands he'd left behind, and muster from them an army to rescue his homeland. Both he and his people back home work to consolidate the newborn kingdom, should they prevail against the Cutters.
26* ''The Tears of the Sun'' (2011): The kingdom of Montival takes firmer shape under Artos's leadership, the disparate groups within drawing together to meet the CUT threat. Allies from the eastern lands, as well as from the former Canada, provide vital support. Part of the war effort includes sowing dissension in the enemy ranks, with the goal of taking the CUT's ally [[spoiler: Boise]] out of the war.
27* ''Lord of Mountains'' (September 2012): The combined armies of Montival and its allies, led by Rudi with the Sword, take on the CUT invasion, and do their best to reduce the CUT influence in [[spoiler: Boise]]. (The death of [[spoiler: Martin Thurston]] is a significant step toward that end, but more remains to be done.) After a climactic battle in the Horse Heaven Hills, the leaders of Montival decide on a further course of action and formally unify under Rudi's leadership.
28* ''The Given Sacrifice'' (September 2013): The war against the CUT concludes and a new generation comes of age. Rudi's final fate is shown when he intervenes in a conflict between Haida raiders and a party from Japan.
29
30The final series, a [[TrilogyCreep pentalogy]], takes place a generation afterwards, and includes:
31* ''The Golden Princess'' (2014): Rudi's Mackenzie's heir, Orlaith, meets up with Nipponese princess Reiko and her band, who are fleeing the evil CUT-like force which has taken over much of Asia. As Rudi did a generation before, Reiko seeks a sacred sword which may give her and her people a chance of victory over their life-hating enemy. Orlaith, her faithful knight Heuradys d'Ath, and other children of the last tetrology's heroes join Reiko in her quest.
32* ''The Desert and the Blade'' (2015): As they travel further into California (now called Westria), Crown Princess Orlaith and Prince John must elude the pursuing troops of their mother, even as they confront evil forces backed by those who seek to thwart Reiko's quest. Some faces and places from the ''The Change'' anthology make an appearance.
33* ''Prince of Outcasts'' (2016): A mystically-generated storm sweeps John's ship across the Pacific, to the island chains of the Ceram Sea. With new allies at his side, he finds himself fighting against new and unexpected foes both from Earthly realms, and others. Meanwhile, in Montival, a new alliance prepares to take on the enemies of the Nipponese.
34* ''The Sea Peoples'' (2017): John's spirit has fallen captive to the powers of the Yellow Raja and his servant, the Pallid Mask. His motley band of friends and followers quest through realms of dark and shadow to save him from a fate worse than death. Meanwhile, Orlaith and Reiko muster their kingdoms for war, but more than weapons or even the dark magic of the sorcerers of Pyongyang threatens them.
35* ''The Sky-Blue Wolves'' (2018): With her fire-forged friend and ally, Japanese Empress Reiko, Órlaith must take up her sword to stop the spread of the mad malignancy behind the Yellow Raja, who has imprisoned her brother Prince John. And from the emerging superpower of Mongolia, the Sky-Blue Wolves of the High Steppe ride once more beneath the banner of Genghis Khan--the thunder of their hooves resounding across a world in turmoil.
36
37A shared-world anthology set in the Emberverse, titled ''The Change'', was released in 2015. S.M. Stirling's short story "Hot Night at the Hopping Toad" was reprinted, and other authors included Harry Turtledove, Diana Paxson, John Barnes, Alyx Dellamonica, Jane Lindskold, Emily Mah, John Birmingham, and Walter John Williams.
38
39Now has a [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/Emberverse Character page]] in need of much love
40----
41!!This series provides examples of :
42
43* AbhorrentAdmirer: George Tracker, to Ritva. From the admiring way he speaks of her martial prowess as they fight one another, George is apparently a bit of an AmazonChaser. Ritva is, to put it mildly, rather less impressed with him than he is with her.
44* AffablyEvil: Both Norman and Sandra Arminger do a nice line in this.
45* AfterTheEnd: The setting of the series, once the change occurred.
46* AfterlifeAntechamber: Mathilda has a vision of [[spoiler: her father, Norman Arminger,]] in Purgatory--having learned [[spoiler: his]] lesson but still serving [[spoiler: his]] penance. The Blessed Virgin Mary even drops by with the penitent's lunch!
47* AlienSpaceBats: Most of the characters assume that these caused the Change, [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] it to the point of referring to the trope by name.
48* AllGaysArePromiscuous: Don't tell Tiphaine d'Ath that, unless for some reason you feel the urge to die a quick and bloody death. However, Estella Maldonado and Aaron Rothman each labor gallantly to uphold this trope. As does Rigobert, at least until he's old enough to settle down after reaching his senior years.
49* TheAlliance: The Meeting against the CUT in the second trilogy. The League of Des Moines later on might count, but given that every member is a rather nasty dictatorship, it would fit as a LegionOfDoom too.
50* AllHailTheGreatGodMickey: The Rangers have a quasi-religious reverence for the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, considering them actual histories and swearing by the Valar. How seriously they take this varies from individual to individual.
51* AllMythsAreTrue: Seen to be the case with the Mackenzies' Wiccan/Celt faith in the first trilogy, and with other religions, including the familiar, the ancient, and the new, in the second. Prophecies are also presented as true and reliable.
52* AlternateHistory: On 3/18/98, no one in the Emberverse was worrying about [[MillenniumBug [=Y2K=]]] or the performance of their tech stocks...
53* AmazonChaser: The Morrowlander Scout the Cutters are using to track Rudi's party in ''The Scourge of God'' pretty much instantly falls in lust with Ritva Havel because of her skills at stealth, tracking and fighting, telling her;
54-->"You are not like the women of the Prophet's men. They are sheep. You are a she-wolf, like our Scout women, worthy of badges of merit of your own; I have followed you many days, and seen your skill. I will take you back to the Morrowlander camps northward, , and you will bear strong cubs. The Prophet can go find comfort with his wooly ewes."
55* AndThisIsFor: In ''A Meeting at Corvallis'', Tiphaine d'Ath delivers an ''epic'' one of these, along with a brutal beat-down, to a treacherous former member of her squad. She closes with a flourish of ArsonMurderAndJaywalking:
56-->'''Tiphaine:''' That's for finking out Lady Sandra. ''That's'' for risking the princess. ''That's'' for trying to kill Rudi. ''That's'' for hurting my girl, you son of a bitch! And ''this'' is for the stupid character in that stupid fucking book!
57* AngelUnaware: While none have actually shown up, the Mackenzies (who are Wiccans) they treat every visitor they have as if they are these.
58* AnnoyingArrows: Averted in ''Dies the Fire''. With guns no longer working and no one wearing serious armor yet, people swiftly learn to fear someone carrying any kind of bow or crossbow.
59* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler: Mike Havel]] in ''A Meeting in Corvallis''.
60** [[spoiler: Chuck Barstow]] in the ''The Scourge of God''.
61** [[spoiler: Odard Liu]] in ''The Sword of the Lady''
62** [[spoiler: Astrid Larsson Loring]] in ''Tears of the Sun''.
63** [[spoiler: Epona]] in ''Lord of Mountains''.
64** [[spoiler: Sandra and Rudi]] in ''The Given Sacrifice''.
65* TheApocalypseBringsOutTheBestInPeople: It also brings out the worst, more often than not.
66* ApocalypseHow: Class 2, Planetary/Societal Collapse. About 95% of Earth's population dies off in the first few years after the Change. Most of the world's existing civilizations are destroyed during "the dying times," and are replaced by entirely different ones.
67* ApocalypticLogistics: Without industrialized farming or an efficient way to transport food from farms to population centers, a lot of people get very hungry very quickly during the dying times.
68* AristocratsAreEvil: This trope is an accurate summary of the early PPA under Norman Arminger. Though as the series progresses after [[spoiler: he dies ]] a fair number of them mellow out. The fact that the Protector's War weeded out a number of the gang members and morally dubious SCA reenactors, replacing them with the younger generation who sincerely believed in the old school chivalry certainly helps. Though there are some who consistently fall into this trope, such as the [[TheMafiya Stavarovs]].
69* ArmorIsUseless: Averted as the world re-learns why people used to wear chain mail.
70* ArmyOfThievesAndWhores: Arminger's initial cadre of fighters is recruited from Portland's street gangs, along with a few of the more morally dubious medieval reenactors he associated with pre-Change.
71* ArtificialLimbs: Ken Larsson, Aaron Rothman, and Eric Larsson all use prosthetics thanks to injuries incurred in combat or by torture.
72* ArtisticLicensePhysics - It's an [[WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief acceptable]] breach, given that it's a fantasy work, but if the laws of physics were broken the way this novel broke them, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the Universe would probably end up breaking]] and become less an apocalyptic wasteland, and more an EldritchLocation. However, there is a mention in the original trilogy that the Change appears to be limited to Earth and its immediate surroundings - the rest of the cosmos are unaffected.
73** If you like that idea, try Creator/StevenRBoyett's "Literature/{{Change}}" series, Stirling's inspiration for the Change.
74** [[spoiler: The laws of the universe, or even Earth as a whole, haven't changed. The Mind is powerful and precise enough to constantly monitor the entire world, watch for people trying to use technology, and selectively suppress things just at the places and times where it's needed.]]
75* AssholeVictim: In-universe, and likely out, few tears were shed(save by their respective loved ones) for [[spoiler: Eddie Liu, Joris Stein, or Norman Arminger.]] Ditto for [[spoiler: Iowa's bossman, Anthony Heasleroad.]]
76** As the story goes on, the asshole kill count has come to include such people as [[spoiler: Mary Liu, Kuttner, and the Prophet Sethaz himself.]]
77* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: Norman Arminger, Mike Havel, and Abbot Dmwoski, for starters -- given the world, for good reason. Averted with Juniper Mackenzie, who is a charismatic leader but only a fair combatant, and even more so with Sandra Arminger, who is small in stature and repeatedly described as lacking experience with weaponry.
78* AwakeningTheSleepingGiant: Iowa is repeatedly described as the most populous and richest state left in North America, but had largely been unconcerned with goings-on in the West. Then the CUT tries to kill the main cast and only succeeds in killing Iowa's new leader, which in turn galvanizes them, alongside Fargo, Kirksville, Concordia, Marshall and Nebraska into declaring war on the CUT. The war turns bad for the Cutters very quickly.
79* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: For Rudi and Mathilda, in ''Lord of Mountains''.
80* BadassAdorable: Ten-year-old Rudi Mackenzie is beautiful and charming. And he deals out almost as much damage to his would-be kidnappers as do his two adult bodyguards.
81* BadassCreed: Clan [=MacKenzie=]'s war chant:
82-->We are the point!\
83We are the edge!\
84We are the wolves that Hecate fed!\
85We are the bow!\
86We are the shaft!\
87We are the bolts that Hecate cast!
88* BadassFamily: The Havel-Larsson clan - including Mike, Signe, Pam, Eric, Luanne, and all of their adult descendants that we meet by the end of the tetrology. Of the whole family, only Ken doesn't qualify -- and he's in his fifties at the time of ''Dies the Fire'', so give the guy a break.
89* BadassPreacher: Abbot-Bishop Dmwoski of Mount Angel, who leads his WarriorMonk troops both spiritually and in battle. Also Father Ignatius, though he generally does not wear his robe into combat.
90* WarriorPrincess: Mathilda is among the most effective warriors of her kingdom, and plays important roles in some key battles.
91* BananaRepublic: The Kingdom of Las Esmereldas (formerly northern Ecuador), representatives of whom are first seen in ''The Desert and the Blade'', is strongly implied to be one.
92* {{UsefulNotes/Baseball}}: America's national pastime survives the Change. As a boy, Rudi plays in the Mackenzies' Little League (his team is the Dun Juniper Ravens). In ''The Golden Princess'', Nipponese princess Reiko is pleased to see a baseball field in a Protectorate community; it's familiar to her because the game is still played in her own homeland.
93* BattleCouple: Mike and Signe. Rudi and Mathilda. Aoife and Liath.
94* BattleCry: Many, including the PPA's "Haro Portland!" and "Holy Mary for Portland!", the Bearkillers' "Hakkaa paalle!" (based on the real-life battle cry "Hakkaa pÀÀlle!" of troops serving under 17th-century Swedish ruler Gustav II Adolf), Mount Angel's "Jesu-Maria!", Rudi Mackenzie's "Morrigu!", Odard Liu's "Face Gervais, face death!", Virginia Kane's "Sweetwater forever!", and the United States of Boise's "U-S-A! U-S-A!" And of course the Church Universal and Triumphant's uncanny scream of "CUT! CUT! CUT!"
95* TheBeard: In the homophobic PPA, Lady Delia de Stafford (lover of Lady Tiphaine d'Ath) and her gay husband Rigobert play this role for each other. They even refer to one other as "my beard" in ''Tears of the Sun''.
96* BeAllMySinsRemembered: Lawrence Thurston suspended elections in Boise pending the resolution of the emergency situation. Unfortunately the emergency situation never resolved itself. By the time he was ready to start having elections again an entire generation with no firsthand experience with democracy had come into prominence, [[spoiler: his own son, who expected to inherit his father's position, among them.]] Thurston did realize in the end that perhaps he had waited far too long to have a vote.
97* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Right after the Change, Mike Havel discovers that his gun is not working. Signe says, wistfully, wouldn't it be wonderful if ''all'' guns had stopped working? Well, about that, Signe....
98* BecauseDestinySaysSo: Having been chosen by ThePowersThatBe, Rudi has very little choice but to lead the fight against the CUT, and unify a group of diverse peoples.
99* BewareTheNiceOnes: Ian Kovalevsky is one of the nicest people in the series (when he's not in a fight, that is).
100* BigBad:
101** Norman Arminger in the original trilogy.
102** The Prophet (head of the CUT) in the later books.
103* BigBadWannabe: several of the petty thugs and warlords Mike Havel disposes of at the beginning of the series qualify, including the white supremacist survivalists (the first people to attack his party) and Iron Rod (who was quite effective terrorizing a convent--against the Bearkillers, not so much).
104** Mary Liu, who tries to outwit the Lady Regent. Uh, yeah, good ''luck'' with that....
105* BigBadassBattleSequence: The series features several, though the biggest is the Battle of the Horse Heaven Hills in ''Lord of Mountains''.
106* BigGuyLittleGuy: Mack and his friend and boss Eddie Liu. Arguably applies to John Hordle and Alleyne Loring as well, though Alleyne is not small compared to anyone but John (or Mack).
107* BlackAndGreyMorality: The Prophet's War in second trilogy from Sword of the Lady on in a nutshell. On one hand, you have the CUT, an AxCrazy, EldritchAbomination worshipping ReligionOfEvil which slaughters anyone who doesn't convert, treats women like chattel, utilizes slavery to a massive degree and is overall thoroughly monstrous. On the other, you have . the homophopic, [[StayInTheKitchen sexist]] PPA, and the Des Moines League, all of which are at least implied to be dictatorships to some degree and which in at least Iowa's case metes out incredibly harsh punishments [[DisproportionateRetribution for minor offences]] even by post-change standards.
108* TheBlackDeath: Makes a comeback post-change; hypothesized to have been present in rodents and made the jump to humans, then evolved to a much more contagious airborne strain.
109%%* BoisterousBruiser: John Hordle fits it to a T.
110* BornAfterTheEnd: Rudi Mackenzie and Mathilda Arminger were born after The Change.
111* BrainsAndBrawn: Eddie Liu (brains) and his friend/[[TheDragon dragon]] Mack (brawn).
112* BreakOutTheMuseumPiece:
113** In the first book, Juniper's friend Chuck Barstow gets the idea to raid the Eugene history museum's Living History exhibit and steal a wagon and horses during the chaos. Juniper's other friend Dennis' brother is an amateur blacksmith (who lives on Nantucket and gets flung back in time along with it), and during the escape from Corvallis, Dennis arms Juniper and himself with swords and axes his brother made for him.
114** A character, who is struggling with an old-fashioned plow, laments that he had previously owned a much more advanced version of the same plow but had sold it as scrap metal.
115** In areas where they have survived, the Amish are now highly-valued technical experts.
116* BrickJoke: When Delia bears her third child, her partner Tiphaine says, quite firmly, that she thinks three children are enough. Though she loves babies, Delia meekly acquiesces to this. A book later, we find out she's pregnant again -- and it cannot possibly be by accident, as Delia and her [[TheBeard husband]] never have sex; all of their children are engendered via turkey-baster. Hey, Tiphaine, we know you're the one who [[{{Tomboy}} wears the pants]] in the outside world, but who is it who wears them in your relationship?
117* UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire: Not only did the Royal Family, SAS and other remnants of British society manage to survive the initial chaos. they managed to eventually rebuild "Greater Britain" as a hybrid Medieval-Victorian-Postmodern state. Though not before "Mad King Charlie" tried to turn it into a Renaissance Fair.
118** It's also mentioned that they're back to setting up colonies such as Prince Edward Island as well as building outposts across former Western Europe.
119* BrownNote: '''''I...see...you'''''
120* BunnyEarsLawyer:
121** Astrid believes that the ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' stories are actual histories. But she's a kick-ass fighter and wilderness scout and also has both the charisma and organizational ability to turn her delusion into an actual organization and quasi-religion.
122** Norman Arminger is a former SCA dork, ''uses Sauron's Mordor banner as his flag,'' and is probably more than a bit crazy himself. With how he is numerically the most effective leader immediately post-Change and willing & able to kill almost anyone hand-to-hand, no one under him has much to say about it.
123** In-universe, Lawrence Thurston is regarded as one for his insistence upon restoring the United States (an idea seen as completely impractical by just about every other leader on the continent). However, he does manage to preserve at least the state of Idaho as a coherent political entity (in part by keeping the pre-Change state legislature intact), build a post-Change army (along the lines of the Roman legions) from the remnants of the US military in the area, and overall is one of the more effective and humane leaders in the series. [[spoiler: Of course [[DoomedMoralVictor he had to die]]...]]
124* ButchLesbian: Tiphaine D'Ath
125* CampGay: Aaron Rothman. Mike Havel suspects that Aaron is deliberately camp in reaction to the puritanical attitudes of many post-Change societies.
126* CannibalLarder: ''Dies the Fire'' has several of these. Most of the cannibal bands that arose after the end of the world keep live prisoners in them as well (best way to keep the meat fresh).
127 * CanonImmigrant: Arguably, any of the characters originating in the non-Stirling stories of ''The Change'' anthology who later make an appearance in the main storyline. Deor Godulfson and Thora Garwood, who originally appear in Diana Paxson's "Deor," are the most prominent; but Jared and Connor Tillman and Kwame Curtis (Harry Turtledove's "Topanga and the Chatsworth Lancers") and Cap'n Pete and Fifi Lamont Holder (John Birmingham's "Fortune and Glory") also play minor roles. Prince John becomes romantically involved with Philippa "Pip" Balwyn-Abercombie, daughter of another Birmingham character, the late Lady Julianne Balwyn.
128* CastFullOfRichPeople: Outside of the likes of Father Ignatius, virtually the entire main cast of characters comes are rich aristocrats of some sort, which tends to color perspectives of the quality of life in the setting.
129* CelibateHero: Father Ignatius.
130* TheChainsOfCommanding: Discussed. Mike offers Will leadership of the Bearkillers; Will declines, with the reasoning that it's much easier just to tell Mike what needs to be done, then let Mike take the heat if it proves to be unpopular.
131* TheChessmaster: Sandra Arminger. Oh dear Lord, Sandra Arminger. Signe Havel also shows some aptitude for this. [[BigBadWannabe Mary Liu attempts it, but isn't quite smart enough]], especially not for going against Sandra.
132* TheChosenOne: Rudi Mackenzie. Duh.
133* ChurchMilitant: An apt description of the Mormon church in New Deseret. Given they have the CUT for neighbors, it's understandable.
134** The CUT itself definitely qualifies.
135** The Benedictine Monks of Mt. Angel.
136* ClockPunk: Especially in the third trilogy. Bicycle-powered trains anyone?
137* ColdBloodedTorture: Norman Arminger is seen practicing this. [[IncrediblyLamePun (Though he doesn't need much practice, as he appears to have a considerable natural talent.)]]
138* ComingStraightStory: [[spoiler: When Heuradys, Delia's daughter by Rigobert (with plastic kitchenware assist) is an adult, she has to tell her mother to stop finding nice girls to set her up with , because she 'really likes boys better'. Delia, who is a Changeling more or less (having been a small child when the Change happened) and largely unfamiliar with pre-Change culture, asks her anxiously if this might be "just a phase". Rigobert and Tiphaine (who are older and remember the world before the Change) have a big laugh at the irony of the situation--but Delia stops setting her up with other girls. Heuradys, who was born twenty years after the Change, is unfamiliar with the idiom too. But she's a bit annoyed with her mother wanting her to be gay, since she's a knight of the PPA, where female knights are rare and many people just assume she's gay because she's following a typically male profession for her culture, and because both her mothers and her father are. Rigobert and Tiphaine don't care.]]
139* CorruptChurch: The Roman Catholic Church in Portland, in the days of Lord Protector Norman Arminger, has its own "pope," burns heretics and dissenters, and supports the PPA's brutal tyranny. Its opposition includes Mount Angel and its WarriorMonk order, who believe the Catholic Church should uphold what Abbot Dmwoski calls "the ''best'' of our long tradition."
140** Note that Arminger so very much wanted his own tame Pope to go along with his Norman-England fetish. Thus Pope Leo was given his own inquisition and was mainly in existence to increase the BigBad's powerbase.[[spoiler: After Norman dies, the Portland church reunites with the main Church based out of Badia, and Leo met with an 'accident' in the process.]]
141** The Church Universal and Triumphant evolves from a fringe (but relatively harmless) New Age religious sect into an all-conquering ReligionOfEvil with nothing but enmity toward its neighbors.
142* CoversAlwaysLie: The covers have become notorious among the fan base for not portraying anything remotely resembling what happens in the books.
143* CrapsackWorld:
144** Between the rampant starvation, plagues, cannibalism, and neo-warlords and gangs running amok, it is not a fun place to be in ''Dies The Fire''. Even after this, vast swaths of North America at least are depopulated wastelands with the occasional cannibal band. Oregon suffered a death rate of over 95% and is considered to have done ''better'' than most of the rest of the United States since it has several working societies, some of which are not evil.
145** In a lot of places where society has recovered in North America, there's a general lack of freedom in most of the world. Between the superficially romantic but misogynistic and repressive feudalism of the Portland Protective Association where commoners have very little freedom of movement, the centralized autocracy in Boise, the slavocracy in Pendleton, the [[CrapsaccharineWorld superficially nice]] Iowa and the League of Des Moines which features a caste system and harsh punishments for minor offences, and the all-conquering Church Universal and Triumphant, which has institutionalized slavery, crucifixion, murder, and treats women like chattel, your average person in the Emberverse has a pretty grim lot in life. Even the ostensibly heroic Bearkillers become a de facto stratocratic feudal hierarchy with the vast majority of people no better off than a Portland peasant, no thanks to Signe ignoring Mike's last wishes and effectively suppressing any chance of true democracy.
146** Much of India has been taken over by an Arminger-style tyrant, China is in chaos, having balkanized into multiple warlord states, with Tibet and neo-Mongols being the most notable. A CUT-like cult has taken root in the Kim family, who not only survive the Change but conquer all of Korea, and parts of Japan as well. Ditto for the Yellow Raja in the Indonesian archipelago.
147** Ultimately zig-zagged. It should be noted that the real crapsack are those forced to live under the brutal thumb of the Cutters.[[spoiler: Things get much better when the CUT falls for good in The Given Sacrifice.]] The PPA has several reforms forced on it after the War of The Eye, and quite a few people got the hell out of dodge as a result. Boise did go through an unpleasant period after [[spoiler: Martin's coup, but again, got better after Fred took over and finally instituted real elections.]] Not so much for Iowa or its buffer states, sadly. Australia has similarly balkanized, but there at least seems to be some stability there.
148* CulturallyReligious:
149** Juniper [=MacKenzie=] was raised Catholic, and other characters observe that, despite having converted to Wicca, she still seems to be carrying her Catholic Guilt and occasionally instinctively starts to do the sign of the cross.
150** After the change, Juniper becomes concerned that some members of the clan wish to join her coven for cultural reasons rather than out of true conversion, as Wicca is the dominant religion.
151* DamselOutOfDistress:
152** Kidnap Mathilda (or try to), and you have an excellent chance of finding yourself facing the sharp pointy end of her sword.
153** Signe does a good job of keeping her potential rapist pinned while the rescues is being made in the first book.
154* DarkActionGirl: Tiphaine d'Ath and Katrina Georges.
155* DaysOfFuturePast: Several societies fulfill this trope although it also has a foot in FantasyCounterpartCulture as [[spoiler: supernatural elements creep in during the second trilogy.]] The Clan Mackenzie is based on a New Age interpretation (much against the liking of its founder) of a Celtic clan, while the Portland Protective Association was deliberately created by an SCA member as a copy of a medieval feudal society with trappings of Mordor. The oddest example are the DĂșnedain Rangers, founded by a mildly insane Tolkien fangirl who has a quasi-religious reverence for his books. There are also several "Indian" tribes many of whose members have, at best, only nominal amounts of First Nations ancestry and Norrheim and Kalksthorpe, Viking-style nations founded by Asatru. Additionally, the remnants of the American military in Idaho have formed into a hybrid Roman Legion. Meanwhile, over in England, "Mad King Charlie" tries to turn what remains of his nation into something of a vast Rennaisance Faire, although his subjects draw the line at Morris dancing.
156** In ''A Meeting at Corvallis'', a graffiti in the city of that name reads: "Help! I've fallen into the [=RenFaire=] and I can't get out!"
157** Corvallis itself seems to be run by the 'council of wise men' Plato recommended. Although Corvallis has retained much of the pre-Change world's customs, it's channelling Classical Greece as much as the other nations are looking toward their ancient inspirations.
158** Averted, at least at first, by Lawrence Thurston's efforts in Boise--he adopted Roman military organization out of practicality, not out of any great desire to emulate the ancient past; his main focus to the end was to restore the pre-Change United States. His son Martin turned the Romanisms up to eleven [[spoiler: when he sold out to the CUT.]]
159-->Frederick Thurston (to an officer defecting from Martin): My father adopted these things because they were ''useful'', not because he had some man-crush on Julius Caesar!
160* DeadGuyJunior: Several. Rudi is named for Juniper's [[spoiler: first]] husband, who died on the day of the Change. Nigel's late-in-life daughter Maude is named for his [[spoiler: first]] wife. Ritva and Mary Havel are named for their paternal and maternal grandmothers, respectively.
161* DeathEqualsRedemption: [[spoiler: Martin Thurston,]] after he is slain with the Sword of the Lady and the influence of the Power behind the CUT is lifted.
162* DeliciousDaydream: It's stated that about every other mealtime in Clan Mackenzie, someone will start fantasizing about all the food they wish they had. They aren't exactly starving, but it's as much about the variety as it is about the amount. This dies down later as the group gets established and is able to produce a greater quantity and variety of food.
163* DemocracyIsBad: The single democracy amongst the surviving Willamette communities, Corvallis, is easily manipulated by Portland during the Protector's War, and it's notably inefficient at the best of times. Averted (so far as we know) by the Dominion of Drumheller, seen in the second trilogy. It's worth mentioning that this is an {{Aesop}} completely opposite to that expressed in the related series ''Literature/IslandInTheSeaOfTime''. The series in general portrays the handful of democracies as inefficient and reluctant to acknowledge threats like Portland in the first trilogy and the CUT in the second, and more autocratic or feudal states as more organized and generally better. The very notion of democracy and basic human rights is likewise treated by some characters as an outdated fad and a weakness, with downsides of a democratic system played up and the obvious flaws of feudalism heavily downplayed. There's even a multi-page conversation in Sword Of The Lady wherein monarchy is treated as 'natural' and democracy viewed as a chaotic roll of the dice with those elected by the will of the people considered terrible and power-seeking, while a system based on inheriting the state is considered steady and more virtuous.
164* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Played with; when modern values are forced into a medieval setting, they don't necessarily travel very well:
165** A vegetarian character is very quickly forced to abandon that liftestyle
166** A character mentions having been against the death penalty pre-change, but now recognizes it as an absolute necessity.
167** A few characters who had anti-gun beliefs before the change are forced to acknowledge that it would be pretty nice to have a working gun around.
168** Even in the "good" groups, representative democracy is a thing of the past; if you join a group, you largely accept the decisions made by the leaders or leave (an effective death sentence).
169* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Rudi (and, on at least one occasion, Ignatius) versus any given High Seeker. [[spoiler:Especially after Rudi retrieves the Sword.]]
170* DisasterDemocracy: Though other types of government are more common in the post-Change world, Corvallis and at least one of the Dominions (in what was formerly known as Canada) form their governments along these lines. This makes them actual decent places to live in what is a decidedly [[CrapsackWorld crapsack]] setting full of tyrannies and oppressive feudal states.
171** Iowa managed to maintain not only democracy but ''its pre-Change system of government'' up until the third trilogy, although there are very big signs that the government is becoming functionally corrupt and a caste system (established farm families vs. descendants of refugees from the cities) is taking root. And Mike Havel's original plan for the Bearkillers was to form a democracy, but this was subverted by Signe after his death.
172** Norrheim, like the Vikings they draw their inspiration from, has an Althing.
173** Later in the series we encounter the "Participatory Democracy of Topanga," a small city-state that practices direct democracy: every citizen may debate and vote on issues of importance. Originated by Harry Turtledove in his short story in ''The Change'' anthology, "Topanga and the Chatsworth Lancers"; integrated into the "main" Emberverse by Stirling in ''The Desert and the Blade''.
174* DistressedDamsel: Signe, early in the first book. It's this experience which prompts her to TakeALevelInBadass.
175** Mathilda is also taken hostage at least three times during the series. Justified in that as the Protector's daughter she has high political value to her potential captors. She also becomes quite capable of rescuing herself when necessary as she gets older.
176* DistressedDude: Ingolf gets captured with alarming frequency.
177* DivineRightOfKings: In many parts of the post-Change world, it becomes an article of faith that monarchs (whatever their title: Protector, King, Bossman, or something else) are chosen by God or the gods, with the prerogatives that implies. Understandable in that most dynasties have their origin in people who saved lives and formed the basis for new civilizations just after the Change. It doesn't hurt that some, like Rudi Mackenzie, show demonstrable signs of having otherworldly assistance and favor. It also helps that some, like Rudi, Orlaith, John, and Her Majesty of Nippon, have [[RoyaltySuperpower Royalty Superpowers]], like prophetic dreams and the ability to use magical weapons.
178--->'''Huon''': ''(thinks)'' There was something of the divine in an annointed monarch, everybody knew that.
179* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: "Son of the Bear Who Rules"... "Sword of the Lady"... [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Where have we heard those before...]]
180* TheDragon: For Norman Arminger, Conrad Renfrew; for his wife Sandra, Tiphaine D'Ath.
181* DramaticIrony: In ''Prince of Outcasts'', Orlaith attaches no significance to the yellow-and-black symbol her love interest, Alan Thurston, wears on his gear. Readers, however, have seen it elsewhere in the novel. [[spoiler: It's the symbol used by the evil forces her brother John is encountering in the Ceram Sea -- and, by the description, is or at least resembles a symbol right out of the Franchise/CthulhuMythos.]]
182* DungAges: Massively and deliberately averted. Although the overall tech level of the Emberverse is pre-industrial if not completely medieval, modern medicine and sanitation (and the relationship between sanitation and public health) are still well-known and widely practiced.
183* DyingAsYourself: With the Sword of the Lady, Rudi can make this possible for those possessed by the Malevolence behind the CUT. [[spoiler: He does this for Martin Thurston.]]
184* EasyLogistics: Majorly averted. The need to avoid overstretching supply lines, proper division of forces to avoid overs, manpower needed for campaigns, proper weather for campaigning seasons and the possibilities of defeat in detail are all discussed repeatedly. One reason Portland's main offensive fails in A Meeting At Corvallis was Norman getting overeager and trying to push his forces too many places at once, [[NiceJobFixingItVillain which the Bearkillers, Mackenzies, Corvallans and other allied communities take advantage of.]] Afterwards, [[TheDragon Conrad]] lays into Norman over this.
185* EldritchAbomination: The Malevolence that is controlling Sethaz and the rest of the CUT High Seekers definitely qualifies.
186* EldritchLocation: The 1250 BC Nantucket that's been switched for the modern version has become... extremely temporally unstable.
187* ElectiveMonarchy: The leadership of the Mackenzies could be described as this. "The Mackenzie" functions more like a monarch than an elected official, but the heir to that position, the tanist, is "hailed" by acclamation of the assembled Clan. The two tanists chosen by the end of the tetrology, Rudi (who resigns in favor of becoming TheGoodKing of Montival) and Maude Loring Mackenzie, are the children of the first Mackenzie, but it is nowhere indicated that the position is necessarily hereditary.
188** WordOfGod is that the tanist can be removed by the Clan as well, and that a talented non-relative can be groomed and positioned for the position if no sufficiently talented or willing relations exist to take up the position.
189* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Boy, is it!
190** [[{{Lampshading}} Lampshaded]] in ''A Meeting at Corvallis'', where some young fighters actually sing the song of the same name.
191* EnemyMine: Rudi invokes this when he decides to warn President-General Thurston of the Cutter ambush, and again when urging Thurston to ally with Deseret against the Cutters. (Thurston had previously refused to do so on the grounds that he was opposed to theocracies.)
192* EnforcedTechnologyLevels: The Change includes adjustments to the laws of physics to prevent anything higher than medieval level technology. Will Hutton hypothesizes that maybe this isn't the first time and technological advancement was artificially limited on earth previously, but the characters acknowledge this is impossible to test short of time travel.
193* EpicFail: The CUT tries to kill off Rudi and his party while they're in Des Moines. While not necessarily a bad move in and of it self, ot only do they not kill any of the party, the only significant casualties are Edgar Denton and Anthony Heasleroad. This attack on their soil enrages Iowa to the point where they and their Midwestern allies/client states join the war against the CUT when they had previously been completely unconcerned and in Iowa's case was starting to be subverted by the cult. NiceJobFixingItVillain doesn't even begin to cover it.
194* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Played straight when the evil is of purely human origin: Norman and Sandra Arminger are HappilyMarried and love their daughter, Tiphaine d'Ath loves Delia and fights to protect her when she is threatened; Martin Thurston [[spoiler: initially]] is seen to love his wife and son. Averted with those who are possessed by the Malevolence [[spoiler: notably, post-possession Mary Liu and Martin Thurston]].
195* EvenEvilHasStandards: Tiphaine d'Ath is by all accounts a decent suzerain to those who swear fealty to her; hates the CUT as badly as anyone else; and ''will not tolerate'' the abuse and exploitation of refugees by other nobles in the PPA during the war against the CUT.
196** Several characters observe that, as bad as they are, the Cutters are ''still'' an improvement over Eaters.
197* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Mary and Ritva Havel have each had to bounce many a lovelorn lass from their respective beds. At least once Ingolf is looking on laughing.
198* EvenTheGuysWantHim: If he is to be believed, Rigobert was apparently such a hot guy in his high school days that even ''straight'' guys were willing to sleep with him.
199* EvilDebtCollector: By ''The Given Sacrifice'', the First National Bank of Corvallis has become notorious for these. The DĂșnedain Rangers (customers of said bank) use them to collect their commissions when necessary.
200* EvilParentsWantGoodKids: Though admittedly, even shamelessly, evil herself, Sandra Arminger gives Mathilda a religious and moral upbringing, and says the young woman is one of the few good things she has ever done.
201* TheEvilsOfFreeWill: This is the major point of contention between the factions of [[spoiler: the Universal Mind]].
202* EvilTowerOfOminousness: Norman Arminger's Castle Todenangst is deliberately designed to be ominous, imposing, and intimidating.
203** And yet it has a ''food court'' and the elevator (powered by a serf in the basement) plays Muzak.
204* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: An average-sized man with a giant reputation, Sam Aylward gets this reaction a lot.
205* FeudalOverlord: Norman Arminger, to the PPA. Very, very deliberately.
206* FantasyAmericana
207* FictionalAgeOfMajority: In the treaty of the Field of the Cloth of Gold, it's established that the heir to the Portland Protective Association must be 26 to assume the throne. Later, that also becomes the age to assume the throne of the High Kingdom of Montival. Justifiable because [[{{Watsonian}} of the level of training and responsibility these positions require]]. Also because [[{{Doylist}} it allows adult heirs like Mathilda and Orlaith to have adventures before becoming responsible monarchs]]!
208* FlatEarthAtheist: Ultimately averted, at least among the main characters. Though Sandra Arminger and Tiphaine d'Ath are presented as atheists for much of their portion of the series, both eventually realize that it's an insupportable position in a world where there is objective evidence for the existence, and influence, of deities. In ''Tears of the Sun'', Sandra actually rejects this trope ''by name''.
209-->[[spoiler: Sandra Arminger's final words: "Norman, we need to talk..."]]
210** Minor characters King John of Darwin and Cap'n Pete Holder seem to fit the trope, though. King John describes himself as "an old-fashioned atheist," and Pete takes issue with the term "accursed" being used to describe an outsized, and unnaturally determined and aggressive, saltwater crocodile. During the mystical quest in ''The Sea Peoples'', Pip finds herself thinking that "Uncle Pete" might enjoy hearing of her adventures, but wouldn't believe a word.
211* FlawExploitation: In ''A Meeting at Corvallis'', Mike Havel identifies Arminger's central flaw, and uses it in a heroic bid to end the War of the Eye with a minimum of bloodshed.
212* ForegoneConclusion: Based on Rudi's vision during the kingmaking in ''Lord of Mountains'', we know that [[spoiler: Orlaith and John and their siblings, as well as Reiko, Mathilda, and "Grandma Juniper," will survive at least until Orlaith undergoes the same ritual. Also, that Orlaith will not be married at the time of her crowning, since she is not accompanied during the king(queen?)making.]]
213* {{Foreshadowing}}:
214** In ''Dies the Fire,'' Mike is concerned about the injuries or mutual death that almost always result from trying to knife-fight anyone who isn't completely incompetent. [[spoiler: Two books later, he challenges MasterSwordsman & BigBad Norman Arminger to single combat. Both of them die.]]
215** [[spoiler: Epona]] meets her final fate in the [[spoiler: [[IncrediblyLamePun Horse Heaven Hills]]]], with her impending demise set up over several pages in ''Lord of Mountains''.
216* FourLinesAllWaiting: The series' cast bloat is particularly evident in books 4-10. In an epic example in ''The Given Sacrifice'', Tiphaine d'Ath senses an attack on the royal family, and she and her picked band start up the stairs to counter it. We see them reach the scene of the attack ''ninety pages later''.
217* FourStarBadass: President-General Lawrence Thurston puts together an army and a country largely through the strength of his will. Oh yeah, and if there are any other assassins in his guard detail, he dares them to ''take your best shot'' (said while unarmed and unarmored).
218* FromNobodyToNightmare: Norman Arminger started as an undistinguished history professor and [=SCA=]dian, and became one of the most successful (and brutal) despots in the post-Change world.
219* FutureImperfect:
220** In the first book, a character predicts that universal literacy will die out in a generation or two. Starting to crop up with the Changelings as they come of age. Although all of the main characters are well-educated, their understanding of the pre-Change world is at best theoretical and at worst, horribly flawed.
221-->Edain (thinking to himself): Some things are just legends, like trolls and rockets.
222** Rudi/Artos, and at least a few other changelings, seem to revere President Roosevelt, but are unaware that Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt were separate people.
223** Later in the series, his daughter Órlaith is not only unaware that UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and UsefulNotes/WorldWarII were two separate conflicts, she thinks Kaiser Wilhelm II and Adolf Hitler were the same person.
224* {{Gaydar}}: Unaffected by the failure of technology in the Emberverse. When two male Corvallan guards are made to look as if they were overcome by alcohol whilst making out, Aaron Rothman smells a set-up, as he is quite certain the guards in question are straight. When Signe Havel questions his certainty, Aaron answers archly, "''Radar'' may not work any more, but my ''gaydar'', I assure you, is fully functional."
225* GenreShift: The series begins as an apocalyptic disaster thriller with brutally realistic consequences of the loss of much of the US' infrastructure. In short order it evolves into medieval structures. [[spoiler: The actual destination is the closest kin to a fantasy world one can do with AlienSpaceBats.]] ''The Sea Peoples'', book 14, takes a turn straight into old-fashioned horror.
226* GilliganCut: Early on, Eric Larrson and Mike Havel travel alone. The testosterone-laden Eric starts trying to push Mike. ''Bad idea''.
227--> '''Mike:''' ''*dodges Eric's fist and hits him*'' Kill one. ''*stops a kick and pushes Eric down*''' Kill two...\
228(Ninety seconds later)\
229'''Mike:''' ''*holds Eric against a tree by the throat*'' [[CurbStompBattle Kill six]].
230* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Hallgerda of Greater Britain manipulates her mad husband and places her royal stepsons in harm's way in an effort to ensure her own children will inherit the throne. She eventually kills King Charles when he refuses to disinherit his older sons in favor of her children. Interestingly, the trope does ''not'' apply to Lady Regent Sandra of Portland. Ruthless as she can be, she is constrained by the need to avoid alienating her subjects thanks to an open-borders policy. She also sincerely loves her spouse and is devoted to her daughter.
231* TheGoodChancellor: Father Ignatius is this to Rudi/Artos, although he is something of a BeleagueredBureaucrat due to the lack of qualified individuals to fill out the new kingdom's civil service. When Sandra Arminger offers the services of the Protectorate's administrative professionals, the good Father refuses, knowing that it's just an invitation for her to subvert Montival to her own ends before the kingdom is even fully established.
232* GoryDiscretionShot:
233** During the Dying Time, Oregon and Idaho deal with mass starvation (some of it quite deliberate), imposition of slavery by strong-arm rule, outbreaks of the Black Death, rampant RapePillageAndBurn including massacres of children, and an infestation of cannibal bands. After all that, no one ''believes'' - or recounts to the reader - the stories they are hearing from bicycle refugees from California and St.Louis.
234** At one point the Bearkillers defeat a cannibal band. Mike enters their base alone and it's heavily implied that someone was being cooked/eaten alive; those outside can hear him asking someone if they want to die, and an unintelligible response being cut short. By the time the rest of the group enters, Mike has covered whatever it was with a tablecloth.
235** Whatever happened inside the Catholic Church in Bend [[spoiler: just before the CUT were forced to abandon the city]] was enough to make Father Ignatius and Eric Larsson order the building burned to the ground, although the rest of their party--and the readers--are spared a look inside.
236* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: Rigobert claims to have worked for one pre-Change, a fact that made him ''very'' valuable to Norman Arminger (and subsequently allowed him to survive at least as a closeted homosexual in a deeply homophobic realm; Rigobert's sexual orientation is of less concern to Arminger than what he knows, and Arminger in the early Change years controlled the Catholic Church in Portland).
237* GranolaGirl: Signe, before the Change. She's a vegetarian and thinks the prospect of a world without guns is wonderful. Then she ''lives'' in that world....
238* GratuitousForeignLanguage: Where do we begin...
239** Finnish and Icelandic are pretty commonly used and abused.
240** Irish, too. It gets to the point where it starts feeling like the entire series is written in Irish sentences followed by their English translations.
241** [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Elvish]] gets used a lot by the crazed Tolkien fangirl Astrid, who takes the story's suggestion that it is based on actual history a little too literally. It's subject to TranslationConvention, but Stirling still gets more mileage out of it than he needs. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] at least twice in ''The Scourge of God.'' Rudi says that Astrid's endless Elvish is insufferable, and Tiphaine d'Ath calls her a "pseudo-elf" later on.
242** As of ''The Given Sacrifice'' [[spoiler: Japanese, and in particular a specific regional dialect]] gets in on the fun.
243* HandicappedBadass:
244** Eilir, who doesn't let her deafness interfere with -- well, anything. She's a kickass fighter and wilderness scout, who thanks to her mother's early training is ''very'' good at stealthy approaches.
245** Eric Larsson doesn't let the loss of a hand stop him from doing much (including riding into battle).
246* HappilyAdopted: Chuck and Judy Barstow's children Sanjay, Aoife, and Oak, whom Chuck and Judy adopted from the group of children Chuck found abandoned on a school bus, just after the Change. Juniper speculates that before the Change "those three didn't really ''have'' parents, only people who paid the bills."
247** Reiko's foster daughter Kiwako, previously severely neglected and close to feral, blossoms in Reiko's care.
248* HappilyMarried: Applies to many of the married couples in the series, notably including BigBad Norman Arminger and his wife Sandra.
249* HeelFaceTurn: Tiphaine d'Ath undergoes a gradual one as the later books move on, although she frequently reminds us that GoodIsNotNice.
250* HereditaryRepublic: Common in the post-Change world, often despite the best intentions of the founders of any given nation:
251** Mike Havel, the founder and "boss man" (''de facto'' head of state, often styled "Lord Bear") of the mercenary outfit-cum-nation the Bearkillers, passes on his title to his right-hand man Will Hutton on his deathbed with instructions to begin free elections the next year. Havel's widow Signe announces this plan in a speech to the people in which she frames Hutton's appointment as a regency until the majority of her and Havel's children, which she expects the Bearkillers to elect as soon as they are of age. When next we see the characters after a between-books TimeSkip, the unelected Signe is wielding power as ''de facto'' regent herself.
252** Also within the Bearkillers, the next level of authority below the Lord Bear is the "A-List," a group of elite professional soldiers who are compensated for their service with land over which they hold political authority. While admission into the A-List is ostensibly by meritocracy, it's pointed out early on that the children of A-Listers will have a distinct advantage over the children of the lower classes by virtue of having more free time to train. In effect, the ostensibly democratic system creates a ''de facto'' landed aristocracy that becomes more entrenched as time goes on.
253** Clan Mackenzie ostensibly chooses its own chief through popular election; however the reigning chief appoints a "tanist" (apprentice and heir-apparent) who seems to be a shoe-in for the position barring extraordinary circumstances. The first chief, Juniper Mackenzie, appoints her son Rudi, who ends up becoming High King over the Mackenzies, Bearkillers, and several other nations in the setting.
254** In the United States of Boise, the presidency passes to the previous president's eldest son in a perfunctory election after the latter conspires with a foreign cult to assassinate his father. Boise will later go on to hold perfectly legitimate presidential elections, in which no serious opposition is ever raised to the line of the first President-General: in one contest, the opposition candidate is a literal ''clown''. The first President-General, Lawrence Thurston, would have been appalled, as he was opposed to hereditary leadership and didn't even want his sons to run for office.
255* HeroicAmbidexterity: Rudi [=McKenzie=] is a born warrior, which includes ambidexterity. He fights equally well with either hand, and switches whenever it would help.
256* HeroOfAnotherStory: Rudi Mackenzie and King Bjarni of Norrheim regard each other as this. They're allies against the CUT, but otherwise each is content to leave the other to his own realm. [[spoiler: This may become subverted later on, as Eric Larsson is interested in establishing a closer relationship involving trade and information exchange with Norrheim, possibly as a means of bolstering his position (and that of the Bearkillers) within Montival in the future.]]
257** Although the PPA is an antagonist in the first part of the series, the citizens of Walla Walla regard them as heroes, as it was an expedition from Portland that rescued the city from convicts who had taken over after escaping the nearby state prison in the aftermath of the Change.
258** This trope applies to many of the people Rudi and Co. encounter in their journeys. Abbott Dortje, the new Iowa civil government (and Ingolf's brother), the Senegalese pirates, Captain Wellman, the Last Eagle and his successors, and even Justin Gruber are just a few of the people who could become (or are already) heroes to their own people. The current tetrology introduces even more, including Reiko's grandmother and father and the Loyal Men who preserved the Nipponese royal line, King John of Darwin, and the leaders of Topanga and of the Mist Hills.
259* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Mike Havel]]
260** Only the first of many. The heroic body count has since increased to include [[spoiler:Odard Liu and Astrid Larsson]] in later volumes.
261* HeterosexualLifePartners: Astrid Larsson and Eilir Mackenzie. Arguably Edain and Rudi, or Little John Hordle and Alleyne. In ''The Given Sacrifice'', we see that Orlaith and Heuradys are headed this way, if they aren't there already.
262* HitSoHardTheCalendarFeltIt: After the Change, the calendar changes to designate the Change as Year 0.
263* HollywoodTactics: Averted. Ambushes, proper use of terrain, supply lines, and discipline all come up often. At least once in A Meeting at Corvallis when the PPA knights under the command of LeeroyJenkins extraordinare Piotr Stavarov try to use a straight cavalry charge against the Mackenzie archers, it costs him a good chunk of his cavalry, much to Conrad Renfrew's fury. Emiliano Guttierez's recklessness against the same [[EyeScream goes even worse for him.]]
264* HonestAdvisor:
265** [[TheDragon Conrad Renfrew]] and Sandra Arminger are the only advisors with the nerve (and the license) to tell Norman Arminger when he's wrong.
266** Rudi deliberately picks Father Ignatius for the role because he's 1) smart enough to show Rudi where he's wrong and 2) tough enough to make it stick. Politically, as a Catholic priest from an order that was specifically set up to counter Portland's abuses he 'balances the ticket' with Rudi's paganism and makes Montival an easier sell to communities who had earlier resisted the PPA's encroachment.
267* TheHorde: The Bekwa tribes, descendants of the survivors in Quebec, have become a large, barely-united band of marauders who continually menace the outposts of civilization in northern Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. [[spoiler: The only reason they show any unity at all is because the CUT has gained influence over them.]]
268* IDidWhatIHadToDo:
269** The Bearkillers, proto-Clan Mackenzie and other towns encountered also turn away people they can't feed in the Dying Time.
270** It is actually WordOfGod that the biggest reason Oregon is almost uniquely inhabitable is that the PPA directly and indirectly eliminated the disorganized surplus population. In other words, what Norman does is the ''better'' outcome...
271* ImAHumanitarian: Right after the Change, groups of cannibals, called "Eaters", are one of the most common bands of survivors, particularly in larger cities. They take the place of the post-apocalyptic zombie horde in parts of the first book, but through a combination of disease and madness have largely removed themselves from events by the second book.
272* ImpracticallyFancyOutfit: Sandra wears a full-length ermine cape to the first Meeting in Corvallis. Juniper notes that it would be too heavy to carry/wear for any length of time, but Sandra's carriage pulls up as close to the exit as possible so that she won't have to walk far.
273** In ''The Sunrise Lands,'' Mathilda tells the Thurston daughters that she doesn't wear her formal gowns while traveling because she wouldn't be able to ride or fight well in them.
274* IncrediblyLamePun: The scout the Cutters have tracking Rudi's band is, in fact [[spoiler: a ''Boy Scout'' -- or at least, a member of a settlement based on the Boy Scouts]]. Oh, it's justifiable; a member of such a group would be likely to have the right skill set. It is, however, still a groaner.
275** In-universe, Delia uses a series of dreadful puns to get the attention of Tiphaine d'Ath.
276* InNameOnly: There are several new countries in the Midwest as well as Wisconsin that call themselves Republics, such as Iowa, but are feudal hereditary monarchies in everything but name. Averted by the Dominions of Drumheller, Minnedosa, and Moose Jaw, which are functional democracies, so far as we know.
277* ItsRainingMen: At the climax of the first novel, Mike Havel, Signe Larsson, Eric Larsson, and Sam Aylward assault the PPA fort this way. As the Change has rendered powered flight impossible, no-one bothers to watch the skies. But unfortunately for the PPA, hang-gliders still work perfectly. The four of them glide one-by-one to the top of the forts tower, and make the way from their to open the gate from the inside.
278* KarmaHoudini: A few examples.
279** HeelFaceTurn aside, Tiphaine never does get called to account for all the murders and sabotage she committed on Sandra's payroll, most notably those of Aoife and Liath.
280** For that matter, Sandra herself. After orchestrating all of that, and being arguably as responsible for the atrocities committed by the Association as Norman, [[spoiler: she ends up dying of old age in her bed surrounded by loved ones, knowing her grandchildren will make up the ruling dynasty of Montival.]]
281** As countries, Iowa and the other Midwest states maintain their generally oppressive feudal structures throughout the series with not a sign of any hope for positive change in sight.
282* LadyOfWar: Signe Larsson, Tiphaine D'Ath, Astrid Larsson, Orlaith Arminger Mackenzie, Heuradys d'Ath -- Astrid and Heuradys are perhaps particularly sterling examples, as they both place emphasis on style.
283* TheLancer: Sam Aylward, for one.
284** His son, Edain to Rudi as well. Edain later takes on the same role for Mathilda.
285** In the third generation, Heuradys is this to Orlaith.
286* LesYay: In-universe. For a time, [[HeterosexualLifePartners close friends]] Astrid and Eilir are rumored to be lovers. They find the rumor "inexpressibly funny."
287** Eddie Liu asks "Have you found the Ring of Power in her Crack of Doom yet?"
288* LipstickLesbian: Delia, Tiphaine's lover.
289* MagicalNativeAmerican: Several are seen. Played straight in that ''all'' myths and religious traditions are equally valid (and have real, demonstrable power) in the Emberverse. Subverted in that the surviving Native Americans use as much pre-Change technology as possible...down to a group of Sioux having a portable medical laboratory with their encampment and their chief (a pre-Change university graduate) being just as aware of the implications of the situation as any other successful leader in this setting.
290* TheMagicComesBack: [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane Hinted at in the first trilogy]], full blown in later works.
291* MagicKnight: Father Ignatius. Rudi even more so.
292* ManInAKilt:
293** Kilts are everyday and ceremonial wear for the Clan Mackenzie. They're often considered {{Fanservice}} in-universe, especially when worn by fit and attractive men such as Rudi and Edain.
294** Discussed in the short story 'Something for Yew', a mystery set in post-Change England. A murder victim found in a dockside warehouse [[spoiler: is determined to be a member of Clan Mackenzie by the fact that he was wearing a kilt for everyday work, whereas actual Scots post-Change save their kilts for formal dress]].
295* ManlyGay: Rigobert, Delia's [[TheBeard husband]] and father (via turkey baster) of her four children.
296* [[MasterSwordsman Masters of the Sword]]: Rudi Mackenzie, Tiphaine d'Ath, Norman Arminger, Pamela Larsson
297* MeaningfulName:
298** For some reason, [[Myth/KingArthur ''Artos'']] leaps to mind.... - "Artos" is also Greek for "bear". Guess who his father is.
299** There's also Kaur and Singh of Vogeler's Villians.
300* MeatVersusVeggies: Averted. After the change, vegetarians convert to meat eaters out of necessity; after months of having meat as the staple of their diet, ''everyone'' craves vegetables.
301* MedievalStasis: {{Zigzagged}}. This is the in-universe goal of [[spoiler: the Mind]], more or less, but pretty much every character in the series is working to avert it... with varying degrees of success, of course.
302* MenOfSherwood: The DĂșnedain Rangers are extremely skilled but really aren't a large enough faction to shift the balance of power (or for that matter take on a large, organized opponent). Curiously, despite a ''lot'' of similarities, the Myth/RobinHood mythos never took hold among them. The Morrowlander Pack is also similarly situated, but without the Rangers' advantage of nearby strong allies [[spoiler: until they join Montival]].
303* AMillionIsAStatistic: In ''High King of Montival'', Rudi's party is exploring the long-abandoned CN Tower in Toronto when they discover the skeletons of a woman (apparently a suicide) and her cat. Though they live in a world in which ''billions'' died at the time of the Change, they are powerfully moved by the evidence of these particular deaths. Rudi is quite aware of the nature of their response, and of this trope.
304* TheMole:
305** [[spoiler: Kuttner]]
306** Also, [[spoiler:Alex, Odard Liu's manservant who sells out Rudi's party to the CUT as part of Mary Liu's failed power grab.]]
307* MoralMyopia: Fred Thurston basically being peer pressured into claiming the Presidency of Boise despite his own unwillingness to do so plus citing his father's memory and opposition to hereditary rule is treated as something positive. Juliet Thurston having done something very similar to convince Martin to stage a coup in the first place, however, is viewed as loathsome by the same characters who pressured Fred in the first place, notably, his love interest and eventual wife, Virginia Kane. .
308* MorallyBankruptBanker: Professor Tom Turner of the Corvallis Economics Faculty will take the best deal for himself even if it means throwing his city under the wagon. He is also using refugees as sweatshop labor and engaging in war profiteering. This all [[LaserGuidedKarma bites him in the ass]] during negotiations to set up the Kingdom of Montival in ''Lord of Mountains'' and to decide whether[[spoiler: to continue to pursue the CUT into Montana after the enemy's field army was destroyed]]. When Turner asserts that Corvallis is a democracy and cannot accept a monarch, Sandra Arminger [[spoiler: produces a document signed by Turner stating his willingness to subjugate Corvallis to the PPA during the Protector's War, thus destroying Turner's credibility at the negotiating table generally and with the rest of the Corvallis delegation specifically]].
309* MultipleGovernmentPolity: The High Kingdom of Montival encompasses a variety of smaller political units. While a number of these are kingdoms, other forms of government are also represented, including representative (Boise) and direct (Topanga) democracies, oligarchies (Corvallis), theocracies (Deseret), tribal councils (the Seven Fires Council), and, of course, clan chiefs and councils (Mackenzie).
310* NemeanSkinning:
311** Michael Havel, Lord Bear of the Bearkillers, wears the head of the bear that earned him and the outfit their names on his helmet. Subverts the trope by making Havel nearly get killed by the bear, and tanning is done by specialists off-page.
312** Further subverted by Havel being totally against the idea in the first place (thinks it's too hokey), until he realizes it will serve the purpose of something for his people to rally behind.
313* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Norman Arminger's big offensive in the War Of The Eye fails primarily due to him overextending his forces and sending them too many places at once, allowing the heroes to outsmart his frequently [[GeneralFailure less-than-stellar commanders.]] [[HonestAdvisor Conrad Renfrew]] makes sure to call him out on it.
314** The Cutters' attempt at assassinating the main characters fails and only succeeds in offing Bossman Anthony Heasleroad and police chief Edgar Denton, which in turn [[AwakeningTheSleepingGiant pisses off Iowa]] big-time and brings them and the other Midwestern states into the war, causing them to have to deal with a second front in a war they were winning up to that point. In addition, the deaths of [[AssholeVictim Denton and Heasleroad]] may very well have been the catalyst for positive social change in Iowa, as the lower classes, especially in the farmlands, were badly treated and one step above serfdom in many parts of the state. A power-sharing arrangement maneuvers Abel Heusink and many of his allies into positions of power, and he explicitly states he plans to force through reforms because those in power need the common Iowan on their side, not simply obeying orders.
315* NoBikesInTheApocalypse: Averted. Bicycles become a popular mode of transportation after the Change, even being used by armies going into battle.
316* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed:
317** Horribly averted, as most celebrities ''were'' harmed (and probably killed and eaten, too). Of the ones we actually hear about in the story, the British royal family has been put through the wringer with Queen Elizabeth II dying, Prince Charles taking the throne at the point of insanity, and Prince William being sent on a one-way trip in a leaky museum piece.
318** The leader of the CUT immediately after the Change is heavily implied to be [[spoiler: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unabomber the Unabomber]]]] (or at least a ''very'' thinly-veiled {{Expy}} of him).
319** We are told that Pope John Paul II elected to remain in the Vatican to confront an angry mob rather than be evacuated by the Swiss Guards with the College of Cardinals. He did not live long. His successor (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI as in RealLife) lives to the beginning of the second trilogy, which would make him about 95 years old at the time.
320** The skeletal remains of Bill Gates were discovered in his mansion in Washington state during a PPA salvage expedition.
321** We learn in ''The Golden Princess'' that a CUT-like cult has spread in [[spoiler: North Korea, using Kim Jong Il and his family as its agents]].
322** However, a character who may be Creator/HarrisonFord is seen running Ford's Kyentse Cowboy Bar & Grill (The Scourge of God).
323* NoHealthCareInTheApocalypse: Most medicine becomes useless within days of the worldwide blackout, after the refrigerators stop working and the cars that would have carried it elsewhere died as well. Juniper and her Wiccan coven are experienced at using herbs and other natural medicine to help people, but can only do so much. One doctor who settled near Juniper has a box with 12,000 doses of a powdered medicine that can stop diseases like the plague. He mentions that it was the only thing he could carry away with him on foot after leaving his hospital, and notes that they need to save it for emergencies, otherwise it will all be gone in no time.
324* NonActionGuy: At over 60, he's not much use at hand-to-hand combat, but Ken Larsson is the husband of one ActionHero (Pam), the father of three more (Eric, Signe and Astrid), and the father-in-law of [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership Lord Bear]] himself. He's also the Bearkillers' premier engineer and one of Lord Bear's most trusted advisers.
325* NonHumanSidekick: Epona to Rudi; Garbh to Edain.
326* NoNewFashionsInTheFuture: Inverted in many places, as many societies (Clan Mackenzie, PPA, Norrheim, Indian tribes, ranches) went back to ''old'' fashions.
327** Played straight with Corvallis, Boise, and the surviving urban centers of the Midwest.
328** Greater Britain meanwhile is mishmash of Medieval, Victorian and Modern-ish attire.
329** Averted by Mount Angel, as Catholic priests and monks have dressed the same way for hundreds of years and probably weren't likely to alter their basic attire any time soon anyway, Change or not.
330* NoodleIncident: Amid all of the post-change horror and carnage, apparently something happened in St. Louis that horrifies even the most hardened characters; however, it's never relayed to the audience.
331* NoPartyLikeADonnerParty: Less-equipped and less-principled groups in the wake of the Change survive by killing and eating stragglers. And once they've started, it's not likely the proper societies will welcome them with open arms. On occasion these "Eater" societies reform on their own and remain outcasts, but more likely than not, they end up slaughtered by the more civilized groups or eating one another to extinction.
332* NotSoDifferentRemark: Defied in ''The Scourge of God''. Rudi Mackenzie is describing Chuck Barstow's actions at the time of the Change, including survival-motivated fighting, deception, and theft (see BreakOutTheMuseumPiece, above). Odard Liu, thinking of his own brutal sire's actions at that time, is about to invoke this trope, with a side of [[IDidWhatIHadToDo Our Parents Only Did What They Had To Do]]. Rudi shuts him down by pointing out one more thing Chuck Barstow felt he "had to do": rescue and take in a group of stranded schoolchildren (including his son Oak, whom Odard knows personally), something that Eddie Liu would certainly never have considered.
333* NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering: Corvallis's contentious Faculty Senate is sometimes shown this way. The Protectorate manipulates their politics in an effort to keep Corvallis from entering the War of the Eye. [[spoiler: Nice try.]]
334* ObfuscatingStupidity: In his first encounter with Norman Arminger, Mike Havel takes advantage of the fact that Arminger thinks of him as a stupid jarhead.
335* OhMyGods: Juniper substitutes "Goddess" for "God".
336* OlderIsBetter: Enforced by the setting. Anything above a certain level of technology no longer functions, so older technology with no electronic or other advanced technology is the only option.
337* OnlyElectricSheepAreCheap: Inverted. In the years following the Change, many people will go on and on about all the fantastic processed foods that are no longer available when everyone is reduced to eating natural, home-grown food.
338* OpenSecret: The Portland Protective Association is in practice (and originally, in law) a Roman Catholic kingdom, practicing a fairly conservative version of that faith. The Baroness (later Grand Constable [[spoiler: later Marshall]]) Tiphaine d'Ath is gay and in a monogamous relationship with Delia de Stafford, [[TheBeard wife]] of the equally-gay Rigobert. Everybody except their confessors is quite aware of the true nature of Tiphaine and Delia's, and Delia and Rigobert's, relationships, but the attitudes of the kingdom prohibit any public acknowledgement.
339* OurFounder: After the Change several notable individuals or groups are recognised for successfully rebuilding society, the early books mainly focus on three. Mike Havel of The Bear Killers, Juniper Mackenzie of The Clan Mackenzie, and Norman Arminger of the PPA. Of these three it should be noted that only Arminger actually set out to build a kingdom to rule over, Mike and Juniper were just good,charismatic people who fell into the job and were more than a little uncomfortable with the hero worship that followed.
340* [[OurPresidentsAreDifferent President Action]]: President-General Lawrence Thurston of Boise (see FourStarBadass, above).
341* PaperThinDisguise: [[spoiler: Attempted by ''an entire battalion'' during the siege and fall of Boise by pretending to be a loyal reinforcing unit; averted when a member of the gate guard recognizes personally the commander of the unit (which had previously defected to Montival and was known to have done so) and sounds the alarm.]]
342* PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny: The Provisional Republic of Iowa, which on the surface appears to have maintained its pre-Change democracy, is in practice a hereditary dictatorship where people can be sent to slave labor in mines for stepping out of line. The other Midwest states, Fargo, Kirksville, Concordia, Marshall, and Richland are implied to be much the same. And in the later books, these are assumed to be the good guys! [[BlackandGreyMorality At least compared to the CUT.]]
343* PersecutionFlip: Downplayed. Wicca is the dominant religion in Clan Mackenzie. Juniper, as head of the Coven, is concerned that some people are looking to convert for cultural rather than religious reasons, and notes the irony of someone becoming a Wiccan ''in order to fit in'' when pre-change they were definitely regarded as oddballs.
344* PetTheDog: Tiphaine d'Ath with regard to her page (and later squire) Lioncel--when appropriate, of course.
345* PragmaticHero:
346* PragmaticVillainy: A specialty of Sandra Arminger's, especially in the first trilogy. For example, when the PPA are holding nine-year-old Rudi captive, she keeps her husband Norman from killing him not because she has any problems with cold-blooded murder (she's ordered a number of assassinations herself), but because she thinks that suborning Rudi would be a more effective means of bringing the Mackenzies under control.
347* PrivateMilitaryContractors: How the Bearkillers make their living on the march from the Idaho backcountry to their eventual home. Mike even refers to the Bearkillers as ''condottieri'' (a free company of mercenaries) more than once. There is however a strong helping of WeHelpTheHelpless involved, as the Bearkillers will rescue a party in distress and won't take more than their client can afford to part with in payment.
348* ProverbialWisdom: Juniper Mackenzie is famous for having a Gaelic proverb ready to fit any situation; she claims to have gotten them from her mother, who is the same way.
349* PostApocalypticTrafficJam: As the Change caused all higher technology to suddenly cease working and happened instantaneously all over the world, every road and highway on the planet became a graveyard of cars that would never run again, each stopped where it drifted to a halt after its systems died. They also became the graveyard of the hordes of motorists stranded there, as most of them died of starvation or exposure either while waiting for rescue or while trying to follow the roads towards a city.
350* QueerPeopleAreFunny: [[IncrediblyLamePun Played straight]] by Aaron Rothman, the closest any character comes in the series to being comedy relief (although he may be doing it deliberately, as noted elsewhere). Averted by Tiphaine and Delia, who are better developed as characters and whose relationship (and the implications it has for them socially and politically) is explored more seriously. Rigobert de Stafford's sense of humor is very well-developed but more subtle and most definitely does ''not'' make people take him any less seriously. Estella Maldonado (who makes her final appearance in ''Lord of Mountains'') was not developed as well as the series' other gay characters; most (but not all) of the time when she was shown it was in a purely professional context. The one time Estella did demonstrate a sense of humor was in delivering a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech verbal smackdown]] to a CUT follower in her party, making her more of a SnarkKnight than CampGay.
351* TheQuest: A lot of characters, especially the aforementioned Tolkien fangirl comment on the auspiciousness of the fact that Rudi's journey will [[Myth/ArthurianLegend take him across the land to find a mythical sword]] and that he will have [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings nine members in his group.]]
352* RainOfArrows: The combat strategy of the Mackenzie archers.
353%%* ReligionIsMagic
354* ReligionOfEvil: The Church Universal and Triumphant edges on PathOfInspiration, but the fact that they're pretty openly out for world conquest and the way they keep followers in line by freaking them out with aural AlienGeometries plunks them in this category. Not to mention that they turn out to be a front for {{Eldritch Abomination}}s that want to reduce the universe to nothing.
355* RetiredBadass: [[spoiler: Tiphaine d'Ath has reached her mid-forties in ''The Given Sacrifice'' and while still very effective as a combatant, her reflexes are beginning to slow down just as old social and political grudges are starting to manifest themselves in the form of personal challenges. Mathilda and Rudi [[KickedUpstairs name her Marshal of Montival's armies]], essentially a desk job consisting of staff planning duties for a skeleton force. The appointment places her under their direct protection, much to her consternation.]]
356* TheRemnant:
357** The United States Government in Boise is centered around the leftovers of both the US Army and the pre-change State Government attempting to reunify the United States
358** In the first book, Mike Havel theorizes that the US President (Heavily implied to be [[spoiler: Bill Clinton]] ) Survived the change with the help of the Secret Service and is still in charge... of a scrap of land around Camp David.
359* RootingForTheEmpire:
360** InUniverse. The PPA base their society around ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Mordor and Sauron]]'', of all things.
361** Boise makes the shift from trying to establish itself as a successor to the United States to replicating the Roman Empire outright after [[spoiler: President-General Thurston is assassinated.]]
362* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Many. Norman Arminger, Mike Havel, and Astrid Larsson are war leaders; the multitalented Juniper Mackenzie is a bard, a high priestess, an expert weaver, and a pretty decent archer. Mathilda Arminger and Rudi Mackenzie, the heirs apparent, undertake the quest for the sword in the second trilogy, and fight in combat repeatedly.
363** 'Mad' King Charles of Greater Britain, despite having been groomed to be a figurehead his entire life, proves invaluable in organizing the survivors on the Isle of Wight. His expertise in organic farming (Prince Charles in RealLife is an expert on the topic) in particular helps to ensure Greater Britain's survival. Unfortunately [[IDidWhatIHadToDo some of the decisions he had to make]] left him a broken man, easily manipulated by Hallgerda and her retinue.
364*** Prince Harry has, to get him away from Hallgerda and her manipulations, been given command of "Cutty Sark" and sent to Africa to combat pirate attacks on the new British colonies in Spain. He does his duty magnificently well, often commanding boarding action from the front.
365** Although Lawrence Thurston would vehemently object to being called a 'royal' he did have near-absolute control over most of the state of Idaho from just after the Change until [[spoiler: his son Martin assassinated him.]] An Army officer pre-Change, he reorganized the state government (but kept the legislature intact, although he suspended elections) and built Boise's military practically from scratch into one of the most feared fighting forces on the continent. He also sponsored research into the cause and effects of the Change, helped reorganize the civilian economy to adapt to the Change, and like many other leaders who arose during the Change kept civilization alive through sheer force of will.
366* ScarilyCompetentTracker: Ritva and Mary are followed by an uncannily competent scout [[spoiler: and Scout!]] in ''The Sunrise Lands''; they later describe him as having trailed them across the type of terrain over which it would be difficult to find traces of a full team pulling a cart. [[spoiler: Along with his people, the Morrowlander Pack, he becomes an ally against the CUT in ''The Given Sacrifice''.]]
367* ScaryBlackMan: PlayedWith. Will Hutton; Lawrence, Martin, and Frederick Thurston; and the 'Moorish' (actually Senegalese) corsairs. They're all black and all very imposing individuals, but to survive and succeed in the Emberverse one ''has'' to be a pretty scary individual when it counts. Racism seems to have died in the Change, with race seldom if ever discussed by the main characters after the first trilogy (although it does figure prominently there, with Will being rescued by Mike Havel from white supremacists who were torturing him to death in the first volume). The Thurstons aren't even ''described'' as black until met in person in the second trilogy.
368* SchizoTech: the survivors post-Change implement useable technology from all eras, from the Stone Age to the 19th and 20th centuries (among other things, knowledge of modern medicine and sanitation proves ''very'' helpful).
369* SecretPolice: employed by several of the post-Change nations:
370** The Iowa State Police has evolved into such an agency. [[spoiler: This is a rare case where the secret police are on the side of the good guys, as they're the ones who verify Rudi's claims about the CUT even as the cult is trying to subvert Iowa's leadership. Probably a minor case of NoCelebritiesWereHarmed, as making the ''actual'' Iowa State Police look evil when the rest of the state government survived more or less intact probably wasn't the author's goal.]]
371** Boise has the Natpols (National Police; originally an FBI-equivalent but later on becomes a secret police organ after the elder Thurston's death).
372** The Inquisition run by Pope Leo served this role for Norman Arminger. Arguably, Tiphaine d'Ath in her role as Grand Constable fulfills the trope, as she is frequently called upon by Sandra to make certain individuals 'disappear'. The PPA also maintains a secret prison facility (location generally unknown) for high-value prisoners (this is where Mary Liu ends up after her failed power play against Sandra Arminger).
373** The CUT High Seekers fill the role for areas under the cult's control.
374* SentientCosmicForce: [[spoiler: The Change was caused by what's best described as the Universal Mind having an argument with itself and reaching the least bad compromise. Mind you this least bad option resulted in the worldwide collapse of civilization and the deaths of billions.]]
375* SingleMindedTwins: Ritva and Mary Havel begin very much like this, though they develop/display more distinct personalities in the course of the second trilogy.
376* SituationalHandSwitch: Rudi Mackenzie's right arm is wounded and has to learn to use his left arm as his sword arm. When practicing with youths in the Free Republic of Richland they complain that he has an unfair advantage as a southpaw. His mentor responds "Yah hey, if someone attacks you using different moves, or if they're a leftie you're just going to say you're taking your bat and ball and going home 'cause it ain't fair? Christ, Weiss, I've known you were a dumb little punk for years, but do you have to show it off in front of strangers?"
377* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: The Cutters make extensive use of slave labor, and it's every bit as brutal as you might think. In the first trilogy, the PPA did have peons, serfs and bond tenants, complete with iron collars, though they didn't call them [[InsistentTerminology slaves]] per se, obviously.
378* SmallNameBigEgo: Iron Rod, a minor villain (seriously, he's only around a few chapters) in ''Dies the Fire'' that's essentially a glorified gang leader that thinks he's hot stuff just because he's running roughshod over a number of farmers before the Bearkillers show up. Once they ''do'' show up he doesn't last very long.
379* SmugSnake: Norman Arminger, Duke Iron Rod, Piotr Stavarov, Eddie Liu
380* StormingTheCastle: Happens a few times, although both sides dread the thought of having to do so.
381* SuddenlySignificantCity: Corvallis, a relatively small city in Oregon, becomes a major player in the post-change world.
382* SufficientlyAdvancedAliens: Suspected at first of being responsible for the Change. [[spoiler: It turns out that the responsible party is several levels beyond that...]]
383* SummonBiggerFish: The only viable strategy for [[spoiler: the Topangans]] to hold off [[spoiler: the Chatsworth Lancers]] in ''The Desert and the Blade''. [[spoiler: Orlaith is able to bring Topanga and later Chatsworth into Montival by showing how much force the kingdom is able to muster. [[AintNoRule That her expedition was ''not'' authorized by the Lady Regent is entirely coincidental.]]]]
384* SwordOfPlotAdvancement: The Sword of the Lady reveals all truths, brings the [[spoiler: influence of the good parts of the Mind]] into the world, and also can chop clean through anything from a gnarled tree trunk to an airborne hair. It also acts as a UniversalTranslator for ''any'' language, including invented languages such as the Elvish used by the Rangers (it even fills in gaps in grammar and syntax which neither Tolkien nor the DĂșnedain addressed) and languages presumed ''extinct'', [[spoiler: like Japanese, encountered by Rudi and company at the end of ''The Given Sacrifice'']].
385* TechnologyErasureEvent: In an event called "the Change", electricity, gunpowder, explosives, internal combustion and steam power all suddenly cease to function. Human civilization collapses suddenly and dramatically, as heavily urbanized areas are left unable to feed themselves and long-distance communications cease to exist. Within a year, almost all nations on Earth have ceased to be and humanity has suffered a population loss of billions, leaving the survivors to rebuild new civilizations permanently capped at the medieval level.
386* TeenageWasteland: Averted by the Morrowlanders, surviving members of a Boy Scout troop left stranded after a plane crash in Yellowstone National Park after the Change. They managed with minimal adult assistance to form a well-organized, functioning society and are able to keep the CUT out of their territory (albeit with a few [[DealWithTheDevil nasty deals]] they try their hardest to avoid). Lack of manpower, along with knowing the CUT for what they are, makes joining Montival a ''very'' attractive proposition to them.
387** Played straight to varying degrees by the various Eater bands and other bands of marauders who survived, particularly in the larger cities.
388* TheyCallHimSword: The first title Rudi ever receives is "Sword of the Lady," which is given to him by the Powers at his Wiccanning. Once he retrieves the actual weapon of that name, however, the title is usually used for it, rather than him.
389----> '''Ingolf:''' Let me get this straight -- you're the Sword, and the ''sword'' is the Sword?
390* ThisIsReality: A lot of the early conversations between Mike and Astrid are variations on this theme.
391* TokenEvilTeammate: Sandra Arminger, amongst the founders of the High Kingdom of Montival. None of the other leaders trust her any farther than they could throw John Hordle -- wise of them, as even though she is sincere in her desire to make the High Kingdom a viable entity (helps that her own daughter will be High Queen and her grandchildren will form the subsequent dynasty), she is ''never'' above seeking the PPA's advantage. Her political acumen and her extensive information network make her a very effective ally all the same, as does the fact that she ''will'' make sure the dirty work, such as blackmail or assassination, is taken care of.
392* TokenMinority: Justified and discussed with Will Hutton, the only black member of the Bearkillers; he acknowledges that there are very few black people around in rural Idaho. Portland is shown to be much more diverse.
393* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Tiphaine d'Ath and Delia de Stafford. Tiphaine is the [[ButchLesbian toughest woman]] -- arguably the toughest ''person'' -- in the Protectorate, dresses in male garb (usually a big no-no in that realm), wears her hair in a pageboy and would wear it shorter if she could, and doesn't like children. Her lover Delia is [[LipstickLesbian a complete creampuff]], an expert weaver and needlewoman who never dresses in anything less than the height of feminine fashion, wears her hair long and lush, and loves babies. Naturally, they're inseparable.
394* TooDumbToLive: Jon Wooton in "A Murder in Eddsford". [[spoiler: He tried to build a nuclear powered steam engine ''without'' wearing protective material, thus dying of radiation poisoning.]]
395** Also Astrid in the first book, who thinks that ''provoking a bear'' is a smart thing to do. After the bear is dealt with Mike rightly chews her out.
396** Emiliano Gutierrez failing to put his visor down when pursuing a feigned retreat by the Mackenzies. He gets an [[EyeScream arrow through the eye]] for his trouble.
397* TrilogyCreep: The seven books of the second generation of the series were originally meant to be just three.
398* TrueCompanions: The members of the Quest for the Sword rely on one another completely, and form bonds they will retain all their lives. The core group of the second Quest (Reiko's quest) show signs of forging similar connections.
399* UnholyMatrimony: Probably best exampled by a quote:
400--> Signe Larsson-Havel: My husband was a good man.
401--> Sandra Arminger: Mine was a monster. But don't think for a second that I loved mine any less than you loved yours.
402* VillainousValour: Whether outnumbered and pursued by the Mackenzies, surrounded by Astrid and friends, or betrayed by a member of her own band, DarkActionGirl Tiphaine d'Ath earns her victories with remarkable skill, ingenuity, and courage. She's not a particularly likable person, and her objectives are often other than admirable, but her wit and her grit are outstanding.
403* TheVirus: And if you think the CUT is chilling on general principle, you should see what happens when its influence is suddenly removed...
404* WarriorMonk: The local monastery becomes an order of these after the change. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] frequently, in that they draw comparisons with the Shaolin and other martial orders and lament that they cannot spend more time simply studying and praying.
405** Don't forget the Buddhist Monks in the Valley of the Sun where the party winters to [[spoiler: heal Rudi's shoulder after he sustained a nasty evil arrow wound.]] The monks also train the party so as they all TakeALevelInBadass.
406* WarriorPrince: Rudi Mackenzie. Also the brothers Thurston, though their father might dispute that description! ''Also'' Prince William of Greater Britain, whom Nigel encounters during a battle early in the series.
407* WastelandElder: Several examples appear after the worldwide blackout.
408** Juniper [=McKenzie=], who has a young teenaged daughter, leads her coven of Wiccans, the neighboring farming family, and various others in forming a new civilization.
409** Reverend Dixon takes charge of the nearest town to Juniper's homestead prior to his death from a stroke. He's a grouch who is intolerant of Juniper's religion, but he is capable of peacefully interacting with her, does his share of the work, and never hordes food.
410** Luther Finney, a farmer with children and grandchildren, provides food to the people of Corvalis to keep them from starving to death, allowing the town to survive the immediate aftermath of the Change. Afterward, he becomes a notable figure on the town council.
411** The Last Eagle Scout was only a kid during the Change, but is a young example of the trope a few decades later. He was on a plane that crashed in Yellowstone National Park. All of the adults from the plane died within the first few years, forcing him to undergo a PromotionToParent despite his own injuries from the crash. The toll of it all kills him before he turns fifty.
412* WeddingsForEveryone: The first trilogy ends with a massive handfasting ceremony whose participants include a number of the central characters.
413* WhatTheHellHero?" In ''A Meeting At Corvallis'', Mike Havel is called out in short order by both Eric and Signe after he agrees to meet a PPA knight one on one in a joust. Granted, he had won by that point, but Mike is one of the things holding the Bearkillers together, and the father of Signe's children, so their concern is quite warranted.
414* WhatTheRomansHaveDoneForUs: The Portland Protective Association was established by Norman Arminger as a brutal,warmongering despotism directly responsible for a lot of deaths. However, later in the series it's generally conceded in-universe that Arminger's actions actually saved the lives of many in Portland (and certainly saved the city ''as'' a city), and forged a strong kingdom that would go on to play a vital role in the creation and survival of Montival.
415* WoodenShipsAndIronMen: the Change has forced a return to the Age of Sail, seen as early as the first trilogy (where we meet Prince William in command of the ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutty_Sark Cutty Sark]]''--impressed into the Royal Navy despite being a decrepit museum piece--on what appears to be a suicide mission arranged by Hallgerda).
416* TheWorldIsNotReady: NOTE: The following spoiler explains the origin behind The Change. '''Do not read further if you want this to remain a mystery until the end of the sixth book.'''[[spoiler: The Change was caused by the PowersThatBe (see above) because humanity was showing more and more irresponsibility with its current technology levels. The god(s) decided the best course of action was a "do-over" in order for humanity to mature more as a species before inheriting their tech. This is why we were bombed back into medieval times, rather than having history wiped clean. The idea was to learn from the first time through, so we were better prepared for the next time.]]
417* WorthlessYellowRocks: In ''Dies the Fire,'' street gang members take advantage of the collapse in law enforcement to loot electronics and jewelry stores. Norman Arminger, a history professor, organizes other manpower and secures food and water supplies. Norman becomes a DarkLord styled king in all but name. The gang members wind up working for him - or else.
418* WriterOnBoard / AuthorFilibuster : To varying degrees, though relatively low. That's S. M. Stirling for ya...

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