Line #18 Literature/LongRoadNorth


1	From the blurb:
2
3	''A recently-retired dwarven ranger sets out on one last grand tour before settling down, following the great trans-continental Caravan across the land of Veropa and taking in the sights and cultures of a world not unlike our own.''
4
5	''Of course, this being a'' [[http://www.thousandbookchallenge.com ''Thousand Book Challenge'']] ''story, it's not quite that simple...''
6
7	[[http://www.thousandbookchallenge.com/node/53 Direct link.]]
8
9	----
10
11	!!Contains Examples Of:
12
13	%%* AerithAndBob: We've yet to meet two named characters from the same place, but Sven's name and accent don't exactly match. Justified since his father traveled quite extensively and eventually settled down quite a ways from home.
14	%%* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Averted, and one of the author's PetPeeveTropes.
15	* AnachronismStew: A mild example, but the setting has technology broadly equivalent to the late 18th century coupled to the political and cultural values of the early 1960s.
16	* AutomaticCrossbows: Appear quite often as the setting's equivalent of machine guns.
17	* AwakeningTheSleepingGiant: The Ardalans ended up doing this to the dwarves whilst attempting to conquer the elven lands in the backstory. Subverted in that the dwarves had already been backing their neighbours up indirectly, and they didn't exactly CurbStop the Empire either.
18	%%* BadassArmy: The Dwarven Pioneer Companies are basically an army of BadassCrews.
19	* BewareTheNiceOnes: The Ramelans are a loose coalition of federal democracies with no interest in aggressive expansion and a tiny standing army. They were also the first people to break the momentum of the Ardalan Imperial Army during one of their more ambitious land grabs.
20	%%* DungeonPunk: Insofar as a LowFantasy version of this trope is possible, anyway.
21	* ElvesVersusDwarves: Averted. They might not always [[IncrediblyLamePun see eye to eye]], but their economies are too interdependent for it to get out of hand.
22	* TheEmpire: The Ardalans. Subverted a bit; the DeadlyDecadentCourt and its endemic ChronicBackstabbingDisorder doesn't have an especially high body-count, and the throne and senate have been occupied by individuals of any stripe from absolute monsters to SmugSnake(s) to ReasonableAuthorityFigure over the years.
23	* EncyclopediaExposita: Each chapter begins with a quote from an in-universe source filling in some backstory.
24	* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The dwarven kingdoms have aspects of {{Scotireland}}, NorseByNorsewest, OopNorth and the Welsh. The Ardalans are loosely inspired by the Roman Empire, Napoleonic France and Germany under Kaiser Wilheim. [[WordOfGod And yes, that elven bartender ''is'' supposed to have a Liverpudlian accent.]]
25	* FantasticRacism: Implied to exist, along with the mundane sort, but not significant to the plot.
26	* TheFederation: The Ramelans are explicitly one of these, and in practice the dwarven kingdoms function much like one as well.
27	* GreyAndGreyMorality: The Ardalan Empire, averaged over its entire history, amounts to TrueNeutral rather than evil.
28	* HalfHumanHybrid: Subverted. WordOfGod says there's no more difference between elves, dwarves and humans than between Caucasian, Afro-Caribbean and Asian people. This hasn't become a plot point yet, however.
29	* IconicItem: The combination hatchet and pickaxe, shortened to "pickchet", carried by all Dwarven Pioneers are an in-universe example.
30	* LowFantasy: Owes much of its inspiration to the later ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels, and a good bit of thought has gone into the economics of the setting.
31	* MartialArtsAndCrafts: Quasi-example: The Pioneer's Backsword is a machete first, personal defence weapon second.
32	* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Played straight, but de-flanderised and justified; the dwarves developed their skill at mining and masonry because there's not much else to build with in their territory, and most of the good iron ore on the continent is in their lands. Also, some of them actually ''shave.''
33	* OurElvesAreDifferent: Well, more down-to-earth and reasonable, anyway. [[MindScrew And some of them are Scouse.]]
34	%%* MedievalEuropeanFantasy
35	* SchizoTech: Within a narrow range from the twilight of the Roman Empire to just before the Industrial Revolution. For example, most nations aren't finished phasing out the matchlock, but in terms of civil engineering the dwarves in particular are almost level with the Victorians.
36	* SillyReasonForWar: Subverted. Mention is made of the elves objecting to excessive logging operations by their dwarven neighbours on religious grounds, but as a secondary concern to the fact that they're causing landslides.
37	* ShoutOut: Chapter 3 should make it fairly obvious that the author is a massive ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' fan.
38	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Somewhere near the middle, though Sven is a rare protagonist from the author who's not prone to lapsing into SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids on a bad day.

Context Literature / LongRoadNorth