Line #3 Literature/QuantumGravity


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7	A series by Justina Robson.
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9	[[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture After the Quantum Bomb of 2015]], there are six worlds. In no particular order, they are: [[OurElvesAreDifferent Alfheim]], [[OurFairiesAreDifferent Faery]], [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Demonia]], [[OffscreenAfterlife Thano]][[TheNothingAfterDeath topia]], [[ElementalEmbodiment Zoomenon]], and [[HumansAreIndexed Otopia]].
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11	Skip ahead a couple generations and meet Liles. Lila Black is a cyborg, with a functioning AI, which is slowly meshing with her. She's magic-scarred from an earlier job gone wrong in Alfheim. She comes from Otopia, and is a member of the Agency, a national security service focusing on inter-world interactions. It's her job to spy on an [[ElvishPresley Elvish rock star]] named Zal, while hidden as a [[BodyguardCrush bodyguard]]. On their first meeting, they get into Game, a type of wild magic that binds them until one of them loses or dies. Games create strong impulses enough to turn murder charges to manslaughter, so losing isn't really a pertinent option, and both Lila and Zal are shaping up to live a good, long time.
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13	Lila has to go to various worlds, and... things get weird. There is more mystery than she can imagine, and the only way to figure it all out is to dive right in herself.
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15	Well. It is with Lila, anyway.
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17	Books: ''Keeping It Real'', ''Selling Out'', ''Going Under'', ''Chasing the Dragon'', ''Down to the Bone''
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19	----
20	!!Contains Examples Of:
21	* AbortedArc: That whole [[spoiler:seventh world]] thing which was made to look like a really big deal just got sort of quietly dropped after its inhabitants appeared without much fanfare.
22	%%* ActionGirl: Ms. Lila Black, everybody!
23	%%* AuthorAppeal: Zal
24	%%* BattleCouple: Lila/Zal, [[spoiler:Lila/Teazle]]
25	* BeingEvilSucks: Being good gets you locked away to learn a lesson about remembering things ''other'' than being good, before you go KnightTemplar. Living one's life ForTheEvulz quickly ends with [[KarmicDeath one]] [[{{Karma}} dead]].
26	* BlingOfWar: Lila gets some in the third book.
27	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: We're dealing with TheFairFolk, [[OurElvesAreDifferent Elves]], [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Demons]] and several things which may or may not have what we would traditionally call a ''consciousness''. This happens. The demons, who apparently see self doubt or self-imposed limits as worse than murder, are a relatively normal case.
28	* BodyguardCrush: Zal/Lila get the Love Match Game, which sort of forces this. [[spoiler:Then they marry.]]
29	* BreadEggsMilkSquick: More like [[InvertedTrope Squick, Gruesome, Vegetation, Peas]], but same idea.
30	%%* {{Calvinball}}: Fey sports.
31	* ComingOfAgeStory: Age aside, the series is this for Lila. At least Cyborg!Lila.
32	* ConflictingLoyalty: This is going to happen in standard elf culture. An elf will probably be working for multiple factions, and even if one is trying to undermine the other, will not necessarily have one that overrules the other. [[BlueAndOrangeMorality Yeah.]]
33	* CurseCutShort: "What the f..."
34	* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: [[{{Cyborg}} Lila]] frets after this.
35	%%* {{Cyborg}}: Lila
36	%%* EarnYourHappyEnding
37	%%* ElectronicEyes: Lila
38	* ElementalEmbodiment: Zoomenon is home, but they can travel anywhere.
39	%%* {{Elfeminate}}
40	* ElvishPresley: Zal, despite the preconception that elves can't rock.
41	%%* EmergencyTransformation: Lila
42	* FamedInStory: Zal's a rock star.
43	* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:Tath's]] description of what [[spoiler:the angels]] did to him. He got it once again, worse, from the [[spoiler:three phantoms]].
44	%%* TheFettered: ''Elves''.
45	* FirstNameBasis: An elf giving you the first ''half'' of his/her first name is this.
46	* FisherKingdom: Some places can forcibly transform creatures into other shapes.
47	* {{Foil}}: The worlds. Interestingly, they manage to all be this for all the others.
48	* GreyAndGrayMorality: Characters, individually, are occasionally insane. But given their environments...
49	* GrowingUpSucks: Malachi's opinion. [[spoiler:Reality? Not so much.]]
50	%%* HeAlsoDid: In-universe version with Zal.
51	* IKnowYourTrueName: But this only really works on elves, and/or in Alfheim.
52	* InterspeciesRomance: As mentioned, elf Zal/human cyborg Lila. As not mentioned, [[spoiler:Lila/demon Teazle]], [[spoiler:Sarasilien the elf/Sorcha, demon.]]
53	* KangarooCourt: Zal is put through something akin to a hearing by the elves. He noticed the vacancies in the council where his supporters should have been.
54	* {{Karma}}: People who act out of a desire to "do the wrong thing" bring about their own downfall. This is stated in so many words.
55	%%* LoveIsAWeakness: Interestingly enough, [[spoiler:Zal]].
56	%%* TheMagicComesBack
57	* MiseryBuildsCharacter: Devils will whisper roughly this to their victims.
58	* MundaneUtility: Lila tends to use her cyborg appendages this way after the second book. Using a flamethrower to light a cigarette is the most obvious example.
59	* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Zal is an elvish, demonic rock star. Oh, and he's [[spoiler:half and half of both types of elves]]. Lila is a cyborg secret agent with what just might be latent magic talent [[spoiler:and then she gets an Elvish necromancer in her chest. A ''dead'' one]].
60	* NotSoStoic: Zal manages to get one, despite being...not so stoic.
61	* OfficialCouple: [[spoiler:Lila and Zal]], and, to a certain extent, [[spoiler:Lila and Teazle.]]
62	* OffscreenAfterlife: We see the areas leading up to Thanotopia, but...
63	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: The default state for elves, see IKnowYourTrueName.
64	* OurDemonsAreDifferent: Essentially hedonists. No, really. The essential part of being a demon is experiencing as many things as possible, as much as possible. Fighting, cooking, painting, it is an art to them. And color is a ''huge'' part of their communication. Their language sounds like song to those who aren't being spoken to.
65	* OurDragonsAreDifferent: And incredibly mysterious. They can communicate, and are supposed to be marks of good luck...at a distance. They're supposedly attracted by innocence and/or powerful sorcery.
66	* OurElvesAreDifferent: They're tall, with ears reaching the top of their heads. Their eyes are usually light-colored, and elves may change color, depending.
67	* OurFairiesAreDifferent: The most powerful beings, aetherically. And TheTrickster, of course. Deal-makers.
68	* OurWormholesAreDifferent: Portals between realms function on these rules. Unless you want to get to Faery. Then go find a Kindly One.
69	%%* PointyEars: Elves.
70	%%* RageAgainstTheMentor: [[spoiler:Lila]] to [[spoiler:Sarasilien]].
71	* TheRockStar: Zal is an [[ElvishPresley elf rock star]], though one of the points he likes to make is that he does not limit himself to rock music, because every genre can be good. Incidentally, [[spoiler: becoming a rock star is all part of his plan to make "a lot of people free," as Malachi puts it. It's weird, but it works.]]
72	* SarcasmFailure: Lila's sister, Max, gets a [[SubvertedTrope brief]] one [[spoiler:when she sees Lila in all her {{Cyborg}} glory for the first time]].
73	%%* SophisticatedAsHell: Glinda
74	%%* SwissArmyAppendage: Lila gets these.
75	* ThatManIsDead: Lila says this. Jury's out as to whether this is true, or just her [[IAmWhatIAm accepting who she was in the first place]].
76	* TimeSkip: [[spoiler:Normally, where we come back to find that Lila has spent a lot of time in Demonia and married two people, and literally, where Lila skips forward ''fifty years''.]]
77	* TitleDrop: ''Keeping It Real'' and ''Selling Out'' both get one in ''Selling Out'', and the series gets one in ''Chasing the Dragon''.
78	* UndisclosedFunds: Any time money is mentioned.
79	* TheUnfettered: Zal shoots for this. As do many demons. [[spoiler: His music can apparently cause others to become this after a while]]
80	* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Fey, demons, [[spoiler:Lila]].
81	%%* WeCanRebuildHim: Lila Black
82	%%* TheWildHunt

Context Literature / QuantumGravity