Line #53 Literature/Samaria


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4	The ''Samaria'' series (also known as the ''Archangel'' series) by Creator/SharonShinn is set in the world of Samaria, a culture that has forgotten the mechnical marvels that run their society and believe them to miracles. Unusually, the skeptics are the bad guys, and the theocrats the good guys; hey, just because you're confused about a starship doesn't make you ''bad''.
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6	In internal chronological order, the books are:
7	* ''Angelica'' (2003)
8	* ''Archangel'' (1997, first published)
9	* ''Angel-Seeker'' (2004)
10	* ''Jovah's Angel'' (1998)
11	* ''The Alleluia Files'' (1999)
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13	While each book is readable as a stand-alone novel, the later novels contain many references to characters from earlier books. The chronological first book was the last to be released and each of the novels following it have at least a throw-away reference to it. Each novel centers on themes of love and harmony in the face of dissonance violence.
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16	!!Tropes included
17	* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: The main male protagonist of every book does this. He is always willing to give up the world for the girl and often has to in order for his love interest to admit the reciprocity.
18	* AbortedDeclarationOfLove: Usually several per book. They seem to go back and forth though equally between the [[OfficialCouple Official Couples]].
19	* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Also [[OnceAnEpisode once a book]].
20	* ArrangedMarriage: The political and spiritual leader of Samaria is the Archangel, whose bride or groom is chosen by the God. Jovah doesn't usually take advice on such things. In the case of Gabriel and Rachel, it was an outright forced marriage; Rachel was flatly unwilling to go along, but being a slave, she could be given to Gabriel despite her non-consent, and later she agreed to become his wife and angelica in truth (after putting him through hell first).
21	* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: A [[OnceAnEpisode Once A Book]] event where the OfficialCouple finally decide to get over whatever was keeping them apart.
22	* BetaCouple: Delilah and Noah play this to Alleya and Caleb in ''Jovah's Angel''. Nathan and Magdalena serve the same purpose in ''Archangel'', which is focused on the tumultuous beginnings of Gabriel and Rachel's relationship. Likewise, Reuben and Lucinda in ''The Alleluia Files'' have a much easier time admitting their feelings than Jared and Tamara.
23	* BoltOfDivineRetribution: If the population doesn't come together once a year to sing the Gloria, Jovah gets mad and will first destroy a mountain to get their attention, then a major city, and finally the world. Also, anyone who knows the proper prayers can call down thunderbolts. The prayers get used maybe a half dozen times (that we see) in almost a thousand years.
24	** Raphael doesn't believe this since [[spoiler: he's been using a fake angelica for 20 years]] and nothing happened. The reason why is made clearer in ''The Alleluia Files:'' [[spoiler:Jovah isn't tracking the identities of the archangel and angelica per se, it's looking for the number of "registered users" singing at the Gloria each year.]]
25	* BookWorm: Alleya is very scholarly and believes her only genuine talent is research and being able to remember information no one else cares about. As such her selection as the next Archangel is met with consternation [[spoiler: although her bookish nature is ''very'' helpful in solving Samaria's weather problems and discovering what Jovah really is.]]
26	* BureaucraticallyArrangedMarriage: [[spoiler: Jovah doesn't actually care that the partners he chooses love each other. For the Archangel's spouse, it looks for a complementary personality that will make him a better ruler; for anyone else, its concern is eugenic compatibility. The fact that every one of these ends up as a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage is because these are romance novels.]]
27	* CanNotSpitItOut: Rachel to Gabriel so very much. She's the worst offender of the entire series; though the other female protagonist get their chances, she takes the cake.
28	* CelibateHero: Inverted. Angels in this series have a difficult time breeding. There are never more than two or three hundred living angels at any given time throughout the series. This leads to very lax standards for the angels, who are not only allowed to sleep around but are encouraged to.
29	* CrystalDragonJesus: Really, what do you expect when almost every major city, political region, and character is named from the Bible?
30	%%* CouncilOfAngels: With the Archangel at its head.
31	* DefenestrateAndBerate: Again Rachel is a prime offender of this, though Tamar gives her a good run for her money.
32	* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Rachel has a fear of heights induced by dreams she had after an old woman predicted she would one day die by falling. Susannah has a second kiss implanted into her skull which allows her dreams to be touched by Jovah who prepares her to help her fight of invaders just before she becomes the Angelica.
33	* TheDulcineaEffect: To be expected in a series where True Loves can identify each other by pieces of crystal embedded in their arms that light up when they get close to each other (the first time) or spark when one of the pair is in danger, or is feeling something particularly strongly.
34	* EatingTheEyeCandy: The female protagonist of every book gets at least a small section where she acknowledges how handsome her new or soon to be husband is.
35	* EthicalSlut: Obadiah in specific, though angel society in general seems to prize this.
36	* EveryoneCanSeeIt: The main couples fall under this in every book save Jovah's Angel and Angel Seeker. At least in those two the main couples realize it first before anyone else.
37	* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The Edori for post-Diaspora Jews, with a side helping of Roma/Gypsy. Manadavvi tend to look like secular Arabs, with Jansai as their tribally-oriented cousins.
38	* FirstChurchOfMecha
39	* FlatEarthAtheist: The Jacobites in the Alleluia files seem like this to pretty much anyone who doesn't buy into their beliefs. Even Jacobites tend to see themselves as [[NayTheist Nay Theists]], since though they acknowledge the existence of Jovah, they don't recognize him as a deity.
40	* GoldDigger: The Angel-Seekers. Anyone who succeeds in birthing or fathering an Angel child is guaranteed a life of luxury in the Angel parent's Eyrie, so there are literally hundreds of people who seek out Angel lovers in the hope of accomplishing this. Since Angels don't always breed true with humans, this results in a lot of unwanted human children as well, who frequently end up abandoned by their human parents.
41	* GoodIsNotNice: The Archangel Gabriel is more honorable and compassionate than almost any other character in the series, with [[BlackAndWhiteMorality a firm understanding of right and wrong]], but he's not very friendly and tends not to take anyone else's opinion into account when making his decisions. He expects his commands to be obeyed and doesn't react well when they aren't. This is why he gets Rachel as his angelica, because she doesn't care about his station or respect his authority, forcing him to learn a little humility and tact. On the positive side, these traits are part of why he's chosen as Archangel to replace Raphael. He absolutely will not put up with the Jansai's enslavement of the Edori, and in ''Angel-Seeker'', he's willing to kick some ass to protect the Jansai women from their men.
42	* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: In ''Jovah's Angel'' Alleya and Caleb become the first people ever to discover [[spoiler: that the "god" Jovah is actually a spaceship controlling the weather patterns and Samaria is a colony founded by human's far more technologically advanced ancestors from a far off-planet. After teleporting on board and fixing the ship to save Samaria from flooding, they decide not to reveal the knowledge because it would cause chaos. Save for few cryptic files and confiding in the next oracle, they take their achievements with them to the grave and even leave the main angel hold, letting Delilah retake Alleya's Archangel position. Subsequent books reveal that Alleya's term was remembered as a brief blip in Delilah's reign and by the time their discovery is revealed they're long dead.]]
43	* HappilyMarried: This is apparently the fate of every Archangel and Angelica/Angelico pairing. Also happens if you meet someone and the Kiss in their and your arms light up when you meet (guess what happens to every main couple eventually).
44	* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Rachel and Gabriel, Susannah and Gaaron. While the girls are supposed to be similar in height to them, the descriptions of the men often give this impression.
45	* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Rachel and Gabriel almost from the moment they meet. It is commented that their tempers make them an excellent match.
46	* LoveRuinsTheRealm: Inverted, it is heavily believed by the populace of Samaria that if the Archangel doesn't marry the man or woman the god decrees that he will not accept the Gloria (the annual concert celebrating peace and preventing Jovah from destroying the world). [[spoiler: Actually, no. Jovah isn't going to force anyone to marry. It's just trying to be helpful.]]
47	* MadeASlave: Rachel's backstory. Same as Rufus.
48	* MagicFromTechnology
49	* MarriageBeforeRomance: Most of the relationships in the series ''start'' with Jovah selecting the partners. The story is then about how the pair develop feelings for one another after they're chosen.
50	* TheMasochismTango: Rachel and Gabriel all the time, when not pulling an AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther.
51	* MySecretPregnancy: Rebekah, until she was forced to try on her wedding dress.
52	* NiceGirl: Nathan and Magdalena, Gabriel's best friends who he acknowledges are far more easy-going and amicable than he is in ''Archangel,'' Alleya, Caleb and Noah in ''Jovahs Angel'', BetaCouple Lucinda and Reuben in ''The Alleluia Files'' and Rufus and Obidiah in ''Angel Seeker''
53	* OfficialCouple: The male and female protagonist of any of the books.
54	* OneWorldOrder: Though there are minor cultural variations, the entirety of Samaria is run by one government (for certain values of "government"). This ends when [[spoiler: the Edori migrate to Ysral]].
55	* PairTheSmartOnes: Scholarly, introverted Alleya and geeky, engineer Caleb in ''Jovah's Angel.''
56	* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: If the Kiss lights up, you're with your destined love, arranged for you by Jovah. Jovah hasn't made any mistakes on this score that we've seen.
57	* PluckyGirl: Rachel was chosen as Gabriel's wife because she was his equal in willpower and stubbornness, as well as compassion. She was willing to [[spoiler: kill herself to free Gabriel to sing at the Gloria and save the world]], and later, [[spoiler: to threaten Gabriel into either killing her or letting her go, as part of their ongoing BelligerentSexualTension]].
58	* RagsToRiches: A few of the female protagonists:
59	** ''Archangel'': Rachel goes from a slave to [[spoiler: the Angelica.]]
60	** ''Angel Seeker'': Rebekah goes from a prisoner in all but name to her oppressive Jansai family and future husband to [[spoiler: the wife of one of the most prominent angel leaders in Samaria.]]
61	* RunawayFiance: Rachel pulls this all through ''Archangel'', as does Susannah in ''Angelica'', though to a much lesser degree. To continue the tradition, so does Tamar in ''The Alleluia Files''.
62	* SecondActBreakup: Attempted once a book. Inevitably the female lead leaving the male who has to chase her down.
63	* SecondLove:
64	** ''Archangel'': Gabriel to Rachel, after she lost her Edori partner Simon when they were sold into slavery and [[spoiler: it's later revealed he died.]]
65	** ''Jovah's Angel'': Noah to Delilah after husband Levi's death. An unusual example in that Noah is clearly a much better match for her than Levi was.
66	* SkeletonGovernment: The leader of Samaria is the Archangel. Then there are the oracles who have a direct line to god. Other than this, the bureaucracy of Samaria is pretty sketchy.
67	* SlapSlapKiss: Rachel and Gabriel.
68	* SongsInTheKeyOfLock: Practically ''all'' Samarian technology runs on this, from music boxes with hidden compartments to [[spoiler:the god Jovah itself]]. The hints are laid in the early books, and described in detail in ''The Alleluia Files.''
69	* TheUsualAdversaries: While not AlwaysChaoticEvil, the Jansai are misogynistic assholes who are nearly always either causing problems or neck-deep in them.
70	* TrilogyCreep: It's supposedly ''The Archangel Trilogy'', but Shinn has also come out with two side stories (''Angelica'' and ''Angel-Seeker'').
71	* {{Tsundere}}: All the primary female characters, with the exceptions of Rebekah, Lucinda and Alleluia.
72	* TwiceShy: Caleb and Alleluia initially, though this doesn't stop them from hooking up for a bit before finding out that they are ordained to be together by the god himself.
73	* TwoPartTrilogy: Of sorts. ''Archangel'' stands on its own and ''Jovah's Angel'' is set a ways in the future after that. However, the entire plot of ''The Alleluia Files'' is about the world's response to the revelations in ''Jovah's Angel''.
74	* VillainHasAPoint: Okay, Raphael is a StrawNihilist and FlatEarthAtheist who doesn't believe in Samaria's religious teachings and tries to overthrow them both by testing Jovah through varying the religious proceedings, and later by [[spoiler: a military coup]]. He's RightForTheWrongReasons, because Jovah isn't actually a god, but that doesn't make him any less of a jackass, [[spoiler: and it doesn't save his life when Jovah hits him and his followers with a BoltOfDivineRetribution]].
75	* WillTheyOrWontThey: Well, the Archangel/Angelica (or Angelico) couples are married by ArrangedMarriage, but the question is always whether they'll come to love each other as well. [[spoiler: These are romance novels, of course they do.]]

Context Literature / Samaria