Line #19 Literature/Sharps


1	A novel by Creator/KJParker and a possible sequel of sorts to ''Literature/TheFoldingKnife''.
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3	Following a long war, the nations of Scheria and Permia have reached an uneasy truce and are trying to reach a treaty over the supposedly mineral-rich Demilitarized Zone which separates them, and was the subject of much fighting. As a gesture of good will, Scheria assembles a fencing team to tour Permia and secure the peace. However, the team [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits seem like the last people one would choose for a diplomatic mission]], and it quickly becomes apparent that the intentions of one or both nations may not be what they seem.
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5	The first indication of which (and [[TitleDrop source of the title]]) is that while the fencers expect to use blunted swords, as is the norm in fencing matches (and are initially mislead that this will be the case), they soon learn that Permian's fence with "sharps" (unblunted blades) with a preference for the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messer_%28weapon%29 Messer]], a weapon which necessitates a completely different fighting style.
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7	The team is composed of:
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9	* Suidas Deutzel, a fencing champion with a cash flow problem as well as [[TheAlcoholic a drinking problem]] who served in the war with Permia with distinction, and is depending on how you look at it, a war hero or war criminal, and has been [[ShellshockedVeteran badly affected by his experiences]].
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11	* Iseutz Bringas, [[TheSmurfettePrinciple the only female member of the team]], who is from a middle management family in the banking industry. She joined [[RebelliousPrincess to escape from an arranged marriage]], and is unlikely to receive future proposals, given her age, appearance, and the family's relatively low status. [[{{Tsundere}} Has an... interesting personality]].
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13	* Giraut Byrennius, a perpetual student from an upper-class family who is an excellent fencer. He spent most of his time [[TheCasanova seducing]] [[GranolaGirl female university students]], but after being caught ''in flagrante'' by the father of one of his conquests and killing the man in self-defense, he faces trumped up charges of rape and murder, and [[BoxedCrook was made to choose between joining the team or facing the noose]].
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15	* Addo (Adulescentulos) Carnufex, the youngest son of General Carnufex, "[[TheButcher Irrigator]]", who ended the war by [[EarnYourTitle flooding]] Permia's largest City (and killing the 70,000 or more people in it in the process). Ado is a pacifist [[WellDoneSonGuy with an uneasy relationship with his father]], and is [[TheAce good looking, highly intelligent, a chess master, with a kind and instantly likable personality]].
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17	* Phrantzes, a wool merchant and former fencing champion of Scheria as well as a former staff officer under General Carnufex and newly married husband of a significantly younger former prostitute. He is "enlisted" to coach the team after he's set up to be caught with a technically illegal pornographic work and [[IHaveYourWife his wife is taken into custody pending completion of the team's tour]].
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19	Supervising the team is Tzimisces, an [[TheNondescript anonymous looking chap]] with a gift for [[StealthHiBye always disappearing at the wrong moment]]. He purports to be a humble bureaucrat, but is quickly identified as ThePoliticalOfficer.
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21	!!The novel contains examples of:
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23	* BarbarianTribe: The trope is given a StereotypeFlip via the Imperials/Blueskins and the Aram Chantat. The Blueskins are [[ScaryBlackMan dark-skinned and fearsome]]... but they are dark-skinned because that is the skin tone of the upper echelon of TheEmpire, and are extremely cultured and sophisticated. Conversely, the Aram Chantat are blond, blue eyed and even angelic looking, and [[TheHorde might as well be Orcs]].
24	* BlackFace: As a flip on the implications of this in the real world, it is indicated that in plays within this setting, actors put on blackface when they are cast as aristocratic characters in order to imitate the dark skin tone of people from TheEmpire from which Scheria and Permia both derive.
25	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The Blueskins and Aram Chantat both operate on it in their attitude toward the enemy (of the two, the Scherians prefer the former, because they know where they stand with them):
26	** Blueskins believe themselves superior, and [[JustFollowingOrders will follow order to the letter]] to RapePillageAndBurn and don't mind killing inferiors. However, when not ordered to do so, their superiority complex inclines them to be generous to the enemy, and they have a reputation for nursing Scherian soldiers back to health with top of the line care.
27	** The Aram Chantat will RapePillageAndBurn [[OnlyInItForTheMoney when paid to]], but don't really like following orders, so will sometimes on a whim simply rob a town of all of its wealth without doing much killing.
28	* TheButcher: General Carnufex's title "The Irrigator" is a take-off on this, since his "irrigation" took the form of wiping out the entire population of a large city. As an added GeniusBonus, the name Carnufex appears to derive from the Latin "carnifex", which literally means "butcher" and also carries the same figurative meanings that the word has in English.
29	* CadreOfForeignBodyguards: Instead of fighting themselves, Permians fought the war with mercenaries (still keeping peace internally and waiting for payment) of two types: Imperial troops from TheEmpire (referred to as "Blueskins" by the Scherians) and the Aram Chantat, members of a BarbarianTribe.
30	* ContinuityNod: Possibly. Parker tends to reuse country names in a lot of his fiction, so its unclear whether he has a 'verse. However, Bringas and Timizces are the names of clerks working for the protagonist of ''Literature/TheFoldingKnife'' and Scheria is mentioned in that novel, so this one is possibly a sequel set centuries afterward.
31	* CrystalDragonJesus: As in other Parker works, characters worship The Invincible Sun, and there are monasteries, bishops, icons containing religious art, etc.
32	* DemocracyIsBad: Iseutz borrows a book on political theory from Tzimisces that appears to define various forms of government. A section on Democracy quoted for the reader defines Democracy to the effect that it is a more viable system of Oligarchy in which the people get to select among various oligarchs.
33	* TheHorde: The Aram Chantat, which explains why ''everyone'' hates them. Subverted with the Blueskins who are [[HordesFromTheEast dark-skinned warriors from the East]]- but the East is the Eastern Empire, whose sophisticated culture they preserve.
34	* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Like most of Parker's work, the setting is evocative of UsefulNotes/TheByzantineEmpire, with Scheria having a somewhat Greek feel (reflected in the character names) and Permia coming across as vaguely Slavic.
35	* FelonyMisdemeanor: Phrantzes is coerced into coaching based upon one of these. He's caught with a sex manual which is technically banned but widely read and his immediate reaction when the police show up out of nowhere is to deny owning it. This makes him liable for the crime of lying to the police which carries a massive fine and prison time.
36	* NicknamingTheEnemy: Imperials are refereed to be Scherians "Blueskins" (an actual archaic slaying term for dark-skinned people). At one point in the novel, one Imperial asks the Scherians why they call them that when they have brown skin, and Ado explains (truthfully?) that it is because unripe blueberries are brown on the inside.
37	* ThePoliticalOfficer: Tzimisces is explicitly called this and closely fits the stereotype in terms of being present to keep the group in line, and issuing orders that do not seem to be for the good of the team. Also fairly typically is that with he presents himself as a civilian, a SherlockScan by Suidas and Iseutz deduces that he was a highly ranked soldier during the war.
38	* SmartPeoplePlayChess: Both played straight and [[PlayingWithATrope played with]]:
39	** All of the team members are quite intelligent and like to play chess, with varrying degrees of skill. Addo, being TheAce, is naturally a master.
40	** Addo indicates that his father (despite being TheChessmaster) is not good at chess, but when he does play, is skilled at deducing the character of his opponents from their strategy at the game.
41	** Tzimisces comments that he doesn't like chess, because he always knows from the first move how his opponent will play and inevitably lose- illustrating both Tzimisces' cunning and his [[SmugSnake smugness]].

Context Literature / Sharps