Line #17 Literature/TheBoyAndTheDarkness


1	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/malchik_i_tma_1743.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:200:Cover of one of the editions]]
3	''The Boy and the Darkness'' (''Мальчик и тьма'', Mal'chik i t'ma) is a fantasy novel written by the popular Russian science fiction author Creator/SergeyLukyanenko. The book is about a young boy named Danny who encounters a strange creature calling itself the Sunny Kitten. The Kitten opens a doorway to another world, a world covered in [[TheNightThatNeverEnds eternal darkness]] because its people sold their light to merchants from yet another world for amenities of modern civilization (they appear to have been stuck in MedievalStasis). The humans are in an undeclared war with creatures of the Darkness known as the Flyings, many of whom are former humans who have made a DealWithTheDevil to be able to fly in return for their souls. The only ones who can fight them are teenagers known as Wingers who are wearing symbiotic wings that allow them to take to the skies and fly on air currents. Adults are too heavy to be lifted by the wings. There is an understanding of sorts between the Flyings and the Wingers: the Wingers do not conduct massed attacks on the Dark towers, and the Flyings do not raze human cities with a [[KillItWithFire napalm-like]] substance. It is up to Danny to change the status quo in this world, but he will have to pay the price of growing up to do that.
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5	The book was originally written in 1993-94, but the publisher [[ScrewedByTheNetwork refused to publish it]]. Lukyanenko could not do anything but wait for his four-year contract to expire before taking the book to another publisher in 1997, allowing his fans to finally read it. The novel is currently undergoing AnimatedAdaptation with Lukyanenko's likeness used for one of the characters.
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7	One of Lukyanenko's gimmicks is putting references to other novels in his book. Some subtle, others not so much. The protagonist of ''The Boy and the Darkness'' is a significant character in ''The Planet that Doesn't Exist'', the second novels in Lukyanenko's ''Literature/{{A Lord from Planet Earth}}'' trilogy who loses his memory of the events due to brain damage. Additionally, an armorer offers Danny one of the {{Absurdly Sharp Blade}}s prominent in the trilogy. Danny and his partner Lan are also briefly mentioned in ''Literature/WrongTimeForDragons''. In ''Literature/AutumnVisits'', one of the characters is a science-fiction writer who appears to be Lukyanenko's AuthorAvatar, his works including ''Sunny Kitten'' and ''[[Literature/LineOfDelirium Shadows of Dreams]]''.
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10	!! The novel contains examples of the following tropes:
11	* BeneathTheMask: Danny is able to look inside people and becomes a LivingLieDetector after his eyesight is restored with the True Light.
12	* BlindSeer: After Danny's eyes are cut out, the Sunny Kitten returns his eyes with the True Light, allowing Danny to see things in much more detail, as well as giving him limited XRayVision and allows him to see [[BeneathTheMask inside people]].
13	* DealWithTheDevil: The Flyings are adults or kids who are close to adulthood who agree to be transformed into creatures of the Darkness in order to be able to fly. These adults are usually former Wingers, who hate being confined to the ground.
14	* EyeScream: When Danny lets a Flying go, he faces the punishment of execution. In vindication he says that his vision becomes poor at times. However, he should have probably actually read the Codex, which says that, if your arm doesn't let you hunt properly, it is chopped off, and so on. You can probably see where this is going.
15	* EvilOverlord: The Wingers believe the Flyings are being controlled by a creature they simply call the Dark Lord. [[spoiler:Surverted, as there is no Dark Lord. The Flyings choose a leader based on need and ability]].
16	* TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf: [[spoiler:Danny realizes that he is his own True Enemy after looking through a mirror and seeing himself as an adult. He vanquishes his adult self with the True Sword]].
17	* TheMovie: Averted. There was an attempt to make an animated film, but, after being stuck in DevelopmentHell for 2 years, Lukyanenko announced on his blog that "the patient is more dead than alive".
18	* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: Danny
19	* TheSymbiote: The Wingers actually feel their wings as parts of themselves.
20	* ScrewedByTheNetwork: The publisher refused to print this book, forcing the author to wait four years until his contract with them expired.
21	* SelflessWish: Danny chooses to save Lan instead of returning home, so he uses up his one wish.
22	* TrappedInAnotherWorld: A trip to the world of Darkness results in this after the doorway is destroyed.
23	* WeakenedByTheLight: Light kills Flyings and destroys their towers.
24	* XRayVision: After his eyesight is restored with the True Light, Danny becomes able to see through low-density objects (e.g. wood but not stone).
25	* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Shortly after Danny arrives to the other world, the doorway to our world is destroyed. Fortunately, according to the Kitten, there are always three doorways between worlds. [[spoiler:The other two get destroyed as well, forcing them to try to find another door to our Earth on yet another world]].

Context Literature / TheBoyAndTheDarkness