Line #5 Literature/TheGodlessWorldTrilogy


1	[[quoteright:327:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Fall-of-Thanes-726502.jpg]]
2
3	''The Godless World'' is a fantasy trilogy written by Scottish author Brian Ruckley. It consists of: ''Winterbirth'', ''Bloodheir'' and ''Fall of Thanes''.
4
5	The titular world was abandoned by its gods long ago, after the Huanin (humans) and Kyrinin (elves, but [[OurElvesAreDIfferent notably different]]) rose up to destroy the Whreinin (wolf people).
6
7	The books start over 1000 years after the departure of the gods, following a war between the True Bloods and the Bloods of the Black Road, a group of religious extremists who believe one god remained, and the believers of this creed will be granted an afterlife, but only when everyone alive in the world is a true believer. Cue slaughter.
8
9	The books mainly follow Orisian nan Lannis-Haig, the son of the Lannis Thane's brother, although it commonly switches viewpoints to several others, including Orisian's sister Anyara, the Horin-Gyre Bloodheir Kanin, and Aeglyss, the HalfHumanHybrid who takes a spotlight in the second and third books.
10
11	----
12	!!This series provides examples of:
13	* ActionGirl: Ess'yr. Anyara evolves into this.
14	* ActionSurvivor: Orisian, at least for most of the first book. Anyara, as well.
15	%%* AllDeathsFinal
16	* AntiVillain: Theor, Goedellin and Nyve were thoroughly likable from the start, and [[spoiler:Kanin and Cannek]] become sympathetic in the second two books.
17	%%* AnyoneCanDie: And how!
18	* BackToBackBadasses: Kanin and Igris in the third book
19	%%* BadassArmy: The Battle Inkallim
20	* BigBad: [[spoiler:Aeglyss]], whose need for acceptance and psychological damage more or less destroy the world.
21	* BigBadDuumvirate: Kanin and Wain in ''Winterbirth''. He's the Horin-Gyre Bloodheir and has all the nominal authority; she's the stronger personality and has the actual authority.
22	* BigBadWannabe: [[spoiler:Kanin and Wain]], who start out the series as apparently formidable antagonists, but are eventually displaced by [[spoiler:Aeglyss]] and the Battle Inkallim.
23	* BittersweetEnding: The BigBad is defeated, but so many of the protagonists, including [[spoiler:Orisian himself]] die to bring it about. Also, the Haig lands are thrown into turmoil, and signs point to the Dornach Kingship invading soon.
24	* BodyguardCrush: It's subtle, but Coinach appears to be developing one on Anyara.
25	* BodyHorror: [[spoiler:Aeglyss]] rots alive as his power grows.
26	* BoisterousBruiser: Kylane shows some tendencies of this, including a love of "drink and dice". [[spoiler: He doesn't last long though.]]
27	* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler:Mordyn]]'s death, for what it did to [[spoiler:Tara]], who'd been suffering since his return. The series as a whole serves as one for the already miserable Orisian.
28	* ChurchMilitant: The Inkallim. Divided into the [[BadassArmy Battle]], the [[ProfessionalKiller Hunt]], and the [[ThePhilosopher Lore]].
29	* TheCorrupter: [[spoiler: Aeglyss]] becomes this, turning people into raw ChaoticEvil [[TheBerserker berserkers]] after his power up.
30	* TheCorruption: [[spoiler: Aeglyss]] releases this into The Shared, injecting it will all of his own pain, suffering, and rage. It's repeatedly described as "venom", "poison" and a "taint".
31	* CrapsackWorld: The people are monsters, the gods have left, rejection and sufferring are everywhwere, most of the populace is poor, and every named character is a psychological wreck.
32	* CurbStompBattle: Coinach killing [[spoiler:Kale]], to the surprise of everyone involved.
33	* DarkActionGirl: Wain, Shraeve, Eska (although she's quite sympathetic), and any female Inkallim.
34	* DarkMessiah: [[spoiler:Aeglyss]] in the second and third books. Many of the Inkallim are convinced he is their savior, and he does nothing to dissuade them of that notion.
35	* DeathSeeker: By ''Fall of Thanes'' [[spoiler:Aeglyss]] wants to die, but he's become too powerful to actually do it.
36	* DidNotGetTheGirl: [[spoiler:Orisian]]. Poor, poor [[spoiler:Orisian]]. In the first book, Wain rejects [[spoiler:Aeglyss]], but he has his way in a rather disturbing manner in later books.
37	* TheDragon: Igris to Kanin, Mordyn Jerain and Kale to Gryvan oc Haig, Fiallic to Nyve, Shraeve to [[spoiler:Aeglyss]].
38	* DualWielding: Shraeve again.
39	* DysfunctionJunction: No one in this series is particularly functional.
40	* EldritchAbomination: The Anain are inscrutable, formless beings who live within The Shared and use plant life to form bodies when they need them.
41	%%* EmotionlessGirl: Shraeve
42	* EmptyShell: Orisian's father, K'rina. [[spoiler:Orisian himself by the end.]]
43	* EnemyMine: ''Fall of Thanes'' sees Kanin and the local Lannis men performing one against the Battle Inkallim.
44	* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: [[spoiler:Aeglyss]] does, which is exploited by the Anain.
45	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Kanin cares about his sister Wain and vice-versa, and they both care about their ailing father. [[spoiler:Wain's death ends up triggering Kanin's HeelFaceTurn.]]
46	* EvilCripple: [[spoiler:Aeglyss]] is left crippled by the Breaking Stone and his magic. [[spoiler:Kanin]] loses his hands in ''Fall of Thanes'', though he's hardly evil by that point.
47	* FaithHeelTurn: Inverted. [[spoiler:Kanin]]'s shift from BigBad to AntiVillain comes when he loses his faith in The Black Road, and starts thinking for himself.
48	* FantasticRacism: Pretty much everybody expresses this towards the ''na'kyrim''.
49	* AFatherToHisMen: Taim Narran
50	* FinalBattle: Subverted; after all the epic battles in the trilogy, [[spoiler: Aeglyss]] is finally defeated by [[spoiler: the Anain using K'Rina as a cage for Aeglyss's soul]]. Kanin's fight against [[spoiler: Aeglyss's forces]] in the third book almost qualifies. That said, though it is small scale, [[spoiler: Taim]] (and temporarily [[spoiler: Varryn]]) fighting against [[spoiler: Shraeve]] near the end of the third book was pretty epic.
51	* FinalSolution: The backstory saw the Huanin and Kyrinin exterminate the Whreninin to the last wolf.
52	* ForWantOfANail: The story is essentially kicked off because the High Thane of the Bloods decided to 'depopulate' the northern Bloods of warriors (By using them as cannon fodder during a drawn out siege that could normally be ended through less violent means), as punishment for their refusal to be bootlicking sycophants ([[spoiler:and feared no reprecussions because the High Thane was secretly negotiating with the High Thane of the Black Road Bloods to ensure that there would never be another war between the two]]). The fact that there are nowhere near enough warriors left in the north present to hold back the Black Road (Which had been the sole purpose for the existence of these northern Bloods since the exile of the Black Road) is what emboldens the Black Road to attack.
53	* TheFundamentalist: Every damn member of the Inkallim, and many other members of the Black Road as well (particularly Wain).
54	* GreyAndGrayMorality: It's TheEmpire vs ChurchMilitant, with decent people on both sides caught in the middle. May evolve into BlackAndGreyMorality once the DarkMessiah starts running the ChurchMilitant.
55	* HalfBreedDiscrimination: The na'kyrim have it rough, of that there is no doubt.
56	* HalfHumanHybrid: The na'kyrim, half-Huanin, half-Kyrinin; ostracized by both races as outcasts, and feared for their access to the magic known as the Shared
57	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Orisian]] dies to stop Aeglyss. It isn't spectacular, it isn't impressive...he just lets go and finally fades out. [[TearJerker Sniff...]]
58	* ItsAllAboutMe: Aeglyss has a lot of trouble understanding how other people think, expecting to be praised for the things he does for them, yet is always shocked when punished or rejected after he does something negative. Best exemplified in his conversation with Kanin after [[spoiler:killing Wain]]; he cannot grasp at all why Kanin remains angry with him, or why Kanin's loss should matter more than his.
59	* LackOfEmpathy: Aeglyss tries, but he really cannot sympathise with others, which is what causes so many of his problems.
60	%%* TheLifestream: The Shared.
61	* MentorOccupationalHazard: [[spoiler:Inurian]].
62	%%* MilesGloriosus: Temegrin the Eagle
63	* MindRape: Done by Aeglyss to [[spoiler:Wain]], prior to [[spoiler:actual rape]].
64	* MoralityKitchenSink: Characters from both sides of the conflict fall all along the scale of morality, with Anyara at one end, and Aeglyss at the other.
65	%%* TheNeidermeyer: Aewult
66	* NietzscheWannabe: Aeglyss heads in this direction as the story goes along.
67	* OmnicidalManiac: [[spoiler:Aeglyss]] becomes this. See WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds below.
68	%%* OneManArmy: Kanin, Taim Narran, Shraeve
69	* OurElvesAreDifferent: The Kyrinin are somewhat similar in appearance to Tolkienesque elves, but during the events of the story, live tribal lives, and can be quite savage. Nevertheless, they are described as graceful, and beautiful, though the tattoos they wear and their primitive dress can take away from that.
70	* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: The Wherinin in the backstory certainly sound like werewolves.
71	* PraetorianGuard: A Thane's Shield serve in this role.
72	%%* ProfessionalKiller: The Hunt Inkallim.
73	* ReligiousBruiser: Any member of The Black Road who isn't an [[ChurchMilitant Inkallim]] is probably this.
74	* RousingSpeech: Kanin gives one at Glasbridge in order to get the Lannis men in the area onto his side, declaring "I am not your worst enemy and you are not mine."
75	* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler:Aeglyss]] wasn't all that stable to start with, and he only gets worse as the series progresses. By the end he's essentially having a schizophrenic break with reality, and cannot even tell what memories happened to him.
76	* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Croesan]] (and everyone else in [[spoiler: Anduran]]) in the first book. Many more examples in the second and third books, with [[spoiler:Ammen Sharp]] standing out.
77	* SiblingTeam: Kanin and Wain. Orisian and Anyara start out as one, but go their separate ways as the series progresses.
78	%%* SmallNameBigEgo: Aewult, Temegrin
79	* SmugSnake: For an EmotionlessGirl and DarkActionGirl, Shraeve really pushes it. She's arrogant, condescending, and convinced that her faith is so much purer than that of the other Inkallim. A most unlikeable bitch.
80	* SociopathicSoldier: During the Haig army's stay in Kolkyre, the soldiers treat the citizenry poorly enough that a mob forms to kill two of them. [[spoiler:Aeglyss's]] influence starts turning ''everyone'' into this, freeing the worst of their impulses, and polluting them with his pain and their own.
81	%%* TheSpymaster: Torquentine
82	%%* TheStoic: Fiallic, Shraeve... well, all the Battle Inkallim, really.
83	* TookALevelInBadass: Orisian, Anyara, [[spoiler:Aeglyss]]. Kanin was already a badass, but discovers just how fierce he can become after [[spoiler:Wain's]] death.
84	%%* VeryPunchableMan: Kale, Temegrin, Aewult
85	* VillainProtagonist: Kanin's a viewpoint character from the first book.
86	* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Dear god, [[spoiler: Aeglyss]]. He's so damaged that his very presence is contaminating the planet, and poisoning the Shared. By the end, he's ready to die, and tries to take the world that's rejected him along for the ride. It's not even deliberate: he just doesn't ''care'' enough about the world to try and stop the destruction he's begun.
87	* WouldHurtAChild: Wain kills an infant during the attack on Anduran.
88	* YouShallNotPass: In the BackStory. The original Inkallim did this, using a force of 100 to delay the pursuing Kilkry army. Hence their being referred to as "The Children of the Hundred".

Context Literature / TheGodlessWorldTrilogy