Line #9 Literature/ThirteenthChild


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/13th_child.jpg]]
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5	Book one of the ''Literature/FrontierMagic'' series by Creator/PatriciaCWrede. It's set in an AlternateUniverse where magic is a normal part of life for the settlers on the Columbian (their version of America) frontier.
6
7	Eff Rothmer was born a thirteenth child. Her twin brother, Lan, is the [[MagicalSeventhSon seventh son of a seventh son]]. This means he's [[TheChosenOne supposed to possess amazing talent]] -- and she's supposed to bring only bad things to her family and her town. Undeterred, her family moves to the frontier, where her father will be a professor of magic at a school perilously close to the magical divide that separates settlers from the beasts of the wild.
8	----
9	!! This book provides examples of:
10	* TheAce: Invoked in-universe by people who assume Lan is one, thanks to his birth order.
11	* AdultsAreUseless: Averted. The adults are the people Eff, Lan, and William go to with concerns -- for good reason.
12	* AgeCut: Happens a few times, with Eff going through a few years in just a paragraph and then resuming the narrative.
13	* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Eff's aunts, uncles and cousins treat Eff like this as she's [[ThirteenIsUnlucky the thirteenth child]].
14	* AlternateHistory: The nineteenth-century American frontier, with magic, dragons and woolly mammoths.
15	* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Thirteenth children, according to Eff's aunts and uncles.
16	* ApologizesALot: Eff, as a result of the bullying she received as a kid, tends to assume everything is her fault.
17	* ArbitrarySkepticism: Professor Rothmer thinks Eff's aborted attempt to blow up her uncle was a fluke, even though he's presumably seen stranger things from his students.
18	* AsYouKnow: Eff starts the book by mentioning how everyone knows seventh sons are special.
19	* AudienceMurmurs: How the Rationalists in Oak River showed their approval of Eff being willing to go out without protection spells.
20	* BadassLongcoat: Seemingly a requirement for living west of the Great Barrier Spell.
21	* BecauseDestinySaysSo: Eff spent years being sure that she was going to go bad one day.
22	* BerserkButton: Don't pick on Eff when Lan is around. Or any of her other siblings, for that matter.
23	* BoardingSchool: Lan and William go off to one in the East.
24	* BornLucky: Professor Rothmer and Lan are both considered to be this, being a seventh son and a double-seventh son, respectively.
25	* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Rennie is this for a long time.
26	* BreakTheCutie: Eff's extended family ''tries'' to do this to her the first five years of Eff's life. [[GoodParents It's part of what convinces the Rothmer parents]] [[QuestToTheWest to move west.]]
27	* BullyingTheDragon: Eff's aunts, uncles and cousins spend the first five years of Eff's life bullying her, ''even while'' they believe she's a TykeBomb who should have been [[OffingTheOffspring killed at birth]] and is doomed to become a BigBad in the future.
28	* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Poor Eff can't even get away with things she didn't do!
29	* ChildProdigy: Lan is treated as one, being a double-seventh child, to the extent that his grandfather hires him a special tutor.
30	* ChildrenAreInnocent: Examined. Eff is treated as a monster by her extended family for the first five years of her life, despite never doing anything to deserve it. Years later, when she catches herself wondering whether her sister's possible death would change her status as an [[ThirteenIsUnlucky unlucky thirteenth]], her first reaction is to believe that her aunts and uncles were right about her all along.
31	* CloseKnitCommunity: Mill City, as they are assured as soon as they arrive.
32	* ContainmentField: The Great Barrier Spell is this, writ large.
33	* CoolTeacher: Miss Ochiba the magic teacher. She offers lessons in non-Avrupan-style magic, treats Eff no differently upon finding out she is a thirteenth child, and can [[spoiler: stop a young mammoth in its tracks]]. Eff breaks down crying when Miss Ochiba is fired.
34	* CubCuesProtectiveParent: In-universe, Wash cites it as his rule of thumb when in the settlement territory.
35	* DeterminedHomesteader: As the story is about [[UsefulNotes/ManifestDestiny Westward Expansion]], it should come as no surprise that several of these show up, including Brant and the rest of the Rationalists.
36	* DidntThinkThisThrough:
37	** If you are an adult bullying a child who has loving parents and siblings, they will show no sympathy when the child hits a RageBreakingPoint, especially when it's supposed to be a happy occasion.
38	** Rennie admits this to Eff [[spoiler:in a private moment after Eff calls her out for disrupting Diane's big wedding day and leaving Eff to take the usual scapegoating. She didn't mean to run away with Brant; it was that the idea of Rationalism was romantic and full of freedom. Rennie also knew that her parents wouldn't be pleased that she got pregnant out of wedlock and didn't consider that the scandal would overwhelm the happiness about Diane's wedding. It's also lonely on the frontier]].
39	* DontSplitUsUp: An unusual example, as it was only for the month or so that the family stayed in their old hometown, but Lan insists that he and Eff stay together so he can protect her.
40	* DoomMagnet: Eff thinks she's this, among other things, thanks to her extended family's abuse. Her family tells her that it's nonsense.
41	* {{Elopement}}: [[spoiler:Rennie and Brant elope after Rennie gets pregnant out of wedlock.]]
42	* EnergyAbsorption: [[spoiler:The mirror beetles.]] The first two parts of their lifestyle seems perfectly normal. However, the adults are [[spoiler: drawn to sources of magic, where they use it to trigger their last transformation into the mirrored beetle.]]
43	* EnfantTerrible: Another thing the extended Rothmer family suspects Eff of having been.
44	* EthnicMagician: Miss Ochiba and Wash, who use Aphrikan (a.k.a. African) conjure magic rather than the Avrupan (a.k.a. European) magic of almost everyone else.
45	* EvilUncle: Earn, Eff's uncle who tried to [[WouldHurtAChild convince Eff's parents to murder Eff as a baby]] due to her being the thirteenth child. Earn then spends the next five years abusing Eff and encouraging his children to bully her. It's capped off with Earn trying to have Eff arrested at the age of ''five''. Luckily, the Rothmers move West, [[spoiler: at least until the wedding]]. When Eff finally hits her RageBreakingPoint, [[spoiler:her family has NoSympathy for Uncle Earn, telling him he deserved it for bullying a child]].
46	* {{Expospeak}}: The professors do this occasionally. William and Lan get in on it too, after they go East for school.
47	* FamilyDisunion: Diane's wedding goes well... at first. Then Earn gets drunk and decides to [[BullyingADragon take it out on Eff]].
48	* FantasticTimeManagement: Quick-drying spells, speed-travel spells, and more.
49	* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Played with. As the setting is an alternate-universe Earth, the lands and cultures are pretty much the same, but they all have different names. Columbia is America, Aphrika is Africa, Avrupa is Europe, Ashia is Asia and Cathay is China, among others.
50	* FlatEarthAtheist: The Rationalists, to some extent, though instead of not believing in something that's there, they decide to go without it (meaning going about their lives on the frontier without the use of magic to protect them).
51	* FriendlyRivalry: Lan and William have one going when they come back from boarding school.
52	* FreudianTrio: Eff, Lan, and William are ego, id and superego, respectively.
53	* GentlemanAdventurer: Wash is an interesting variant of this, as is Dr. [=McNeil=].
54	* GoodParents: Daniel and Sara Rothmer, who refuse to treat Eff poorly despite her being a thirteenth child. When Earn keeps trying, they tell him to shut up.
55	* GuiltComplex: Eff, as she was told repeatedly during the first years of her life that she was inherently awful due to her birth order.
56	* HarmfulToMinors: The extended Rothmer family, ranging from bullying to abuse to telling Eff's parents [[spoiler: they should have killed Eff as a baby]].
57	* HannibalLecture: Uncle Earn tries to give one to Eff. It doesn't end well.
58	* HeadInTheSandManagement: The Settlement Office, particularly under Mr. Harrison.
59	* HeldBackInSchool: Eff after having rheumatic fever.
60	* HeroicSafeMode: Caused by Professor Rothmer with a magic-dampening spell after Eff's argument with Earn.
61	* HigherEducationIsForWomen: According to settlers, at least.
62	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Ben Franklin was a double-seventh son in this world. He and Thomas Jefferson, also a double-seven (something neither was in our world -- they were a tenth and an only son, respectively), created the Great Barrier Spell to keep the United States of Columbia safe from Western wildlife.
63	* IJustWantToBeNormal: Eff, who wishes she was anything but a thirteenth child, and even thinks about joining a Rationalist group where she can't use her magic.
64	* IneptMage: Eff, after the incident with Uncle Earn. While she knows the theory behind different spells and can do the setup, when she tries to actually cast them, things tend to [[FantasticFireworks go wrong]].
65	* IntergenerationalFriendship: Eff with Wash and Professor Jeffries.
66	* IstanbulNotConstantinople: Columbia is America, Gaul is France, Cathay is China, and so on.
67	* JustThinkOfThePotential: Brant, about a successful Rationalist settlement opening the rest of the West to settlement.
68	* KidsAreCruel: Eff's cousins tormented her when they were children.
69	* LastFertileRegion: Oak River, due to its [[spoiler: lack of magic.]]
70	* MagicalSeventhSon: Lan. It isn't until the third book that people realize that Eff, as the seventh ''daughter'' of a seventh son, also applies.
71	* MagicVersusScience: Averted. Magic is treated as a science.
72	* MamaBear: Mrs. Rothmer, who refuses to let Earn insult Eff, and makes sure to tell him off for [[spoiler: calling on the police to arrest a ''5-year-old''.]]
73	* MassivelyNumberedSiblings: Eff has seven brothers and six sisters. Her father has six brothers and several sisters.
74	* MissingMom: William's mother is an invalid, never shows up in the story, and is implied to have no role in rearing her son.
75	* MugglesDoItBetter: Rationalist engineers. Also Brant on the [=McNeil=] Expedition.
76	* MySecretPregnancy: Eff realizes later [[spoiler: that this is why Rennie and Brant eloped]].
77	* NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup: Played with. Jefferson and Franklin did leave behind their notes for the Great Barrier Spell, but since Franklin was self-taught and Jefferson tended to assume that everyone was as well-read as he was, nobody can make any sense out of them.
78	* NumerologicalMotif: Seven and thirteen.
79	* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Mr. Harrison, to the point where Washington [[spoiler: got enough complaints to fire him]] at the end of the series.
80	* OurDragonsAreDifferent: They produce steam, for one thing.
81	* OvershadowedByAwesome: Eff, who's the twin of a MagicalSeventhSon.
82	* ParentsKnowTheirChildren: Daniel and Sara Rothmer do, at least. Professor Graham, however, does not.
83	* TheProfessor: Several, with Eff's father being the main example,
84	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Eff's parents and mentors. Her parents refuse to believe that she is bad luck and do all they can to assure her that she is loved and wanted. [[spoiler:When Rennie elopes, her parents are disappointed, but her father makes sure to visit Rennie after she has a baby and check that she's all right.]] Meanwhile, her teachers see her potential and do their best to encourage it.
85	* ScrewDestiny: Not Eff's response, as she's internalized her [[BuffySpeak thirteenth-ness]], but the people she reveals her DarkSecret too have a tendency to respond this way. For example, Miss Ochiba [[spoiler: responds by teaching Eff about numerology in other cultures, where the number thirteen is not considered unlucky.]]
86	* SettlingTheFrontier: The story features UsefulNotes/ManifestDestiny and people [[QuestToTheWest heading west]].
87	* SheIsAllGrownUp: Eff puts her hair up and starts wearing longer skirts when William and Lan are back East at college. When they get back, [[ShipTease William has this response]].
88	* ShotgunWedding: It's revealed that [[spoiler:Rennie ran off with a Rationalist]] because [[spoiler:she was sleeping with him and found out she was pregnant. Rather than being forced to confess to her family, she ran off]].
89	* SilverHasMysticPowers: As does sulfur and other minerals and metals.
90	* SlaveLiberation: How Miss Ochiba's parents met. Miss Ochiba's father purchased slaves for a type two liberation, and Miss Ochiba's mother was one of them.
91	* SouthernFriedPrivate: Wash has a Southern drawl, and like many other black men, fought for the North in the Secession War.
92	* SpannerInTheWorks: Allie is this for Rennie's plan to [[spoiler:run away with Brant]]
93	* SternTeacher: Miss Ochiba. On the first day of school, she explains that she wants silence as soon as the bell rings. She enforces this on the first day by magically taking away all sound, including people shifting in their seats, the scraping of chalk, [[IntangibleTheft people talking]]...
94	* SupernaturalSensitivity: Aphrikan world-sensing can lead to this.
95	* SynchronizedSwarming: Swarming Weasels.
96	* TerminallyDependentSociety: The Rationalists believe society is too dependent on magic.
97	* TextileWorkIsFeminine: The Rothmer women are in charge of laundry and mending clothes.
98	* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Why Eff's extended family dislikes her being a thirteenth child.
99	* TooDumbToLive:
100	** Mr. Harrison, who insists on traveling beyond the barrier in an unsuitable buggy, tries to convince the people he's traveling with to use magic on Rationalist land, and he spends the time he's in the Rationalist settlement insulting everyone until they kick him out.
101	** Uncle Earn, who believes that Eff is a future BigBad who should have been killed at birth... and handles this by [[BullyingADragon bullying her]].
102	* TwinDesynch: Happens a bit after Eff spent a year bedridden.
103	* TwinTelepathy: Averted, as Eff and Lan explicitly do not have twin telepathy. However, William later invokes this trope to "explain" why Eff knows that there's trouble where Lan is.
104	* UnequalRites: Avrupan mages are called magicians, while Aphrikan mages are called conjurefolk and leaders of Hijero-Cathayan covens are called adepts.
105	* TheUnfavorite: While Eff isn't one of these to her immediate family, she's considered one by her extended family due to being [[ThirteenIsUnlucky the thirteenth child]].
106	* UnlikelyHero: Eff, the titular thirteenth child. Especially when compared to [[TheAce her]] [[MagicalSeventhSon brother]].
107	* UnstoppableRage: Eff fears this is what her magic will become.
108	* WideEyedIdealist: Professor Rothmer considers Brant to be this to some extent, and even says so in-universe, when speaking to Rennie.
109	* TheWildWest
110	* WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility: The Rothmer parents view Lan's double seven status this way, stating that their plan is to raise him to be responsible before raising him to be a great magician.
111	* YouKnowWhatTheySayAboutX: You know what they say about [[MagicalSeventhSon seventh sons, double-seventh sons]], and [[ThirteenIsUnlucky thirteenth children]].
112	* YoungestChildWins: Subverted. Lan is supposed to be the great magician of the family, but [[spoiler:Eff]] is the one that saves the day.

Context Literature / ThirteenthChild