Our Own Correspondent is a 2021 fantasy novel by James Hereward.
Erasmus Grey is a newspaper reporter from the city-state of Carentum, who has travelled to the kingdom of Larence to report on rumours of an upcoming war. The problem is, most people in Larence don't know what a "newspaper" or a "reporter" is, and many seem to think that a foreigner who snoops around asking tricky questions about politics and troop movements is probably a spy. Grey quickly gets himself into trouble with the locals in a small town not far from the expected front line, and that's really only the beginning of his problems.
In the course of his involuntary adventures back and forth across Larence, Grey is forced to deal with a gang of smugglers, an alleged barbarian queen and a rebellion by a downtrodden minority group, on top of trying to uncover the politics behind the upcoming war. He finds himself accompanied by Pavel Lebedev, a travelling priest, and by a mysterious woman called Lina, who is remarkably good at killing people.
This book provides examples of the following tropes:
- Action Girl: Lina does more fighting than anyone else in the story. Rhoanda also qualifies.
- Actual Pacifist: Erasmus Grey tries to solve problems peacefully. Enforced when he realises that Sitrig isn't going to be talked down, but the gun he happens to be carrying chooses that moment to break.
- Aerith and Bob: Most of the names in use are real, if a bit archaic or oddly spelled in some cases, but there's also a Rhoanda and a Herib in there.
- Affably Evil: Culven really seems quite friendly for a member of a gang of ruthless smugglers.
- Armor of Invincibility: The armour formerly owned by Mercedes Montalban, the Black Swan, appears to be this.
- Badass Normal: Despite apparently having no magical abilities or items like some other characters, Lina is shown as the most effective fighter around.
- Barbarian Tribe: Rhoanda and her followers are seen as this.
- Cataclysm Backstory: A super-natural disaster "reforged" the world, forcing the survivors to live underground for a time.
- Combat Pragmatist: Lina and Sol Luciano both show themselves willing to use some underhanded tactics to win their fights.
- False Flag Operation: Larence's leaders say their borders were attacked without provocation by warriors from Rhoanda's tribe, while Rhoanda insists the Larentine army attacked her first. They're both wrong; Morhaal's Ducal Regiment attacked both sides in disguise.
- Faux Affably Evil: Yorick Rice and Vernan Delaque are outwardly quite polite at first, but show their true colours pretty quickly.
- Guns vs. Swords: Rhoanda and her followers are scornful of guns, while the armies of Larence and Morhaal make heavy use of them.
- Intrepid Reporter: Erasmus Grey..
- Little People: The Tremani are quite small. That doesn't mean they can't be dangerous.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Discussed. Pavel Lebedev claims that the line between what is and isn't magic can be blurry.
- Medieval Stasis: Averted; the existence of magic hasn't prevented the development of industrial manufacturing or automatic guns. However, the collapse of civilisation and subsequent rebuilding appears to have led to some Schizo Tech.
- Men Use Violence, Women Use Communication: Inverted by Grey and Lina.
- Mistaken for Spies: Erasmus Grey is assumed to be a spy, and a much more ruthless individual than he is, by more than one person.
- Non-Action Guy: Erasmus Grey, especially early on.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Federico of the High March at first appears to be a blustering drunk. At least some of this is a cover
- Persecution Flip: After taking over a town, Sol Luciano decides to give its inhabitants a taste of the powerlessness his people have experienced.
- Playing with Fire: All of the magic used by Fire-Eyes Clovis involves fire and heat.
- Red Baron: Rhoanda is often referred to as the Wolf Queen. Her lieutenant, Clovis, is also prominently known as Fire-Eyes.
- Standard Fantasy Setting: Largely averted. Magic exists, but technology goes well beyond medieval or even renaissance levels; there are automatic guns and a large-scale canal network. There are no elves, dwarves or orcs, at least by name, and the races that are referred to seem to be mostly considered "human" (apart maybe from the Tremani, who aren't quite sure themselves what they should be classified as).
- The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Sol Luciano is quite proud to be considered a monster and a terrorist by the "tall folk".
- The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified: On the other hand, Herib represents the more humane side of the Tremani uprising. His death helps convince Luciano to save the lives of the trapped hostages.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Queen Rhoanda is very much a warrior and is not afraid to get her hands dirty.
- Token Religious Teammate: Pavel Lebedev, a travelling priest, is the only one of the main protagonists to be particularly religious.
- Undying Loyalty: Lebedev follows Grey back and forth across Larence and even takes a bullet for him. The ending, though, suggests he may have been "pushing" Grey all along for the sake of his own agenda.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Sol Luciano just wants justice for his people - but those same people are apparently horrified by some of his methods.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: In-universe, Sol Luciano claims that some people see the Tremani as less than human.
