History Literature / AWizardInRhyme

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Because magic in this setting is controlled by ExactWords, Matt has to be very careful with his phrasing. Otherwise, a spell to conjure fire can summon a fire''[[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons breather]]'', and and a [[HybridMonster Dracogriff]]-sized saddle can come out big enough for the ''Dracogriff'' to ride.

** Special mention to Sayeesa, a lust witch, who's power invokes this at all times, and [[spoiler: proves [[HeroicSacrifice instrumental]] in the final battle ''Her Majesty's Wizard''.]]

* LiteralGenie

* TrueNeutral: InvokedTrope. Saul is a major ally for the good guys and a hero in his own right, but he refuses to accept their religion or belief system in favor of systematically studying how magic ''really'' works in this setting, and makes sure to commit a "technical sin" (like eating meat on Friday) for every good deed he does.
** Similarly, but for different reasons, King Boncorro in ''The Secular Wizard'' does evil things for the good of his country so he'll be richer so he can stop throwing more and more depraved BreadAndCircuses at his nobles so he can be rich so he can keep from going to Heaven while not falling into the grasp of Hell- a good example of StupidNeutral with a heart of gold if ever there was one. His genuinely evil chancellor warping his plans was behind a lot of that.

* SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic: Increasingly as the series goes on and the characters have time to study it. Basically, magic seems to be a malleable energy which can be invoked and shaped by RuleOfSymbolism, with words being the most convenient symbols. Also, {{Magic Wand}}s work by focusing the a field of magic into a more intense beam, like a spotlight as opposed to a bare bulb.

* WakingTheSleepingGiant: [[spoiler:Two of them, and one of them was the wrong one. It took a while for the one they wanted to wake up.]]

* AdiposeRex

* BareFistedMonk: Saul Bremener
* BlackKnight: non-villainous example in Sir Guy

* EvilChancellor

* RousseauWasRight

* WakingTheSleepingGiant

* God and Satan exist, bringing with them BlackAndWhiteMorality and the necessity of picking a side. Both forces offer power--evil in the form of [[DealWithTheDevil Deals with Devils]], good in the form of saints--and one must be sure to stay on the good side of your moral compass in order to avoid defeat both in the afterlife and here. (Morality is Christian-flavored, which is [[TruthInTelevision appropriate for medieval Europe]] but may result in ValuesDissonance to some readers.)

* UnreliableExpositor: A few books in it's revealed that the initial idea of this world operating entirely on Christian theology with Satan and the Saints powering all magic is a local misconception, and in fact AllMythsAreTrue. Although the version of Catholicism practiced in the Europe equivalent is the [[ValuesDissonance "correct" religion]], Islam is considered close enough and magic works fine even for cultures with no real religious equivalent to the Christian god or devil.

* TheUnfrozenCavemanLawyer: Matthew and Saul. ([[spoiler:Later, Matt brings his parents over as well. They are just as proficient at magic as he is.]])

* MixAndMatchCritters: Matthew meets a "dracogriff" during the second book. The necessary HotSkittyOnWailordAction is {{deconstructed}}.

* RescueRomance

A not-especially-complete wiki on the series can be found [[http://christopher.stasheff.com/wiki/tiki-print.php?page=A%20Wizard%20In%20Rhyme at the author's website]].

* TheAtoner:

** Similarly, but for different reasons, King Boncorro in ''The Secular Wizard'' does evil things for the good of his country so he'll be richer so he can stop throwing more and more depraved BreadAndCircuses at his nobles so he can be rich so he can keep from going to Heaven while not falling into the grasp of Hell- a good example of StupidNeutral with a heart of gold if ever there was one.

* IstanbulNotConstantinople: many names are traceable to influences in our history. Merovence, for instance, takes its name from the same [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merovingian_dynasty dynasty of French kings]] that [[TheMatrix The Merovingian]] is named after.

** Similarly, the rightful male-line heir to the ancient Empire of the Latini-Etruscan Federation of old Latruria, and through it [[IstanbulNotConstantinople Reme]], abdicates any right he has to the throne in favor of becoming modern Latruria's first [[[spoiler: university professor]].

* PublicDomainCharacter: RobinHood and his Merry Men, DonQuixote, [[AMidsummerNightsDream Puck]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s_demon Maxwell's demon]] and more.

* IstanbulNotConstantinople: justified given the setting, but much of the names are traceable to influences in our history. Merovence, for instance, takes its name from the same [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merovingian_dynasty dynasty of French kings]] that [[TheMatrix The Merovingian]] is named after.

* FunctionalMagic exists, and is controlled by [[WordsCanBreakMyBones rhymed verse]]. Matthew, having a good six hundredyears' extra literature to draw upon, is enormously powerful by the standards of the day. (It also co-exists with extant physics.)
* God and Satan exist, bringing with them BlackAndWhiteMorality and the necessity of picking a side. Both forces offer power--evil in the form of [[DealWithTheDevil Deals with Devils]], good in the form of saints--and one must be sure to stay on the good side of your moral compass in order to avoid defeat both in the afterlife and here. (Morality is Christian-flavored, which is [[TruthInTelevision appropriate for medieval Europe]] but may rub some readers the wrong way.)
* Saint Moncaire, patron of Merovence, brought Matthew here to restore the BalanceOfGoodAndEvil. All the other nations of Europe--Ibile, Allustria, Latruria, etc--have fallen under the reign of evil men, and a usurper, Astaulf, now threatens the throne of Merovence, aided by his EvilChancellor Malingo. Matthew's job is to find [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses Princess Alisande]] and help her reclaim her throne, thus preventing all of Europe from falling to the lure of evil.

The series is relatively obscure--and, if truth be so, deservedly so. Books are formulaic: Matthew is set a task involving setting to rights another European country. He collects a RagTagBunchOfMisfits as he travels, often supplementing them with {{Public Domain Character}}s created through SummonMagic; most of them fade back into obscurity, though two from the first book, the BlackKnight, Sir Guy de [[BilingualBonus Toutarien]], and the dragon Stegoman, make repeat appearances. Matthew makes more study into the fabric of magic and Stasheff gets to soapbox about morality and virtue, whether in a Christian context or no. Main characters are flat, with secondaries having more interesting moments. So on.

The ''real'' reason tropers will want to check it out anyhow is that it is decidedly, deliberately, unabashedly {{Troperiffic}}. The TheoryOfNarrativeCausality is in full force, and the residents of Merovence are GenreSavvy enough to actively ''invoke'' tropes if they stand to benefit from them (in the first book alone Princess Alisande calls upon "UnderdogsNeverLose" and "TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin"). The result is a PostModern series in the trappings of an HistoricalFantasy (complete with YeOldeButcheredEnglish, even though technically they are speaking French), a flood of beloved poetry, and a series of {{Lampshade Hanging}}s which can only be described as loving.

* IstanbulNotConstantinople: justified given the setting, but much of the names are traceable to influences in our history. Merovence, for instance, takes its name from the same dynasty of French kings [[TheMatrix The Merovingian]] is named after.

* PublicDomainCharacter: RobinHood and his Merry Men, DonQuixote, [[AMidsummerNightsDream Puck]], and more.

* RealityWarper: any wizard would coult, but special mention goes to Frisson, a genius-savant who comes up with brilliant verse as easily as breathing... which, given the setting's FunctionalMagic, can go OffTheRails ''real'' fast.

* RightfulKingReturns: subverted. There's stories of a descendent of Emperor Hardishane who will return to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong if evil manages to overwhelm all of Europe. AllMythsAreTrue, and such a man does exist, but he's striving with all his might to ''prevent'' his own crowning, which can only take place AfterTheEnd. ([[spoiler:It's Sir Guy.]])

* TrueNeutral: Saul is a major ally for the good guys and a hero in his own right, but he refuses to accept their religion or belief system in favor of systematically studying how magic ''really'' works in this setting.

* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Zigzagged. In some battle situations, Matthew snaps out rhymed couplets to cast his spells. In another, he recites much of Byron's "[[http://www.bartleby.com/106/173.html She Walks in beauty, like the night]]."

* UnreliableExpositer: A few books in it's revealed that the initial idea of this world operating entirely on Christian theology with Satan and the Saints powering all magic is a local misconception, and in fact AllMythsAreTrue. Although the version of Catholicism practiced in the Europe equivalent is the [[ValuesDissonance "correct" religion]], Islam is considered close enough and magic works fine even for cultures with no real religious equivalent to the Christian god or devil.