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A Man Is Not A Virgin has been split into Virgin Shaming and Unexpected Virgin. Neither really fits this and the meat of the example is on Slut Shaming.
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* AManIsNotAVirgin: Played mostly straight, with male characters above the age of fifteen tending to visit brothels or otherwise seek bed partners on leave, whereas Alexis is initially a virgin ([[spoiler:she eventually has her first time with Delaine Thiebaud in ''The Little Ships'']]). There are exceptions, though: since the Navy will take midshipmen at virtually any age, several are even younger than Alexis and therefore still virgins. In fact Alexis once gives dating advice to her younger male friend Philip Easely, telling him regarding a facial scar he acquires that if he plans to court a woman, best to tell her the truth that it's a battle scar, not a DuelingScar.
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* AttemptedRape: Alexis is assaulted by a drunken spacer, Alan, in ''Into the Dark'', but she fights him off and then refuses to press charges because she didn't want to see him hanged on her account for a drunken mistake. [[spoiler:Alan stops drinking after this and later does a HeroicSacrifice to save her life.]] She's also threatened with it a couple times, but informs a sexist midshipman in ''Mutineer'' that if he so much as touches her, his next meal will be "nutmegs and sausage".
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* AttemptedRape: Alexis is assaulted by a drunken spacer, Alan, in ''Into the Dark'', but she fights him off and then refuses to press charges because she didn't want to see him hanged on her account for a drunken mistake. She starts training in hand-to-hand combat with the ship's Marine complement after this. [[spoiler:Alan stops drinking after this afterwards and later does becomes a model sailor, rounding up would-be deserters and ultimately doing a HeroicSacrifice to save her life.]] She's also threatened with it a couple times, but informs a sexist midshipman in ''Mutineer'' that if he so much as touches her, his next meal will be "nutmegs and sausage".
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* AbandonedWarChild: In ''The Little Ships'', Alexis encounters a young woman on Giron who was impregnated by one of Alexis' shipmates while they were all being held there as prisoners of war two years earlier in ''Mutineer'' (the other officers had given parole and were housed in the town; Alexis had refused out of concern for the enlisted crew). The narration comments that the enlisted crew are required to have [[FantasyContraception contraceptive implants]] to prevent such accidents, but officers aren't.
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* SpaceIsAnOcean: Leans ''really'' hard on the WoodenShipsAndIronMen [-InSpace-] styling. Darkspace is treated as the open sea, complete with shoals and storms, SpaceSailing is done by harnessing its currents, and ships navigate by dead reckoning and fight in broadside duels using hand-loaded single-shot laser cannons aimed by eye (because darkspace dampens electricity and otherwise resists any attempts to study it). The landlubber protagonist is also often befuddled in the first book by the constant use of archaic naval terminology.
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** Delaine calls Alexis by any number of pet names in French during their romance.
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** Delaine calls Alexis by any number of pet names in French during their romance. She draws the line at "mon chou" ("my little cabbage").
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* AmoralAttorney: In Alexis' CourtMartial in ''Mutineer'', her tribunal-appointed military attorney is more interested in making sure the Navy comes out looking good than in actually defending her. Fortunately the civilian co-counsel that Alexis hires has no such compunctions.
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* SpaceSailing: Ships in TheVerse are propelled through darkspace via charged sails that harness the "winds" of dark energy, which tends to flow towards massive objects like planetary systems. Since nothing electrical works in darkspace unless shielded with expensive [[{{Unobtainium}} gallenium]], this means the sails have to be set by hand, and complexity and cost of sailplan governs the size of interstellar ships.
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* SpaceSailing: Ships in TheVerse are propelled through darkspace via charged sails that harness the "winds" of dark energy, which tends to flow towards massive objects like planetary systems. Since nothing electrical works in darkspace unless shielded with expensive [[{{Unobtainium}} gallenium]], this means the sails have to be set by hand, and complexity and cost of sailplan governs the size of interstellar ships. In deference to 3-D space, the masts are mounted at the bow in a circle perpendicular to the ship's movement axis.
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* StandardSciFiFleet: Follows Age of Sail naval classifications, with boats[[note]]non-FTL shuttles carried by bigger ships[[/note]], cutters and pinnaces[[note]]small single-mast FTL ships[[/note]], barques[[note]]bigger, single mast[[/note]], sloops[[note]]two masts on the dorsal and ventral surfaces[[/note]], frigates[[note]]three masts[[/note]], and ships of the line[[note]]subdivided into third-, second-, and first-raters, with multiple decks of guns[[/note]]. There are also cruisers, STL-only defense ships far too big to go FTL due to the cost and complexity of the required sailplan, but since they don't have to deal with the energy-dampening effects of darkspace they can carry more advanced armaments such as missiles and laser cannons that are powered directly by the reactor.
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* JusticeByOtherLegalMeans: In ''Mutineer''. [[spoiler:To spare the Navy the embarrassment of Captain Neals' behavior becoming public, the CourtMartial acquits him of wrongdoing in the loss of HMS ''Hermione'' due to the mutiny and puts a gag order on the proceedings. However, Alexis and the other mutineers are also acquitted due to the extenuating circumstances of ''Captain Neals was a fucking asshole'', and Neals is in effect retired from service due to psychiatric reasons and will never command anything unsupervised ever again, certainly not another ship. To top it off, the captains on the tribunal restore Alexis to the rank of midshipman, then immediately test her for lieutenant and promote her, and the Navy rumor mill means word of what happened gets out anyway.]]
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* JusticeByOtherLegalMeans: In ''Mutineer''. [[spoiler:To spare the Navy the embarrassment of Captain Neals' behavior becoming public, the CourtMartial acquits him of wrongdoing in the loss of HMS ''Hermione'' due to the mutiny and puts a gag order on the proceedings. However, Alexis and the other mutineers are also acquitted due to the extenuating circumstances of ''Captain Neals was a fucking asshole'', and Neals is in effect retired from service due to psychiatric reasons and will never command anything unsupervised ever again, certainly not another ship. To top it off, the captains on the tribunal restore Alexis to the rank of midshipman, then immediately test her for lieutenant and promote her, and the Navy rumor mill means word of what happened gets out anyway.]]
* KangarooCourt: Alexis' CourtMartial at the end of ''Mutineer''. Neals and his cronies, excuse us, ''officers'' are in lockstep, the tribunal believes their word over that of the entire enlisted crew of HMS ''Hermione'', her JAG is openly more interested in making sure the Navy looks good than in defending her, and the only sympathetic officer on the ship is too scared to testify. [[spoiler:Fortunately, Delaine delivers them HMS ''Hermione'''s log under a flag of truce, forcing the court to acknowledge that Alexis was the victim, not the perpetrator.]]
* KangarooCourt: Alexis' CourtMartial at the end of ''Mutineer''. Neals and his cronies, excuse us, ''officers'' are in lockstep, the tribunal believes their word over that of the entire enlisted crew of HMS ''Hermione'', her JAG is openly more interested in making sure the Navy looks good than in defending her, and the only sympathetic officer on the ship is too scared to testify. [[spoiler:Fortunately, Delaine delivers them HMS ''Hermione'''s log under a flag of truce, forcing the court to acknowledge that Alexis was the victim, not the perpetrator.]]
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* RecurringDreams: Alexis starts having nightmares after her experience leading the prize crew on the pinnace ''Grapple'', which only get worse after serving on ''Hermione''. The captain of HMS ''Shrewsbury'' in ''The Little Ships'' is sympathetic and tells her about his own nightmare.
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* RebelliousPrincess: Alexis ''technically'' isn't a noblewoman, but by her homeworld's standards she's the next best thing. She balks at the gender roles society wants to place her in, refusing to marry some asshat solely so her family's land stays in the family. Note that these gender roles have only been legally enforced on her planet for two generations at most, so she's got some reason.
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* RebelliousPrincess: Alexis ''technically'' isn't a noblewoman, but by her homeworld's standards she's the next best thing. She balks at the gender roles society wants to place her in, refusing to marry some asshat solely so her family's land stays in the family. Note that these gender roles have only been legally enforced on her planet for two generations at most, most and are nationally unconstitutional, so she's got some reason.
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* SlutShaming: Due to the patriarchal culture of New London's Fringe, male crew on both military and merchant ships frequently brag about their sexual exploits on shore leave, whereas women have to be more furtive and discreet if they choose to visit dockside brothels or otherwise seek sexual companionship. Alexis herself uses a male prostitute a couple times in the second book, but only as a shoulder to cry on due to her isolation aboard ship.[[note]]The other officers are either sexist or scared of Captain Neals, and she can't fraternize with the enlisted crew even though they ''do'' like her.[[/note]] [[spoiler:She eventually has her first time in the third book with her LoveInterest Lieutenant Delaine Thiebaud.]]
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* OffOnATechnicality: In ''Mutineer'' Alexis briefly consults an attorney on challenging Dalthan inheritance law, but is informed that she couldn't, ''yet'', due to a problem of standing: as her grandfather is still alive, she has not yet been personally injured by the nationally unconstitutional law and therefore cannot challenge it.
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* ForeignCussWord: A fair amount of French and German swearing from French and Hanoverese personnel. In particular, Commodore Balestra refers to Captain Neals and his officers as "''porcs sexistes''"[[note]]"sexist pigs"[[/note]], while Alexis provokes a Hanoverese frigate to fight her by signaling that the captain is an "''arschficker''"[[note]]"ass-fucker"[[/note]].
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** GenderFlipped with Alexis, who has a ''very'' sharp wit. Her first night aboard ''Merlin'', an older midshipman, Roland, makes an innuendo about her bunkmate Philip Easley, wondering if she took the top bunk or the bottom bunk.
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** GenderFlipped with Alexis, who has a ''very'' sharp wit. Her first night aboard ''Merlin'', an older midshipman, Roland, makes an innuendo starts making "gay sailor" innuendos about her bunkmate Philip Easley, wondering if she took the top bunk or the bottom bunk.
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'''Alexis:''' I’m sorry to hear your repertoire is so limited , sir. Perhaps with more experience, you’ll achieve some versatility. ''(everybody else bursts out laughing)''
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'''Alexis:''' I’m sorry to hear your repertoire is so limited , limited, sir. Perhaps with more experience, you’ll achieve some versatility. ''(everybody else bursts out laughing)''
* NumberTwo: In the old Age of Sail fashion, the ship's executive officer is always referred to as "first lieutenant" regardless of his actual rank, much as Captain Grantham is technically only a commander. Other senior officers are similarly second through ''n''th lieutenants in order of rank, then seniority.
* SecretTestOfCharacter: "Secret" is pushing it, but the midshipman's exam is as much a test of the officer candidate's ability to handle the stress of command as it is a knowledge test, being that it consists mainly of three or more senior officers screaming theoretical scenarios at the middie for hours on end. Roland failed it at least six times due to second-guessing himself.
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* YouShallNotPass: [[spoiler:Faced with a Hanoverian frigate blowing up unarmed evacuation ships, Alexis plants her horribly outmatched barque ''Belial'' in its path and provokes it by signaling that the captain is a coward and an ''arschficker''[[note]][[ForeignCussWord "ass-fucker" in German]][[/note]]. Her ship is damaged beyond repair and most of the crew and passengers are killed, but she purely by chance she manages to kill the enemy captain and first lieutenant, and the frigate ends up surrendering to ''her''.]]
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* YouShallNotPass: [[spoiler:Faced with a Hanoverian frigate blowing up unarmed evacuation ships, Alexis plants her horribly outmatched barque ''Belial'' in its path and provokes it by signaling that the captain is a coward and an ''arschficker''[[note]][[ForeignCussWord "ass-fucker" in German]][[/note]]. Her ship is damaged beyond repair and most of the crew and passengers are killed, but she purely by chance she manages to kill the enemy captain and first lieutenant, and the frigate ends up surrendering to ''her''.''her'' after the second lieutenant takes command.]]
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* FantasyContraception: There's an offhand mention in ''The Little Ships'' that the enlisted crew on Royal Navy ships are required to have contraceptive implants, but officers are not. [[spoiler:In context, Alexis has discovered that one of HMS ''Hermione'''s other midshipmen impregnated a local woman on Giron while they were all prisoners there.]]
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* UriahGambit: Captain Neals puts Alexis in command of one of HMS ''Hermione'''s "boats" (a non-FTL-capable shuttle) while investigating a system where they've been told there are Hanoverese merchantmen to raid. There's no merchantmen, but there ''is'' a Hanoverese revenue cutter which is no match for ''Hermione'' but more than a match for Alexis' boat. Neals deliberately leaves Alexis behind, clearly intending that she be killed or captured. [[spoiler:Alexis instead pulls a WoundedGazelleGambit on the cutter, captures it, and flies it home, and the Prize Court gives her full credit for the capture due to Neals' absence.]]
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* JusticeByOtherLegalMeans: In ''Mutineer''. [[spoiler:To spare the Navy the embarrassment of Captain Neals' behavior becoming public, the CourtMartial acquits him of wrongdoing in the loss of HMS ''Hermione'' due to the mutiny and puts a gag order on the proceedings. However, Alexis and the other mutineers are also acquitted due to the extenuating circumstances of ''Captain Neals was a fucking asshole'', and Neals is in effect retired from service due to psychiatric reasons and will never command anything unsupervised ever again, certainly not another ship. To top it off, the captains on the tribunal restore Alexis to the rank of midshipman, then immediately test her for lieutenant and promote her, and the Navy rumor mill means word of what happened gets out anyway.]]
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* UngratefulBastard: Captain Neals in ''Mutineer''. Against her better judgement Alexis rescues him from Hanoverese captivity despite the fact he continuously tried to haze her into resigning, pulled an UriahGambit to get her killed or captured, and [[spoiler:disrated her when she refused to beg forgiveness on bended knee and had her flogged. The moment the escapees are picked up by friendly forces, he orders her and the other crew arrested for mutiny.]]
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* AttemptedRape: Alexis is nearly raped by a drunken spacer, Alan, in ''Into the Dark'', but she fights him off and refuses to press charges because she didn't want to see him hanged for it. [[spoiler:Alan stops drinking after this and later does a HeroicSacrifice to save her life.]] She's also threatened with it a couple times, but informs a sexist midshipman in ''Mutineer'' that if he so much as touches her, his next meal will be "nutmegs and sausage".
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* AttemptedRape: Alexis is nearly raped assaulted by a drunken spacer, Alan, in ''Into the Dark'', but she fights him off and then refuses to press charges because she didn't want to see him hanged on her account for it.a drunken mistake. [[spoiler:Alan stops drinking after this and later does a HeroicSacrifice to save her life.]] She's also threatened with it a couple times, but informs a sexist midshipman in ''Mutineer'' that if he so much as touches her, his next meal will be "nutmegs and sausage".
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* UnknownRival: In the backstory, Rashaed Coalson for Dunholm Carew. When it was Dunholm's turn to pick first on land claims during the colonization of Dalthus, several times he happened to pick out claims that Rashaed wanted. Dunholm insists to the Coalsons to this day it was pure coincidence, but Rashaed became convinced Dunholm was deliberately screwing him and taught the hatred to his sons and grandsons. [[spoiler:Later Rashaed sabotaged the colony's antigrav hauler when it was headed to the Carew estate to bring Dunholm's wife to Port Arthur for treatment, leading to her DeathByChildbirth. Later his son Daviel made a high-speed pass over Alexis's parents' buggy, spooking the horses to a crash that killed both of them.]]
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* OrbitalBombardment: Banned under the [[FictionalGenevaConventions Abbentheren Accords]] after the Republic of Hanover achieved independence from ''Deutschstirne'' by [[ColonyDrop bombarding multiple planets with asteroids]], killing billions. [[spoiler:However, Alexis discovers a
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* OrbitalBombardment: Banned under the [[FictionalGenevaConventions Abbentheren Accords]] after the Republic of Hanover achieved independence from ''Deutschstirne'' by [[ColonyDrop bombarding multiple planets with asteroids]], killing billions. [[spoiler:However, Alexis discovers a {{loophole|Abuse}}: the Accords define "space" as "above a planet's mesosphere", meaning flying to a lower altitude and then firing broadsides is perfectly legal.]]
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* ForeignQueasine: On a diplomatic mission to the French Republic, a man from the Foreign Service and a French diplomat attempt to teach Alexis proper French dining etiquette on French food. Alexis turns up her nose at escargot and complains that everything else seems to be required to be drenched in some kind of sauce. Later Dansby complains about the Hanoverese penchant for sausages and warns Alexis off of trying anything called "currywurst".
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* FutureFoodIsArtificial: Vat-grown "beef" makes up the main course at nearly every meal aboard Navy ships, and officers are encouraged to purchase their own provisions.
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** GenderFlipped with Alexis has a ''very'' sharp wit. Her first night aboard ''Merlin'', an older midshipman, Roland, makes an innuendo about her bunkmate Philip Easley, wondering if she took the top bunk or the bottom bunk.
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** GenderFlipped with Alexis Alexis, who has a ''very'' sharp wit. Her first night aboard ''Merlin'', an older midshipman, Roland, makes an innuendo about her bunkmate Philip Easley, wondering if she took the top bunk or the bottom bunk.
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* WouldHitAGirl: Anybody who fights Alexis, but special mention goes to the horribly sexist Captain Neals, who is only stopped from having her flogged on general principles by the fact that he legally can't flog an officer. [[spoiler:Then he disrates her for refusing to beg forgiveness on bended knee for not identifying a man who made a minor mistake due to fatigue, and promptly gives her two dozen lashes.]]
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* WouldHitAGirl: Anybody who fights Alexis, but Alexis--Captain Grantham actually complains once about how often she ends up beaten up--but special mention goes to the horribly sexist Captain Neals, who is only stopped from having her flogged on general principles by the fact that he legally can't flog an officer. [[spoiler:Then he disrates her for refusing to beg forgiveness on bended knee for not identifying a man who made a minor mistake due to fatigue, and promptly gives her two dozen lashes.]]
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* WouldHitAGirl: Anybody who fights Alexis, but special mention goes to the horribly sexist Captain Neals, who is only stopped from having her flogged on general principles by the fact that he legally can't flog an officer. [[spoiler:Then he disrates her for refusing to beg forgiveness on bended knee for not identifying a man who made a minor mistake due to fatigue, and promptly gives her two dozen lashes.]]
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* CutHimselfShaving: After fighting off the drunken Alan, she tells the bosun, then the ''captain'', that "He fell." They both know darn well she's lying but she refuses to press the charge of assault on an officer on account of not wanting to see him hanged for a drunken mistake, which endears her to the crew and causes Alan to give up drinking.
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* AffectionateNickname: Alexis finds out via an overheard conversation in a pub that she's become known among the crew as "Little Bit", short for "Little Bit of Bosun", in reference to her AMotherToHerMen command style and [[PintSizedPowerhouse reputation as a fighter]] (from the incident with Alan, which grew in the telling).
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* AffectionateNickname: AffectionateNickname:
** Alexis finds out via an overheard conversation in a pub that she's become known among the crew as "Little Bit", short for "Little Bit of Bosun", in reference to her AMotherToHerMen command style and [[PintSizedPowerhouse reputation as a fighter]] (from the incident with Alan, which grew in thetelling).telling).
** Delaine calls Alexis by any number of pet names in French during their romance.
** Alexis finds out via an overheard conversation in a pub that she's become known among the crew as "Little Bit", short for "Little Bit of Bosun", in reference to her AMotherToHerMen command style and [[PintSizedPowerhouse reputation as a fighter]] (from the incident with Alan, which grew in the
** Delaine calls Alexis by any number of pet names in French during their romance.
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* FantasyConflictCounterpart: The setting provides a major subversion: unlike most iterations of ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' [-InSpace-], Space England's war is not with Space Napoleonic France, but Space ''Germany''. On the other hand, the mutiny in ''Mutineer'' is based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hermione_(1782) historical mutiny]] aboard HMS ''Hermione'', down to the name of the ship.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: New London = Britain, Republic of Hanover = Germany, French Republic = France. A Space China and a second Space Germany, the ''Deutschstirne'' from which Hanover broke away in a bloody independence war centuries ago, are also mentioned. Belying the ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' [-InSpace-] stylings of the series, though, the international relations are closer to a blend of the world wars, with New London at war with Hanover and the French Republic as an initially neutral power friendly to New London, and the Hanoverians controlling a group of formerly French planets following a war several generations ago that are still culturally French (Space Alsace-Lorraine).
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: New London = Britain, Republic of Hanover = Germany, French Republic = France. A Space China and a second Space Germany, the ''Deutschstirne'' from which Hanover broke away in a bloody independence war centuries ago, are also mentioned. Belying the ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' [-InSpace-] stylings of the series, though, the international relations are closer to a blend of the world wars, with New London at war with Hanover and the French Republic as an initially neutral power friendly to New London, and the Hanoverians controlling a group of formerly French planets following a war several generations ago that are still culturally French (Space Alsace-Lorraine).
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* FantasyConflictCounterpart: The setting provides a major subversion: unlike most iterations of FantasyConflictCounterpart:
** Despite the ''Literature/HoratioHornblower''[-InSpace-], Space England's war [-InSpace-] stylings of the series, the main conflict between New London and Hanover is not surprisingly more reminiscent of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII than the UsefulNotes/NapoleonicWars, with Space Napoleonic France, culturally British and trade-oriented New London opposing culturally German and militarily expansionist Hanover mostly by itself for an extended period, and trying to get friendly but Space ''Germany''. On militarily neutral powers into the other hand, the war on their side.
** The mutiny in ''Mutineer'' is based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hermione_(1782) historical mutiny]] aboard HMS ''Hermione'', down to the name of the ship.
** ''The Little Ships'' takes its name from [[spoiler:the evacuation of Dunkirk. New London lands an army on Giron in the Berry March and for a while nothing happens (the so-called "Sitzkrieg"). Then Hanover draws away the fleet and counter-lands a much larger army that begins to RapePillageAndBurn. Midshipman Artley marshals a small fleet of civilian ships to get the troops and as many civilians as can be carried back off of Giron (Dunkirk). The author furthers the homage by naming several of the civilian ships after real-life ones that took part in the operation.]]
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: {{Justified}} by the second-wave Earth colonies having been settled by individual nations, instead of trying for melting pots as happened in the first-wave colonies, and instead having them fall apart in sectarian warfare.
** New London= Britain, is the simplest one, essentially early 1800s Britain.
** The Republic of Hanover= Germany, is a stand-in for Napoleonic France, but culturally has more in common with Bismarckian Prussia (culturally and linguistically German, with a manifest destiny attitude towards rulership of mankind), with a dose of the UsefulNotes/SovietUnion.
** The Grand Republic of France Among the Stars (the French Republic= France. A Space China for short) is essentially the French Third Republic with the stylings of the Bourbon monarchy (with bureaucrats and civil servants standing in for the nobility in the ballroom). They also take historical cues from the pre-UsefulNotes/WorldWarII United States, friendly with New London and opposed to Hanover, but militarily neutral.
** There is also a second Space Germany,the ''Deutschstirne'' from ''Deutschstirne'', which Hanover bloodily broke away in a bloody independence war from centuries ago, are also mentioned. Belying ago in a war that led to the ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' [-InSpace-] stylings passage of the series, though, [[FictionalGenevaConventions Abbentheren Accords]] to govern interstellar warfare. ''Hso-Hsi'', Space China from the international relations are closer to a blend sound of the world wars, with New London at war with Hanover and the French Republic as an initially neutral power friendly to New London, and the Hanoverians controlling a group of formerly French planets following a war several generations ago that are still culturally French (Space Alsace-Lorraine).it, has so far only been briefly mentioned by name.
** Despite the ''Literature/HoratioHornblower''
** The mutiny in ''Mutineer'' is based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hermione_(1782) historical mutiny]] aboard HMS ''Hermione'', down to the name of the ship.
** ''The Little Ships'' takes its name from [[spoiler:the evacuation of Dunkirk. New London lands an army on Giron in the Berry March and for a while nothing happens (the so-called "Sitzkrieg"). Then Hanover draws away the fleet and counter-lands a much larger army that begins to RapePillageAndBurn. Midshipman Artley marshals a small fleet of civilian ships to get the troops and as many civilians as can be carried back off of Giron (Dunkirk). The author furthers the homage by naming several of the civilian ships after real-life ones that took part in the operation.]]
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: {{Justified}} by the second-wave Earth colonies having been settled by individual nations, instead of trying for melting pots as happened in the first-wave colonies, and instead having them fall apart in sectarian warfare.
** New London
** The Republic of Hanover
** The Grand Republic of France Among the Stars (the French Republic
** There is also a second Space Germany,
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* FictionalGenevaConventions: The "rules of war" in this setting are laid down by the Abbentheren Accords and observed to the letter, lest the other guy not do so next time the tables are reversed. If you strike your colors, you are considered to have surrendered and may not resume combat, and if you give your parole to a captor you may not take part in any escape attempts (but you ''can'' be rescued). Orbital bombardment is also banned.
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* FictionalGenevaConventions: The "rules of war" in this setting are laid down by the Abbentheren Accords and observed to the letter, lest the other guy not do so next time the tables are reversed. If you strike your colors, you are considered to have surrendered and may not resume combat, and if you give your parole to a captor you may not take part in any escape attempts (but you ''can'' be rescued). Orbital bombardment is also banned.banned, and punishable by death.
* LoopholeAbuse: Alexis achieves some of her more improbable victories by skirting the ExactWords of the [[FictionalGenevaConventions Abbentheren Accords]].
** [[ISurrenderSuckers Giving false surrender or rejoining a battle after striking one's colors is forbidden.]] [[spoiler:Alexis captures a Hanoverian customs cutter with a WoundedGazelleGambit by implying she was surrendering but never actually explicitly saying so, and never striking, thereby tricking them into docking so she could board them.]]
** Similarly, joining in an escape attempt after giving your parole is forbidden, but being rescued is allowed. [[spoiler:Imprisoned by Hanover after the mutiny on HMS ''Hermione'', Alexis refuses to give parole, then plans and executes a breakout after the Berry March fleet is recalled to guard the Hanoverese interior with the expectation that their next jailors won't be as accommodating, even stopping to pick up her UngratefulBastard captain and the other officers and midshipmen.]]
** The Accords also ban OrbitalBombardment, but Alexis, desperate to buy time for badly outnumbered ground troops, discovers on a close reading that "space" is defined in the Accords as "above a planet's mesosphere". [[spoiler:She has her barque's hull stripped of masts and sails to fly through the lower atmosphere and begins blowing holes in the Hanoverese columns.]]
* AManIsNotAVirgin: Played mostly straight, with male characters above the age of fifteen tending to visit brothels or otherwise seek bed partners on leave, whereas Alexis is initially a virgin ([[spoiler:she eventually has her first time with Delaine Thiebaud in ''The Little Ships'']]). There are exceptions, though: since the Navy will take midshipmen at virtually any age, several are even younger than Alexis and therefore still virgins. In fact Alexis once gives dating advice to her younger male friend Philip Easely, telling him regarding a facial scar he acquires that if he plans to court a woman, best to tell her the truth that it's a battle scar, not a DuelingScar.
* AMatchMadeInStockholm: Imprisoned by culturally French Hanoverese naval forces after [[spoiler:HMS ''Hermione'''s mutineers sail her to the Berry March (Alsace-Lorraine [-InSpace-])]], Alexis befriends Lieutenant Delaine Thiebaud while arranging better treatment for the crew (who, not being officers, cannot give parole and be housed in the town), and falls in love with him. [[spoiler:He later provides evidence exonerating her of the mutiny at CourtMartial and showing the extenuating circumstances, and in ''The Little Ships'' she seeks him out to gain the Berry March fleet's help against Hanover and loses her virginity with him.]]
** [[ISurrenderSuckers Giving false surrender or rejoining a battle after striking one's colors is forbidden.]] [[spoiler:Alexis captures a Hanoverian customs cutter with a WoundedGazelleGambit by implying she was surrendering but never actually explicitly saying so, and never striking, thereby tricking them into docking so she could board them.]]
** Similarly, joining in an escape attempt after giving your parole is forbidden, but being rescued is allowed. [[spoiler:Imprisoned by Hanover after the mutiny on HMS ''Hermione'', Alexis refuses to give parole, then plans and executes a breakout after the Berry March fleet is recalled to guard the Hanoverese interior with the expectation that their next jailors won't be as accommodating, even stopping to pick up her UngratefulBastard captain and the other officers and midshipmen.]]
** The Accords also ban OrbitalBombardment, but Alexis, desperate to buy time for badly outnumbered ground troops, discovers on a close reading that "space" is defined in the Accords as "above a planet's mesosphere". [[spoiler:She has her barque's hull stripped of masts and sails to fly through the lower atmosphere and begins blowing holes in the Hanoverese columns.]]
* AManIsNotAVirgin: Played mostly straight, with male characters above the age of fifteen tending to visit brothels or otherwise seek bed partners on leave, whereas Alexis is initially a virgin ([[spoiler:she eventually has her first time with Delaine Thiebaud in ''The Little Ships'']]). There are exceptions, though: since the Navy will take midshipmen at virtually any age, several are even younger than Alexis and therefore still virgins. In fact Alexis once gives dating advice to her younger male friend Philip Easely, telling him regarding a facial scar he acquires that if he plans to court a woman, best to tell her the truth that it's a battle scar, not a DuelingScar.
* AMatchMadeInStockholm: Imprisoned by culturally French Hanoverese naval forces after [[spoiler:HMS ''Hermione'''s mutineers sail her to the Berry March (Alsace-Lorraine [-InSpace-])]], Alexis befriends Lieutenant Delaine Thiebaud while arranging better treatment for the crew (who, not being officers, cannot give parole and be housed in the town), and falls in love with him. [[spoiler:He later provides evidence exonerating her of the mutiny at CourtMartial and showing the extenuating circumstances, and in ''The Little Ships'' she seeks him out to gain the Berry March fleet's help against Hanover and loses her virginity with him.]]
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* NoWomansLand: Notably it's only New London where women's rights have taken a giant leap backward: the first important Hanoverian officer we're introduced to is a female commodore. But in Space Britain, despite being ruled by a queen it's rare to see female officers or crew in the core worlds and utterly unheard-of in the Fringe Fleet, and that's before you include the part where a number of colonies have gone even further and banned women from inheriting (which is illegal, but they're so far from anyone who cares that doing anything about it is difficult). Naturally, this means that Alexis takes crap from ''everyone'' just for having two X chromosomes, though she tends to win over the common spacers with her AMotherToHerMen tendencies. {{Exaggerated}} in ''Mutineer'' when she is taken aboard by Captain Neals, who makes it his personal mission to drive her to resignation.
to:
* NoWomansLand: Notably it's only New London where women's rights have taken a giant leap backward: the first important Hanoverian officer we're introduced to is Balestra, a female commodore. But in Space Britain, despite being ruled by Britain has a queen it's rare habit of encouraging people with backwards ideas to see female officers or crew in go to other planets instead of combating them, which means that sexism is much more common and accepted on the core worlds Fringe, up to and utterly unheard-of in the Fringe Fleet, and that's before you include the part where a number of colonies have gone even further and banned including banning women from inheriting inheritance (which is illegal, unconstitutional, but they're so far from anyone who cares that doing anything about it enforcement is difficult).lax to nonexistent). Naturally, this means that Alexis takes crap from ''everyone'' just for having two X chromosomes, though she tends to win over the common spacers with her AMotherToHerMen tendencies. {{Exaggerated}} in ''Mutineer'' when she is taken aboard by Captain Neals, who makes it his personal mission to drive her to resignation.resignation.
* OrbitalBombardment: Banned under the [[FictionalGenevaConventions Abbentheren Accords]] after the Republic of Hanover achieved independence from ''Deutschstirne'' by [[ColonyDrop bombarding multiple planets with asteroids]], killing billions. [[spoiler:However, Alexis discovers a
* OrbitalBombardment: Banned under the [[FictionalGenevaConventions Abbentheren Accords]] after the Republic of Hanover achieved independence from ''Deutschstirne'' by [[ColonyDrop bombarding multiple planets with asteroids]], killing billions. [[spoiler:However, Alexis discovers a
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* TheWarOfEarthlyAggression: There have been at least two, hundreds of years in the past. The second one is mentioned as Earth's attempt to regain control of its colonies (New London and the rest), in the context of Hanover having achieved its bloody independence from ''Deutschstirne'' with a mid-war revolt.
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* YouShallNotPass: [[spoiler:Faced with a Hanoverian frigate blowing up unarmed evacuation ships, Alexis plants her horribly outmatched barque ''Belial'' in its path and provokes it by signaling that the captain is a coward and an ''arschficker''[[note]][[ForeignCussWord "ass-fucker" in German]][[/note]]. Her ship is damaged beyond repair and most of the crew and passengers are killed, but she purely by chance she manages to kill the enemy captain and first lieutenant, and the frigate ends up surrendering to ''her''.]]
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* AsYouKnow: A ''lot'' of {{exposition}} is done in the first book via people explaining things to Alexis, everything from port and starboard to how FasterThanLightTravel works. {{Justified}} in that until she signs onto HMS ''Merlin'' she's never been off-planet before.
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* AsYouKnow: A ''lot'' of {{exposition}} is done in the first book via people explaining things to Alexis, everything from port and starboard to how FasterThanLightTravel works. {{Justified}} in that until she signs onto HMS ''Merlin'' she's never been off-planet before.before and cared more about farming and logging and export prices.
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* FantasyCounterpartCulture: New London = Britain, Republic of Hanover = Germany, French Republic = France. A Space China and a second Space Germany are also mentioned. Belying the ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' [-InSpace-] stylings of the series, though, the international relations are closer to a blend of the world wars, with New London at war with Hanover and the French Republic as an initially neutral power friendly to New London, and the Hanoverians controlling a group of formerly French planets following a war several generations ago that are still culturally French (Space Alsace-Lorraine).
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* FantasyCounterpartCulture: New London = Britain, Republic of Hanover = Germany, French Republic = France. A Space China and a second Space Germany Germany, the ''Deutschstirne'' from which Hanover broke away in a bloody independence war centuries ago, are also mentioned. Belying the ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' [-InSpace-] stylings of the series, though, the international relations are closer to a blend of the world wars, with New London at war with Hanover and the French Republic as an initially neutral power friendly to New London, and the Hanoverians controlling a group of formerly French planets following a war several generations ago that are still culturally French (Space Alsace-Lorraine).
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* FictionalGenevaConventions: The "rules of war" in this setting are more gentlemens' agreements between nations but ''are'' observed to the letter, lest the other guy not do so next time the tables are reversed. If you strike your colors, you are considered to have surrendered and may not resume combat, and if you give your parole to a captor you may not take part in any escape attempts (but you ''can'' be rescued).
to:
* FictionalGenevaConventions: The "rules of war" in this setting are more gentlemens' agreements between nations but ''are'' laid down by the Abbentheren Accords and observed to the letter, lest the other guy not do so next time the tables are reversed. If you strike your colors, you are considered to have surrendered and may not resume combat, and if you give your parole to a captor you may not take part in any escape attempts (but you ''can'' be rescued). Orbital bombardment is also banned.
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* ISurrenderSuckers: Notably this is considered a violation of the rules of war: if you strike your colors you are not allowed to rejoin the fight or resist boarding parties,
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* ISurrenderSuckers: Notably this is considered a violation of the rules of war: if you strike your colors you are not allowed to rejoin the fight or resist boarding parties, and if you are captured and give your parole you may not attempt escape (but can be rescued).
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* SchizoTech: The widely varying tech levels in the series means that people on Dalthus often die waiting for an animal-powered vehicle to take them to the only source of high-end sci-fi medicine on the planet. This includes Alexis' grandmother, who died in childbirth. See also loading and firing FrickinLaserBeams by hand (they're at least breech-loaders).
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* SchizoTech: The widely varying tech levels in the series means that people on Dalthus often die waiting for an animal-powered vehicle to take them to the only source of high-end sci-fi medicine on the planet. This includes Alexis' grandmother, who died in childbirth. See also loading and firing FrickinLaserBeams by hand (they're at least breech-loaders). {{Justified}} in the latter case by the fact that any other style of weapon would be AwesomeButImpractical in darkspace: incorporating the necessary amount of gallenium to shield missile electronics or ship's power supplies to a laser isn't cost-effective. The third book shows off a French non-FTL cruiser that ''does'' have such weapons.
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* SpaceSailing: Ships in TheVerse are propelled through darkspace via charged sails that harness the "winds" of dark energy, which tends to flow towards massive objects like planetary systems. Since nothing electrical works in darkspace unless shielded with expensive [[{{Unobtainium}} gallenium]], this means the sails have to be set by hand.
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* SpaceSailing: Ships in TheVerse are propelled through darkspace via charged sails that harness the "winds" of dark energy, which tends to flow towards massive objects like planetary systems. Since nothing electrical works in darkspace unless shielded with expensive [[{{Unobtainium}} gallenium]], this means the sails have to be set by hand.hand, and complexity and cost of sailplan governs the size of interstellar ships.
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''[[www.alexiscarew.com/series/alexis-carew/ Alexis Carew]]'' is a series of SpaceOpera novels by Creator/JASutherland.
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* FantasyGenevaConventions: The "rules of war" in this setting are more gentlemens' agreements between nations but ''are'' observed to the letter, lest the other guy not do so next time the tables are reversed. If you strike your colors, you are considered to have surrendered and may not resume combat, and if you give your parole to a captor you may not take part in any escape attempts (but you ''can'' be rescued).
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* FantasyGenevaConventions: FictionalGenevaConventions: The "rules of war" in this setting are more gentlemens' agreements between nations but ''are'' observed to the letter, lest the other guy not do so next time the tables are reversed. If you strike your colors, you are considered to have surrendered and may not resume combat, and if you give your parole to a captor you may not take part in any escape attempts (but you ''can'' be rescued).
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''Alexis Carew'' is a series of SpaceOpera novels by Creator/JASutherland.
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Appointed a midshipman by the kindly Captain Grantham aboard Her Majesty's Sloop ''Merlin'' while her grandfather lobbies to have the laws changed, Alexis, now the only female officer in the Fringe Fleet, battles pirates and sexist shipmates and superiors alike, as war brews with the neighboring Republic of Hanover. It's basically ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' [-InSpace-] if Horatio was instead Horati''a''. The series contains the following works.
to:
Appointed a midshipman by the kindly Captain Grantham aboard Her Majesty's Sloop ''Merlin'' while her grandfather lobbies to have the laws changed, Alexis, now the only female officer in the Fringe Fleet, battles pirates and sexist shipmates and superiors alike, as war brews with the neighboring Republic of Hanover. It's basically ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' [-InSpace-] if Horatio was instead Horati''a''. Horati''a''.
The series contains the following works.
The series contains the following works.
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* FantasticGenevaConventions: The "rules of war" in this setting are more gentlemens' agreements between nations but ''are'' observed to the letter, lest the other guy not do so next time the tables are reversed. If you strike your colors, you are considered to have surrendered and may not resume combat, and if you give your parole to a captor you may not take part in any escape attempts (but you ''can'' be rescued).
to:
* FantasticGenevaConventions: FantasyGenevaConventions: The "rules of war" in this setting are more gentlemens' agreements between nations but ''are'' observed to the letter, lest the other guy not do so next time the tables are reversed. If you strike your colors, you are considered to have surrendered and may not resume combat, and if you give your parole to a captor you may not take part in any escape attempts (but you ''can'' be rescued).
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[[quoteright:313:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alexis_carew_into_the_dark.jpg]]
''Alexis Carew'' is a series of SpaceOpera novels by Creator/JASutherland.
The only living descendant of a landowner on the planet Dalthus IV on the extreme fringe of the New London Kingdom, Alexis Carew grew up raised by her doting grandfather Denholm and his farmhands. Unfortunately [[NoWomansLand women's rights took a giant leap backward during Dalthus' colonization]] and inheritance operates on [[HeirClubForMen agnatic primogeniture]], so she must marry if she's to keep the family's considerable estate in the family. So, what's a tomboy to do when all the boys of her age and class are entitled sexist idiots?
[[NonSequitur Join the Navy.]]
Appointed a midshipman by the kindly Captain Grantham aboard Her Majesty's Sloop ''Merlin'' while her grandfather lobbies to have the laws changed, Alexis, now the only female officer in the Fringe Fleet, battles pirates and sexist shipmates and superiors alike, as war brews with the neighboring Republic of Hanover. It's basically ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' [-InSpace-] if Horatio was instead Horati''a''. The series contains the following works.
* Novels:
** ''Into the Dark'' (2014)
** ''Mutineer'' (2015)
** ''The Little Ships'' (2015)
** ''HMS Nightingale'' (2016, forthcoming)
* Novellas:
** ''Wronged'' (2015): Set 30 years prior to ''Into the Dark'' but dealing with events connected to ''The Little Ships'', starring [[AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent Someone Completely Different]].
** ''Planetfall'' (2016): {{Prequel}} to ''Into the Dark'' starring Alexis' grandfather, depicting the colonization of Dalthus.
----
!!These books provide examples of the following tropes:
* AffectionateNickname: Alexis finds out via an overheard conversation in a pub that she's become known among the crew as "Little Bit", short for "Little Bit of Bosun", in reference to her AMotherToHerMen command style and [[PintSizedPowerhouse reputation as a fighter]] (from the incident with Alan, which grew in the telling).
* AsYouKnow: A ''lot'' of {{exposition}} is done in the first book via people explaining things to Alexis, everything from port and starboard to how FasterThanLightTravel works. {{Justified}} in that until she signs onto HMS ''Merlin'' she's never been off-planet before.
* AttemptedRape: Alexis is nearly raped by a drunken spacer, Alan, in ''Into the Dark'', but she fights him off and refuses to press charges because she didn't want to see him hanged for it. [[spoiler:Alan stops drinking after this and later does a HeroicSacrifice to save her life.]] She's also threatened with it a couple times, but informs a sexist midshipman in ''Mutineer'' that if he so much as touches her, his next meal will be "nutmegs and sausage".
* CaptainObvious: "You're a girl." Said to Alexis no less than four times by surprised ratings and midshipmen she's introduced to on ''Merlin''. Then turned on its head when she tries to head it off with Dudgeon, the ship's "carpenter" (essentially chief of maintenance and damage control), by introducing herself with, "I'm a girl."
-->'''Dudgeon:''' Well and I can see that, can't I? I'm not blind.
* CombatPragmatist: Alexis was already taught to brawl a bit by foremen on her grandfather's estate, and was taught that if a man laid his hands on her with ill intent, she was to hurt him however much she had to to neutralize him. After her near-rape Alexis starts training with the SpaceMarine contingent. Her first trainer teaches her to fight dirty to compensate for her small size: she demonstrates it by breaking a muggers' fingers later.
* DirtyCoward: Alexis realizes this of Captain Neals when he deliberately misidentifies a Hanoverian frigate challenging them to battle as a merchantman that's too far away to catch.
* FantasyConflictCounterpart: The setting provides a major subversion: unlike most iterations of ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' [-InSpace-], Space England's war is not with Space Napoleonic France, but Space ''Germany''. On the other hand, the mutiny in ''Mutineer'' is based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hermione_(1782) historical mutiny]] aboard HMS ''Hermione'', down to the name of the ship.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: New London = Britain, Republic of Hanover = Germany, French Republic = France. A Space China and a second Space Germany are also mentioned. Belying the ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' [-InSpace-] stylings of the series, though, the international relations are closer to a blend of the world wars, with New London at war with Hanover and the French Republic as an initially neutral power friendly to New London, and the Hanoverians controlling a group of formerly French planets following a war several generations ago that are still culturally French (Space Alsace-Lorraine).
* FasterThanLightTravel: Ships enter and exit darkspace at Lagrange points in normal space (points where two or more gravitational fields interact and partially neutralize each other), then use sails to harness the natural flow of dark energy towards massive objects such as planetary systems. Travel is faster the further away from massive objects you are. It's also noted that nobody really understands the why of it, just how to harness the forces involved.
* FantasticGenevaConventions: The "rules of war" in this setting are more gentlemens' agreements between nations but ''are'' observed to the letter, lest the other guy not do so next time the tables are reversed. If you strike your colors, you are considered to have surrendered and may not resume combat, and if you give your parole to a captor you may not take part in any escape attempts (but you ''can'' be rescued).
* GentlemanSnarker:
** GenderFlipped with Alexis has a ''very'' sharp wit. Her first night aboard ''Merlin'', an older midshipman, Roland, makes an innuendo about her bunkmate Philip Easley, wondering if she took the top bunk or the bottom bunk.
--->'''Roland:''' Likely the top. Given young Easely, after all. Can't imagine him on top! ... Though I'm a topman, myself, and always will be!\\
'''Alexis:''' I'm quite sure that Mister Easely would acquit himself with distinction, no matter the position.\\
'''Roland:''' Mayhap. But you’ll never find me on the bottom, I assure you.\\
'''Alexis:''' I’m sorry to hear your repertoire is so limited , sir. Perhaps with more experience, you’ll achieve some versatility. ''(everybody else bursts out laughing)''
** See also: Captain Grantham after Alexis has to resort to BuffySpeak in response to a PopQuiz of the midshipmen when she can't remember the terminology.
--->'''Grantham:''' And it is a ''keelboard'', Mister Carew, not any sort of 'thingie', if you please, sir.
* HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace: Darkspace is basically an ocean of dark matter, and that's all anyone really understands about it. Everything is slowed by it, from light to massive objects to minds: a man who goes "overboard" in darkspace and passes outside the protection of the ship's gallenium starts to feel like his brain and his limbs are becoming sluggish. It's rumored men who go overboard will often dump their air if the ship doesn't look like it's coming back for them, rather than wait and suffer the effects.
* ISurrenderSuckers: Notably this is considered a violation of the rules of war: if you strike your colors you are not allowed to rejoin the fight or resist boarding parties,
* InherentlyFunnyWords: Alexis trying to learn traditional naval terminology leads to a bit of this.
-->'''Alexis:''' ''(reading the name of a structural segment off her tablet)'' "Forward-twelve-port, first ''futtock''"? Now you're just making things up!
* AMotherToHerMen: Alexis learned to handle men from running a plantation with her grandfather, and tends to win the UndyingLoyalty of the crew under her by directing with a kind word and a smile and by joining in with their work. The horribly sexist Captain Neals wrongly infers from this that she's trading sexual favors for their loyalty. [[spoiler:His busting her down to ordinary spacer and having her flogged for refusing to [[KneelBeforeZod kneel to anyone but the queen]] is ultimately what triggers the mutiny that's been building for most of the book to that point.]]
* NoWomansLand: Notably it's only New London where women's rights have taken a giant leap backward: the first important Hanoverian officer we're introduced to is a female commodore. But in Space Britain, despite being ruled by a queen it's rare to see female officers or crew in the core worlds and utterly unheard-of in the Fringe Fleet, and that's before you include the part where a number of colonies have gone even further and banned women from inheriting (which is illegal, but they're so far from anyone who cares that doing anything about it is difficult). Naturally, this means that Alexis takes crap from ''everyone'' just for having two X chromosomes, though she tends to win over the common spacers with her AMotherToHerMen tendencies. {{Exaggerated}} in ''Mutineer'' when she is taken aboard by Captain Neals, who makes it his personal mission to drive her to resignation.
* RebelliousPrincess: Alexis ''technically'' isn't a noblewoman, but by her homeworld's standards she's the next best thing. She balks at the gender roles society wants to place her in, refusing to marry some asshat solely so her family's land stays in the family. Note that these gender roles have only been legally enforced on her planet for two generations at most, so she's got some reason.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Alan. Alexis shows mercy after he gets drunk and tries to rape her. Way later, he fakes going over to pirates to keep them from killing her and the other prize crew members on a captured pinnace, then dies helping them retake the ship.]]
* SchizoTech: The widely varying tech levels in the series means that people on Dalthus often die waiting for an animal-powered vehicle to take them to the only source of high-end sci-fi medicine on the planet. This includes Alexis' grandmother, who died in childbirth. See also loading and firing FrickinLaserBeams by hand (they're at least breech-loaders).
* ShoutOut: Sans beret, the New London Navy's uniforms bear a striking resemblance to Starfleet uniforms from ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', except blue.
* SpaceSailing: Ships in TheVerse are propelled through darkspace via charged sails that harness the "winds" of dark energy, which tends to flow towards massive objects like planetary systems. Since nothing electrical works in darkspace unless shielded with expensive [[{{Unobtainium}} gallenium]], this means the sails have to be set by hand.
* SpiritualSuccessor: The comparisons to Creator/DavidDrake's ''Literature/{{RCN}}'' series are unavoidable and frequent in reviews.
* ToThePain: [[spoiler:After summarily executing the pirate leader Horsfall, she threatens his navigator Brightey into getting them home. He assumes she'll shoot him, but she instead tells him she'll stick him in a vacsuit, tie his hands behind his back so he can't dump his air, then throw him out the airlock and hang around just out of reach to watch him die.]]
* {{Unobtainium}}: Gallenium, a naturally occurring mineral that produces a field that protects items within it from the effects of darkspace.
* WoodenShipsAndIronMen: Well, Thermoplastic and {{Unobtainium}} Ships, but the rest checks out: everything about the workings of space travel is based heavily on the Age of Sail, from the brutal discipline and classism down to the tiniest terminology of mast and sail sections. The terminology part gets a lampshade when Alexis wonders aloud if "tradition" is some synonym for insanity.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: So you've just been left behind in a non-FTL-capable shuttle with a Hanoverian customs cutter closing in. What do you do? Well, if you're Alexis, you pretend to be a terrified sixteen-year-old girl with a drunken crew and board the Hanoverians when they come to rescue you.
* WrongInsultOffense: In response to an UpperClassTwit calling her a "stupid bitch" over the radio, she remarks aloud that "The very worst thing about being a woman in this Navy is that the insults are so very limited. You men get called all the imaginative ones."
-->'''Bosun:''' Aye, sir. [[BrickJoke A quite limited repertoire]], these Coalsons have.
----
''Alexis Carew'' is a series of SpaceOpera novels by Creator/JASutherland.
The only living descendant of a landowner on the planet Dalthus IV on the extreme fringe of the New London Kingdom, Alexis Carew grew up raised by her doting grandfather Denholm and his farmhands. Unfortunately [[NoWomansLand women's rights took a giant leap backward during Dalthus' colonization]] and inheritance operates on [[HeirClubForMen agnatic primogeniture]], so she must marry if she's to keep the family's considerable estate in the family. So, what's a tomboy to do when all the boys of her age and class are entitled sexist idiots?
[[NonSequitur Join the Navy.]]
Appointed a midshipman by the kindly Captain Grantham aboard Her Majesty's Sloop ''Merlin'' while her grandfather lobbies to have the laws changed, Alexis, now the only female officer in the Fringe Fleet, battles pirates and sexist shipmates and superiors alike, as war brews with the neighboring Republic of Hanover. It's basically ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' [-InSpace-] if Horatio was instead Horati''a''. The series contains the following works.
* Novels:
** ''Into the Dark'' (2014)
** ''Mutineer'' (2015)
** ''The Little Ships'' (2015)
** ''HMS Nightingale'' (2016, forthcoming)
* Novellas:
** ''Wronged'' (2015): Set 30 years prior to ''Into the Dark'' but dealing with events connected to ''The Little Ships'', starring [[AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent Someone Completely Different]].
** ''Planetfall'' (2016): {{Prequel}} to ''Into the Dark'' starring Alexis' grandfather, depicting the colonization of Dalthus.
----
!!These books provide examples of the following tropes:
* AffectionateNickname: Alexis finds out via an overheard conversation in a pub that she's become known among the crew as "Little Bit", short for "Little Bit of Bosun", in reference to her AMotherToHerMen command style and [[PintSizedPowerhouse reputation as a fighter]] (from the incident with Alan, which grew in the telling).
* AsYouKnow: A ''lot'' of {{exposition}} is done in the first book via people explaining things to Alexis, everything from port and starboard to how FasterThanLightTravel works. {{Justified}} in that until she signs onto HMS ''Merlin'' she's never been off-planet before.
* AttemptedRape: Alexis is nearly raped by a drunken spacer, Alan, in ''Into the Dark'', but she fights him off and refuses to press charges because she didn't want to see him hanged for it. [[spoiler:Alan stops drinking after this and later does a HeroicSacrifice to save her life.]] She's also threatened with it a couple times, but informs a sexist midshipman in ''Mutineer'' that if he so much as touches her, his next meal will be "nutmegs and sausage".
* CaptainObvious: "You're a girl." Said to Alexis no less than four times by surprised ratings and midshipmen she's introduced to on ''Merlin''. Then turned on its head when she tries to head it off with Dudgeon, the ship's "carpenter" (essentially chief of maintenance and damage control), by introducing herself with, "I'm a girl."
-->'''Dudgeon:''' Well and I can see that, can't I? I'm not blind.
* CombatPragmatist: Alexis was already taught to brawl a bit by foremen on her grandfather's estate, and was taught that if a man laid his hands on her with ill intent, she was to hurt him however much she had to to neutralize him. After her near-rape Alexis starts training with the SpaceMarine contingent. Her first trainer teaches her to fight dirty to compensate for her small size: she demonstrates it by breaking a muggers' fingers later.
* DirtyCoward: Alexis realizes this of Captain Neals when he deliberately misidentifies a Hanoverian frigate challenging them to battle as a merchantman that's too far away to catch.
* FantasyConflictCounterpart: The setting provides a major subversion: unlike most iterations of ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' [-InSpace-], Space England's war is not with Space Napoleonic France, but Space ''Germany''. On the other hand, the mutiny in ''Mutineer'' is based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hermione_(1782) historical mutiny]] aboard HMS ''Hermione'', down to the name of the ship.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: New London = Britain, Republic of Hanover = Germany, French Republic = France. A Space China and a second Space Germany are also mentioned. Belying the ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' [-InSpace-] stylings of the series, though, the international relations are closer to a blend of the world wars, with New London at war with Hanover and the French Republic as an initially neutral power friendly to New London, and the Hanoverians controlling a group of formerly French planets following a war several generations ago that are still culturally French (Space Alsace-Lorraine).
* FasterThanLightTravel: Ships enter and exit darkspace at Lagrange points in normal space (points where two or more gravitational fields interact and partially neutralize each other), then use sails to harness the natural flow of dark energy towards massive objects such as planetary systems. Travel is faster the further away from massive objects you are. It's also noted that nobody really understands the why of it, just how to harness the forces involved.
* FantasticGenevaConventions: The "rules of war" in this setting are more gentlemens' agreements between nations but ''are'' observed to the letter, lest the other guy not do so next time the tables are reversed. If you strike your colors, you are considered to have surrendered and may not resume combat, and if you give your parole to a captor you may not take part in any escape attempts (but you ''can'' be rescued).
* GentlemanSnarker:
** GenderFlipped with Alexis has a ''very'' sharp wit. Her first night aboard ''Merlin'', an older midshipman, Roland, makes an innuendo about her bunkmate Philip Easley, wondering if she took the top bunk or the bottom bunk.
--->'''Roland:''' Likely the top. Given young Easely, after all. Can't imagine him on top! ... Though I'm a topman, myself, and always will be!\\
'''Alexis:''' I'm quite sure that Mister Easely would acquit himself with distinction, no matter the position.\\
'''Roland:''' Mayhap. But you’ll never find me on the bottom, I assure you.\\
'''Alexis:''' I’m sorry to hear your repertoire is so limited , sir. Perhaps with more experience, you’ll achieve some versatility. ''(everybody else bursts out laughing)''
** See also: Captain Grantham after Alexis has to resort to BuffySpeak in response to a PopQuiz of the midshipmen when she can't remember the terminology.
--->'''Grantham:''' And it is a ''keelboard'', Mister Carew, not any sort of 'thingie', if you please, sir.
* HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace: Darkspace is basically an ocean of dark matter, and that's all anyone really understands about it. Everything is slowed by it, from light to massive objects to minds: a man who goes "overboard" in darkspace and passes outside the protection of the ship's gallenium starts to feel like his brain and his limbs are becoming sluggish. It's rumored men who go overboard will often dump their air if the ship doesn't look like it's coming back for them, rather than wait and suffer the effects.
* ISurrenderSuckers: Notably this is considered a violation of the rules of war: if you strike your colors you are not allowed to rejoin the fight or resist boarding parties,
* InherentlyFunnyWords: Alexis trying to learn traditional naval terminology leads to a bit of this.
-->'''Alexis:''' ''(reading the name of a structural segment off her tablet)'' "Forward-twelve-port, first ''futtock''"? Now you're just making things up!
* AMotherToHerMen: Alexis learned to handle men from running a plantation with her grandfather, and tends to win the UndyingLoyalty of the crew under her by directing with a kind word and a smile and by joining in with their work. The horribly sexist Captain Neals wrongly infers from this that she's trading sexual favors for their loyalty. [[spoiler:His busting her down to ordinary spacer and having her flogged for refusing to [[KneelBeforeZod kneel to anyone but the queen]] is ultimately what triggers the mutiny that's been building for most of the book to that point.]]
* NoWomansLand: Notably it's only New London where women's rights have taken a giant leap backward: the first important Hanoverian officer we're introduced to is a female commodore. But in Space Britain, despite being ruled by a queen it's rare to see female officers or crew in the core worlds and utterly unheard-of in the Fringe Fleet, and that's before you include the part where a number of colonies have gone even further and banned women from inheriting (which is illegal, but they're so far from anyone who cares that doing anything about it is difficult). Naturally, this means that Alexis takes crap from ''everyone'' just for having two X chromosomes, though she tends to win over the common spacers with her AMotherToHerMen tendencies. {{Exaggerated}} in ''Mutineer'' when she is taken aboard by Captain Neals, who makes it his personal mission to drive her to resignation.
* RebelliousPrincess: Alexis ''technically'' isn't a noblewoman, but by her homeworld's standards she's the next best thing. She balks at the gender roles society wants to place her in, refusing to marry some asshat solely so her family's land stays in the family. Note that these gender roles have only been legally enforced on her planet for two generations at most, so she's got some reason.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Alan. Alexis shows mercy after he gets drunk and tries to rape her. Way later, he fakes going over to pirates to keep them from killing her and the other prize crew members on a captured pinnace, then dies helping them retake the ship.]]
* SchizoTech: The widely varying tech levels in the series means that people on Dalthus often die waiting for an animal-powered vehicle to take them to the only source of high-end sci-fi medicine on the planet. This includes Alexis' grandmother, who died in childbirth. See also loading and firing FrickinLaserBeams by hand (they're at least breech-loaders).
* ShoutOut: Sans beret, the New London Navy's uniforms bear a striking resemblance to Starfleet uniforms from ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', except blue.
* SpaceSailing: Ships in TheVerse are propelled through darkspace via charged sails that harness the "winds" of dark energy, which tends to flow towards massive objects like planetary systems. Since nothing electrical works in darkspace unless shielded with expensive [[{{Unobtainium}} gallenium]], this means the sails have to be set by hand.
* SpiritualSuccessor: The comparisons to Creator/DavidDrake's ''Literature/{{RCN}}'' series are unavoidable and frequent in reviews.
* ToThePain: [[spoiler:After summarily executing the pirate leader Horsfall, she threatens his navigator Brightey into getting them home. He assumes she'll shoot him, but she instead tells him she'll stick him in a vacsuit, tie his hands behind his back so he can't dump his air, then throw him out the airlock and hang around just out of reach to watch him die.]]
* {{Unobtainium}}: Gallenium, a naturally occurring mineral that produces a field that protects items within it from the effects of darkspace.
* WoodenShipsAndIronMen: Well, Thermoplastic and {{Unobtainium}} Ships, but the rest checks out: everything about the workings of space travel is based heavily on the Age of Sail, from the brutal discipline and classism down to the tiniest terminology of mast and sail sections. The terminology part gets a lampshade when Alexis wonders aloud if "tradition" is some synonym for insanity.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: So you've just been left behind in a non-FTL-capable shuttle with a Hanoverian customs cutter closing in. What do you do? Well, if you're Alexis, you pretend to be a terrified sixteen-year-old girl with a drunken crew and board the Hanoverians when they come to rescue you.
* WrongInsultOffense: In response to an UpperClassTwit calling her a "stupid bitch" over the radio, she remarks aloud that "The very worst thing about being a woman in this Navy is that the insults are so very limited. You men get called all the imaginative ones."
-->'''Bosun:''' Aye, sir. [[BrickJoke A quite limited repertoire]], these Coalsons have.
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