History Literature / BitingTheSun

* DomedHometown: The three Fours Cities.
** There are actually four of these cities. Lee had planned to write a third book about Four BII, the city she never described, but her publisher didn't want it.

* EveryoneIsBi ''and/or'' NoBisexuals: All the relationships we see until the end of part 2 are opposite-sex, but not necessarily opposite-gender (e.g. the protagonist and Danor.) The one same-sex couple we do see is implied to be more of an IfItsYouItsOkay situation (one of the participants is male-identifying but stuck in a female body.) Basically, all the sex changes make it a little complicated.

* FoodFight: In ''Drinking Sapphire Wine'', during a lunch break in the narrator's murder trial (attended by hundreds of curious Jang) the narrator's friend Mirri is furious with Zirk (the newly-resurrected murder victim) for having the audacity to make a pass at the narrator. Mirri throws a bowl of cherries at Zirk, setting off a massive food fight.

* MasterSwordsman: In ''Drinking Sapphire Wine'', the narrator is studying UsefulNotes/EuropeanSwordsmanship as a pastime. While perhaps not really a master as such, he knows what he's doing and is competent enough to win a duel against a much larger opponent (the aforesaid Zirk, whom he kills, setting off the rest of the plot). A popular Jang pastime is the Adventure Palace, where you can play at this sort of "ancient grandeur" all you like.

** The author does not handle homosexuality well in this series. She specifies that people's life-sparks or essences are predominantly male or female. Some of these life-sparks should be gay and Lesbian, and she never mentions this. This was corrected and explored in a spectacular FanFic, ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/335663/chapters/542673 A Real Sky]]'', begun in 2004, which the author tori_siikanen (ceeainthereforthat) has slowly added to over the years and promises ''will'' be finished.

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'''Tropes present in this book include:'''

* [[spoiler:BabiesEverAfter]]

* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife
* DesignerBabies

* FutureSlang: A scattering of words, mainly swears.

* SufficientlyAdvancedTechnology

* TitleDrop

* WingedHumanoid: One of many options for the bodies people design themselves, appearing a couple times.

** The author does not handle homosexuality well in this series. She specifies that people's life-sparks or essences are predominantly male or female. There should be actual gays and Lesbians, and there are not. This was corrected and explored in a spectacular FanFic, ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/335663/chapters/542673 A Real Sky]]'', begun in 2004, which the author has slowly added to over the years and promises ''will'' be finished.

* DomedHometown: The three Fours Cities

** The author does not handle homosexuality well in this series. She specifies that people's life-sparks or essences are predominantly male or female. There should be actual gays and Lesbians, and there are not. This was corrected and explored in a spectacular FanFic, ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/335663/chapters/542673 A Real Sky]]'', which unfortunately was never finished.

** The author does not handle homosexuality well in this series. She specifies that people's life-sparks or essences are predominantly male or female. There should be actual gays and Lesbians, and there are not. This was corrected and explored in a spectacular FanFic, ''[[http://tori-siikanen.livejournal.com/1765.html Look for the Sky]]'', which unfortunately was never finished.

** The author does not handle homosexuality well in this series. She specifies that people's life-sparks or essences are predominantly male or female. There should be actual gays and Lesbians, and there are not. This was corrected and explored in a spectacular FanFic, ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2647458/1/Look-For-The-Sky Look for the Sky]]'', which unfortunately was never finished.

In TheSeventies, Tanith Lee wrote two short novels entitled ''Don't Bite The Sun'' and its {{sequel}} ''Drinking Sapphire Wine.'' These novels were later collected into a single volume as ''Biting the Sun''.