History Literature / ParadoxBound

* NiceHat: Harry always walks around in a colonial-era tricorn, which earns her some odd looks but little more than that. She quickly gets Eli a bowler hat, explaining that it's the most popular men's hat for much of American history.

* NoEqualOpportunityTimeTravel: Harry has some trouble traveling through history, being a young unaccompanied woman. This is why she prefers wearing male clothing, so that most passersby assume she's a man and ignore her. John Henry, being black, has trouble in certain parts of the country and at certain periods in history. He dreams of the time, when skin color doesn't matter.

* EurekaMoment: Eli has several, such as realizing that [[spoiler:the Dream is located in the Founders' House in his hometown. He turns out to be initially wrong, as he realizes that it's the ''former'' location of the Dream, which is the HQ of the Faceless Men. Later on, he realizes that he was right in the first place, and the Dream never left, simply creating an optical illusion to appear missing]].

* SirSwearsalot: Zeke, [[spoiler:before the habit is beat out of him by the Faceless Men, who are big on professionalism and politeness]].

* OurTimeTravelIsDifferent: There are "slick spots" all over the US that allow any person, who knows how to do it, to "skid" from one period of history to another. This is generally limited to the contiguous United States, although some Searchers have managed to make it to Alaska as well. Hawaii and off-shore territories are off-limits, as one can't drive there. History travel is limited to the time America has been a nation (actually to the signing of the Declaration of Independence): 1776 to about [[BadFuture 2050]]. "Skidding" typically requires a vehicle made of American steel (i.e. American plastic or American fiberglass won't cut it). The vast majority of Searchers use automobiles, while John Henry prefers a custom-built train. Eli is a bit disappointing that "skidding" has no special effects. In fact, if one isn't paying attention, it's easy to miss the transition point. According to Harry, hundreds of people "skid" every year, although most don't realize it. Some of them "skid" back to their own time, such as passing through a town that's stuck in history, while others get lost and are unable to find their way back. [[spoiler:Many of them are eliminated by the Faceless Men, whose secondary job is to ensure that American history stays intact from intentional or accidental changes]].

* NiceHat: Harry always walks around in a colonial-era tricorn, which earns her some odd looks but little more than that.

Eli Teague lives in Sanders, Maine, a dead-end town that's way behind the times and [[NothingExcitingEverHappensHere nothing interesting ever happens there]]. Then a strange traveler bursts into his life, not once but twice, first when he's a little kid, and then as a teenager. The person, named Harry, wears colonial-era clothing (complete with a tricorn hat), carries a flintlock rifle, and drives a customized Ford Model A Business Coupe. Finally, at the age of 29, Eli is determined to get some answers, when the stranger reappears in his life. He ends up being thrust into a world of wonder and mystery, cut off from everything he knew.

* PlaceBeyondTime: [[spoiler:in the Faceless Men's headquarters, it's always ''now''. This is why Eli and Harry see hundreds (if not thousands) of Faceless Men working there, despite there being only 48 of them. They initially assume that, because they enter the building a century in the past, they can arrive before the Dream goes missing and steal it themselves. They get there only to see the Dream isn't there. Fifteen tells them that, no matter which period of history is used as the entry point, it's still ''now'' at the HQ, so whatever happened has already occurred]].

* TimeTravelForFunAndProfit: This is [[spoiler:Archibald Truss]]'s goal. He has been making small changes throughout history in order to [[spoiler:build himself a large banking empire]], but he has been careful to avoid attracting the attention of the Faceless Men. [[spoiler:He seeks Abraham Porter's favor in order to use it as a "Get Out of Jail Free" card, so he can make one major historical change and use the favor to get off scot-free. He has zero interest in the Dream]].