History Literature / Stravaganza

* BittersweetEnding: The ending to ''City of Masks'' is actually pretty tragic. [[spoiler: Lucien's real body dies, leaving him [[TrappedInAnotherWorld stranded in Bellezza]], unable to return home. Lucien does acknowledge that he was probably going to die in his own world anyway since his cancer had returned, but that doesn't change the fact that his parents lost their son and he didn't even get to say goodbye to them]]. However, the heroes do score a victory over the [[EvilIsOneBigHappyFamily di Chimici]].

** Subverted somewhat with the Pope himself — on a personal level, he's not a bad guy and does try to keep the Church from doing anything it shouldn't. It's too bad he tends to bow to his older brother's wishes.

* CycleOfRevenge: Oh god yes. [[spoiler: The feud between the di Chimici and Nucci families has been going on for decades, and the cycle starts afresh in ''City of Flowers'' when one of the Nucci sons poisons Duke Niccolo, Carlo di Chimici enlists Enrico to help him murder Davide Nucci, the Nucci attack the di Chimici wedding...]]

* GreyAndGreyMorality: The entire plot of Book Six is based around a dispute over the throne of the city of Fortezza between two children of the previous ruler: Ludovico, the oldest but illegitimate child and only son who bases his claim on his seniority and his belief (shared by many) that only men can rule; and Lucia, who bases her claim on her belief (also shared by many) that Ludovico's illegitimacy disqualifies him from the throne. None of their respective supporters or opponents seem to care for apparently trivial matters such as who would make a better ruler or who the city's inhabitants actually prefer.

* TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask: Duchessa Silvia is this trope to the letter, even to the mask that she legally must wear as an unmarried woman. However, she does not have to worry about doubts of a woman ruler, as Bellezza would not accept anything ''but'' a female ruler.

* CoolPet: Arianna receives a pair of tamed African cats from Duke Niccolo in book 3. The cats later have kittens, and Arianna gives them to close friends and allies.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Sky Meadows is... odd to English-speaking ears. But when he stravagates to Talia, he's named ''[[EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench Celestino Pascoli]]''. His name basically TookALevelInBadass.

* ThisIsMyNameOnForeign: The young protagonists from modern-day Britain get new names in [[IstanbulNotConstantinople Talia.]] A [[AwesomeMcCoolname particular winner]] of this linguistic lottery is Sky Meadows, now dubbed "Celestino Pascoli."

* [[IllGirl Ill Boy]]: Lucien and Falco [[spoiler:until each gets translated]].

%%* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: By book three? Oh yes.

* FishOutOfTemporalWater: All the Stravaganti.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: By book three? Oh yes.
* LoveAtFirstSight: In book 6, Laura for Ludo.
* [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou Mommy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You]]: Well, she did, Arianna.

** And this is played [[TearJerker to its heartbreaking conclusion when]] [[spoiler:Lucien's entrapment in Bellezza for about two days translates into a three-week coma in England — coinciding with a resurgence of his brain cancer. His parents, having concluded he's never waking up, decide to cut off his life support.]]
* OfficialCouple: [[spoiler:Arianna and Luciano.]]

* ParentalAbandonment: Lots.

* TimeTravelRomance: [[spoiler:Laura and Ludo]].

** Played completely straight with [[spoiler:Lucien]] at the end of his book in a scene that is pure TearJerker.

* BittersweetEnding: The ending to ''City of Masks'' is actually pretty tragic. [[spoiler: Lucien's real body dies, leaving him [[TrappedInAnotherWorld stranded in Bellezza]], unable to return home]], but the heroes do score victory over the [[EvilIsOneBigHappyFamily di Chimici]].

* CorruptChurch: The evil di Chimici family practically run Talia's version of the Catholic Church — in the second book, we discover that the Pope is the villain's brother.
** Subverted somewhat with the Pope — on a personal level, he's not a bad guy and does try to keep the Church from doing anything it shouldn't. It's too bad he tends to bow to his older brother's wishes.

* CycleOfRevenge: Oh god yes.

* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Enrico, when he realises that he was tricked into killing his fiancée.]]
* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:In the first book.]] Technically.

* PurpleEyes: Arianna and the Duchessa both[[spoiler:, which is an early clue that they're related]].

* ReplacementLoveInterest: [[spoiler:Nick for Georgia]]. Doubles as SecondLove.

* TheAtoner: [[spoiler:Enrico, after his FaceHeelTurn.]]

* HeelFaceTurn [[spoiler:Enrico, when he realises that he was tricked into killing his fiancée.]]

** PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: All of the di Chimici couples in the third book. Also includes as KissingCousins in their case.
** Averted with [[spoiler: Beatrice di Chimici, who turns into a [[RunawayFiance Runaway Fiancee]] to avoid marrying her cousin Filippo when her brother, the Grand Duke, tries to force her into a marriage.]]

* TheAtoner: [[spoiler: Enrico, after his FaceHeelTurn.]]
* AvengingTheVillain: Happens in the fourth book when [[spoiler:the Chimici are trying to arrest Luciano for causing their head of family's death]].
* AwesomeMcCoolname: Sky Meadows is... odd to English-speaking ears. But when he stravagates to Talia, he's named ''[[EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench Celestino Pascoli.]]'' His name basically TookALevelInBadass.
* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: In ''City of Masks,'' [[spoiler: Arianna is named the new Duchessa of Bellezza.]] In ''City of Ships'', [[spoiler: Filippo Nucci is elected the new Duke of Classe.]] In ''City of Swords'', [[spoiler: Lucia di Chimici becomes the Princess of Fortezza after a long and bloody siege.]]

* BetaCouple: [[spoiler: Georgia and Nick. Later on, Matt and Ayesha, as well as Sky and Isabel.]]

* BigBrotherInstinct: Gaetano
* BigScrewedUpFamily: the di Chimici
* BittersweetEnding: The ending to ''City of Masks'' is actually pretty tragic. [[spoiler: Lucien's real body dies, leaving him [[TrappedInAnotherWorld stranded in Bellezza]], unable to return home]], but the heroes do score victory over the [[EvilIsOneBigHappyFamily Di Chimici]].
* BodyDouble: The Duchessa uses different doubles for all the flashy ceremonies, such as the Marriage with the Sea - she began this procedure when [[spoiler: she became pregnant with her daughter, Arianna.]] One such double thinks she can outsmart the Duchessa, rat out her secret, and throw her lot in with the di Chimici with no ill consequences. She's wrong.
* CityOfCanals: Bellezza, which reflects Venice

* CorruptChurch: the evil di Chimici family practically run Talia's version of the Catholic Church - in the second book, we discover that the Pope is the villain's brother.
** Subverted somewhat with the Pope - on a personal level, he's not a bad guy and does try to keep the Church from doing anything it shouldn't. It's too bad he tends to bow to his older brother's wishes.

* EvilIsOneBigHappyFamily: The Di Chimici. Most of them.
* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:Silvia]]
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The series revolves around Talia, the "Culture of Renaissance Italy"

* HappilyAdopted: Heartbreakingly subverted by [[spoiler:Luciano and Falco/Nick]]. While they both love and are happy with their foster families, neither can stop longing for their real families, particularly [[spoiler:Nick]].
** Also played straight with [[spoiler: Arianna.]] Justified in that [[spoiler:she didn't even know she was adopted until she turned sixteen.]]
* HeelFaceTurn [[spoiler:Enrico, when he realises that he was tricked into killing his fiancée]]

* HiddenInPlainSight: Arianna hides and spends the night in the start of ''City Of Masks'' on the balcony of the Santa Maddalena Cathedral, while a massive festival is in progress -- in plain sight of the massive Piazza crowded with partiers! RefugeInAudacity indeed.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In book 3, [[spoiler:Niccolo di Chimici is killed with a poisoned rapier he was planning to use against Luciano]].
* ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe: Shades of this for [[spoiler: Isabel and Sky]] and [[spoiler: Laura and Ludo]].
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: 'City of ___'
* [[IllGirl Ill Boy]]: Lucien and Falco [[spoiler: until each gets translated]]

* JerkAss: Georgia's stepbrother, Russell

* [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou Mommy Had A Good Reason For Abandoning You]]: Well, she did, Arianna.
* MosesInTheBulrushes: [[spoiler: Arianna. Her mother could not take care of her, so she was left with her aunt and uncle and never told that she was even ''related'' to the Duchessa.]]
* NarniaTime: Most of the time, it's a consistent one-to-one day ratio between Talia and England, with the only oddity being that day and night are switched. But from the first, we know that the timeflow is much more unstable - Doctor Dethridge, who lived in the Renaissance and was the first Stravagante, regularly gets visits from Stravaganti from modern-day England because time has flown by more quickly in England.
** And this is played [[TearJerker to its heartbreaking conclusion when]] [[spoiler: Lucien's entrapment in Bellezza for about two days translates into a three-week coma in England - coinciding with a resurgence of his brain cancer. His parents, having concluded he's never waking up, decide to cut off his life support.]]
* OfficialCouple: [[spoiler: Arianna and Luciano]]
* OlderThanTheyThink: In-universe: the Stellata, unbeknownst to most Remorans, is coincident with a much older Manoush (Gypsy) festival

* RefugeInAudacity: Arianna's plan at the start of ''City of Masks'' involves staying in Bellezza proper on the one day when a non-Bellezzan straying on the island is punished by death. No one has broken this law for a hundred years, that she knows of, so she relies on the assumption that no one would ''possibly'' try.

* SecondLove: [[spoiler: Nick for Georgia. Isabel for Sky.]]

* ShrinkingViolet: Georgia is a variation in that she has a lot of pent-up anger and upset beneath that shyness. Part of her development in Talia involves becoming as forceful outside as she is inside.
** Isabel plays it straight; she avoids attention so she won't be compared to her talented twin brother, but feels even worse because nobody notices her. Laura may also qualify - she tries to present herself as normal as possible to conceal the fact she's self-harming. Her parents have no clue, though they worry because she avoids her friends when she's at home.

* SmugSnake: Enrico

* TimeTravelRomance: [[spoiler: Laura and Ludo]].
** [[spoiler: Lucien and Arianna]] and [[spoiler: Georgia and Falco]] are more unusual cases, because the romantic relationship began [[spoiler: after Lucien and Falco moved into the other time period permanently]].

* TrappedInAnotherWorld: 'Trapped' isn't quite the word, since the Stravaganti fell asleep with their talismans, but the principle is the same - and if you lose your talisman, or die in your home world, you ''are'' trapped.

* {{Alchemy}}: Dr. Dethridge was an alchemist back in England before he discovered stravagation. Also, it is mentioned that Talian alchemists try to turn lead into ''silver'', which is more valuable than gold in Talia.

The series was well-received by critics, though not popular. It was originally intended as a trilogy, but a fourth and now a fifth book was recently released.

* MosesInTheBullrushes: [[spoiler: Arianna. Her mother could not take care of her, so she was left with her aunt and uncle and never told that she was even ''related'' to the Duchessa.]]

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* HotMom: Silvia Bellini. In later books, [[spoiler: Caterina di Chimici]].

* BigBadEnsemble: ''City of Stars'' has two separate [[BigBad Big Bads]] who have nothing to do with each other; [[spoiler:Niccolò Di Chimici and Russell, Georgia's stepbrother]].

* GreyAndGreyMorality: The entire plot of Book Six is based around a dispute over the throne of the city of Fortezza between two children of the previous rulers: Ludovico, the oldest but illegitimate child and only son who bases his claim on his seniority and his belief (shared by many) that only men can rule; and Lucia, who bases her claim on her belief (also shared by many) that Ludovico's illegitimacy disqualifies him from the throne. None of their respective supporters or opponents seem to care for apparently trivial matters such as who would make a better ruler or who the city's inhabitants actually prefer.

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This series provides examples of: