History Literature / TalesOfKolmar

%%* SlapSlapKiss: Jamie and Rella [[spoiler:at least until TheyDo.]] %%Does not explain the trope. Character names are not context

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Idai to Akhor. Aral to Vilkas. Will to Aral.

* [[AlternateAnimalAffection Alternate Kantri Affection]]: Neck-twining, touching their faceplates together, wrapping their wings around each other. The soulgems set into their foreheads are particularly intimate, with touching them or the faceplating around them being a very rare gesture. Touching one living soulgem to another is seen as a gesture reserved for parent and child, but nonetheless it happens in other instances too.

* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: All over the place.

* BetaCouple: Jamie and Rella.

* CantHaveSexEver: [[spoiler: Lanen and Akhor. When Lanen helps a Kantri mother give birth and has to reach in to turn the baby, she's horribly burned by the contact. However, this is solved when Akhor becomes human]].
* DisproportionateRetribution: Brought up. Long before the books the Demonlord killed many humans and one Kantri; that Kantri's beloved immediately killed some humans nearby who only wanted to help her. The Demonlord then [[spoiler: turned many of the Kantri into Lesser Kindred]] before being taken down, and because there was one human who did terrible things to them, most of the Kantri then and five thousand years later are anywhere from leery of humans to actively wanting to kill them all.

* DreamingOfThingsToCome: The Kantri do this when in their Weh sleep.
* DyingRace: The Kantri, fewer than two hundred of them on an island, are on the brink of becoming this. There are just enough that if they bred normally they could conceivably rebuild their numbers, but few of them are pairing off and even fewer are giving birth; a birth in ''Song in the Silence'' is the first in five hundred years. [[spoiler: It's the Demonlord's fault. At the end of the series they're on better footing.]]

* HalfHumanHybrids: [[spoiler: Lanen and Varien's children]], though they appear human.

* HumanityEnsues: [[spoiler: Akhor becomes human at the end of ''Song in the Silence''. He remains human through the next book and most of the third, at which point he becomes capable of shape shifting.]]

* [[spoiler:InterspeciesRomance]]: [[spoiler:Lanen and Akhor]].

* KnowledgeBroker: The Secret Service.

* MayflyDecemberRomance: [[spoiler:Lanen and Akhor]]. Oddly, despite the fact that they're on an island covered in lansip trees, which produce leaves and fruit that are clearly established to reverse aging in humans, that is never brought up.

* MorningSickness: Worse than usual.

* NoPeriodsPeriod: Averted in a matter-of-fact way.

* ParentalSubstitute: Jamie was one for Lanen. Will [[RaisedByHumans takes in Salera]].
* PoorCommunicationKills
* [[PrecisionFStrike Precision S Strike]]: "''Oh, shit.''"
* PregnantHostage: She is the main female lead and not obviously pregnant, but nonetheless this happens in ''The Lesser Kindred''.
* RuleOfThree: Inherent to the 'verse. The human's goddess Shia has three aspects, and at the end of ''Song in the Silence'' Lanen believes she has to [[spoiler: deny her love for Akhor]] three times to save him.

* SickeninglySweethearts: [[spoiler: Varien and Lanen]] at the start of ''The Lesser Kindred''. Groaned over by Jamie.
* SlapSlapKiss: Jamie and Rella [[spoiler: at least until TheyDo.]]

* SuicideAttack: One in ''Song in the Silence''. [[spoiler: Rishkaan kills Calderan thusly]]. In ''Redeeming the Lost'', the Demonlord [[spoiler: is only vanquished thanks to many Kantri sacrificing themselves in such attacks]].
* SuperToughness[=/=]SuperStrength: [[spoiler:Varien. Because he used to be a dragon, he retains a dragon's strength in his muscles and bones.]] In ''The Lesser Kindred'', he is cut with a sword, but rather than getting his arm cut off as everyone else expected, he actually ''stops'' the sword with his arm and manages to still fight the guy.
* {{Telepathy}}: Truespeech.

* {{Uncoffee}}: Chelan. Referred to once as "poor man's lansip".

* FiveManBand:
** TheHero: Lanen, sometimes Varien
** TheLancer: Jamie
** TheSmartGuy: Rella
** TheBigGuy: Varien
** TheChick / TheHeart: Shared by Lanen and Varien
** {{Sixth Ranger}}s: Well, sixth, seventh, and eighth rangers. PowerTrio Will, Vilkas, and Aral join up.

* SelfImmolation: As fire-breathers Kantri have fire-staring apparatuses in their throats. They are able, if so inclined, to kill themselves with these. It's likened to dropping a match into a roomful of oil-soaked hay and closing the door.

* TheSouthpaw: Lanen is left-handed, just like her mother. This comes in useful when people try to grab her right arm to restrain her.

!!!This series provides examples of:

* BetaCouple: Jamie and Rella

* DevelopmentHell: The author reported on her website that she was working on a second trilogy with the first book [[WorkingTitle tentatively titled]] ''The End of Old Songs''. However, it was not completed by her original projected release date, and no more news was released on it; in fact, the website's hosting has been cancelled, so this project's status is unknown.

* FirstPersonPOV: Throughout the books. The first one starts with Lanen as an old woman reminiscing about her past, and when the POV changes it's made to seem like others are also telling tales of what happened. Even characters who die by the end of the book are used thus - but spells are cast on some of the human characters to have their thoughts recorded as they think them into books, either to keep track of them or to have records of their accomplishments. Kantri characters, well, after they die it's possible for their soulgems to be used to communicate with the dead and get their stories then.

* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: Built into the rules of healing, just about. If the unborn is particularly deformed a Healer can help a woman's body to abort, but this won't work if the embryo is healthy. Lanen is shocked at the suggestion.
** Lanen was mostly shocked that a healer summoned to diagnose and treat problems with a ''wanted'' pregnancy took it upon herself to induce an abortion ''without asking''.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Used repeatedly in-universe. The Song in the Silence which the title of the first book is taken from refers to "The Song of the Winged Ones", a song about watching dragons which includes a significant pause in which Lanen thinks she hears strange, wild music. The [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Kantri]] do a lot of singing themselves. Along with connecting through Truespeech it's a big part of being mated.

* AManIsNotAVirgin: Regularly averted. Kantri only mate for reproductive reasons and only feel the ''desire'' to mate about a dozen times in their two thousand year lifetimes. The act itself is painful, and since they mate for life they like to have it happen with a single beloved. Akhor, therefore, is virginal. [[spoiler:As a human he is quickly not, which Lanen is pleased about.]] It applies to humans too; Will was never interested in women [[SingleTargetSexuality until he met Aral]], and Vilkas is plain [[{{Asexuality}} uninterested in everyone]], though both of them are sought after.

In 2003 an abridged version of ''Song in the Silence'' was released for the YA audience. It has a different cover and toned-down language, and has removed some scenes that were deemed to not be appropriate. The author, [[http://www.elizabethkerner.org/ according to her website]], is also working on a second trilogy, with the first book [[WorkingTitle tentatively titled]] ''The End of Old Songs''; however, there is no news as to a possible release date.

* {{Wangst}}: A couple cases in ''Redeeming the Lost'', after the climax. [[spoiler: Varien becomes a dragon again and Lanen wails and carries on as if he was dead, saying her children are fatherless. Vilkas feels betrayed and renounces his friendship with Aral because of her AnguishedDeclarationOfLove, though he knew about her crush before. What's more, she agreed with him that it was a terrible thing to do.]]

* SeriesContinuityError: Did Ahkor learn to fly when he was twenty five or thirty? Was the last Kantri born before ''Song in the Silence'' born three hundred years ago or five hundred?

In 2003 an abridged version of ''Song In The Silence'' was released for the YA audience. It has a different cover and toned-down language, and has removed some scenes that were deemed to not be appropriate. The author, [[http://www.elizabethkerner.org/ according to her website]], is also working on a second trilogy, with the first book [[WorkingTitle tentatively titled]] ''The End of Old Songs''; however, there is no news as to a possible release date.

* AndIMustScream: Speculated to have happened to the Lost, five thousand years before the trilogy. Normally the soulgems of Kantri are dim; when they're called on in Kin-Summoning rituals they glow with steady inner light and the deceased can speak through a summoner. The soulgems of the Lost flicker with an unsettled gleam, and the Kantri they belonged to cannot be contacted. In ''Redeeming The Lost'', we find[[spoiler: as they are restored that most of them were largely unaware of the passage of time, others had passed in and out of trapped consciousness and had managed to keep hope, while about twenty immediately cried out and [[SelfImmolation killed themselves]].]]

* BrownNote: Apparently hearing the name of a demon causes people who are not practiced in working with demons to vomit. In ''Redeeming The Lost'', [[spoiler: the Demonlord's]] laughter causes vomiting.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Used repeatedly in-universe. The Song In The Silence which the title of the first book is taken from refers to "The Song of the Winged Ones", a song about watching dragons which includes a significant pause in which Lanen thinks she hears strange, wild music. The [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Kantri]] do a lot of singing themselves. Along with connecting through Truespeech it's a big part of being mated.

* DyingRace: The Kantri, fewer than two hundred of them on an island, are on the brink of becoming this. There are just enough that if they bred normally they could conceivably rebuild their numbers, but few of them are pairing off and even fewer are giving birth; a birth in ''Song In The Silence'' is the first in five hundred years. [[spoiler: It's the Demonlord's fault. At the end of the series they're on better footing.]]

* FauxAffablyEvil: Berys at times. Most notably, late in ''Redeeming The Lost''. Various characters also notice that when he laughs, it's an unsettlingly ''normal'' laugh, not an [[EvilLaugh evil one]].

* HumanityEnsues: [[spoiler: Akhor becomes human at the end of Song in the Silence. He remains human through the next book and most of the third, at which point he becomes capable of shape shifting.]]

* RuleOfThree: Inherent to the 'verse. The human's goddess Shia has three aspects, and at the end of ''Song In The Silence'' Lanen believes she has to [[spoiler: deny her love for Akhor]] three times to save him.

* SharingABody: ''Redeeming The Lost'' [[spoiler: Marik and the Demonlord.]] Portrayed very interestingly in the first-person narration.

* SuicideAttack: One in ''Song In The Silence''. [[spoiler: Rishkaan kills Calderan thusly]]. In ''Redeeming The Lost'', the Demonlord [[spoiler: is only vanquished thanks to many Kantri sacrificing themselves in such attacks]].

* {{Wangst}}: A couple cases in ''Redeeming The Lost'', after the climax. [[spoiler: Varien becomes a dragon again and Lanen wails and carries on as if he was dead, saying her children are fatherless. Vilkas feels betrayed and renounces his friendship with Aral because of her AnguishedDeclarationOfLove, though he knew about her crush before. What's more, she agreed with him that it was a terrible thing to do.]]