History Literature / TheOrphansTales

* BlackEyesOfEvil: Ragnhild, the Black Papess, is said to have these. Really, she has GreyEyes -- that are still very beautiful and eerie-looking.

* {{Mythopoeia}}: SF Revu's review of ''In the Night Garden'' phrases it well: "Valente... has sown the seeds of an entire mythos, all her own." There's a CreationMyth and godlike Stars and explanations for the source of magic, but it has a strong secular humanist bent as well - there are no primal gods of good and evil, just people -- or sapient races, anyway -- making choices and abiding by them.

* WonderChild: Immacolata’s parents wanted a child, so her father gathered tea leaves [[spoiler:(one of which was saturated with Zmeya’s light)]] and placed them inside a shoe. Thus Immacolata was born. Her father proposed this idea to her mother; she pointed out [[LampshadeHanging "This isn't the usual way of getting children,]]" but he observed that [[GenreSavvy the ways of the world are wondrous and strange.]]

* XMeetsY: The basic premise is ''Literature/ArabianNights'' meets Creator/RayBradbury's ''The Illustrated Man''. Then it gets complicated.

* WickedWitch: Knife -- an old, ugly widow who lives in a cottage all by herself, whose first act is to attack Leander and cut off two of his fingers. At the very end of the story, another WickedWitch archetype appears, a grey-haired crone with a long, hooked nose... [[spoiler: but this is Aerie, Knife's daughter, who is powerful in magic but full of benevolence and love.]]

* [[TwoSiblingsInOne Three Siblings In One]]: Giota was born one of the oracular Sorella: Pangiota, Legiota, and Magiota. Before Legiota and Magiota died, they fed her their energy so that she could be the three of them in one, the single Giota.

* DoubleStandardRapeDivineOnMortal: Aukon fell in love with a mortal girl and took her without her consent. He additionally changed her shape for these of a cow and put her in the sky to keep her all for himself. Subverted since he was finally punish for this by his sister Aukai.

* InsistentTerminology: Grog is a Magyr, not a mermaid. They are two completely different species, and the former is a great deal more BadAss.

** Her step''sisters'', though...well, they were certainly wicked enough to sell her out to Omir.

* WonderChild: Immacolata’s parents wanted a child, so her father gathered tea leaves [[spoiler: (one of which was saturated with Zmeya’s light)]] and placed them inside a shoe. Thus Immacolata was born. Her father proposed this idea to her mother; she pointed out [[LampshadeHanging "This isn't the usual way of getting children,]]" but he observed that [[GenreSavvy the ways of the world are wondrous and strange.]]

* YouALLShareMyStory: [[spoiler: The stories are intricately connected, and the story that they end up telling is that of the girl in the garden -- her parents and their lives and deaths, her midwife, the boy who paid her fare and the man who carried her to life, the djinn that sprang from her burned skin, and the girl whose place in the Palace she took.]]

* StellarNames: ''Technically,'' although they're more like titles: all of the Stars (more properly, constellations) are known by the shapes that they form (Serpent, Harpoon, Twin, Weaver), and their personal names are more private.

* ScrewDestiny: Interestingly, even if some characters, like Zmeya, claims YouCantFightFate, the book as whole seems to teach us that if you really want and try hard enough you may find your own path to follow.

* MadScientist: Folio, who is at least a very eccentric one.
* MadOracle: Subverted with Giota. She pretends to be mad to scare off wealthy hypocrites and make space for those desperate enough (thus really in need) to seek her advice.

* JerkAss: Dinarzad, the Marsh King, Marsili, Oluwakim, and many others

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The Monopods have a few things in common with Jews -- for example, the main Monopod in the story is named Chayim, and his beloved is Tova, they look back with longing towards a lost homeland, and they are hated and despised by other Shaduki even though the Monopods form an important part of the Shaduki economy, they're blamed for poisoned wells and blighted crops -- much like real-life Jews, in medieval history.

* FantasticGhetto: Magical beings and other non-humans in Shadukiam live in [[UrbanSegregation separated areas]], outside of the rose dome. Djinn had their own crowded quarter, before they moved to Kash. Yi are forced to wear special clothes to distinguish them from normal people. Giota, an oracle who knows the answer to every question, chose to reside in the shadow of Basilica, where only the despised appear, to guide them.

* EndOfAnAge: Many times, over and over again. The Stars' power is greatly waned in the world; the Sorella foresee that their death shall mean the end of their tribe's current way of life, and eventual decline and eradication; Oluwakim is ready to hunt the griffin into extinction, and end the war between them and the Arimaspians once and for all. [[spoiler: his daughter then slays him, declaring the start of a new dynasty where griffins shall live unmolested by the giants.]]

* TheDulcineaEffect: Applies to Zmeya, to an extent (people who hear her tale tend to grow obsessed by it), but more pertinently, applied to the tales themselves. To name one example, Scald is ready to abandon her entire race and protect the city of Ajanabh at all costs, just after spending a night listening to Ajanabh residents tell their stories. seems to be a deliberate pattern, but the girl only says, "[[AWizardDidIt The tales have a great magic in them.]]"

* CoolBoat: The good ship ''Maidenhead'', a red ship whose very boards are infused with the magic and love of a Star. Crewedentirely by women, and monstrous women at that. Her mast bears sweet oranges for all the crew, and her red sails are feared the world over as omens of piracy!

--> "“Children make prayers so thoughtlessly, building them up like sand castles—and they are always surprised when suddenly the castle becomes real, and the iron gate grinds shut."

** Dinarzad loses her JerkAss status entirely by the second book

* ReluctantWarrior: Beast/the Leucrotta. In fact, when Leander just asks for his skin nicely, [[spoiler: he agrees, much to the consternation of the Marsh King]]

* LawOfInverseFertility: A straight example in the case of Immaculota's parents. She is born as a WonderChild. Lantern the firebird is another example. He wants nothing more than a little chick of his own to love. Thanks to the strange reproductive cycle of firebirds, Lantern is sterile. But he hopes that with [[PlantPerson Ravhi's]] help, he can have his own chick, but that ends up not working out. Later, he gains an adoptive human daughter, Solace.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
* LoadsAndLoadsOfRaces: There are humans, to start with. There are animals such as hedgehogs, goldfish, cormorants, polar bears, and herons, which talk and have their own societies. Then there are Stars, djinni (made from Star-fire), the Yi, and the Hsien, for races that come from the heavens. Races that come from the sea include Magyrs, mermaids (a brief mention), Lamia, and selkies. On earth there are Arimaspians and other cyclops, giants, Griffins, dragons, Monopods, Cynocepheli, huldras, harpies, manticores, Gaselli, satyrs, kappas, and there are references to more.

* ConflictingLoyalties: Cvethi, who is put forward as a candidate for the Papacy of Al-a-Nur, in the city's desperate hour. As a member of the Tower of Hermaphrodites, publicly admitting to their gender would be a heartbreaking renunciation of their faith. But as a loving subject of the city, denying the Papacy could doom Al-a-Nur. [[spoiler: In the end, Cvethi comes out as female, and ascends to the Papacy, but she holds fast to the tenants and sacraments of the Hermaphrodites as she can]].