History Literature / ThePeshawarLancers

** Dai-Nippon is ruled by TheMikado.

* AdventureFriendlyWorld: Stirling stated in the afterword "Why Then, There" to the in-universe side story "Shirkari in Galveston" that the asteroid impacts were the only way to retain the wonder of RudyardKipling style stories without the dread and letdown of HistoricalFiction.

** ** In India, the Europeans have folded themselves quite neatly into the existing caste system (the train of logic being "the ''kshatriya'' varna are soldiers and administrators, the English are soldiers and administrators, hence the English are of the ''kshatriya'' varna"), and there is no social stigma attached to having Indian ancestors, though most Angrezi have, at most, thin Indian blood. Athelstane mentions that one of his great-grandmothers was a Rajput noblewoman, and there's an Afghan princess in Manfred Warburton's family tree. Otherwise they're both of pure European descent.

* TakeThat: If Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom is to be believed, the Fall feels like an excuse for Stirling to dance on the remains of Europe and America. And you thought ''Literature/TheYearsOfRiceAndSalt'' was hard enough...
** Said forum is also working on alternative (and more realistic) scenarios, including bits like a surviving USA and a German Holy Roman Empire in Eastern Europe.
** scarcely more realistic, given the initial premise. The basic rule of thumb is that anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere where it snows in the winter has three to five years with killing frosts -every month of the year-, followed by a decade of lousy weather. You have to get south to where oranges grow before there aren't catastrophic crop failures for -years on end-.
** Essentially disproven by the prequel short story "Shikari in Galveston" in the anthology ''Worlds That Weren't,'' which has one of Athelstane's ancestors among the tribal descendants of Texan survivors of the tsunamis that devastated Europe and North America. Stirling stated in its afterword that real-world exploration and discovery had destroyed traditional adventure fiction's sense of wonder, and derailing that progress via apocalyptic asteroid strikes was the only way to recapture it.

* {{Twincest}}: Athelstane and Cassandra have a "close" relationship.

* TakeThat: If AlternateHistoryDotCom is to be believed, the Fall feels like an excuse for Stirling to dance on the remains of Europe and America. And you thought ''Literature/TheYearsOfRiceAndSalt'' was hard enough...

*** Less justified is the fact that the Angrezi military still uses the Metford barrel system in its rifles, which was obsoleted in the mid 1890s with the British advent of smokeless powder. Somehow, in over a century of frontier wars, they have managed not to invent Cordite.

* ShoutOut: Many, given the book's status as a homage to old-fashioned swashbuckling adventure fiction. Referenced works include {{Literature/Flashman}} and BeauGeste.

* TheBritishEmpire: Known in the book either as the Angrezi Raj or the New Empire, based in Delhi. Australia-New Zealand and South Africa are Viceroyalties (each having their own colonies).

* AlternateHistory: When "God Save the King" is replaced with "God Save the Padishah" ([[Franchise/{{Dune}} no, not that one]]), take a wild guess.

* ShoutOut: Many, given the book's status as a homage to old-fashioned swashbuckling adventure fiction. Referenced works include {{Flashman}} and BeauGeste.

* AlternateHistory: When "God Save the King" is replaced with "God Save the Padishah" ([[{{Dune}} no, not that one]]), take a wild guess.

** AcceptableBreaksFromReality: the Imperial airship ''Garuda'' is said to raise a payload of 60 tons and hold 1 million cubic feet of hydrogen. The RealLife ''{{Hindenburg}}'' needed more than 7 million cubic feet to accomplish the same.

** ** In India, the Europeans have folded themselves quite neatly into the existing caste system (the train of logic being "the ''kshatriya'' varna are soldiers and administrators, the English are soldiers and administrators, hence the English are of the ''kshatriya'' varna"), and there is no social stigma attached to having Indian ancestors.

* GoingNative: The British to the point of calling themselves the ''Angrezi Raj''. It's implied that this is only applicable to India as Australia and the Cape are described as decidedly more "conservative" by Angrezi standards.

** Played straight in the Angrezi Raj, where the Indian caste system had been developed into a sort of racist feudalism [[FantasyCounterpartCulture very close to the]] RealLife Spanish Empire: the ruling and upper military class are always country landowners of English blood, officers and [=NCOs=] inherit their position, professional military units are selected from the English nobles' retainers, there are caste unwritten laws for each trades (low ranking bureaucracy recruited from the Indian ''babu''s, bankers and foreign traders from the Jews, Political Service agents from the "[[{{Irony}} trusted]] Englishmen", airport unskilled workers from the Sudras and so on). The fun fact is this works more efficiently in-universe than any caste society in recorded history, every honest man doing his job flawlessly.
** The aristocracy includes many of Indian descent -- the Rajput squire who shelters Athelstane et. al. is of the same landed-gentry and military officer class, or the Imperial Guard officer who Princess Sita evades, or the Emperor's aide-de-camp Lord Pratap. He's a subordinate of the King-Emperor along with everyone else, but on his own Athelstane would stand in his presence unless invited to sit and would address him as "sir" or "my lord". Both the Kings and the Warburtons have Indians among their ancestors and don't try to hide it. Likewise, -one- Jewish banker and trader is shown. It's never implied that all are.

* TheWoobie: Yasmini was born and raised as a slave of an apocalyptic death-cult, gets dragged around India by the main villain who treats her like dirt, fully expects to start going mad and then be forcibly 'bred', and has increasingly unpleasant fainting fits and bouts of waking dreams as the story progresses. Couple that with her frequently remarked upon exotic beauty and you have the literary equivalent of a [[{{Moe}} Moeblob]].
** FridgeLogic: Makes one wonder why no Dreamer Sister, having the power to predict the masters' every action, never attempted to steal supplies and money from them and escape southwards toward friendlier countries.
* UncannyValley: Yasmini is said to have an inhuman sort of beauty, enough to scare shitless Ibrahim Khan by simply showing her face. [[TheWorfEffect This is the man]] who had no qualms to ride suspended under a speeding train in the night to get his prey.

** It is said explicitly the Czar, despite running an empire of cannibals, had the same wishes as an ordinary ruler, to conquer lands, peoples and resources - while a faction of fanatic worshippers of the Black God [[MoralEventHorizon seek to end humanity itself]].

* EverythingTryingToKillYou: A reader could be forgiven for thinking the book is an RPG transcript; Athelstane and co. have to deal with attacks from devil-worshippers, Afghans, ninjas, Thugee, bandits, white supremacists and air pirates!

* MyCountryRightOrWrong: The favourite insult towards traitors is ''killer of men in the same uniform as you!'' No big deal for a RealLife 21st century man, who saw plenty of callous cruelty. A mortal insult in a world where [[ValuesDissonance "the different ones" were usually cannibal savages]].

* NightmareFuel: The followers of the Black God sacrifice girls (and presumably boys) in the most grisly manner, eat their hearts and livers raw, cook their flesh, and at some point Count Ignatieff admits to have eaten roast ''babies''.
** Not just admits to it, but reminisces fondly about it and looks forward to going home so he can do so again.

** A number of real life figures still show up, such as L. Ron Hubbard (as an American tribal in the prequel) and Prince Charles.
** That's Robert E. Howard, not L. Ron Hubbard.

** As for North America, it's the Wild West mixed with neo-barbarians (along with Mormon enclaves).

** the aristocracy includes many of Indian descent -- the Rajput squire who shelters Athelstane et. al. is of the same landed-gentry and military officer class, or the Imperial Guard officer who Princess Sita evades, or the Emperor's aide-de-camp Lord Pratap. He's a subordinate of the King-Emperor along with everyone else, but on his own Athelstane would stand in his presence unless invited to sit and would address him as "sir" or "my lord". Both the Kings and the Warburtons have Indians among their ancestors and don't try to hide it. Likewise, -one- Jewish banker and trader is shown. It's never implied that all are.

* {{Expy}}: The Kapenaar (Anglo-Afrikaner South Africans) are essentially [[TheDraka Draka]] if the British managed to restrain them. With the added touch of them being the only ones left wearing Pith helmets. They're even called the "Bad boys" of the Empire by Stirling himself.

* WhiteHairedPrettyGirl: Yasmini is a borderline example, having very pale blonde hair.

** Also SchizoTech: none of the surviving empires developed modern small arms, almost 150 years after the cataclysm they are stuck with Martini-Metford and Berdan rifles. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in universe, as the modern bolt-action rifle had been the child of the arms race between France, Imperial Germany and Britain, and there was no more any German Army to oppose [[CoolGuns Mauser 98s]] to the Angrezi Martinis. The most likely opponents were either cannibal savages or primitive tribes.

** The latter parts of the story concern the threat of a second impact (not [[NeonGenesisEvangelion that one]]).