History Literature / TheSeventhTower

* BloodOath: The Icecarls like to seal pacts in this way, and do so by making a triangular cut on each person's wrist and having them mix their blood. Some overlap with BloodBrothers: as it is this kind of oath that ultimately is keeping Milla from killing Tal: "We have shared too much blood."

* {{Deuteragonist}}: Milla. She isn't introduced until the second half of book 1, but from ''Castle'' onward she becomes the secondary POV character and recieves about equal pagetime.

* CreateYourOwnHero: Tal starts out wanting nothing more than a replacement sunstone for his family. After Sushin and Sharrakor repeatedly stymie his efforts out of [[KickTheDog simple malice]], Tal resorts to a desperate heist that sets him on the path to learning the truth about Sushin, Sharrakor, his own DisappearedDad, and the AwfulTruth behind the Tower.

* FragileFlyer: Subverted. Tal's [[MixAndMatchCritters Mix-and-Match Critter]] in the magical game ''Beastmaker'' manifests as a {{Fairy Dragon|s}} with large, delicate wings. Everyone (including Tal) expects it to be a weakling, but it turns out to be tough, [[LightningBruiser agile]], tenacious, and smart enough to exploit its fragile appearance with a WoundedGazelleGambit.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: The only reason [[spoiler:Sharrakor]] even has to contend with Tal as an enemy is because Shushin [[spoiler:under Sharrakor's control]] was a dick to him and prevented him from obtaining a primary sunstone for no discernible reason.

* BadassAdorable: Tal's creature from his game of Beast Maker in the first book is basically [[FairyDragons a faerie dragon]]; it's described as a beautiful, brilliantly-colored bipedal lizard with massive, delicate-looking wings. Compared to his opponent's hideous creature -- a blubbery, rust-colored ball with three arms at either end and four sets of eyes and mouths spaced around its middle -- it looks pretty weak, and almost everybody expects it to lose. Then it bites off one of the blubber-thing's arms, outwits it by being much tougher than it looks, and proceeds to gouge out most of the blubber-thing's eyes before getting ready to close in for the kill. If it hadn't been for the malicious intervention of Sharrakor, Tal's creature would have ''won''.

* DeathSeeker[=/=]DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:After getting Odris bound to her, Milla]] is pretty darn determined to kill herself near the middle of the series. She never gets the chance to actually do so. [[spoiler:She willingly goes into a {{Dying Dream}}-like state which will kill her after she delivers her final message.]]

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: The only reason [[spoiler:Sharrakor]] even has to contend with Tal as an enemy is because Shushin [[spoiler:under Sharrakor's control]] was a dick to him and prevented him from getting a primary sunstone for no discernible reason.

** Tal starts the series as a novice at using most Sunstone magic, not knowing any combat magics. By the end, he is one of if not the most proficient users of Sunstone magic. From a physical abilities stand point, he would go to bed for a week from minor burns at the story's start; by the end, getting his shoulder dislocated, burned, and other burns and bruises, combined with hours of constant Sunstone use, does not distract him from his fight. He even comes to the point of being able to [[MercyKill kill a suffering royal guard]] with a point blank shot (something even Crow admitted not having the balls to do) and singlehandedly escaping the nightmare chamber by defeating the warden in a mind battle before killing his shadow minions.

* BigGood: Tal thinks that the Empress is this. [[spoiler:It turns out she's just [[PuppetKing a pawn]] for Sharrakor, actually helped free him from his imprisonment, and isn't a particularly pleasant or talented person on top of that. She gets killed off unceremoniously. The closest thing to an actual BigGood is probably Ebbitt]].

* CaveMouth: Invoked by the Cavernmouths of Aenir, which are large, implicitly reptillian monsters with extendable jaws that dig themselves into the sides of hills or mountains and then just sit there with their jaws wide open. If anything gets too close -- and they have glowing, eye-like tonsils to lure the incautious closer -- their jaws can shoot out at massive speed, so you don't even need to enter the "cave" to be devoured.

* DeathSeeker[=/=]DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:After getting Odris bound to her, Milla]] gets pretty darn determined to kill herself near the middle of the series. She never gets the chance to actually do so. [[spoiler:She willingly goes into a {{Dying Dream}}-like state which will kill her after she delivers her final message.]]

* {{Deuteragonist}}: Milla. She isn't introduced until the second half of book 1, but from ''Castle'' onward she becomes the secondary POV character and gets about equal pagetime.

* EmpoweredBadassNormal: Milla starts out a BadassNormal, but starting in the second book she gets a Sunstone of her own and starts to learn magic.

* FantasticCasteSystem: The Chosen have seven castes named after the seven colors. Mobility between these castes is based on formal displays of skill with light magic. In theory, the Chosen all aspire to Violet and are meant to cooperate. In reality, the lower castes resent the upper castes and try to drag them down, while the upper castes look down upon the lower castes and try to keep them in their place. Tal, being Orange and second from the bottom, gets flak from both the Reds below him and everyone above him.

* SquishyWizard: Most Chosen, apart from the Empress's guards; Tal starts out as one but gets tougher across the series. Crones also usually stay out of direct combat, though they're only squishy by the standards of a ProudWarriorRace.

* SwordAndSorcerer: Tal and Milla start out as the "fighter and GlassCannon" version of this one. The line gets blurred as the series goes on and Tal gets better at fighting, and Milla better at magic.

* GreenLanternRing: A Sunstone can produce a tremendous array of supernatural effects, if you know how to use it properly.

A six-book fantasy series by Creator/GarthNix concerning two groups of people living in a world of complete darkness, thanks to the Veil, a powerful black shadow that envelops the entire planet and blocks out the sun: the Chosen, a group of [[ColorCodedWizardry light-manipulating magicians]] who live in a multicolored Castle and believe themselves to be superior to everybody, and the Icecarls, a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy warrior race]] eking out an existence on the endless Ice beneath the Castle. The two do not mix (indeed, the Chosen do not even realize the Icecarls exist), but are thrust together when an ancient war between the the people of the Dark World and the spirit realm of Aenir threatens to flare up once again.

* BondCreatures: Spiritshadows and Shadowguards are Aenirian beasts who have been magically bonded to a human partner by sacrificing the human's shadow to them. As a result, in the human world, they become creatures of living shadow. Several characters point out the UnfortunateImplications of the practice.

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: The Spiritshadows, which are seen as little more than servants to the Chosen despite the fact that they can be chosen from species that are fully sapient and even capable of speech.

** [[spoiler: Sushin]], who regains control of his own body minutes before dying and spends that time wondering exactly how he got [[spoiler: inside Violet Tower]] and all torn to shreds.
** [[spoiler: Fashnek as well]], who is revealed just before he dies to be a broken and pathetic man who made a DealWithTheDevil with [[spoiler: Sharrakor]] out of desperation and [[spoiler: perhaps appropriately]], whose life has been a living nightmare ever since.

** Milla almost turns into one when [[spoiler: Tal sells her shadow in Aenir]] but this trope is defied when she uses meditative breathing exercises to calm herself down.
* BigBad: Shadowmaster Sushin. [[spoiler: Except he's actually just a shell possessed by the ''real'' BigBad, Sharrakor]].
* BigGood: Tal thinks that the Empress is this. [[spoiler: It turns out she's just [[PuppetKing a pawn]] for Sharrakor, actually helped free him from his imprisonment, and isn't a particularly pleasant or talented person on top of that. She gets killed off unceremoniously. The closest thing to an actual BigGood is probably Ebbitt]].
* BigGuyFatalitySyndrome: [[spoiler: Jarek dies during the raid on the Violet Tower.]]

* AChildShallLeadThem: [[spoiler: Tal takes over as Emperor of the Chosen at the end of the series. Milla is made War-Chief of the Icecarls in the fourth book and retains her position to the end.]]

* DeathSeeker[=/=]DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: After getting Odris bound to her, Milla]] gets pretty darn determined to kill herself near the middle of the series. She never gets the chance to actually do so. [[spoiler: She willingly goes into a {{Dying Dream}}-like state which will kill her after she delivers her final message.]]

* DemonicPossession: What [[spoiler: Sharrakor]] was doing to [[spoiler: Sushin]].

** Jarek, a berserker Sword Thane, who was once drenched in Norworm blood, giving him blue and NighInvulnerable skin. [[spoiler: {{Subverted}}: after his companion Kirr dies, he is unable to find the will to live when fighting a giant robotic bug. The fury never came.]]

** Milla too; at one point she even enters a special Icecarl meditative trance that will ''ensure'' she stays alive long enough to accomplish her mission- and then die immediately afterwards. [[spoiler: Or she would have if the Crones hadn't saved her]].

* TheDreaded
** Sharrakor. Even Ebbitt goes pale when hearing about him, and he's a character who is generally consistently fearless and is probably the strongest-willed of the Chosen. [[spoiler: And that's ''before'' we find out Sharrakor's the BigBad!]]

* EvilIsNotAToy: [[spoiler: The Empress and her brother]] freed [[spoiler: Sharrakor]] from his imprisonment to help them gain domination over the other Chosen. ''He'' wound up dominating ''them''.
* EvilOverlord: [[spoiler: Sharrakor]] used to be this, apparently- his Aeniran title ''is'' "Overlord", and he's certainly evil. [[spoiler: It turns out most of the plot was set in motion by his gunning for the position again]].
* FantasticCasteSystem: The Chosen have seven castes named after the seven colors. Mobility between these castes is based on formal displays of skill with light magic. In theory, the Chosen all aspire to Violet and are meant to cooperate. In reality, the lower castes resent the upper castes and try to drag them down, while the upper castes look down upon the lower castes and try to keep them in their place. Tal, being Orange and second from the bottom, gets flak from both the Reds below him and everyone above him.

** Tal and Crow in the fourth book. [[spoiler: When they team up again in book six, Crow has calmed down considerably and is much more pleasant company, though that in itself weirds Tal out]].

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Crow]] when he uses cave roach poison to kill [[spoiler: Sharrakor in human form]].

* IAmXSonOfY: Chosen surnames are their parents' first names put together. For example, Tal's parents are named Graile and Rerem, thus he has the surname Graile-Rerem.

* LeeroyJenkins: Milla's reluctance to retreat has put herself and Tal in varying degrees of pain, from getting them hauled off by violet guardsmen to almost getting them smote off a hillside. She's considerably more tactically refined by book five. Tal, for his part, also has a habit of attempting insanely dangerous things without prompting, though he tends to only do so if there's great need (like his attempt to [[spoiler: save his little brother.]])

* LightIsNotGood: The Chosen are light-themed magic users, and are also terribly corrupt and decadent. [[spoiler: Sharrakor]] in his Aeniran form is described as bright and shimmering.

* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: At the climax of the third book, Milla runs Sushin through on her sword. He laughs it off, and when the sword is removed he ''doesn't even bleed''. [[spoiler: Because Sharrakor's presence in his body is keeping him alive and healthy no matter what happens to him]].
* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler: Sushin appears to be the BigBad till Sharrakor is revealed to be not bound to the empress. Sharrakor plans to destroy the Veil and begin a new war between Aenir and the Dark World.]]

* MercyKill: [[spoiler: Tal to Ethar during the invasion of the Violet Tower.]]
* MindRape: The purpose of the Hall of Nightmares. [[spoiler: A FateWorseThanDeath for Chosen and Underfolk. Doesn't really work on Icecarls or Tal when he is in it.]] It's eventually revealed that the Hall was originally used for the exact opposite purpose, to help people who were already suffering from nightmares.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: The only reason [[spoiler: Sharrakor]] even has to contend with Tal as an enemy is because Shushin [[spoiler: under Sharrakor's control]] was a dick to him and prevented him from getting a primary sunstone for no discernible reason.

* OneWingedAngel: Inverted. The shapeshifting [[spoiler: Sharrakor]] uses his physically impressive dragon form as a default, and rather than turning into something even worse, at the climax he's forced into a much weaker humanoid form.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Sharrakor. [[spoiler: Though he's not actually a dragon, "just" a shapeshifter who likes to use that form. His true form is never specified; it could be nothing, or any one of a number of forms]].

* PowerIncontinence: In ''The Violet Keystone'', Milla uses her Sunstone to create a giant wave of violet energy, on the logic that it's the most powerful form of destructive magic she could perform. She's right, but unfortunately she can't control what she's unleashed [[FridgeBrilliance which is probably why no more experienced Light mage ever tries that move]], though [[spoiler: her Sunstone being half of the Violet Keystone can't have helped. Ordinary Light Magic disappears when the caster isn't concentrating on it, but the Violet Keystone is pretty much in its own tier of magical power...]]
* ThePowerOfTheSun: Sunstones. Spiritshadows also require light to become powerful; light from any source will do, but sunlight works best. [[spoiler: Which is why Sharrakor wants to bring down the Veil]].

* PunchClockVillain: Ethar, captain of the Empress's guards. Their respective positions mean she has to do whatever [[EvilChancellor Sushin]] tells her to, but it's also plain that she's an honorable woman who dislikes many of the things she's forced to do. [[spoiler: And in the end, she's killed off for [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outliving her usefulness]]]].
* PuppetKing: [[spoiler: The Empress and her brother, the Light Vizier, are really nothing more than powerless figureheads for Sharrakor]].

* {{Room 101}}: The Hall of Nightmares, the worst punishment a Chosen can receive: trapped in a neverending nightmare as a form of interrogation and torture. Those who come out alive are mentally scarred for the rest of their lives. Ironically, the machine used to produce these nightmares was originally created to help dispell nightmares.

* SealedGoodInACan: [[spoiler: The guardians of several of the Keystones, including Tal's father and Lokar]].

* ShapeshifterDefaultForm: The shapeshifting [[spoiler: Sharrakor]] normally prefers to look like a dragon, but can also turn into a humanoid form and a [[PuppeteerParasite mind drill]], and possibly others. It's unclear which, if any, is his actual form.

* SmugSnake: Sushin, who is cunning but too petty and hedonistic to be a true MagnificentBastard. [[spoiler: Of course it turns out that the "Sushin" the reader sees is just a facade put on by Sharrakor]].

* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Sushin is constantly munching on shrimp. [[spoiler: It's unclear if this is a trait of the original Sushin or Sharrakor, or both]].
* TriggerHappy: Tal begins to get like this towards the end due to strain, almost snapping off a red ray of destruction at Crow when he was (uncharacteristically) giving light out of respect. To be fair this was an unheard of gesture from Crow, and last time they met, [[spoiler: Crow made a very good attempt at killing Tal.]]
* TrueCompanions: What Tal and Milla eventually grow into: neither of them can call the other a friend, and they spent most of the series with a healthy distaste for one another, with Milla frequently desiring nothing more than to fight and kill Tal, and Tal thinking her a violent, if brave, barbarian whom he should ditch at the first opportunity. However, circumstances keep conspiring such that the two need each other, and in the end, a bond of trust develops.

* TheUsurper: The Empress took the throne by violently ousting her predecessor, Mercur [[spoiler: with a little help from Sharrakor]].
* VillainBall: If Sharrakor had just let Tal have a Sunstone he would have won because Tal would never have had to do anything that he did to save his family and in turn the world. It's never indicated ''why'' keeping Tal's mother sick (the whole reason Tal begins his quest) is so important to Shushin (and therefore Sharrakor) in any way beyond being evil, though it may be out of a general spite it feels towards the Keystone guardians.

* BadassAdorable: Tal's creature from his game of Beast Maker in the first book is basically a FairyDragon; a beautiful, brilliantly-colored bipedal lizard with massive, delicate-looking wings. Compared to his opponent's hideous creature -- a blubbery, rust-colored ball with three arms at either end and four sets of eyes and mouths spaced around its middle -- it looks pretty weak, and almost everybody expects it to lose. Then it bites off one of the blubber-thing's arms, outwits it, and proceeds to gouge out most of its eyes before getting ready to close in for the kill. If it hadn't been for the malicious intervention of Sharrakor, Tal's creature would have won.

* BondCreatures: Spiritshadows and Shadowguards. Several characters point out the UnfortunateImplications of the practice.
* CaveMouth: The Cavernmouths, Aenirean monsters disguised as caves which reach out and devour people with their jaws. You can even see their tonsils.

* DeathWorld: In addition to its deadly fauna, Aenir contains traps seemingly made to lure in passerbys. One wooden building [[UnnaturallyLoopingLocation prevents anyone from leaving once they've set foot inside by warping them back]]; every day at dawn, it goes up in flames. One garden contains tempting sources of water, but according to a local, anyone who goes past the first row of hedges never returns.

* FateWorseThanDeath: Being cast out of your clan or devoured by Wreska is seen as this by Icecarls, as the latter is a dishonour both to the clan and the convicted, while the former is to be forgotten forever, to be [[UnPerson erased from Icecarl history]]. You never were an Icecarl. To a Chosen or Underfolk, being sent to the Hall of Nightmares.

* FunctionalMagic: The Chosen use Sunstones for Device Magic; the Icecarl Crones seem to use a kind of Force Magic, and Aenir is just chock full of Wild Magic.

* OurMonstersAreWeird: There's some damn bizarre things in Aenir. Two prominent characters are Storm Shepherds, powerful giants of cloud and lightning who--as Tal realizes--make very powerful Spiritshadows. And they're among the more normal creatures. The ''really'' weird ones include Hugthings, rectangles of turf that leap up and squeeze you to death, and Cavernmouths, which are caves that eat you.

* SmartPeoplePlayChess: In this case Beast Master, a strategy game that requires a thorough knowledge of the beasts of Aenir, and also the three variations of each card and what light is necessary to bring them out. The fact that Tal is good enough at this game to beat one of the Empress' attendants shows that he's ''a lot'' smarter than he initially seems.

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: The Spiritshadows, which are seen as little more than servants to the Chosen.

** Sharrakor, greatest of the Spiritshadows and the only one who has a name, can take many different forms. He generally remains in the form of a massive dragon, because [[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons really, why wouldn't he]]? He can also assume human form or the form of a Mind Drill, which is capable of MindControl.

* AmazonBrigade: The Shield Maidens of the Icecarls. Although male Icecarl warriors do exist (referred to as Sword Thanes), they are quite rare and generally operate on their own, rather than in groups like the Shield Maidens. (Well, if you want to get technical ''[[ProudWarriorRace all]]'' non-Crone Icecarls are warriors. Shield Maidens and Sword Thanes are ''professional'' warriors).

* TheBerserker: Do not get in the way of Jarek when the red anger comes over him. Human or Spiritshadow, he will kill you. He's a Wilder, which is an Icecarl term that basically means "berserker", though he's the only one to appear in person.

** Ebbitt
** Adras has his moments.

* FantasticCasteSystem: The Chosen have seven castes named after the seven colors. Mobility between these castes is based on formal displays of skill with light magic.

* TrueCompanions: What Tal and Milla eventually grow into: neither of them can call the other a friend, and they spent most of the series with a healthy distaste for one another, with Milla frequently desiring nothing more than to fight and kill Tal, and Tal thinking her a violent, if brave, barbarian whom he should ditch at the first opportunity. However, circumstances keep conspiring such that the two need each other, and in the end, a bond of trust develops. See also VitriolicBestBuds.

* VillainBall: If Sharrakor had just let Tal have a Sunstone he would have won because Tal would never have had to do anything that he did to save his family and in turn the world. It's never indicated ''why'' keeping Tal's mother sick (the whole reason Tal begins his quest) is so important to Shushin (and therefore Sharrakor) in any way beyond being evil.
* TheVoiceless: Inkie.

* TheNotLoveInterest: Tal and Milla never develop attraction or romantic feelings for each other, even though their relationship is the emotional core of the series and they're both reasonably attractive teenagers of about the same age. Apart from once acknowledging that he thinks Milla is pretty (and admitting that he hadn't really given it much thought before) the idea is never raised by Tal, and never at all by Milla.

* TheBerserker: Do not get in the way of Jarek when the red mist comes over him. Human or Spiritshadow, he will kill you. He's a Wilder, which is an Icecarl term that basically means "berserker", though he's the only one to appear in person.

* FiveManBand: The group that ultimately goes after [[spoiler: Sharrakor]] fits into this categorization.
** TheHero: Tal
** TheLancer: Milla and Crow
** TheBigGuy: Adras
** TheSmartGuy: Odris
** TheChick: Malen

The books follow Tal Graile-Rerem, a young boy of the Orange Order of the Chosen, and Milla of the Far-Raiders, an Icecarl girl in training to become a Shield Maiden, as extenuating circumstances force them to rely on and trust one another and they attempt to unravel the ancient secrets surrounding the Castle and the war against Aenir, so long ago.

* ScaledUp: [[spoiler:Sharrakor, who [[BeholdMyTrueForm reveals his true form]] as a shadow-dragon when he leaves his host body.]]

* DeathWorld: In addition to its deadly fauna, Aenir contains traps seemingly made to lure in passerbys. One wooden building prevents anyone from leaving once they've set foot inside by warping them back; every day at dawn, it goes up in flames. One garden contains tempting sources of water, but according to a local, anyone who goes past the first row of hedges never returns.

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: It becomes increasingly clear as the series goes on that Tal's education was more to give him enough answers that he'd stop asking questions than to actually teach him anything useful.