History Literature / UnderAlienStars

* WhatAnIdiot: During TheReveal, Mrs. Sykes takes her son to a secret rendezvous with a Resistor cell she's clearly familiar with and vice versa. At the meeting, Jason learns that, not only was his father a former leader of the cell, he also died at Tsorian hands. Naturally he turns on his mother, calling her out for being a collaborator and working for the very aliens that had killed her husband. It never crosses his mind that there's something more going on. It's almost cathartic when one of the operatives slaps some sense into him.

* GrayAndGreyMorality: The Tsorians invaded and conquered Earth, while the Resistors strive to free Earth from alien rule. Despite this set-up, things are not as black and white as they seem. The Tsorians don't enslave humans, and their leadership is actually working to upgrade Earth into a full member of the Empire. They also point out that Earth is dead in the middle of their warzone, and if they hadn't conquered the planet, the Hykzoi would have and been far less friendly about it. Meanwhile, while the Resistors do fight to restore Earth's sovereignty, they're more than willing to indulge in collateral damage, actively provoke armed Tsorian responses, and very nearly get humanity wiped out when they try to make an EnemyMine with the wrong side of a war.

* UncannyValley: Discussed at length amongst the characters. Humans and Tsorians look so similar to one another, the little differences between the two species seem all the more pronounced. This makes humans uneasy around the Tsorians, but is a two way street. Aryl points out that, in her eyes, Jason's body seems every bit as wrong as hers does to him. An earlier scene in the book actually has the Tsorian Commander jokingly contemplate if the humans would have been more accepting of the Tsorian occupation had they been StarfishAliens.

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* AlienSky: An interesting case as this is how the Tsorians feel about Earth's sky. Apparently the Tsorian homeworld has no moon but is instead surrounded by a massive asteroid belt, not unlike the rings of Saturn. Aryl finds it bothersome as it casts too much light, but her father thinks it's a beautiful sight that adds to Earth's native charm.

** Finally between the Resistors and the Tsorian Commander when the previous attempt at an EnemyMine blows up spectacularly when it turns out the Hykzoi are genocidal and have no intention of sparing humanity if they can kill the Tsorians.

* UnderAlienSky: An interesting case. Apparently the Tsorian homeworld has no moon but is instead surrounded by a massive asteroid belt, not unlike the rings of Saturn. Aryl finds it bothersome as it casts too much light, but her father thinks it's a beautiful sight that adds to Earth's native charm.

* UncannyValley: Cited to be one of the things that make humans in general so uneasy around the [[HumanoidAliens Tsorians]], they look very similar, but have several physical differences that become more pronounced because of this. The reverse actually holds true as well, as Aryl admits Jason's body just looks wrong to her eyes. The Tsorian Commander wonders if humanity might have been more accepting of some of the [[StarfishAliens less humanlike]] species had THEY been the ones to make FirstContact.
* VichyEarth: The Earth governments have retained day to day control of the planet, but must bow to the Tsorians in all matters of military and resource management.

* DefrostingTheIceQueen/BreakTheHaughty: Aryl's character development takes this form. She starts the book hating life on a boring, backwater planet like Earth and viewing Earthlings as savages beneath her. Her first interactions with Jason are very antagonistic, and she clearly expects him to be subservient to her. As she comes to depend on him and see the occupation from his point of view, she gains a grudging respect and admiration for him and humanity, even if she still views said occupation as necessary. By the end of the book, she's come to understand her father's admiration for the species and agrees humans should be made full citizens of the empire.

* GrayAndGreyMorality:

** Finally between the Resistors and the Tsorian Commander when the previous attempt at an EnemyMine blows up spectacularly when it turns out the new aliens are genocidal and have no intention of sparing humanity if they can kill the Tsorians.

* LaResistance: The Resistors, which are actually loosely affiliated cells fighting to get rid of the Tsorians. While quite a few cross the line into YourTerroistsAreOurFreedomFighters, others are more benign. The one Jason joins straddles the line, refraining from overt acts of violence while still stirring up trouble through acts of sabotage. This gets tossed out the window when their leader decides to become more proactive.

* LesCollaborateur: What Jason believes his mother to be, treating her with all the contempt a budding resistance fighter would have for such a person. Doubly so when he finds out his father died as a Resistor because he sees this as a betrayal of the man. [[spoiler: Jason winds up literally getting some sense knocked into by a member of the cell when it's pointed his mother is actually TheMole, and told how close his hotheadedness has come to blowing her cover over the years.]]

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