Line #14 Literature/AFaceLikeGlass


1	[[quoteright:309:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a_face_like_glass.png]]
2	Deep underground, there is a city called Caverna that has retreated under the mountain 500 years ago. It's not your average underground city, though - it's divided between aristocratic houses of craftsmen, who create some of the delicacies that can only be found there, like Wines that can make you forget or remember something, cheeses that convey experience instead of taste or Perfumes that can submit you to the will of their wearer. There's something unusual about the people of Caverna themselves, as well - their faces are unable to convey emotions, so if they want to show - or conceal - what they are thinking and feeling, they have to learn facial expressions the way people learn foreign languages. There are special artisans called Facesmiths that can provide you with such education. It's not free, of course, so the range of one's expressions largely depends on their stand in society.
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4	Once upon a time, a little girl turned up inside the domain of Grandible the Cheesemaker, who had barred himself from the rest of Caverna. No one, including herself, knew anything about her or where she had come from. There was something about her face that horrified Grandible, and he decided that Caverna is not for the likes of her. He hid the girl, who he called Neverfell, until she was twelve years old. But a string of accidents made Neverfell leave Grandible's domain and threw her into the world of deadly intrigues and even deadlier secrets. If Neverfell wishes to come out of her predicament alive and learn about her past, she has to work hard.
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6	''A Face like Glass'' was published in 2012 and is the fifth book by the British middle-grade author Creator/FrancesHardinge.
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8	!!Tropes in ''A Face like Glass'' include:
9	* AlienGeometries: So much so that trying to map Caverna turns you barking mad. Just ask any of the Cartographers. [[InfectiousInsanity Or, rather, don't]].
10	* AliceAllusion: Neverfell is led out of Grandible's labyrinth by a white rabbit. Neverfell is also "a little mad" and the city she lives in operates under rather warped logic. In the climax, she is even given a flask of Wine with the label reading, "Drink Me."
11	* AnAesop: Accompanying the CentralTheme (see below), "Having a friend you can trust and be honest around is worth more than any power gained through deception."
12	* TheBeastmaster: Tybalt Prane, a killer for hire known as the Zookeeper, utilizes trained snakes to track and kill his marks. [[spoiler:He tries to kill Neverfell under contract from Appeline, but ends up dead in a scuffle with the Kleptomancer.]]
13	* TheBeautifulElite: Neverfell notices that the Childersins are taller, more beautiful and healthy-looking than the rest of the Caverna. [[spoiler:This is because Maxim dug a tunnel above his house that lets real sunlight into a parlour he calls the "Morning Room", specifically so it would make himself and his clan healthier and smarter than other Cavernans.]]
14	* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Neverfell manages to win the loyalty of [[spoiler:''the entire palace staff'']] by [[spoiler:purposely spilling Wine at a banquet to hide a drop one server had spilled]]. Apparently, no one of the courtier caste (which she was at the time) has ever cared enough about [[spoiler:a servant]] to do something so risky.
15	%% * Berserk Button: Neverfell's expressions of anger and defiance are this for [[spoiler:Madame Appeline]].
16	%% * Big Bad: Maxim Childersin.
17	* BrownNote: Of a sort. Cartography knowledge drives people insane trying to understand it. For this reason cartographers are avoided and must not be listened to for more than five minutes at a time. Neverfell eventually discovers that there are Cartographers so crazy that even ''other Cartographers'' have to monitor the amount of time they spend with them.
18	* CannotTellALie: Neverfell. It's not that she can't ''tell'' one, it's that it's always very obvious what she's thinking, including being deceptive or dishonest.
19	* CapitalLettersAreMagic: The extraordinary delicacies are always spelled with capital letters, unlike the more mundane cheeses, wines and perfumes. Also, Faces with a capital F refers to a facial expression which has been learned.
20	* CentralTheme: Truth and Lies, how beauty and ugliness are found in both, and how the truth will always have more power.
21	* ChekhovsGun: How about everything? Seriously, everything that is mentioned in the novel at some point -- the flytraps that provide the light, the glass grove of Madame Appeline, Grand Steward's death traps etc. -- comes together at the end.
22	* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: All the aristocracy of Caverna display it, particularly the Childersins.
23	* ConnectedAllAlong: [[spoiler:Five year-old Neverfell and her mother were smuggled into Caverna by Childersin and Appeline, and she was rescued from Appeline by the Kleptomancer.]]
24	* ConstantlyCurious: Mix with plenty of AttentionDeficitOohShiny and you have Neverfell. Grandible kept her secluded from the rest of Caverna, so every little thing captures her attention when she's finally free to roam.
25	* CrapsackWorld: Caverna is a battleground for aristocrats that fight tooth and nail for domination, while the drudges live in horrifying neglect and squalor. That's not even mentioning the fact that it's a sunless, underground city chock-full of AlienGeometries with a constant danger of a rockfall that may or may not have a mind of its own.
26	* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: The legendary "Undiscovered Passage" thought to be imagined by Cartographers really exists. [[spoiler:It's a tunnel up to the surface Childersin and Appeline dug in secret, through which Neverfell descended into Caverna.]]
27	* DaddysLittleVillain: Maxim plans to mould his niece Zouelle into another him for a future generation. She complies out of fear of him and fear of what the rest of the family will do to her if she shows weakness, [[spoiler:but is eventually inspired by Neverfell to rebel]].
28	* DayHurtsDarkAdjustedEyes: [[spoiler:Aware of this, Neverfell packs smoked glasses for the climactic escape to the aboveground. She, however, is far too enchanted by her first sunrise to wear a pair.]]
29	* DecadentCourt: Caverna is so deadly that the person in charge is basically plotting against themselves.
30	* DefectorFromDecadence: Grandible became disillusioned with the power plays of the Court some time before the book starts, which is why he lives as a hermit. [[spoiler:Later on, Zouelle Childersin adopts the sentiment.]]
31	* EarnYourHappyEnding: By the end, [[spoiler:Neverfell, her friends, and a good chunk of Caverna's lower class are free above ground, and the underground nation is going to be ruled by a man who plans to improve conditions for the drudges and cow the aristocracy into behaving themselves.]]
32	* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Treachery runs so deep in Caverna society that concepts like altruism and empathy are unheard of. Neverfell's instinct to help others perplexes even the least loathsome of characters.
33	** In Maxim Childersin's mind, if it cannot be owned, it has no worth. At one point, he genuinely attempts to bribe Neverfell into complacency with the promise of a section of the aboveground her's to govern and gain tributes from, when what she really wants is to ''see'' the world above.
34	** [[spoiler:When Neverfell was five and her memories of her birth mother first erased, Appeline tried to coax happy Faces from the child by giving her sweets and pretty clothes. The woman never realized trinkets are a poor substitute for parental affection.]]
35	* EyeOfNewt: The ingredients and directions for making Caverna's luxuries are full of this. One Wine in particular calls for grapes that are tended to in silence, harvested during a new moon, crushed by orphans, and aged for a century while being serenaded by fine music.
36	* EyeScream: Why Perfume makers wear blindfolds. They have their eyes plucked out to strengthen their sense of smell and make them better at the craft.
37	* FantasticLightSource: With an absence of natural light, Caverna is lit by trap-lanterns, bundles of venus flytrap-like plants. They breathe people's exhaled air and expel, not only light, but fresh air as well.
38	* FauxHorrific: People commonly react to Neverfell's bare face with alarm, despite it being it plain and ordinary. The citizens of Caverna are expressionless at birth and need to learn how to show emotion, while Neverfell's face can naturally show multiple emotions at once. [[spoiler:This is because she was born outside of Caverna, aboveground.]]
39	%%* {{Foil}}: Zouelle and Erstwhile.
40	* GambitPileup: How about ''All of Caverna''? Just about everyone has some plot or plan of their own [[spoiler:Neverfell in the climax deliberately reveals as many as she can at once to throw the court into panic]].
41	* GeniusLoci: Some characters (the Kleptomancer, Neverfell) speak of Caverna as one. But then again, they are either a little or wholly mad.
42	* GrayscaleOfEvil: The Grand Steward is so devoid of color, Neverfell first mistakes him for a statue. His skin is like marble, hair like glass threads, and even his blood is translucent like liquid glass. It's unclear if this is a result of the potions that keep him from aging, his boredom with immortality, or a combination of both.
43	* HappilyAdopted: Neverfell and Grandible don't have the warmest relationship, but get along pretty well.
44	* HopeIsScary: After getting to know Neverfell, Zouelle becomes more wary of her because the younger girl's bottomless trust and kindness can't help but make Zouelle consider there is life outside of lies and back-stabbing.
45	* ImmortalityImmorality: The aristocracy of Caverna; the Grand Steward in particular.
46	* IndyPloy: Neverfell thinks more with her heart than her head, leading to many halfcocked courses of action which snowball into these.
47	* InfectiousInsanity: You can't speak with a Cartographer for longer than five minutes, otherwise your lot shall be bitter.
48	* InspectorJavert: Enquirer Treble, chief of the Enquiry (the closest thing Caverna has to a constabulary) and the Grand Steward's righthand woman, is convinced that Neverfell is at the heart of some secret conspiracy. [[spoiler:Technically, she's right, just not in a way either of them expect.]]
49	* IronicName: "[[spoiler:Neverfell]]" is perhaps the worst name for [[spoiler:a child from aboveground living underground]].
50	* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Not exactly a spoiler-worthy trope, since we are told of the existence of memory-changing Wines in the very first chapter. What is spoiler-worthy, though, are some rather creative uses to which certain characters put these Wines.
51	* LaserGuidedKarma:
52	** One is a KarmicDeath; [[spoiler:Madame Appeline's precious face is cut by Neverfell, the girl whose mother she imprisoned and tortured emotionally and mentally, then she falls into a giant trap-lantern, similar to one she caged her victim in, to be slowly digested.]]
53	** The other a FateWorseThanDeath; [[spoiler:Not only is Childersin's very own illegal tunnel used by Neverfell to save the working class he used as guinea pigs for poisons, but the niece he used as a minion splashes Perfume that makes people want to befriend the wearer...while he's surrounded by Cartographers. Excited, ''chatty'' Cartographers.]]
54	* LineOfSightName: Grandible named Neverfell after the variety of cheese in the vat he discovered her in.
55	* LoonWithAHeartOfGold: Cartographers are incurably mad and feared for the ability to spread it to others, but not one is malicious or violent. While a former one, [[spoiler:the Kleptomancer]], can be pushed to kill, he doesn't enjoy it.
56	* MadArtist: [[spoiler:Madame Appeline's occupation is more of a craft than an art, and she does it not so much for its own sake as for money and respect in high society, but the truth behind her invention of the Tragedy Range puts her squarely in this trope. She had a woman from the surface lured into Caverna under false pretences, and kept her locked away in the basement so she could study her face. She would even let the woman spend time with her young daughter once a day then rip her away, just to provoke the expressions of motherly love and despair.]]
57	* MemoryGambit: The Kleptomancer carefully edits his own memories and gives himself SealedOrders to follow in order to avoid being understood by the many Chessmasters in Caverna. [[spoiler:He helps Neverfell do the same later.]]
58	* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: Played with. On the one hand, people are capable of feeling emotions they don't know facial expressions for, they just feel weird when it happens. On the other hand, the drudges couldn't rebel because every one of them didn't know that the others are angry too, since they didn't have an expression for that.
59	* NoNameGiven: The Grand Steward's real name is never revealed, nor is the Kleptomancer's. The latter may have forgotten it due his use of amnesia-inducing Wines. [[spoiler:]]
60	* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: [[spoiler:When Neverfell learns of the secret tunnel out of Caverna, the thought of escaping without her loved ones and any brave servants or drudges ''never'' crosses her mind. It serves her well, since the exodus is only pulled off through everyone's combined efforts.]]
61	* TheNoseKnows: Years as a cheesemaker's apprentice gave Neverfell a very sensitive nose. It comes in handy for detecting Perfumes before her senses can be altered.
62	* OnlyFriend: Before her adventure began, Grandible only let Neverfell talk with Erstwhile, a drudge child allowed free range in Caverna thanks to his delivery boy job. He's a JerkWithAHeartOfGold who liked talking with Neverfell because her naïveté made him feel smart, while caring for her deep down.
63	* OnlyOneName: Neverfell, because her past is a mystery. Erstwhile's last name, if he has one, is never mentioned.
64	* PeacefulInDeath: [[spoiler:He puts up a fight, but the Grand Steward finally accepts his end when he has a vision that his body is a box he can at last escape from. When Neverfell observes the body, she sees the ghost of a smile on his face.]]
65	* PhantomThief: The Kleptomancer. He can escape underwater and through tight, airless tunnels thanks to [[spoiler:a cobbled together diving suit, made out of a suit of armour, and a breathing tube connected to a pack with a trap-lantern in it to provide oxygen.]]
66	* PrefersRocksToPillows: Neverfell slept in a hammock in her home with Grandible, so when she is bought and appointed a taster by the Grand Steward, she finds the mattress in her posh living quarters too soft. She gets the idea to sleep in the canopy above her bed, [[spoiler:which saves her from being assassinated in her sleep]].
67	* TheReveal: A ''brilliant'' one, concerning [[spoiler:Neverfell's origins]].
68	%%* RedemptionEarnsLife: Inverted by way of "The promise of life brings on redemption".
69	* RightForTheWrongReasons: Neverfell is drawn to Appeline's Tragedy Range, Faces expressing wistfulness and motherly affection, and almost immediately considers if she is her long-lost birth mother. [[spoiler:Appeline is not her mother, but the Faces are based on Neverfell's mother.]]
70	* SecretTestOfCharacter: The harrowing and outlandish interrogation the Grand Steward puts Neverfell through in Chapter 11 is less about learning whoever supposedly told her to [[spoiler:spill Wine at his latest banquet]] than seeing if her face's natural expressiveness is genuine.
71	* SignificantGreenEyedRedhead: Neverfell, Madame Appeline, [[spoiler:and Neverfell's mother]].
72	* TheSociopath: Considering Cavernans must learn to project emotion, it should come as no surprise that faking kindness and interest is rampant in the den of liars. The Grand Steward cares for nothing except keeping his throne and regaining the ability to experience pleasure, [[spoiler:but even he's a saint compared to Childersin and Appeline]].
73	* SoftSpokenSadist: Maxim Childersin. [[spoiler:Also, Madame Appeline. ''Dear god'', Madame Appeline]].
74	* SpannerInTheWorks:
75	** Neverfell functions as this in among everyone else's elaborate plans. [[spoiler:Even her arrival into Caverna as a toddler was a big wrench in Appeline's machinations.]]
76	** The Kleptomancer's describes his heists as this. He steals what is most likely to cause a stir in Caverna, an object essential to someone's plot, simply so he can observe how the schemers react.
77	%%* ThatWasNotADream
78	* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: When she comes face to face with the Kleptomancer, Neverfell is stunned at how ordinary he looks.
79	-->''It was not a face that would stand out from a crowd. Indeed, given his height, most crowds would have swallowed him altogether.''
80	%%* TimePassageBeard:
81	* TokenGoodTeammate: Enquirer Treble is the only member of Caverna's high society shown to have absolutely no schemes in play or interest in them. Not that this makes her a good person, mind you, as she is devoted to keeping order, not justice.
82	* UnholyMatrimony: [[spoiler:Childersin and Appeline, supposed rivals, have been in a SecretRelationship for years.]]
83	* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Neverfell's ultimate gambit. Justified, since [[spoiler:she initially does not remember the plan due to a MemoryGambit in play]].
84	* VictoryIsBoring: [[spoiler:In his last scene, the Kleptomancer is in a position to become ruler of Caverna, and he reads the final note he wrote himself. All it contains is congratulations and a warning against drinking Wines again. While not totally disappointed, the Kleptomancer finds this anticlimactic and wonders what he should do with the city he now controls.]]
85	* WhamEpisode:
86	** The sixth chapter, wherein Neverfell first sees her "disfigured" face, discovering it's normal, and why it shocks everyone who sees it.
87	** The nineteenth chapter, which ends with [[spoiler:the death of the Great Steward]].
88	* WhatIsThisFeeling: Neverfell experiences real, ''burning'' rage for the first time when she sees [[SlaveRace the drudge caste]]'s abominable quality of life firsthand.
89	* WhiteMansBurden: [[spoiler:Maxim Childersin]]'s plan to conquer the surface world has undertones of this.
90	-->'''[[spoiler:Childersin]]:''' We will be doing the overground a kindness. Right now it is a ghastly patchwork of petty kingdoms with short-lived monarchs, and in desperate need of a global ruler with centuries' experience behind them.
91	* WhoWantsToLiveForever: The elite of Caverna use special drugs and spices to prolong their lifespans to centuries. However, while none regret immortality ''yet'', living so long has made the wonders of life dull and repetitive. The Grand Steward especially struggles with boredom so powerful that only one side of his brain can be awake at a time.
92	* WrenchWench: Neverfell has a talent for building machines.
93	* WrongSideOfTheTracks: The Doldrums. No one wanted to live there ''before'' sickness broke out and it had to be quarantined. The Undercity where the Drudgery dwell would count if it wasn't basically part labour camp, part sewer.
94	* XanatosSpeedChess: Might as well be the national sport of Caverna, but Maxim Childersin proves to be the master of this trope.

Context Literature / AFaceLikeGlass