Line #17 Literature/Kydd


1	[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cover-kydd-mcbooks_7301.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:220:The cover of the first book]]
3	The Kydd series by [[http://julianstockwin.com Julian Stockwin]] follows the naval career of [[NamedAfterSomebodyFamous Thomas]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine Paine]] [[TheHero Kydd]] during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Accompanied by his friend, [[TheLancer Nicholas]] [[TheSmartGuy Renzi]], he moves up the ranks from pressed man to Admiral over the course of the projected total of twenty-one titles, the most recent title (as of June 2014) announced being the fifteenth book, ''Pasha''. A list of all the novels published so far can be found [[http://julianstockwin.com/welcome-front-page/books-published/ here]].
4	----
5	!! ''Kydd'' contains examples of:
6	* AchievementsInIgnorance: At the end of ''Quarterdeck'', Kydd earns his place in high society by inviting [[Main/HistoricalDomainCharacter Thérèse Bernardine-Mongenet]] to a banquet hosted by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Edward,_Duke_of_Kent_and_Strathearn Prince Edward]]. What Kydd doesn't [[note]]and the rest of Canada ''does''[[/note]] know is that his lady is the Prince's mistress, who isn't allowed to be with him at occasions such as the banquet.
7	* {{Blackmail}}: A sailor who was at the [[Main/TheMutiny Nore mutiny]] by the name of Dobbie attempts this with Kydd during ''Quarterdeck'' for what he sees as disloyalty to his former comrades. Luckily, Kydd earns his respect through showing up for a duel ashore as a fellow sailor, not an officer.
8	* TheCaptain:
9	** Whoever's in charge of the ship Kydd is serving aboard at the moment during his early years in the Navy.
10	** What Kydd becomes in ''Command'', though at that point, he's technically only a commander.
11	** In ''Victory'', Kydd finally "makes post" and becomes captain of the {{Cool Boat}}, ''L'Aurore''.
12	* ChickMagnet: Due to Kydd's [[TallDarkandHandsome swarthy]] looks, he attracts his fair share of women, including:
13	** [[TheirFirstTime Sarah Bullivant]] and Tamaha in ''Artemis''.
14	** Kitty Malkin in ''Mutiny'', though both agree to [[Main/ShipSinking break off]] the relationship just before the climax of the book.
15	** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] with Mrs. Emily Mulvany's "attraction" towards [[HopelessSuitor Kydd]] in the same book. She just happens to be a married woman who likes to [[TheTease flirt]] and entertain and who [[AvertedTrope doesn't want to cheat on her husband]].
16	** Persephone Lockwood in ''The Admiral's Daughter'' [[spoiler: as well as Rosalynd Morthwen.]]
17	* CoolBoat: The frigate ''Artemis'', based off the real-life [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Nymphe_(1780) Nymphe]], and the first ship Kydd "had really loved".
18	** Kydd's first command, the brig-sloop ''Teazer''.
19	** Later, in ''Victory'', he gets another one befitting a post-captain, this time the frigate, ''L'Aurore''.
20	* FatherNeptune: A notable example in the first book is [[TheMentor Joe Bowyer]], who [[spoiler:dies from falling from the yard onto the deck.]]
21	* AFatherToHisMen: Lord Nelson, as in RealLife.
22	* FieldPromotion: How Kydd is elevated to the quarterdeck. To elaborate, his commanding officer, Lieutenant Monckton, was knocked unconscious by the passing of a cannonball during the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Camperdown Battle of Camperdown]], forcing Kydd to take command of his division.
23	* TheGeneralsDaughter: Kydd's career is (temporarily) threatened by his association with Persephone Lockwood, the ''admiral's daughter'', though [[PlayingWithATrope not in the way you might expect]].
24	* GlorySeeker: Heroic examples with Lord Nelson and Thomas Kydd himself.
25	** Near the end of ''Tenacious'', Kydd worries that he might be more of a reckless GloryHound when one of the men under his command blames him for the death of a friend during TheSiege [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Acre_(1799) of Acre]]. Luckily, he's soon heartened by the admiration expressed for him in the letter the dead man wrote to his wife.
26	* GoingNative: What Renzi does in the latter parts of ''Artemis'' on a Pacific island the crew visits. Luckily, Kydd's there to (literally) knock him out of it before the [[ImAHumanitarian cannibalistic]] rival tribe of the islanders hosting them can get there.
27	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Kydd and Renzi.
28	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: There are many of them throughout the series, most of them in supporting or background roles. Some of the more famous ones include Lord Nelson, and even some of the lesser-known figures make an appearance, such as Zephaniah Job in ''The Admiral's Daughter''.
29	* IncompatibleOrientation: At the end ''Quarterdeck'', after [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Edward,_Duke_of_Kent_and_Strathearn Prince Edward]]'s banquet, Renzi reveals to Kydd that he fell in love with a woman [[UnusualEuphemism "of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Sapphism}} Sapphic]] persuasion"]] offscreen. As expected, this "romance" [[ForegoneConclusion didn't last very long]].
30	* TheMentor:
31	** [[FatherNeptune Joe Bowyer]] to Kydd in the first book. Unfortunately, he [[SacrificialLion dies from a fall from the yard]], [[HeroicBSOD demoralizing]] Kydd.
32	** Poulden to [[PluckyMiddie midshipman]] Bowden in ''Quarterdeck'', as befitting a "sea-daddy". Kydd also takes charge of his officer training as requested by Bowden's uncle, Captain Essington.
33	* TheMutiny:
34	** The premise of the fourth book, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Mutiny]]. Kydd initially joins the mutiny at the Nore in good faith, but he later regrets his decision when the situation turns ugly. In later books, it becomes an {{Old Shame}} for him.
35	** This later becomes a threat for Kydd in ''Treachery'' [[note]]''The Privateer's Revenge'' in the U.S.[[/note]], when he treats the crew of ''Teazer'' badly to due to his grief over [[spoiler:the death of his fiancée, Rosalynd.]]
36	* MyNaymeIs: Kydd takes pains to point out that his name is spelled with a Y instead of a I. {{Word of God}} says the name of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana,_Princess_of_Wales Princess Diana]]'s mother, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Shand_Kydd Frances Shand Kydd]], rang a bell with him. [[http://julianstockwin.com/2014/01/07/kydd-my-first-book/]]
37	* MySisterIsOffLimits: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with Renzi and Kydd, who actually [[ShipperOnDeck helps his friend]] to try and impress his sister, [[ProperLady Cecelia]].
38	* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: Kydd was named after [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine Thomas Paine]], whom his parents met before he was born, though they would later come to disapprove of his radical ideas.
39	* TheNeidermeyer: Lieutenant Swaine, who takes over the ''Seaflower'' in the eponymous third book from {{Reasonable Authority Figure}} Lieutenant Farrell. Fortunately for the crew, he falls overboard while trying to stop some deserters [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere fed up with his treatment]].
40	* OfficerAndAGentleman: Subverted with Kydd during ''Quarterdeck'' and ''Tenacious'', as well as other "tarpaulin" officers who "came up aft through the hawsehole". While certainly very good at their jobs through experience, they're considered crude by the standards of those who play this trope straight, which is why Kydd begins to resent his fellow officers in ''Quarterdeck''.
41	-->'''Kydd:''' [[TearJerker I'd rather be cream o' the shit than shit o' the cream, dammit.]]
42	** Played straight with Renzi during those two books, highlighting his status as a {{Foil}} to Kydd.
43	* PapaWolf: Admiral Lockwood towards his daughter, Persephone, in ''The Admiral's Daughter'', which comes back to bite Kydd in the rear later in the book when [[spoiler:Kydd falls for a daughter of a country squire named Rosalynd instead.]]
44	* ThePhilosopher: Nicholas Renzi is fond of talking about the philosophies of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hume David Hume]] and the like with Kydd, and in ''The Admiral's Daughter'', he begins doing research for his own book.
45	* PluckyMiddie: There are a couple throughout out the series, including Bowden, who later goes on to be signal midshipman at [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Trafalgar Trafalgar]], and [[spoiler:Luke Calloway]], who's promoted from before the mast.
46	* PressGanged: How Kydd got his rough start in the Royal Navy. This should be noted as quite different to the careers of [[Literature/HoratioHornblower Horatio Hornblower]] and [[Literature/AubreyMaturin Jack Aubrey]], whereas they both started out as [[PluckyMiddie midshipmen]] on the quarterdeck at relatively young ages when compared to Kydd's twenty before the mast at the start of the series.
47	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure:
48	** Lord Frederick Stanhope, who helps Kydd with his naval career after he volunteers to take him, his wife, and Kydd's sister to deliver an important message.
49	** Lieutenant Farrell of ''Seaflower'' cutter, as well, for giving Kydd the credit for coming up with the plan that saved the landing operation instead of saying he was acting under orders.
50	%% * RedOniBlueOni: Throughout the series, [[TheHero Thomas Kydd]] is the red to [[Main/TheLancer Nicholas]] [[TheSmartGuy Renzi]]'s blue.
51	* SentencedToDownUnder:
52	** Not Kydd himself - though he ''does'' captain a transport ship full of convicts to UsefulNotes/{{Australia}} during the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Amiens Peace of Amiens]] in ''Command''.
53	** Renzi, however, joins Kydd's transport as a free-settler passenger, [[spoiler:because he wants to impress Kydd's sister, Cecelia, by starting up his own estate. This doesn't work out very well for him, though, but luckily, Kydd's there to take him home.]]
54	%% * ShownTheirWork
55	* TheSiege: The Siege of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Acre_(1799) Acre]] during the climax of ''Tenacious'', which Kydd and Renzi take part in as defenders under the command of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Smith_(Royal_Navy_officer) Sidney Smith]]. The battle is notable for being one of [[UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte Napoleon's]] few losses and it was to a [[RagtagBunchofMisfits ragtag group]] of sailors as opposed to [[Main/RedshirtArmy trained infantry]].
56	* SlummingIt: What Renzi is doing as penance for the suicide of a son of a farmer whose land was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclosure enclosed]] by his own family.
57	* WoodenShipsAndIronMen: The setting of the books.
58

Context Literature / Kydd