Line #79 Literature/MiriamBlack


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/miriam_black_532.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Miriam Black knows how you're going to die.]]
3
4	->''"I'm young but I'm tired. I close my eyes at night, and it's like -- my dreams are like a boat anchor, man. The things I see. It's like, it's not just the traumatic deaths -- the car crashes and fires and stabbings. It's the slow deaths. AIDS and diabetes and kidney failure and liver failure and kid's cancer and rectal cancer and breast cancer and cancer cancer cancer. And did I mention cancer? People just lie there. Disease leaching everything out of them the way I'm sucking on this cigarette. Whittling them down. A stick into splinters. And I can't stop it. I can't stop any of it. I have no idea how to change it for people."''
5	-->--'''Miriam Black''', from ''The Cormorant''
6
7	Miriam Black is the protagonist of a series of {{urban fantasy}}/[[HorrorLiterature horror]] novels written by [[http://www.terribleminds.com Chuck Wendig]].
8
9	Miriam is no stranger to death. Possessing a unique ability to foresee a person's death just by touching them once, she's borne witness to more than her fair share of hospitals, car accidents, and other more horrific ways to die. But even for her, murder is a rarity. And when she witnesses that of truck driver Louis Darling, she is stunned to find out not only that he will die very gruesomely, but he will call out her name right before he is killed.
10
11	Over the years, Miriam has learned the hard way that what fate wants, fate gets. No matter how hard she tries, she just can't do anything to stop people from dying. But events conspire against her to make sure that if she wants to go on living, she just might have to try one more time and attempt to save Louis from his horrifying fate.
12
13	The series is comprised of the following novels:
14	* ''Blackbirds'' (April 2012)
15	* ''Mockingbird'' (September 2012)
16	* ''The Cormorant'' (January 2014)
17	* ''Thunderbird'' (March 2017)
18	* ''The Raptor & The Wren'' (January 2018)
19	* ''Vultures'' (January 2019)
20
21	A live-action adaptation of ''Blackbirds'' was considered by Starz, but eventually dropped.
22
23	----
24
25	!!This series provides examples of the following tropes:
26
27	* AbusiveParents: Of the emotionally abusive kind: Miriam was raised by a very strict fundamentalist single mother.
28	* AnachronicOrder: Along with the main plot lines, the novels include several flashbacks to Miriam's childhood, as well as to other events which put the present story in context.
29	* AnArmAndALeg: In their first meeting in ''Blackbirds'', Miriam envisions Ashley at eighty years old, having lost his left foot sometime after they meet. [[spoiler:It's cut off later in the novel by Ingersoll]].
30	* AnimalMotifs: The mythology of each novel's titular bird relates in some way to the story within.
31	** ''Blackbirds'': Renowned in mythology as psychopomps, beings which transport the souls of the dead to the afterlife. Throughout the novel, Miriam sees herself as nothing more than a witness to death, with no real power over fate.
32	** ''Mockingbird'': A bird with no song of its own; only able to "mock" those of others. [[spoiler:The Caldecotts]] are capable of imitating other voices. Also prominently featured in this novel is the swallow, known for its inability to sing, and according to Greek mythology, was created when the gods took pity on a princess who had her tongue cut off by a vengeful lover and turned her into a bird. [[spoiler:The antagonists']] victims all had their tongues cut off after being decapitated.
33	** ''The Cormorant'': A symbol of greed and overindulgence. [[spoiler:Ashley Gaynes]] returns to haunt Miriam once more, this time [[spoiler:with a psychic ability of his own]], and he is apparently DrunkWithPower.
34	** ''Thunderbird'': A powerful mythological creature, considered an enforcer of morality, one with control over life and death, sometimes depicted as a shapeshifter. [[spoiler:Miriam's ability to transfer her consciousness to birds plays a much more prominent role throughout the novel]].
35	* ApocalypticLog: [[spoiler:Miriam's diary]] in ''Blackbirds'' is intended to be one in the making. [[spoiler:After Harriet intuits her true intentions and later tries to convince her to go through with her plans, Miriam changes her mind out of spite]].
36	* ArcWords:
37	** "It is what it is", a phrase Miriam says her mother repeated often.
38	** "What fate wants, fate gets" summarizes Miriam's fatalistic attitude throughout ''Blackbirds''.
39	** "The river is rising": The Trespasser's warnings to Miriam in ''Mockingbird'' often ended with this phrase.
40	** "The coming storm" in ''Thunderbird''.
41	* BalancingDeathsBooks: In order to save someone from death, Miriam must take someone's life.
42	* BigScrewedUpFamily: [[spoiler:The Caldecotts]] in ''Mockingbird''.
43	* BlessedWithSuck: Given the crowded world we live in, you make physical contact with a significant amount of strangers every day without intending to, or even thinking about it. Now imagine that for ''every single time'' your skin touches someone else's for the first time, you're treated to a vision of said someone's death. You can't shut it out, you can't stop it halfway, and you can't control or even know how long the vision will last. Got that? Now try making friends with people whose deaths you already know--particularly when they're much closer to it than they realize. Is your entire relationship going to be about trying to help them escape their fate, or will you choose to feign ignorance, try to act casual, never bring it up, and pretend that that vision isn't haunting you and playing in your mind's eye every time you look at that person?
44	* BodySurf: [[spoiler:A ''cross-species'' example: Miriam learns to possess a nearby bird's body late in ''Mockingbird'', and uses this power twice in ''The Cormorant'']].
45	* BreakingSpeech: The main antagonists of each of the novels gives at least one of these to Miriam. [[spoiler:Harriet's]] in ''Blackbirds'' is notable particularly due to her guessing correctly that [[spoiler:Miriam intended to kill herself once her diary ran out of pages]].
46	* BrickJoke: A chapter in ''Blackbirds'' is titled "The Sun Can Go Fuck Itself", followed by "The Sunshine Café Can Go Fuck Itself Equally". The plot of ''The Cormorant'' takes Miriam to Florida, and one chapter is accordingly titled "The Sunshine State Can Go Fuck Itself".
47	* BrokenBird: Miriam -- no pun intended.
48	* CallBack: [[spoiler:Ashley]] in ''The Cormorant'' recalls line-for-line the joke he and Miriam shared back when they first met in ''Blackbirds'' [[spoiler:before he beats her unconscious]].
49	* ChekhovsSkill: [[spoiler:Miriam's ability to control birds, introduced back in ''Mockingbird'', becomes the only way to defeat Ashley and his new-found powers at the end of ''The Cormorant'']].
50	* CliffHanger: ''Thunderbird'' ends with [[spoiler:the dying vision of Louis's fiancée Samantha: drowned to death in a bathtub nine months later -- by Louis himself]].
51	* CombatPragmatist: Miriam, Ashley, Beck Daniels -- pretty much everyone caught in a fight in the series. Harriet is closer to a TortureTechnician.
52	* ConflictKiller: The arrival of Harriet and Frankie interrupts Miriam and Ashley's very uneasy partnership, as well as introduces [[spoiler:Louis's future killer, Ingersoll]] to Miriam.
53	* CosmicPlaything: Miriam sees herself as this, especially after [[spoiler:she saves Louis and is branded as "fate's foe" by The Trespasser]].
54	* CountryMatters: Just one of many profanities thrown around throughout the novels.
55	-->'''Ashley:''' You are one crafty little cunt, aren't you?\
56	'''Miriam:''' Nice. You go down on your mother with that mouth?
57	* CrazyCatLady: Harriet tells Frankie the story of one that used to live in her neighborhood. The lady died inside her house, and as the cats inside went hungry, they eventually turned to her corpse for food. Those cats lived on and even reproduced, and it was only later that someone decided to burn the house down with all the cats inside it.
58	* DarkAndTroubledPast: In this series, this is a prerequisite for gaining psychic powers. In Miriam's case, the father of her unborn child committed suicide after she dumped him, and his mother took it out on her by beating her with a red snow shovel, killing the child inside her womb.
59	* DeusExMachina[=/=]EleventhHourSuperpower: Just as Miriam is helpless and about to be executed in ''Mockingbird'', [[spoiler:The Trespasser suddenly shows her a new ability: to possess, and control birds]].
60	* DrivenToSuicide: Ben Hodge, the boy Miriam lost her virginity to, killed himself after Miriam dumped him in a very cruel fashion. [[spoiler:Miriam herself almost came close to this trope as well, until she realized that Harriet was waiting for her to do so on the other side of the door]].
61	* EquivalentExchange: [[spoiler:By saving Louis from his preordained death, Miriam realizes that the only way to save a life is to take another in its place]].
62	** ''Thunderbird'' reveals how Miriam obtained her power: [[spoiler:The murder of her unborn child made her invisible to Death. At the end of the novel, Mary Stitch tells Miriam the way for her to undo her curse: bear a new child]].
63	* EyeScream: In Miriam's vision, Louis gets stabbed in one eye with a rusty fishing knife, and is killed by another stab to the remaining eye that pierces all the way to his brain. At the end of ''Blackbirds'', [[spoiler:Miriam manages to save his life, but not his left eye]].
64	* TheFatalist: Due to several failed attempts to save people from deaths she's foreseen (and particularly cases where her attempt actually ''caused'' the deaths to happen), Miriam has become this.
65	* TheFettered: Though she has witnessed countless deaths, Miriam has never directly killed anybody (though there was this old guy so overdosed on ED pills that Miriam flashing one breast gave him a heart attack). [[spoiler:After killing the Caldecotts, particularly a defenseless Edwin]] at the end of ''Mockingbird'', [[spoiler:she begins to see herself as a killer]].
66	* {{Foil}}: Ashley to Miriam. Whereas Miriam is still burdened by her conscience, Ashley has no such qualms. She has power but doesn't seek to benefit (much) from it; he has none but will take every opportunity to gain some.
67	* FortuneTeller: One that Miriam tries to consult in ''Blackbirds'' freaks out after witnessing a horrific vision from touching Miriam.
68	-->'''Miss Nancy:''' What are you?\
69	'''Miriam:''' What? What do you mean?\
70	'''Miss Nancy:''' Something dead is inside you. A deep, black, shriveled thing, and it's crying out like a lost child for its mother. You are the hand of death. You are its mechanism. I can hear the wheel turning, the pulleys pulling. (''throws Miriam's money back at her'') Take it. I don't want your blood money. Death is following you, and you've got some monster -- ''some presence'' -- inside your heart and mind. I don't want any part of it.
71	* FriendOnTheForce: Miriam eventually finds one after ''The Cormorant'' in [[spoiler:FBI Agent Grosky]].
72	* TheGadfly: Miriam has a tendency for some very cruel snark even if unprovoked.
73	* GoodIsNotNice[=/=]DarkIsNotEvil: Miriam is the furthest thing from nice, and she barely even fits the "good" part. That said, she'd rather be left alone, though given an opportunity, she is capable of doing the right thing.
74	* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Louis and Miriam.
75	* IdiosyncraticCoverArt: The covers of the novels, courtesy of Joey [=HiFi=], not only depict Miriam and a hell of a lot of birds, but also some details relevant to the stories themselves, like lighthouses, road or motel signs, etc. As of ''Thunderbird'', the book covers are now made by Adam Doyle, and no longer follow the original motif of the first three books.
76	* IHaveYourWife[=/=]ItsPersonal: In ''The Cormorant'', the one that Miriam has to save from an already-preordained death is [[spoiler:her mother]].
77	* IJustWantToBeNormal: At the end of ''The Cormorant'', [[spoiler:Miriam gets a lead on somebody in Colorado who can take away her ability]].
78	* ImmuneToFate: Miriam may be privy to the deaths of everyone that she touches, but her own demise is a mystery to her. [[spoiler:Her plan to kill herself was described by Harriet as an attempt to at least have one death within her control]]. Also, [[spoiler:once a person has been saved from their fate, Miriam can no longer see how they die]]. And as seen in ''Mockingbird'', [[spoiler:Miriam's powers don't work on fellow tactile seer Eleanor Caldecott, and vice-versa]].
79	* InMediasRes: ''The Cormorant'' begins with Miriam held captive by two FBI agents. The events of the novel are then narrated as she is being interrogated.
80	* IronicNurseryTune: "Wicked Polly" from ''Mockingbird'', which the killer would sing before decapitating his victims.
81	* KnightOfCerebus: In ''Blackbirds'', once Ingersoll is formally introduced to Miriam, the story takes a much darker tone as it hammers home to Miriam the imminence of Louis's envisioned murder.
82	* KnightTemplar[=/=]OmniscientMoralityLicense: [[spoiler:Eleanor Caldecott claims to have the ability to witness one life's ripple effects on others, and targets the most potentially destructive students in her school to be executed by her husband and sons. She is firm in her belief that it is the purpose for which she was given that power]].
83	* MacguffinGirl: Mary Stitch/Scissors in ''Thunderbird'', whom Miriam believes has the means to [[spoiler:take away her visions]].
84	* MoralityPet: Louis for Miriam, especially [[spoiler:after she saves his life and he attempts to keep her destructive habits in check]]. After ''The Cormorant'', Gabby takes on this role.
85	* MotorMouth: Miriam loves to hear herself talk.
86	* MustHaveNicotine: Miriam is a compulsive smoker. As of ''Thunderbird'', however, she's trying to quit cold turkey.
87	* MyGreatestFailure: Miriam's is Austin, a nine-year-old who died on his birthday -- in fact, the very same day that she foresaw it too. Miriam tried desperately to save him by attempting to get a cop involved, but the ensuing misunderstandings and forced explanations caused her to lose sight of the boy and be left watching helplessly as he got run over. Ever since, her nightmares would feature a red Mylar balloon, the object which drove him to run to the middle of the road.
88	** MyGreatestSecondChance: Louis, though it takes her a while to see him as such.
89	* NiceGuy: Louis, who remains very understanding of Miriam despite all her craziness.
90	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Before saving Louis]], whenever Miriam would try to save somebody, she would end up causing their deaths, the most notable instance of which is the one described in MyGreatestFailure above.
91	* NightmareSequence: Try bearing witness to hundreds of deaths and see if that doesn't give you any nightmares. Several chapters throughout the novels have Miriam in the throes of some horrific dreams, most of them courtesy of the ghost of the not-yet-dead Louis, an entity that Miriam later labels "The Trespasser".
92	* NonSequiturThud: [[spoiler:Harriet]] blurts out "Carpet noodle" before falling to the floor after [[spoiler:Miriam shoots her in the head]].
93	* NotSoOmniscientAfterAll: In ''The Cormorant'', the main antagonist is [[spoiler:Ashley Gaynes, who has gained the power to foresee peoples' actions. However, he can't foresee those of animals. And Miriam just happens to be able to control birds...]]
94	* [[OnceAnEpisode Once A Book]]:
95	** Miriam dyes her hair a different color.
96	** A serial killer is the main antagonist.
97	** Miriam is caught by said killer or their goons and gets beaten up severely.
98	* OneManArmy: In the climax of ''Thunderbird'', [[spoiler:Miriam gets a taste of this with her ability to control birds being enhanced on a large-enough scale that she can take on The Coming Storm all by herself]].
99	* ParentalIssues: Miriam has a lot of these from having grown up in a very repressed, fundamentalist household.
100	* PhonyPsychic: [[spoiler:Ingersoll, the grandson of a real psychic. Though it's possible that Ingersoll may have simply over-idealized his grandmother]].
101	* PitbullDatesPuppy: [[spoiler:Miriam and Louis]].
102	* PowersThatBe: Miriam is caught in the crossfire between the forces of fate and those of free will and chaos. [[spoiler:The Trespasser believes in free will, which is why it incessantly hounds Miriam and gives her a purpose for her ability]].
103	* PsychoForHire: Harriet, one of Ingersoll's employees, is a very brutal, almost sadistic, woman.
104	* PunchClockVillain: Frankie, Harriet's partner. [[spoiler:Once Miriam tells him that he will be a grandfather by the time of his fated death, he immediately lets Miriam get to Ingersoll, and even vouches for her later in ''The Cormorant'' to save her from Tap-Tap]].
105	* RapeAsBackstory: [[spoiler:Eleanor gained her powers after being raped by Carl Keener]].
106	* RescueRomance: [[spoiler:Miriam and Louis]].
107	* ScrewDestiny: [[spoiler:Saving Louis shows Miriam that there is a way to subvert her visions]]. Deconstructed in ''Mockingbird'', with [[spoiler:Eleanor Caldecott killing off girls whom she foresees are predestined to ruin many more lives]].
108	* {{Seers}}: Several examples in this series:
109	** Miriam, obviously, who foresees peoples' deaths specifically.
110	** "Miss Nancy", the psychic Miriam hires in ''Blackbirds'' trying to figure out more about her power. It's not entirely clarified what her specific kind of foresight is, but she reacts to Miriam with horror and gives her a very ominous warning.
111	** [[spoiler:Ingersoll's ''oma'' (grandmother)]], though most of it is based on Ingersoll's personal experience.
112	** [[spoiler:Eleanor Caldecott]], who says that [[spoiler:she]] can foresee how a person's life will induce DisasterDominoes on many others, and so takes it upon [[spoiler:herself]] to snuff them out before it happens.
113	** [[spoiler:Ashley Gaynes]] as of ''The Cormorant'', whose ability veers into StoryBreakerPower territory, being granted the ability to foresee the actions of any human being.
114	** Sugar, who helps people in two ways: reveals the location of an object they're looking for, as well as that of something that they aren't currently aware of but will be needing at some point in their future.
115	** Karen Key, who can read minds even without having to touch a person.
116	** David, a LivingLieDetector.
117	** Mary Scissors, who says she can see weaknesses -- whether in people, structures, or even organizations. [[spoiler:Somehow, she also knows how to undo Miriam's power]].
118	* [[SirSwearsALot Lady Swears-a-Lot]]: Miriam.
119	* SlidingScaleOfFreeWillVsFate: Starts out at "BecauseDestinySaysSo", [[spoiler:then moves on to "Fighting Fate is Hard" from the end of ''Blackbirds'' onward]].
120	* TheSnarkKnight: Miriam is one hell of a snarker, but is also dealing with a lot of issues, and severely jaded from all the death she's seen.
121	--> '''[[spoiler:Beck Daniels]]''': Always quick with the wit. It's your defense, isn't it? Little girl doesn't want the world to know how sad she is, how damaged. Your words, your attitude, all a big misdirection. A magician's trick.
122	* SophisticatedAsHell: Miriam can be quite eloquent and creative when it comes to insulting people.
123	* SpiderSense: [[spoiler:Ashley as of ''The Cormorant'' has gained the ability to anticipate the actions of people, and outwits Miriam at every turn, to the point that she can only watch as her mother is about to be murdered by him]].
124	* StoryBreakerPower: As of ''The Cormorant'', [[spoiler:Ashley Gaynes, who foresees people's actions. However, animals remain unpredictable to him]].
125	** In ''Thunderbird'', [[spoiler:Miriam's bird-control abilities grow exponentially near the climax of the story. However, Ofelia's pleasure-inducing ability disrupts her focus and breaks her control over the birds]].
126	* TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat: One of the many ways [[spoiler:Ashley]] makes use of his new-found power. [[spoiler:Miriam's visions even feature Ashley intentionally taunting her bearing witness in the past before murdering his victim. The most extreme example of this is the vision of Miriam's mother's death, where Ashley talks to both Present!Miriam (who's watching helplessly) and Past!Miriam (witnessing it through her power)]].
127	* ThoseTwoGuys: Harriet & Frankie from ''Blackbirds'', Sims and Horvath from ''Mockingbird'', Grosky and Vills from ''The Cormorant'', David and Ofelia in ''Thunderbird''.
128	* TheTopicOfCancer: Turns up a lot. See the page quote.
129	* TouchOfDeath: [[spoiler:Isaiah uses his power to kill Ethan Key]] at the end of ''Thunderbird''.
130	* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: See DarkAndTroubledPast above.
131	* TwoPartTrilogy: With six books in total, the series is definitely this.
132	* TheUnfettered: Ashley, a con-man who will take advantage of anyone and everyone he meets without a second thought. Harriet also describes herself as this in comparison to Miriam. [[spoiler:Miriam herself has become this by ''The Cormorant'']].
133	* UnhappyMedium: Miriam hates her power. In contrast, the antagonists with psychic powers themselves are a lot less unhappy.
134	* UrbanFantasy
135	* WhamLine: Toward the end of ''Blackbirds'':
136	--> '''Ashley''': [[spoiler: The trucker. Louis. I hid it [Ingersoll's case] in his truck.]]
137	* WickedCultured: [[spoiler:Eleanor Caldecott]] from ''Mockingbird''.
138	* YearInsideHourOutside: Miriam's visions vastly vary in length and detail, yet as far as the subject of the vision is concerned, Miriam most probably may have just lightly brushed her finger on their skin, or bumped into them unintentionally.
139	* YouCantFightFate: Miriam believes this [[spoiler:until she manages to save Louis from getting murdered]].

Context Literature / MiriamBlack