Line #38 Literature/CollegiaMagica


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spirit_lens_cover_5457.jpg]]
2	The ''Collegia Magica'' is an epic fantasy trilogy by award-winning author Creator/CarolBerg. It consists of
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4	* ''The Spirit Lens'' (2010)
5	* ''The Soul Mirror'' (2011)
6	* ''The Daemon Prism'' (2012)
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8	Portier de Savin-Duplais, fifteenth cousin to the King of Sabria and failed student of magic is grateful for his position as [[BadAssBookworm librarian]] at the [[WizardingSchool Collegia Seravain]], the last remaining School of Magic in the country since the Blood Wars two hundred years ago that wiped out half the country's magic-users, scientists, and nobles. Magic is in decline; the educated believe magic to be no more than charlatanry and King Phillippe vociferously [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance pursues the sciences]].
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10	So when Phillippe survives an assassination attempt that cannot be explained, there's only one person to turn to...
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12	----
13	!!''Collegia Magica'' provides examples of:
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15	* AbusiveParents
16	* ActionGirl: Anne de Vernase in ''The Soul Mirror''
17	* AllMythsAreTrue: All of the talk of magic, saints, gods, and the afterlife is true, despite widespread skepticism. Also Dante emphasizes that even beliefs that aren't true have value in magical study.
18	* ArrangedMarriage
19	* AwfulTruth: [[spoiler: No one actually makes it through Ixtador to Heaven]].
20	* BadassBookworm: All the main players, though Portier especially.
21	* BittersweetEnding
22	* BlessedWithSuck
23	* BloodMagic: Less scrupulous mages will bleed people with magical talent to augment their own power.
24	* CallToAdventure: Given Portier's history and current situation, most of the tropes in this index apply.
25	* TheChessmaster: The Aspirant
26	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Exemplified by [[spoiler:Ilario de Sylvae.]]
27	* TheDandy: Ilario, full stop.
28	* DeadpanSnarker: Portier has his moments, often directed at himself.
29	* DemonicPossession
30	* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Not so desperate by the time the story begins, but that's after Portier has had to face his 'failure' every day for the past 9 years.
31	* DoggedNiceGuy: Portier has never been lucky with women, in large part because of his family circumstances, despite being a nice person.
32	* FeudingFamilies: The Mondragons vs the Gautieri
33	* FieryRedhead: Lianelle de Vernase
34	* FunctionalMagic: Though most people seem to have lost sight of how it properly functions.
35	* GeometricMagic
36	* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Queen Eugenie is obsessed with magic, to the point of there being rumors of necromancy, and all evidence points to her being behind the assassination attempt on Phillippe. [[spoiler:subverted in that she is completely loyal to and in love with her husband and it turns out she is not in any way a political mastermind.]]
37	* GoodScarsEvilScars: Dante's mangled right hand is one of the first things people notice about him.
38	* HairTriggerTemper: Dante will probably snap at you regardless of what you're doing.
39	* HeroicSacrifice
40	* JigsawPuzzlePlot
41	* LaserGuidedAmnesia
42	* LivingLieDetector
43	* MagicAIsMagicA: As taught at the Collegia Serevain... even then, it doesn't always work.
44	* MagicStaff: Dante is never without it.
45	* MindManipulation
46	* TheMole [[spoiler: Dante]] involves himself so deeply in enemy plans that even his allies think he's switched sides. More than once.
47	* MysteriousPast: The readers, and key members of the cast, learn nothing of Dante's past until ''The Daemon Prism''.
48	* ObfuscatingStupidity: Portier uses this to slip into King Philippe's court, acting like an oaf to deflect serious - and potentially dangerous - attention away from him and garner some sympathy. It's a bit more effective than he intended. [[spoiler:Ilario]], meanwhile, all but personifies this trope.
49	--->[[spoiler:“I learned very young that elders pay no mind to idiot children. They don’t lock them away. They don’t murder them in their beds and call it childhood flux. They allow them to stay close to those they care about.”]]
50	* PowerTattoo: Members of magically talented families are required to bear a tattoo of their family device on the back of the left hand, whether they themselves are magically inclined or not. Dante is the only mage who lacks this marking, to the chagrin of the Collegia Serevain.
51	* PromotionToParent: Anne de Vernase becomes the head of her household after [[spoiler: her father is branded a traitor, her mother goes mad, and her brother is imprisoned]].
52	* PsychopathicManchild: Xanthe is several centuries old, but seems to have mentally and emotionally stopped developing somewhere in her teenage years. Add to that a lot of anger and a huge desire for power.
53	* RedOniBlueOni: Dante and Portier respectively.
54	* RegularCaller: Portier, if Ilario and the Cult of the Reborn are to be believed.
55	* ScreeningTheCall
56	* ShootTheDog
57	* TeacherStudentRomance: Averted. [[spoiler:Geurin refuses Lianelle's invitation]] whilst she's a student, and waits for her to take her adept exam. [[spoiler:And then she dies.]]
58	* {{Telepathy}}
59	* TakeAThirdOption
60	* UnexpectedSuccessor: Phillippe to Soren.
61	* UnSorcerer: Portier has magical potential through the Savin bloodline, but can't work any magic himself no matter how hard he tries. [[spoiler: At first.]]
62	* WhatTheHellHero: Portier wonders at Dante's actions often.
63	* WizardingSchool: The Collegia Serevain

Context Literature / CollegiaMagica