Calenture is a web novel series created by Filipino writer Thaddeus Grimwald who is rather infamous for his scathing articles on the webpage Getrealphilippines.com.
Book 1 is under construction here
on Wattpad.
Calenture takes place in a Grimdark Steampunk Dark Fantasy world that is mostly covered by water. The story itself focuses on the travels of Count Eldritch Balthazar and Captain Samantha Delacroix aboard the mysterious ship the Sea Turtle as they steam across the Marred Atoll in their hunt for the Bakunawa.
The world of Calenture is noted for its diverse cast as it features Loads and Loads of Races and a wide, wide setting. According to the author, Calenture was largely inspired by other steampunk works like Girl Genius and Iron Kingdoms. As for its story, the author admits to have taken elements from Moby-Dick and Dishonored.
Not to be confused with the Storm Constantine 1994 novel of the same name...
Currently being Overhauled by the author.
Calenture contains examples of:
- Aerith and Bob: Humans stick to normal naming conventions but other races tend to have their own.
- Animal Motifs: All witches have a species of animal they can communicate with or transform into.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: There are few royals and nobles in the Kingdom of Maharlika who even acknowledge the common people as sentient beings. So far, only Eldritch, his late mother Constance and his aunt Esmeralda are the only highborn to be shown to have any real concern for the masses.
- Burn the Witch!: Standard procedure for the Gilded Church. They also have the same policy for people born with disabilities as they believe that they are the chief cause for the Shade's Touch. However, there is the rumor that the current Poppess might be one as well.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Eldritch Balthazar (one of the two protagonists) and Jonas Abbott the pirate captain come to mind.
- Cool Airship: Admiral Damion Stevens' airship the Bumblebee.
- Cool Boat: The Sea Turtle definitely counts. It's essentially a Magitek warship that is shaped like a giant turtle. Jonas Abbott's submarine the Hammerhead also counts as it is another Magitek marvel like the Sea Turtle and Bumblebee.
- Crapsack World: While life in the seven continents is good and even progressive and both the Empire of Dalmoren and Commonwealth of Silakor are decent places to live, the same cannot be said for most of the Ynthe Ocean. The Kingdom of Maharlika is a dystopian despotate rife with political corruption, racked with horrendous poverty and things are only getting worse from there thanks to The Plague. Then you have the Union and Dominion to add to all that. Dwarfing them all however is the fact that the sea level continues to rise on a regular basis, Deep Spawn are becoming more numerous and aggressive and no one can really do anything about it.
- Creature-Hunter Organization: Sea Slayers are dedicated to hunting deep spawn.
- Crystal Dragon Jesus:
The author has stated that "the Angler" mentioned by characters in the story is their world's version of Aslan. - Cyborg: Mechanical prosthesis is a viable option for amputees and some, like Admiral Damion Stevens of the Empire, has a full-body one.
- Elemental Powers: Each of the seven continents and the racial variants that live on them are named Metal, Wood, Earth, Fire, Water, Light and Shadow.
- Expy: Just about every character is either based on another character from another franchise.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The Kingdom of Maharlika has a lot in common with the Philippines, Grimwald's home country.
- The Empire of Dalmoren also has some similarities with Hawaii, complete with their very own version of Hula Dance.
- The Commonwealth of Silakor is a lot like modern Scandinavia, being a prosperous, productive and overall happy people. However, they will go Horny Vikings when provoked.
- The Union of Thyss are a thinly disguised caricature of Dirty Communists
- The Dominion of CUNT (Covenant of United Nationalistic Tribes) have a bit in common Terrorists Without a Cause.
- Genius Ditz: Eldritch Balthazar is a wonderful example of this trope thanks to his unhealthy interest in Sea Monsters.
- Inhumanly Beautiful Race: Most Witches and Alraune although there are exceptions from time to time.
- Kick the Dog: A given due to the Ynthe Ocean's Crapsack World status but most especially in the Kingdom of Maharlika. The Gilded Church, which is based there, go about burning witches and disabled persons as standard procedure. The Royal Family has a deep disdain for orphans and deprives them of any rights and treats them as slaves and forces them to work in dreadful and dangerous mills.
- Kraken and Leviathan: Kraken are massive, ship-sized Portuguese Men-o'-War that can sometimes be mistaken for icebergs or islands while Leviathans can be even bigger and are often fast-moving and voracious predators which more easily fit the mold of Eldritch Abominations rather than mere Sea Monsters.
- Loads and Loads of Races: There are 24 base races and each of the 7 continents has their own variation of them. Yes, that even includes humans.
- Lovecraft Lite: Leviathans easily qualify as Eldritch Abominations rather than just Kraken and Leviathan. However, there are Sea Beast Slayers who are tasked with hunting and killing them to harvest their Necrol. All things considered though, it's never easy.
- Magitek: The Sea Turtle is this, as well as some of the older machinery count as well.
- Ocean Madness: It's right there in the title, as "Calenture" is when "a stricken sailor pictures the sea as grassy meadows and wishes to dive overboard into them".
- Ocean Punk: The Ynthe Ocean has the potential for even more adventures than any of the world's continents.
- One-Word Title: "Calenture" is when "a stricken sailor pictures the sea as grassy meadows and wishes to dive overboard into them".
- The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Captain Jonas Abbott is an undead pirate captain with a magical submarine. However, instead of attacking and plundering other ships and pillaging and burning port towns, he buys and sells banned books or uncensored versions of censored ones as well as various contraband goods. He will however make an exception for slaveships and will always attack them on sight to free the slaves within.
- The Plague: The Shade's Touch or the Phantom Taint. The seven continents are getting depopulated by it. It's also begun to spread across the islands of the Ynthe Ocean and that's why the heroes are racing to find a cure for it.
- Sea Monster: Called Deep Spawn in the setting. The Ynthe Ocean is filled with them but one can say that the waters of the Marred Atoll are overflowing with them.
- Steampunk: Just about everything runs on steam. The presence of necrol however is turning it into Dieselpunk.
- Sibling Rivalry: Count Eldritch's rivalry with his brothers Cassius and Fabio.
- Take That!: Calenture is essentially a huge allegorical rant against corruption and dysfunction in the Philippines just like many of Thaddeus Grimwald's articles on Get Real.
