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Chase Ryder and the City of Lost Memories is a self-published novel series written by T.J. Howard, also known as by his online handle Sky
Rig on FanFiction.Net and Sufficient Velocity.com.
Humanity's past has long been forgotten, and as the generations continue to pass, what's left of their history is slowly fading away. Humanity's bastion, the Last City, sits within the stratosphere over the broken remains of the Old World. Its human residents suffer an unknown affliction where upon turning 21, they lose all their memories. Chase Ryder, Anarchist and member of the Wrench Crew gang, is discontent with the state of things, believing there is more to his life than simply wallowing in a city that's content with forgetting its own past and yearns to find the Underground — a place otherwise thought to be a "fairy tale" containing knowledge of the Old World that humanity's bastion left behind so long ago. Opportunity comes knocking when Straz, the leader of the Wrench Crew, decides to steal a symbol of authority and backing from one of the City's rulers, a Councilman and member of the Council of Twenty.
Straz's actions are unfortunately those of betrayal, casting aside the Wrench Crew in favor of his plans to take over all of Sector Ryst — the working-class district of the Last City. Chase narrowly escapes death and awakens in the Slums, the underbelly of the City and home to the beast-born, a group of humans with bestial features. Yud, one of the faction leaders of the Slums, offers to help Chase return to Sector Ryst in exchange for his help in finding Arlan the Revolutionary, a Hope Bringer among the beast-born aiming to give beast-born as much power as their fellow human-born. Unfortunately for Chase, his timing could not be worse as the Slums are about to be engulfed in the beginnings of a war.
Part 1: War was released in May 2022 on Amazon. A sequel titled Part 2: Revolution was released on February 20, 2024. A preview of the first two chapters of Part 1: War were posted by TheStrangerThatCameFromNowhere at SkyRig's request and can be viewed here.
Not to be confused with Jo Ho's dog lover series of the same name.
Chase Ryder contains the following tropes:
- Action Girl: Whyte Holiday is the leader of the Gray Tail tribe, and is just as capable as Chase and Yud in a fight. She happily demonstrates how good she is when Upper Skyline is attacked and leads the counter-offensive on Inztyl.
- Aerith and Bob: The cast has a mix of mundane names like Chase and Whyte, whereas other characters have more curious ones like Kyr and Yud.
- After the End: Implied. The floating citadel the book takes place in is called the "Last City" and "Last Bastion of Mankind", while the rest of the world is seemingly called the Old World.
- All for Nothing: Arlan is the only person in the Slums who knows how to travel between the Slums and the Quarters, meaning he's the only person who can get Chase back to Sector Ryst and find out what's become of his friends and family after Straz's betrayal. The end of Part 1: War reveals that Arlan's in such a horrible state that he's unlikely to live long enough to actually be of use to Chase, though this is mitigated by the possibility of Chase's pendant being able to reactive the service elevators.
- Ambition Is Evil: Discussed in Intermission: Straz. The Wrench Crew leader created the gang after a Snake Eyez who had his throat with a knife discussed the meaning of having ambition and what to do with it. Straz took his captor's words to heart when the latter said whoever had the ambition to take over Downtown would control all of Ryst, having abandoned his own gang to the City's State Sec in exchange for a Councilman providing him the means to take control of Ryst.
- Amnesiac Hero: Like most of the residents in the City, Chase has no memories past the last two years of his life, having already undergone his Day of Age. Whyte also underwent hers a year before the start of the story, though unlike most, she managed to retain some of her memories.
- And the Adventure Continues: The end of the first book has Chase leave for the Quarters, hoping to use the pendant to activate an elevator that will take him to Uptown Sector Ryst and hunt down Trigg before he can start a war against the City.
- Anger Born of Worry: Gabe pulls Chase aside in an attempt to dissuade him from partaking in Straz's bold, but risky plan to infiltrate a Councilman's home and steal a marker of their authority, only to storm out in anger when Chase refuses to back down since there's a chance the Council of Twenty might have potential leads to the Underground.
- Big Bad: Trigg of the Black Claws is the main antagonist of Part 1: War, perpetuating the Slums civil war in a bid to unite the Tribes and lead an assault on the Quarters to take over the City. Stopping him is Yud and Whyte's main priority, and later Chase's when he realizes the dangers Trigg poses to his family in Sector Ryst.
- Chekhov's Gun: In Chapter 2, Chase discovers a pendant in the Councilman of Welfare's home, implied to be the "key" mentioned in the journal that will guide Chase to the way towards the Underground. The pendant also allows him to activate the machine-mechs and overwrite their commands, giving the resistance a potent and very powerful weapon against Trigg.
- Civil War: The Slums are locked in one. Four of the six underground factions are at war with the Black Claw Tribe and their leader Trigg, who wants to wage war against the whole City in a bid to establish beast-born dominance.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Despite the Wrench Crew being a gang and Chase identifying himself as an Anarchist, he's a kind-hearted man looking out for a pair of twins he took under his wing. It's worth mentioning that the term "Anarchist" In-Universe seems to refer to people who do not tolerate Uptown's corporate machinations and openly rebel against them, rather than causing chaos and destruction wantonly for little to no reason.
- Dead Person Impersonation: The Big Bad is revealed not to be Trigg, but someone assuming his appearance and starting the war in the Slums. The group doesn't realize this until after they've identified the real Trigg's rotting corpse in Inztyl.
- Defector from Decadence:
- Yud was a former member of the Snake Eyez, widely regarded in Sector Ryst as the worst gang in Downtown, having joined for protection after his brother was apprehended by the Guard. It did not take him long to realize exactly why they earned such a negative reputation and cut all ties with them, leaving for the Slums.
- Kyr was born into the Black Claw tribe and initially hated all human-born like the rest. His opinion changed when a human-born woman named Clarissa patched him up after he was attacked by people who hated the Black Claws. When Kyr asked Trigg if human-born really were the inferior monsters he made them out to be and got the shit kicked out of him for his troubles, Kyr left the tribe and joined the Gray Tails.
- Et Tu, Brute?: The Wrench Crew is horrified and hurt when Straz happily sells them out to the Sentinels in exchange for being provided official backing by a member of the Council of Twenty.
- Even Evil Has Standards: The Regent is not happy to learn that Phase 2 of his and the doctor's plan will involve a very high death toll.
- Famed In-Story: Arlan the Revolutionary is a well-known figure to everyone in both the Slums and in the Quarters, being the figurehead of a beast-born equal rights movement that has been sticking it to the corporations of Uptown Sector Ryst. Finding him is one of the resistance's priorities, especially Kyr's as he's apparently gone missing within the last two months.
- Fantastic Racism:
- Downplayed. Discrimination against the beast-born boils down to them being unable to achieve high-ranking positions in Sector Ryst, and any beast-born not legally recognized in Sector Ryst is dragged to the Factory. If there's any verbal or physical abuse aimed at them, it's never brought up or shown in the story proper. At the very least, it's bad enough that Arlan was fighting for beast-born to have the same rights as human-born.
- On the other end of the spectrum, the Black Claw tribe consists of beast-born who despise their human counterparts, believing the beast-born are the true rightful owners of the City. Trigg is the biggest advocate for beast-born supremacy, with his end goal being to start a war with the entire City and take it over.
- Fiery Redhead: Downplayed with Whyte. She has red hair, but she's not so gung-ho that she'll potentially risk her men and tribe in a fight.
- Find the Cure!: In Chapter 9, Whyte explains she's also looking for the Underground, believing that any information stored there may help her restore the Slums.
- Future Imperfect: While the Last City is technologically advanced, having things such as synthetic flesh to replace skin damaged beyond repair and even nano-fibers to replicate muscle tissue, there's also the fact that the City's inhabitants all lose their memories at the age of 21.
- Greater-Scope Villain: While Trigg is the immediate threat in the Slums, Straz is the reason Chase has to deal with the former in the first place, kickstarting his adventures by selling out his entire crew in exchange for a Councilman's backing. Chase's main goal is to return to Downtown and kill Straz for his betrayal. The Regent is an even bigger one since he and the doctor are responsible for starting the Slums civil war in the first place.
- Great Offscreen War: The Gang War from forty years ago. While the specifics and details are unknown, it's so bad anyone who participated in the event and past the age of 21 was traumatized. Any that weren't, but underwent their Day of Age, was considered lucky.
- Happily Adopted: Although a full-grown adult when he met Gabe, Chase nonetheless considers the latter to be the closest thing he has to a Parental Substitute after having woken up with zero memories to his name.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Everyone who turns 21 loses all their memories. What causes this and why it happens are unknown, but it's become so ingrained in the city people treated it as an everyday occurrence. Chase himself underwent it two years ago, and Whyte Holiday from the Slums had her Day of Age a year ago. Unlike many of the City's inhabitants, however, she actually managed to retain some of her memories.
- Little Bit Beastly: The beast-born, as their name implies, are a category of sub-humans with animalistic features. Yud, the first beast-born Chase meets, has an extra set of ears atop his head.
- Not in This for Your Revolution: Initially, Chase could not care less about the civil war. All he wants is to find a way back to Sector Ryst, find out who survived Straz's betrayal, and kill the son of a bitch while he's at it. He changes his tune after Chapter 5, realizing the threat Trigg poses if he's allowed to wage his war against the City.
- Not Using the "Z" Word: The animal-hybrid characters in the series are not referred to as "beastmen", "hybrids", or even "demi-humans" as they would in other fantasy settings. Instead, they're called "beast-born", though their apparent actual name is "Animan", a play on the words 'human' and 'animal'.
- Riddle for the Ages: The Day of Age causes anyone who turns 21 to lose all their memories. Why it happens and what causes it are entirely unknown. Chase is in no hurry to figure it out, nor does he care to since his goal is to find a way out of the City and to the Old World.
- The Smurfette Principle: Of the main trio, Whyte is the sole female member.
- State Sec: The Sentinels, also known as the Guard, are the main enforcers and police force of the City, clad in high-tech armor and cracking down on anyone who violates the rules imposed by the Council of Twenty and the Regent.
- Under City: The Slums is located beneath the Quarters, considered an official "sector" within the City and the place the beast-born call home. Originally serving as a production area and hosting several power plants, an unexplained meltdown occurred a hundred years ago and damaged several of the production facilities and power plants. Despite numerous problems, the beast-born managed to eke out a living and carved out little territories of their own, living under the protection of the "tribes" who control said territories.
- The War Sequence: Chapter 8 in its entirety is a full-scale invasion of Inztyl, the Black Claw's base of operations from start to finish with little rest in-between.
- Wham Episode: The last chapter shows the aftermath of the civil war and the set-up for Part 2: Revolution. Yud reveals to Whyte and Chase that the body Kyr found in Chapter 8 belongs to Trigg, who was on the receiving end of a Kill and Replace plot by the Regent and a doctor, the latter being the one to instigate the civil war in the first place as part of a test to see whether someone, implied to be either Yud or Chase, was up to snuff based on their "leadership ability" and that Phase 2 of the plan is about to begin.
- Wretched Hive: Downtown Sector Ryst is home to several gangs, most of whom are vying for control and gang warfare happens often enough that several buildings are apparently scorched and burned down. Uptown plays a part in its current state as the corporations and businesses of Sector Ryst constantly involve the residents and gangs in their power plays and attempts at hostile takeovers.
