Chronicles of the Cheysuli is an eight-book fantasy series written by Jennifer Roberson from 1984-1992. As the title implies, it primarily deals with the Cheysuli, a race of magical warriors who bond with animals (gaining, among other things, shape-shifting abilities). Once the treasured allies of the ruling class, by the time the series begins they are an outcast minority hunted on sight. But their homeland has other problems to deal with, like an invasion of foreign sorcerers.
The series progresses through the generations as power and battle lines fluctuate.
This series has examples of:
- Animorphism: The eponymous Cheysuli can turn into the shape of their Lir (a Bond Creature that is some kind of animal: bear, wolf, hawk...). A rare few can turn into the form of any Lir they want.
- Arranged Marriage: Throughout the series, the protagonists are attempting to fulfill a prophecy that requires a child with certain bloodlines. Consequently there's, on average, about one arranged marriage per book, some of which work out and some of which... really don't.
- Because Destiny Says So: The Cheysuli are strong believers in tahlmorra, the will of the gods.
- The Call Put Me on Hold: Every man in the Cheysuli tribe bonds with a lir, a sentient animal companion that allows them to shapeshift. The protagonist of the fourth book, the half-Cheysuli Niall, is years older than the usual age for bonding and despairs of it ever happening. It does.
- Death of a Child: At one point, Alix rescues an infant from a warzone, but is forced to set the baby down in order to help someone else. When she comes back for it, the baby is dead.
- Fictionary: There's usually an 'Old Tongue Glossary' in the back of each book, explaining Cheysuli terms like sul'harai.
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Follow the Leader: The similarities between the first book and ''Dragonflight'' are clear. A headstrong female protagonist from a secretly royal lineage who turns out to be able to speak to all animals as Lessa could speak to all dragons is carried off by a man who belongs to a group that forms lifelong psychic bonds with animals and becomes a hollow shell of themselves if that animal is killed, the man has a half-brother who helps with his schemes, the female protagonist is forced into marriage with highly questionable consent, etc. - Lost Aesop: In book six, Keely — who is somewhat of an Indecisive Parody of a Rebellious Princess Action Girl to start with - is kidnapped, raped and impregnated by the Big Bad. After escaping, she is determined to have an abortion, but a lot of sympathetic characters — including the lir, who usually serve as the voice of wisdom in the series — tell her that Good Girls Avoid Abortion, giving the impression that the narrative wants us to agree. But then when Keely ignores them and goes to purchase an abortifacient, the herbalist refuses to sell it to her and acts like such a smug, sexist, slut-shaming Jerkass that it's hard to imagine we're not supposed to want to be on whichever side of the argument he's not on. And then, following some gratuitous Mind Rape by another villain, she has a Convenient Miscarriage anyway. So... was that a pro-life message? A pro-choice message? Just what was the point of any of it?
- Magical Native American: The Cheysuli are clearly a fantasy representation of Native Americans, as a darker-skinned darker-haired tribal race In Harmony with Nature whose ancestral lands were colonised by the "white" Homanans.
- Only You Can Repopulate My Race: In the first book, Alix is kidnapped by the Cheysuli, whose argument is that they are a Dying Race and therefore have the right to do whatever's necessary to ensure that their bloodlines continue. Therefore, she's going to have their babies whether she likes it or not. Finding out her true bloodline does nothing to change their determination; it only means that the first man who intended to use her as a concubine has to give her up because he's actually her half-brother.
- Really Royalty Reveal: In the first book, Alix discovers that she is both part-Cheysuli and the king's illegitimate grand-daughter. Which means the prince she was romantically involved with is actually her cousin.
- Remarried to the Mistress: In book four, Niall has his insane wife Gisella sent away and lives openly with his mistress Deirdre. When he receives word that Gisella has died, he marries Deirdre even though he himself is on his deathbed.
- Surprise Incest: Alix gets this two ways in the first book: her original romance interest, Prince Carillon, wanted her as his mistress because she was too low-born for him to marry. He turns out to be her cousin. The man who kidnaps her and carries her away to be his whore turns out to be her half-brother.
