Tempests and Slaughter was released in 2018, but three books are planned.
Tropes:
- Achievements in Ignorance: Because the Master who teaches Arram about plants talks to them with the help of his Gift and so helps them grow, Arram tries this on dried herbs he's grinding to make medicine and so restores their quality of freshness. In fact, this is a known technique, but his teacher is surprised that he stumbled upon it.
- Action Girl: Not nearly as prevalent as in the rest of the series. There are some female gladiators, and mention that some of them come from parts of Carthak where women fight.
- A Deadly Affair: The first of the Imperial heirs to die is Prince Qesan, who was known for being very randy and got killed by a jealous husband. The Emperor decided that full court mourning for a man killed in the act of adultery had "a stink to it".
- All of the Other Reindeer: Arram has no real friends before meeting Ozorne and Varice, because he is so advanced for his young age.
- Even among his friends, he's teased and mocked for his sensitivity — he hates slavery and gladiator games and becomes sickened by the thought of people dying for no reason. Varice understands him enough to advise him to stop caring.
- Ambition Is Evil: Chioké has a lot of unspecified plans. Late in the book, Arram and Ozorne discuss what Ozorne would do if he became Emperor of Carthak. Arram's spent the whole book ignoring any of Ozorne's red flags and he does so again here, but he's distinctly uncomfortable as Ozorne says abolishing slavery is unrealistic and talks about how he'd go about invading and conquering the Northern Lands.
- Animal Stereotypes: Like in the Immortals Quartet this often seeks to subvert them. Bats are beautiful and harmless. Crocodiles are certainly not harmless but are also quite beautiful and wise in their way.
- Asshole Victim: Ozorne's father rode out with an army to quell a Sirajit 'rebellion' which Laman says was a routine scuffle between tribes and used this as an excuse to kill everyone in all involved tribes, down to the children. A survivor who'd been in a town he rode through afterwards gave him poisoned wine. The entire situation was then propagandized, and Ozorne's father cast as a hero who'd died in battle.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Before he's placed in challenging advanced classes, Arram had a habit of getting easily distracted. He floods a classroom because he got too caught up in manipulating a spell to call water.
- Berserk Button: Ozorne becomes absolutely livid upon the mention or sight of anyone from Siraj, or who he thinks is from Siraj (excepting Laman, who he's merely icy towards). He also flips out at people who don't treat animals well.
- Benevolent Boss: Master Nazaam, director of magic at the school of medicine, takes over operations in a hospital for the poor during a typhoid outbreak. While she's exacting and quite irritable, she takes what she's doing seriously and is meticulously fair, and makes sure the people under her are taken care of. When a naval officer arrives and suggests trouble every infirmary worker who is free - including Arram, who finds her frightening - comes to back her up.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Arram is normally a kind, if socially-awkward fellow, but he's a force to be reckoned with when his loved ones are in danger. The first time this is really shown is when he's working as a healer for gladiators, some of them captured enemy soldiers, and a Carthaki soldier tries to keep him from working.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: While Arram thinks of Ozorne as his good friend and a good person, it's ambiguous just how far Ozorne is in this book from how he is a decade and a half later in The Immortals, and it's a Foregone Conclusion that he'll break bad in a major way at some point in the trilogy. Even aside from Siraj, Ozorne has a cruel side that even his friends catch the edge of sometimes and he rarely apologizes. He's entirely willing to humiliate Arram by relating a Power Incontinence story to his mother or having him dress in colors that make him look sickly, he resents when Arram starts to get better grades than him, and he has a general Lack of Empathy, but is personable enough, and Arram so wants to be his good friend, that these faults are mostly overlooked.
- Chioké doesn't bother charming Arram, but he makes the effort to be likeable to many other people for his own ends, dropping this effort when it no longer suits him.
- Boxing Lessons for Superman: Ozorne and Varice try to teach Arram non-magical self-defense techniques. Arram isn't very good at them, but he does find a few opportunities to use them.
- Call-Back:
- Sarge's time as a slave and gladiator is shown in Tempests and Slaughter. His full name is also mentioned for the first time outside of a Dramatis Personae or Tortall: A Spy's Guide.
- The Graveyard Hag likes Ozorne. She told Daine in Emperor Mage that before he began his megalomaniacal A God Am I behaviour he'd courted her "like a maiden" to keep her favor.
- Call-Forward:
- Tristan Denane says he's going to change his last name, intending that afterwards no one will know what his old, boring name was. When he was introduced in Wolf-Speaker, he was called Tristan Staghorn.
- Master Yadeen teaches Arram juggling. The skill will prove handy after he flees Carthak and has to avoid using his magic, but doesn't know many other ways to earn a living.
- On one of his lessons walking under the river, Arram finds a Stormwing figurine. Ozorne is fascinated with it when Arram shows it to him and says he wants one, thinking that his enemies deserve to be defiled by them.
- Another royal heir is killed when a suspicious storm hits his ship.
- Master Yadeen starts Arram on his bad habit of holding on to the horn of his saddle when he rides.
- Canon Character All Along: Musenda Ogunsanwo, a.k.a. "Sarge" of the Queen's Riders, a nickname that here only comes up quite late. His name was first mentioned in the Dramatis Personae of Trickster's Choice, where he made a cameo, however. His Royal Intelligence Service file was also seen in A Spy's Guide.
- Chekhov's Skill: At the beginning of Tempests and Slaughter, Arram accidentally calls water from beneath the classroom to augment his spell, creating a huge fountain of water. He later calls on the same spell — intentionally this time — to subdue a rogue gladiator.
- Chickification:
- Ramasu and Arram have a conversation about this happening to the Great Mother Goddess In-Universe, by the Cult of the Gentle Mother. He suggests that the only reason she hasn't done anything about it is because, due to Time Dissonance, she hasn't noticed yet.
- It's also mentioned that priests attempted to do this to the Graveyard Hag, making her out to be more of a kindly grandmother figure. Nurturing is at least an aspect of the Great Mother, but certainly not the Hag, and she "turned the fortunes" of any priests who tried to pitch her differently.
- Childhood Marriage Promise: Arram promises himself he'll marry Varice pretty much the moment he meets her.
- Constantly Curious: Arram wants to know everything about magic, including magic he can't practice, and asks any question that crosses his mind. It's his insatiable curiosity, as much as his vast reservoirs of the Gift, that makes him a great mage.
- Continuity Drift: Arram becomes an excellent healer here, but in The Immortals he's completely incapable of healing magic.
- Continuity Nod:
- The cult of the Gentle Mother and its effects are mentioned by Ramasu.
- Books by Rosto Cooper the Younger, Farmer Cooper, and Master Si-Cham are in the university library. Ozorne's mother also forbids him from attending history classes about the end of slavery in the Northern Lands, calling such information seditious.
- Uusoae, Queen of Chaos, is mentioned for the first time since In the Realms of the Gods. Arram even thinks that he'd one day like to do her an ill turn.
- Master Yadeen uses the curse, "Mithros, Mynoss, and Shakith" while speaking to Arram/Numair when he's eleven.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Unlike the main character of any other Tortall book, Arram is a boy and a Non-Action Guy. While all but Aly have to work and struggle while learning to develop their skills, Arram is just plain good at magic and after an early incident is never really shown learning and growing, and he overall has a good time in Tempests and Slaughter, ending it with much more magical knowledge but minimal Character Development.
- Cool Old Guy:
- Master Cosmas, the head of the School for Mages at the Imperial University. He's a kind and understanding man that takes Arram under his wing. He's also a powerful mage that instructs Arram on the use of fire.
- Master Ramasu is also pretty cool. He teaches Arram the arts of healing, bringing the latter to the site of a plague and the infirmary of the gladiatorial arena. Despite being a world-famous healer, Ramasu is humble and dedicated to his chosen occupation.
- Cool Old Lady: Master Sebo, Arram's instructor in water magic. She may be old, but she's fully capable of managing powerful young mages, gods, and more.
- Never Mess with Granny: She breaks her staff over Enzi's back when she finds out that the god had foisted a sunbird baby onto Arram. Enzi doesn't even get mad about it! He grumbles and agrees that he owes her an ebony stick to replace the one "I graciously allowed you to break on my poor back."
- Disappeared Dad: Ozorne's father was killed in a conflict with the Sirajit people.
- Divine Birds: Sunbirds are sacred to Mithros, the god of war. He really doesn't like it when other beings kidnap their chicks, even if the kidnapping was accidental. Enzi leaves a sunbird chick with Arram after accidentally (or "accidentally", Arram finds himself doubting the crocodile's story) carrying it back to the Mortal Realms. Arram proceeds to name her Preet after the sounds she makes.
- Dramatic Irony: There are several examples. One particularly interesting one is a conversation Ramasu and Arram have about the In-Universe Chickification of the Great Mother Goddess, with Ramasu suggesting Time Dissonance as the reason she hasn't done anything about it, and guessing that she may take action soon. Those who've read the Song of the Lioness quartet, which Tempests and Slaughter overlaps with, will know that she already has.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Ozorne is known in-universe as "the leftover prince", stemming from a time when, as a child, he once said that he would be the emperor someday. The emperor heard this, sat Ozorne on his lap and pointed out every other prince ahead of him in the line of succession, and then said that with so many heirs, Ozorne was just a leftover.
- Enlightened Self-Interest: Trainee healers are required to serve in poor hospitals during plagues in order to get their credentials. This is the only reason that several of the healing-focused students Arram travels with to the hospital are going; they have no compassion for the impoverished and see getting properly accredited as their way of never having to serve in such inglorious, unprofitable places again.
- Explosive Leash: Gladiators who aren't regarded as celebrities are sometimes made to do Prisoner's Work, such as disposing of the bodies of plague victims. If away from the arena they're bespelled so that the farther they get from a designated point the more their hearts slow, to prevent them from taking the opportunity to escape.
- Extreme Doormat: Ozorne has callous moments and can be imperious. He'll fly into a rage if he catches Arram eyeing Sirajit pastries, and he'll tell his mother humiliating stories about Arram even when Arram begs him not to. For Arram, preserving their otherwise good relationship is more important than setting boundaries and he does his best to smooth things over, even when he's upset or angry. Varice pushes back against some things, but in other cases she advises Arram on how to avoid Ozorne's Berserk Buttons.
- Fantastic Racism:
- Ozorne hates the Sirajit because he believes they killed his father, and takes this to levels that worry his friends.
- In-universe, a lot of mages at the University either look down on or straight up don't believe in wild magic and tribal magic, and everyone who practices them.
- Foil: Preet is a foil to the unnamed baby griffin Kel has to take care of in Protector of the Small, both of them being avian Immortals with special properties, separated from their parents and having guardians who will not take kindly to finding them with a human unless the situation is carefully explained. The griffin is a deconstruction of Pet Baby Wild Animal, being more like a wild animal that regularly attacks Kel, is a danger to her other animal companions, doesn't seem to understand anything she says, and has moments of being cute but is its own creature and primarily a difficult inconvenience that causes messes she has to clean up constantly. Preet is the trope played completely straight, being sweetly affectionate, understanding everything people say and having cute responses, and never getting in Arram's way in the slightest. She doesn't even eat anything difficult to procure or poop on his things.
- Foregone Conclusion: As this is a prequel, readers already know that the Power Trio's plan to all live together isn't going to work out, Ozorne will go from being the leftover prince to being the Emperor Mage, Arram and Varice won't stay together, and Arram will in fact have to flee Carthak and change his name.
- Foul Medicine: Arram is given a Magic Antidote so that he can help in a cholera outbreak without fear of contracting the disease himself. It tastes so terrible that he gets lightheaded and nearly passes out, to the point where he worries about looking weak. The attendant assures him that it takes everyone that way.
- Friend to All Living Things:
- Lindhall is in charge of the school and palace menageries. He also cares for injured animals that students bring to him.
- Ozorne shows a deep love for birds, but also enjoys interacting with other animals.
- Arram also likes animals. He mentions wanting a pet and sneaking a tortoise into his room and being caught and punished for it before the book starts, and after initial alarm is very happy when a bat flops onto his face in the night. Later he takes a sunbird chick he names Preet into his care.
- Gentle Giant: Arram as he grows (and grows, and grows). He becomes ridiculously tall and intimidating at a first glance, can do magic that can scorch people off the Earth, and has absolutely no desire to hurt anyone whatsoever.
- Gladiator Games: Very popular in Carthak. Slaves and captives from military conflicts are forced to fight for their lives for the enjoyment of the crowds. Arram had greatly enjoyed the first one he saw until the female gladiator he was cheering was Gutted Like a Fish, which absolutely sickened him. From there on he despises them for their wanton violence.
- Gods Need Prayer Badly: Sebo explains that prayer, tribute, and respect give the gods strength and arm them for their continuing struggles against Uusoae.
- Gutted Like a Fish: When he's ten Arram sees a female gladiator disemboweled at the arena. Having found the games fun and exiting before that point, he vomits in disgust and horror.
- He Knows Too Much: Faziy was killed to prevent her from revealing too much about Stiloit's death. Arram suspects that Stiloit's death was premeditated, not caused by an errant storm, and that Faziy had something to do with it, given her connection to the lightning snakes. His masters and friends advise him to keep this to himself lest he meet Faziy's fate.
- Hidden Depths: Ramasu advises to Arram to call on Mynoss, the god of justice, if Mithros finds out about Preet. This comes from first-hand experience. He's also apparently been possessed by a god before.
- Honorable Elephant: Elephants are forced to fight in the gladiatorial games, but Arram's first experience of them is when he falls out of the stands as a ten year old. Musenda catches him and has the elephant Ua pick him up in her trunk and rise onto her back feet to return him to his father and grandfather. Naturally, Arram feels kindly towards them afterwards and when encountering Ua again and being picked up by her, again, he's not remotely alarmed. Later he's glad to hear that she's become popular enough to be retired from fighting but unhappy that instead she's having calves who're to be sent to the arena in turn.
- Hot for Teacher: Arram is attracted to several of his female teachers, though as they're professionals and he's an awkward teenager nothing comes of it.
- Hypocritical Heartwarming: At the start of the book Arram reflects that he doesn't feel much connection to his family and that their passions for cloth are not interesting to him. Some chapters later Chioké sneers at Arram, lingering on his last name being "Draper", and Arram bristles, suddenly quite proud of his family's business.
- Interquel: Book one, Tempests and Slaughter, overlaps with the later three books of the Song of the Lioness quartet, with its climax and end coming around the same time as, or shortly before, the Coronation Day Rebellion of Lioness Rampant. Not that those events are mentioned at all.
- Jerkass:
- Chioké. He covertly gives Ozorne some sort of tonic with magic in it, is dismissive of "tribal magics", and treats Arram with disdain as a common-born boy. He also bribes gladiators to fix matches and may have had something to do with Stiloit's death.
- Diop, one of Arram and Ozorne's roommates. He's snide and arrogant, frequently treating his younger roommates with disrespect, and decides to try to beat Arram up for sleeping elsewhere for several nights.
- Lighter and Softer: Compared to Beka Cooper, certainly. Like that trilogy, Tempests and Slaughter takes place in a slave-keeping country where poor peoples' lives are not well valued - and Carthak unlike Tortall indulges in Gladiator Games - but for the most part it takes place within the university, which insists on employing servants rather than buying slaves and is a nicer place to live than the Palace as seen by Alanna and Kel in their training. Arram sees glimpses of that dark outside world now and again but spends most of his time quite comfortably removed from it.
- Locked Out of the Loop: It's implied that several of Arram's teachers at Master rank believe he's capable of becoming a black robe, but are keeping him in the dark about this.
- Loyal Animal Companion: Preet is very dedicated to Arram, seeing him as part of her family. She dislikes being separated from him, but understands that it's sometimes necessary.
- Magic Antidote: The medicine that prevents healers and healer students from contracting cholera is something they can drink immediately before going out into the field, rather than needing any time to create immunity. Presumably there literally is magic involved.
- The Medic: Master Ramasu is a world-renowned healer. He regularly volunteers at the gladiatorial arenas to treat the fighters.
- Modest Royalty: Prince Stiloit is more comfortable in sailor's clothes than in the elaborate, beautiful clothing he has to wear in a royal public appearance.
- Mundane Utility: Unlike most mages Arram is generally unable to light candles with his Gift (a problem he still has when grown) but he can use a spell to take a bit of the heat out of tea or food instead of having to wait for it to cool.
- My Beloved Smother: Ozorne's mother, Princess Mahira Lymanis Tasikhe. When she isn't slipping off into her own thoughts or swearing vengeance on the Sirajit that killed her husband, she badgers Ozorne about his school performance or finding a romantic partner.
- Mythology Gag: Arram is called to help out during a typhoid epidemic. Aspects of that plot might remind readers of Briar's Book, in which Briar Moss was caught up in a pox epidemic. Like Briar, Arram is called on to use his power to refresh and renew long-dried herbs that have lost their medicinal properties to time, and like Briar he does this for long enough to feel like a plant himself. Arram has a much easier time of it than Briar as he doesn't have to tend patients, was given a drink that inoculated him against typhus beforehand and has no fear of himself or anyone he cares about getting sick, and gets to return to school before too long.
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: Enzi, the crocodile god of the river Zekoi. He's generally on good terms with Arram and Sebo, but he does threaten to eat anyone who crosses him. Sebo warns Arram not to take his friendly, amused aspect for granted - when Enzi found Arram asleep on a riverbank, the god decided to nap besides him, but he's capricious and could have become angry.
- Never Trust a Title: Tempests and Slaughter is a tremendously dramatic title that suggests a great deal of bloodshed and desperation, but the book is primarily about Arram and his friends at Wizarding School, struggling sometimes to learn and chafing under the disrespect of some of the students and faculty but generally enjoying himself. Teachers take him elsewhere in brief excursions a few times a year and he becomes aware of how dangerous and precarious Carthak is, but he's always brought back quickly, puts aside all those troubling thoughts, and returns to the status quo. There are plot-relevant storms but they're not emotional storms to the degree suggested by the foreknowledge of Ozorne and Arram's falling out, which never feels impending in this book - in fact it ends on yet another affirmation of their friendship.
- Nice Guy: Prince Stiloit. He's friendly towards Arram when they meet a field hospital during a plague. Stiloit also donates a lot of money to the healers after watching Arram juggle for the patients. However, Arram does find him overly familiar and bristles that he's not respectful towards Ozorne. Still, it's too bad that he dies during an "unexpected" storm.
- Nice to the Waiter: Arram is unfailingly good to the poor. Ozorne and Varice, on the other hand, are kind, neutral, or cruel depending wildly on the circumstances; they can be generous when in good moods, and far worse when they aren't. They're usually decent to servants but are often quite cold to slaves. Arram, being very invested in his friends being good people, ignores or rationalizes away most of their harsh moments.
- No Antagonist: Tempests and Slaughter has a villain in the climax, but no real antagonist through the story overall.
- Noodle Incident: What exactly happened to Ramasu that he required judgement from the Great Judge, Mynoss? And why did he get possessed by a god the first time?
- Chioké jokes that he'd help the healers treating gladiators but... One of those healers laughingly remembers that the last time he helped with the wounded, they'd then had to treat him for a broken arm. Chioké then protests that he hadn't known a particular fellow spoke Common.
- The Noun and the Noun: The first book is Tempests and Slaughter.
- Origin Story: For Numair.
- Pals with Jesus: Master Sebo (and later Arram) is a very good friend of the crocodile god Enzi. The Graveyard Hag also likes Arram, winking at him and helping Musenda to win a duel versus the bloodthirsty champion of the arena for him, but it's not as personable of a connection. Just as in The Immortals, animal gods are easier to get along with than Great Gods, though Arram grouses to himself that even Enzi's regard is hard to bear sometimes.
- Pet Baby Wild Animal: Preet is a stark contrast to the baby griffin Kel has to care for in Protector of the Small, though they're both baby birdlike Immortals.
- Pet the Dog: In his backstory, Ramasu tried to show off his magic to the local duke, and wound up accidentally blowing up half of Mithros' temple. Mithros then appeared over the temple, picked up his altar piece, and carried it to the location where he wanted a new temple built, saving Ramasu's life. The Great Gods can be very callous about the lives and suffering of humans, but they're not without mercy.
- The Plague: Typhoid outbreaks are common in Carthak, and when one breaks out everyone in the Upper Academy is expected to help in some manner. Arram finds out he's especially good at rejuvenating herbs, and Ramasu's impressed enough with his work that he has Arram's schedule rearranged for it.
- Power Incontinence: At the beginning of the book, Arram experiences "flares" where his power suddenly surges out of his control, strengthening whatever spell he's trying to do by an order of magnitude. When he describes the incident with water magic to Varice she smilingly relates losing control of her magic and knotting the hair of everyone in the room, and later tells him about Ozorne accidentally summoning too many birds to his hand. Master Cosmas explains that mages who will come into great power often have such flares while young.
- Real Women Don't Wear Dresses: Female mages are largely exempt from the household-related expectations that apply to other women and there's the expectation that this exemption makes them superior, so Varice has to deal with this trope in-universe. She loves cooking, kitchen magic and similar things, but is repeatedly told that domestic magic is unimportant. She also has to deal with her father trying to stop her from learning kitchen magic, even though it's where her skills lie.
- Refusal of the Call: Arram is told repeatedly throughout the story by several gods that he has a great destiny. His response is to tell them he wants no part of it.
- Scary Black Man: Averted twice over:
- Master Yadeen looks scary, but he's a fairly nice guy, if stern. He just has resting bitch face.
- Musenda also looks intimidating, being a huge gladiator, but he's very kind to Arram and supports his family with his earnings.
- Shock and Awe: Lightning snakes. Arram and Faziy demonstrate a connection to them.
- Slave Brand: Each gladiator has one. Freed gladiators have an additional brand to show that they are free.
- Start of Darkness: The series will show how Ozorne went from a personable, average student who only wanted to do mage-work with his best friends to the Evil Overlord of The Immortals.
- Straight Gay: Ramasu has a common-law husband.
- Tailor-Made Prison: There are rooms in the university and the palace that completely cancel out magic abilities. Particularly unruly students are threatened with a stay in the these rooms.
- Tempting Fate: Arram and his friends often share plans to live together in a manor house when they graduate and Ozorne comes of age. In his narration Arram often pushes aside any doubts or his own desire to travel by telling himself that his friends are his true family and that he'll never leave them.
- Time Dissonance: Ramasu suggests this as the reason why the Great Mother Goddess hasn't yet done anything about her Chickification by the cult of the Gentle Mother.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Or perhaps he's yet to take a level in jerkass - in Emperor Mage an older Varice complains about Numair having dismissed her "kitchen witch" focus, but in Tempests and Slaughter as Arram he reassures her whenever people scorn her talents.
- Unequal Rites: "Tribal" magic is regarded with derision by many Carthaki mages. Many mages also don't believe in wild magic.
- Unreliable Narrator: There are a few suggestions that Arram doesn't know Ozorne as well as he thinks he does, and that he might also be trying to see his friend in the best light that he can. One example of the latter is Ozorne lending him clothing to wear meeting the Emperor - Arram immediately thinks that it will make him look sickly, and decides that it must simply be in fashion because Ozorne would never deliberately arrange for a friend to look worse.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Ozorne as a student, while arrogant and prejudiced possibly moreso than Arram believes, is also a genuinely loving, loyal friend, unlike the adult Ozorne who appears in The Immortals.
- Vague Age: We know that Arram is ten at the start of the book and Ozorne and Varice are a few years older, but past that point it's often hard to tell how old they are - unlike in Pierce's other books, there's no talk of birthdays and few mentions of any yearly holidays with which to easily track the passage of time. Knowing how old the three are at the end of the book requires looking up the dates on class schedules.
- Wax On, Wax Off: Yadeen teaches Arram focus and control through juggling.
- Written by the Winners: Ozorne's father was sent to put down a rebellion in the south of Carthak. He was killed in the conflict, leading to both Ozorne and his mother swearing vengeance on the Sirajit. A classmate later tells Arram that the "rebellion" was nothing more than a typical tribal feud. Prince Apodan, Ozorne's father, slaughtered everyone involved, including babies. He was assassinated by a surviving member of one of the tribes. The imperial heralds proclaimed that Prince Apodan had died tragically in battle putting down a rebellion. Ozorne and his mother are unaware of the truth, as are most Carthakis.
- You Cannot Grasp the True Form: It's explained that plants, rivers, and rocks all have their own gods, similar to humans, animals, and immortals, but their gods are too simple for humans to really comprehend. When Arram overtaxes his Green Thumb powers to the point where he starts thinking like a plant, he glimpses the plants' gods, and has to be brought out of it by the healers.
—-
