History Literature / QuintaglioAscension

''The Quintaglio Ascension Trilogy'' is a series of science fiction novels written by [[CanadaEh Canadian]] author Creator/RobertJSawyer.

* StarfishAliens: [[spoiler: the Jijaki, which are sapient descendants of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opabinia the bizarre prehistoric creature called ''Opabinia'']].]]

* MostWritersAreHuman: WordOfGod states that the reason Quintaglios have so many inexplicable and often counter-intuitive similarities with humans is because he didn't think that readers could empathize with completely alien protagonists, and also that he had trouble getting the first book published because editors thought a series without any humans in it wouldn't sell.

* ProphecyTwist:

%%* ProphecyTwist

* KingOfTheDinosaurs: The ''Blackdeath'' is a descendant of ''Tyrannosaurus'' and is undisputedly the apex predator of the Quintaglio moon, capable of hunting anything within their vicinity and inspiring awe and fear towards everyone. Because it is forbidden to use weapons during a hunt, the Quintaglios cannot hunt a ''Blackdeath''.

* RecycledINSPACE: The age of enlightenment, [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs WITH DINOSAURS!]]

''Far-Seer'' won a Homer award upon its initial release and was met with wide critical praise. It was followed by two more books: ''Fossil Hunter'', and ''Foreigner''; Fossil Hunter won yet another Homer award and both were similarly well-received as ''Far-Seer''.

** In Foreigner, [[spoiler: it is confirmed that priests are able to lie. Afsan enlists the help of a priest to help them win against the Others]].

* DomesticatedDinosaurs: Some dinosaurs like ''Shovelmoths'', ''Armourbacks'', ''Hornfaces'' and ''Runningbeasts'' have been domesticated by the Quintaglios for the carriage of goods, mounts, and for combat against rival Quintaglios.

* ILied: In Foreigner, the Other captain says he [[spoiler:won't hurt Afsan if Toroca tells them their weakest point. Upon getting the information, he shoots Afsan anyway]]. When Toroca called him out, the captain chillingly tells him that Quintaglios might not be able to lie, but Others can.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: ''Blackdeaths'', aka Tyrannosaurs.

* TheParanoiac: [[spoiler: Drawtood]] from Fossil Hunter. [[spoiler: He begins murdering his siblings because of the strangeness of having siblings, a concept foreign to Quintaglios, and had no idea how to truly act around them or what to make of them, and at one point described them as being him but not him]]. In one scene, he wonders if [[spoiler: his sister]] is wishing him dead, as he does her.

* StarfishAliens: [[spoiler: the Jijaki, which are sapient Opabinia.]]

* TraumaCongaLine: The reason for Afsan's continued blindness in the third book [[spoiler: despite his eyes regenerating]] turns out to be due to [[spoiler: being wracked by guilt over being chosen by the Bloodpreists over his siblings, his killing Nor-Gampar during ''dagamant'', sadness over the murders of his own children and his guilt over setting up the battle between the Blackdeath and Dybo's siblings. He gets over it thanks to Mokleb's therapy.]]

* StockDinosaurs: The list of species shown and mentioned to reside on the moon that orbits Quintaglio are descendants of Cretaceous archetypical dinosaurs. On a more precise note, these are the ''Shovelmouth'' (hadrosaurs), ''Armourback'' (ankylosaurs), ''Hornface'' (ceratopsians), ''Thunderbeast'' (sauropods), ''Runningbeast'' (ornithomimids), ''Terrorclaw'' (dromaeosaurs), and ''Blackdeath'' (''UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex'').

The most interesting twist is this: contrary to most alien species in SciFi, the Quintaglios do not posses highly advanced technology, and are instead at a level comparable to our Renaissance. As the series progresses, this becomes the key source of drama in the plot.

In the first book in the series, ''Far-Seer'', we meet Afsan, an apprentice astrologer. Every Quintaglio goes on a "pilgrimage" to see "the Face of God". Using his telescope (what the Quintaglios call a Far-Seer, hence the title of the book), he learns that the Face of God is actually a planet, and that their world, long believed to be a giant "boat" floating downriver, is actually a moon. Of more dire importance, however, is that their moon is too close to the Face of God, and will eventually break apart into a ring. Afsan's claims attract significant attention from Det-Yenalb, the Quintaglio high priest. The Royal family, descended from the prophet Larsk who discovered The Face of God, rules by divine right, and Afsan's discoveries threaten this rule. Afsan's claim that the world is coming to an end also attracts the attention of an ancient cult known as the Lubalites, who believe Afsan to be their Messiah foretold in the Prophecy of Lubal. Afsan must fight to convince his fellow Quintaglios the dire truth, as the fate of their civilization hangs in the balance.

''Far-Seer'' won a Homer award upon its initial release and met with wide critical praise. It was followed by two more books: ''Fossil Hunter'', and ''Foreigner''; Fossil Hunter won yet another Homer award and both were similarly well-received as ''Far-Seer''.

** In addition, there's a religion which exists underground at first which was the dominant one before worshiping the "Five Original Hunters" with a prophesied savior known as "The One". Both religions worship a Goddess that created all things, sacrificed parts of herself to create the Quintaglios, and has Sacred Scrolls as their scripture.

* AxeCrazy: Quintaglios in ''dagamant'', the state where they revert to violent, animalistic territoriality.

The eponymous Quintaglios are a species of human-like intelligence descended from [[KingOfTheDinosaurs small tyrannosaurs]]. Though similar to humans, the Quintaglios are true to their ancestry. They are obligate carnivores that hunt with tooth and claw, are fairly aggressive by nature, and have fierce territorial instincts that often turn out to be a major problem when several Quintaglios must work in a confined space (like, say, a ship).

* KingOfTheDinosaurs: The Quintaglios themselves are more or less anthropomorphic ''T. rex''es, and a "normal" ''T. rex'' shows up in ''Fossil Hunter'' as a "Blackdeath".

* SacredScripture: Both the main Quintaglio sect, basing its doctrines on the teachings of Larks, and the small one which prevailed earlier (worshiping the Five Original Hunters) have different Sacred Scrolls.

The eponymous Quintaglios are a species of human-like intelligence descended from [[TyrannosaurusRex small tyrannosaurs]]. Though similar to humans, the Quintaglios are true to their ancestry. They are obligate carnivores that hunt with tooth and claw, are fairly aggressive by nature, and have fierce territorial instincts that often turn out to be a major problem when several Quintaglios must work in a confined space (like, say, a ship).

* TyrannosaurusRex: The Quintaglios themselves are more or less anthropomorphic ''T. rex''es, and a "normal" ''T. rex'' shows up in ''Fossil Hunter'' as a "Blackdeath".

* StarfishAliens: [[spoiler: the Jijaki which are sentient Opabinia.]]

The eponymous Quintaglios are a species of human-like intelligence descended from [[TyrannosaurusRex small tyrannosaurs]]. Though [[IntelligentGerbil similar to humans]], the Quintaglios are true to their ancestry. They are obligate carnivores that hunt with tooth and claw, are fairly aggressive by nature, and have fierce territorial instincts that often turn out to be a major problem when several Quintaglios must work in a confined space (like, say, a ship).

* DivineRightOfKings: The Quintaglio royal family bases their legitimacy on being descendants of Larsk, the original prophet whom people believed to be God's chosen one.

* CannotTellALie: Their snouts turn blue whenever they tell lies. Quintaglios that can lie without turning blue are considered to be demonic.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The entire series is an allegory for our own age of enlightenment. More specifically, the Quintaglio religion and their reaction to Afsan's discovery of heliocentrism is meant to parallel the Catholic Church's prosecution of Galileo. In the second and third books, Toroca is essentially Charles Darwin, and Mokleb is their version of Freud.

** The main religion worships a planet as "The Face of God", discovered by the Prophet Larsk (whose descendants are the imperial rulers of their people), which they make a ritual pilgrimage to view. In some ways its more like a fantasy Islam: the prophet, the secular rulers staking their claims to power through relation with him, and pilgrimages.

* HumansThroughAlienEyes: when Novato saw the screens showing the various alien creatures including humans, she saw the humans as strange bipeds even going as far as referring to them as cousins because there are no mammals on their world.

* TheParanoiac: [[spoiler: Drawtood]] from Fossil Hunter. [[spoiler: He begins murdering his siblings because of the strangeness of having siblings, a concept foreign to Quintaglios, and had no idea how to truly act around them or what to make of them, and at one point described them as being him but not him]].
** In one scene, he wonders if [[spoiler: his sister]] is wishing him dead, as he does her.

* SuicideAttack: Two Quintaglio hangglider pilots make them on Other ships during the battle in ''Foreigner''. One dives her bomb-laden glider into an Other ship, the other crashes, takes hold of a burning ship and steers it into another, detonating its black powder.

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This series provides examples of:

* TheChosenOne: Afsan.

* IgnoredExpert

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Tak-Saleed.
* KnightTemplar: Det-Yenalb.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed

* ProphecyTwist

* SternTeacher: Tak-Saleed.

* CrystalDragonJesus: The Quintaglios worship the planet their world (its moon) orbits as "The Face of God". It was discovered by the Prophet Larsk (whose descendants are the imperial rulers of their people), which they make a ritual pilgrimage to view. In some ways its more like a fantasy Islam, not Christianity: the prophet, the secular rulers staking their claims to power through relation with him, and pilgrimages. However, it has a clergy which seems more like Catholic Christianity, although they are portrayed as pretty corrupt (they are the only Quintaglios able to lie, for instance), not that this hasn't been the case for the Catholic clergy in certain eras. However, they also have the bloodpriests who kill seven out of eight hatchlings to keep the population under control, which has no real counterpart in either religion (although many cultures have practiced infanticide, just usually not ritually). The discovery that the Face of God is ''merely'' a planet explicitly parallels Galileo. In addition, there's a religion which exists underground at first which was the dominant one before, worshiping the "Five Original Hunters" with a prophesied savior known as "The One". Both religions worship a Goddess that created all things, sacrificed parts of herself to create the Quintaglios, and has Sacred Scrolls as their scripture.

* HumansThroughAlienEyes: when Novato saw the screens showing the various alien creatures including humans, she saw the humans as strange bipeds even going as far as referring to them as cousins because there are no mammals on thier world.