History Literature / TheDrawingOfTheDark

-->''"If but we Christians have our beer, Nothing's to fear"''
-->--[[CreatorInJoke Sir William Ashbless]]

* KingArthur: Duffy finds out he's [[spoiler:the reincarnation of the legendary hero,]] though he doesn't want to believe it at first. Eventually things start happening that cannot be explained any other way, and he unhappily accepts it as something he's [[ResignedToTheCall just got to put up with.]]

* ProphecyPileup: Duffy seems to be fulfilling a prophecy that [[spoiler:KingArthur]] will return to save the West--though he's not yet aware of it--when some anachronistic Vikings sail into Vienna with a prophecy that the ancient Norse hero ''[[Literature/TheSagaOfTheVolsungs Sigmund]]'' will return to stave off [[{{Gotterdammerung}} Ragnarok]], and Duffy seems to be the man who fits.

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* CreatorInJoke: The opening {{epigraph}} (shown at the top of the page) is a quote from William Ashbless, a fictional romantic poet [[InventedIndividual invented]] by Powers and fellow author James Blaylock while at college. References to Ashbless appear in many works by both authors.

* ShoutOut: While on his way to Vienna, Duffy camps with some folks he met along the way, and entertains them with some music, including something called "Blaylock's ''Wilde Mann''", a reference to Powers' good friend, author James Blaylock.

* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: a recurring theme. Magical alcohol is even more effective at this.
* BarBrawl: what Duffy thinks he's at the Zimmermann to prevent--though after a few weeks, he begins taking bets on them instead, and/or starting his own, much to the dismay of the manager.

* Myth/CelticMythology: a surprising amount, considering that the book is set in Vienna. For example, legendary Irish Hero Finn Mac Cool is supposedly buried beneath the Herzwesten brewing vats. How he got there, instead of being in the cave near Dublin of legend, is given a brief gloss. Aurelianus even claims that the name "Vienna" derives from "Finn". [[TruthInTelevision (The names may actually be related.)]]
** Reference is also made to the (very real) "beaker people," about whom not much is known except they lived a long time ago, made beakers, and left them all over Europe.

* CreatorInJoke: the opening {{epigraph}} (shown at the top of the page) is a quote from William Ashbless, a fictional romantic poet [[InventedIndividual invented]] by Powers and fellow author James Blaylock while at college. References to Ashbless appear in many works by both authors.

* DrinkingOnDuty: not really that shocking, since Duffy's working for a brewery, but the Zimmermann's manager, Werner, is not thrilled with the amount he drinks, nor with his sometimes drunken means of dealing with problems that arise.

* FisherKing: the first of several appearances of the Fisher King in Power's works. This time, waiting for some health-giving beer.

* HornyVikings: a small group of middle-aged Danes sails up the Danube to Vienna, following a very confused prophecy. They're even more confused once they arrive, since no one in town but Aurelianus (and [[spoiler:Duffy's alter ego]]) speaks a Nordic language.

* MundaneMadeAwesome: it's not just a fine Austrian beer; it's the beer that will save the West!

* TranslationConvention: with 16th-century Italian and German dialects (the main language of the story), Old Norse, Welsh, Latin, and several other tongues. An added twist is that Duffy ''himself'' is subject to this trope; he doesn't actually "know" most of the languages he gets involved with, but he understands them anyway. As you might expect, there is a plot-based reason for this: he's a reincarnation of an ancient hero, who speaks several dead languages but no contemporary ones.

* PublicDomainArtifact: Aurelianus offers Duffy/Arthur his legendary sword, Calad Bolg (Excalibur). Duffy, a modern soldier of the 16th century, is unimpressed by such an archaic design, and prefers his own sword.

* the drawing of beer, i.e. the the famous (and magical) Herzwesten Dark beer,
* the the drawing, i.e. to cause something to move towards something, of the dark (Forces) towards Vienna and the more hidden dark forces drawn to the brewery,

* CelticMythology: a surprising amount, considering that the book is set in Vienna. For example, legendary Irish Hero Finn Mac Cool is supposedly buried beneath the Herzwesten brewing vats. How he got there, instead of being in the cave near Dublin of legend, is given a brief gloss. Aurelianus even claims that the name "Vienna" derives from "Finn". [[TruthInTelevision (The names may actually be related.)]]

* extraction the evil, as in drawing the venom from a wound.

The title refers to drawing beer--the famous (and magical) Herzwesten Dark beer, to be precise. However, it can also be taken as referring to the dark forces being drawn to Vienna--and the more hidden dark forces drawn to the brewery. This book was Powers' first take on what would later become his primary theme: the secret and implausibly bizarre occult history behind real-world events. It's also one of his most light-hearted novels (despite what the original cover might suggest).

* CreatorInJoke: the opening {{epigraph}} (shown at the top of the page) is a quote from William Ashbless, a fictional romantic poet invented by Powers and fellow author James Blaylock while at college. References to Ashbless appear in many works by both authors.

* GrandTheftMe: Duffy gets this more and more as the book goes on, though it's not necessarily a bad thing.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: John Zapolya, the soon-to-be King of Hungary, shows up at the Zimmermann in disguise for a not-so-friendly chat with Duffy.

** Herzwesten beer--the name loosely translates as "heart of the west". Pointed out by Aurelianus, who sees symbols in everything.

* KingArthur: Duffy finds out he's [[spoiler:the reincarnation of the legendary hero,]] though he doesn't want to believe it at first. Eventually things start happening that cannot be explained any other way, and he unhappily accepts it as something he's just got to put up with.

Set before and during the 1529 UsefulNotes/SiegeOfVienna, ''The Drawing of the Dark'' stars aging Irish mercenary Brian Duffy. While visiting Venice, Duffy meets a mysterious wizard named Aurelianus Ambrosius who wants to hire him to work as a bouncer at the Zimmermann Inn in Vienna, where the famous Herzwesten beer is brewed. Though Duffy has bad memories of Vienna, which is home to the girl who broke his heart, he reluctantly agrees. As he sets off for Vienna, though, he begins to experience strange events, and things only get more bizarre once he arrives. Eventually he learns that both he and the brewery are not what they seem, and that protecting the brewery from the Turkish incursion is a surprisingly important task.

* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: a recurring theme.
* BarBrawl: what Duffy thinks he's at the Zimmermann to prevent--though after a few weeks, he begins taking bets on them instead, and/or starting his own.

* CelticMythology: a surprising amount, considering that the book is set in Vienna. For example, legendary Irish Hero Finn Mac Cool is supposedly buried beneath the Herzwesten brewing vats. How he got there, instead of being in the cave near Dublin of legend, is given a brief gloss. Aurelianus even claims that the name "Vienna" derives from "Finn". (The names may actually be related.)

* HornyVikings: a small group of middle-aged Danes sails up the Danube to Vienna, following a very confused prophecy. They're even more confused once they arrive, since no one but Aurelianus (and Duffy's alter ego) speaks a Nordic language.
* KingArthur: Duffy finds out he's the reincarnation of the legendary hero, though he doesn't want to believe it at first. Once Arthur starts coming to the foreground, and taking over his body, though, he has little room left for doubt.

* MagiciansAreWizards: Aurelianus is a wizard of sorts (in fact he's Merlin), but at one point he is called on to perform some juggling tricks to amuse crying children.

** Herzwesten beer--the name loosely translates as "heart of the west".

* PublicDomainArtifact: Aurelianus offers Duffy/Arthur his legendary sword, Caliburn (Excalibur). Duffy, a modern soldier of the 16th century, is unimpressed by such an archaic design, and prefers his own sword.
* RefusedByTheCall: A background character believes ''he'' is the reincarnation of King Arthur, who has been summoned to Vienna to resist the forces of Suleiman. He continually tries to foist his tactical opinions on the local leaders, and reawaken the memories of his TrueCompanions. Sadly, while he was right about King Arthur's reincarnation, it was not him, and by the end of the story he is a drunken pitiful wretch, and somehow cobbles together a set of armor and a horse and charges alone against the Turkish army. It ends exactly the way you would expect that sort of thing to go.