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Feb 27, 2023

Laterpress Tournament of Tropes, Round 2, Part 2

This weekday round features the other half of the remaining tropes in the Round of 32.

The Laterpress Tournament of Tropes is heating up! Inspired by “March Madness,” our first community event of 2023 features 20 books from independent authors, representing 40 different tropes, all facing off in a bracket where readers and authors alike can vote for their favorites. What trope will walk away with the crown?

You can view the full bracket HERE. Read on to vote.

With the first round complete, the field of 40 has been shrunk to 32. Now, we’ll be saying goodbye to half the field every round. Round 2 is split into two voting periods. This is the second of those two rounds.

There were two ties in the last round - those will both advance into three-way battles in the next round.

Read on to learn more about the tropes doing battle today, and if you like them, check out the book representing them! Laterpress is not using affiliate links for this community event. All proceeds from any sales go directly to the authors!

When can I vote?

Mark your calendars! All voting rounds begin at 1pm Eastern, and close at 11am Eastern on the day the next voting round begins.

Round 2, Part 2 - Now, keep reading!

Round of 16 - Friday, March 3

Round of 8 - Monday, March 6

Round of 4 - Friday, March 10

Championship - Monday, March 13

This round's matchups:

Matchup 1: Dreamwalking vs. The Never-Ending Quest

Dreamwalking involves the ability to insert oneself into the dreams of others. The person or entity doing this may or may not be able to alter the dream and manipulate what the dreamer sees. Dreamwalkers have appeared in the Wheel of Time and Sword of Truth fantasy series. Freddy Krueger may be the most well known villain with this ability.

Looking to walk through dreams? Check out The Office Job, by Edward Eidolon.

Volume 1 Book 1 An odd team of assassins hunts their target across the urban sprawl of everyday America. But is this world real, or something more? Highway shootouts, office building grenade battles, strange doors. The mundane meets the magical in this high-speed thriller where nothing is what it seems.

The Never-Ending Quest is much more complicated or difficult than “Go to Point A, obtain Magic Item, Return Home.” These epic quests may take characters across time and space, and take years to accomplish (if a “final victory” is even possible.) The quest may be handed down from one generation to the next, as new heroes carry on the legacy of their forebears. These kinds of quests demand everything from those embarking on them.

In My Celtic Luna by J. R. Froemling, Rolf has this kind of quest on his hands to find his lost love.

Book II of the Immortal Love Saga (Ongoing) - Rolf and Lily saved the day, only to be separated. Rolf pines for his mate and never gives up the hunt to find her. When his father suffers a terrible fate, Rolf is sent on a journey to the Old World to gain him access to Valhalla. In the land of his forefathers, Rolf is gifted a second chance to find happiness when a fiery Celtic witch with a strange birthmark is thrust in his path. Amidst the political dangers of the wolf clans, Rolf must win Lily's heart a second time before it's too late.

‍Matchup 2: Murphy’s Law vs. Damsel in Distress

Murphy’s Law is popularly known as the idea that “Anything that can go wrong, WILL go wrong.” Characters may make careful plans to confront an enemy, but those plans will all go awry, often spectacularly. Any genre can use this trope. I’m most familiar with its use in military sci-fi, where battle plans against invading aliens blow up in our hero’s faces, or in fantasy, where best-laid-plans devolve into the kinds of hijinks you may see from a good group of D&D players.

Murphy’s Law is in full effect in The Night Rangers, by J. R. Froemling.

A Savannah Nights Story (Complete) - The Night Rangers, a top-secret paranormal hunter force for the US Military, is the first, last, and only line of defense between humanity and the monsters of the underworld. Follow Shadow Squad as they track down a new drug called Kiss. In the back alleys of Bogota, the hunters become the prey as they struggle to not become the monsters they hunt.

The Damsel in Distress is probably one of the oldest tropes around. A woman is in danger, and needs to be rescued (usually by a man.) Princess Peach needs to be rescued from Bowser. Rapunzel is locked away in a tower. The president’s daughter Ashley getting abducted by a cult sets up the events of Resident Evil 4. This trope is most successful when the audience knows the damsel and has some reason to care about her fate, beyond her use as a living MacGuffin.

You can find a damsel in distress in Thomas and the Girl from Another World, by E.R. Zanes.

It's a universal truth that magic is long gone. Yet everything changes when Thomas meets an impossible girl at the epicenter of a bizarre incident. She's in need of help, especially with the unexpected threats that emerge the moment she arrives. In aiding her, he'll have to leave all he's ever known for a road fraught with relentless pursuers and ancient mysteries that demand resolution.

‍Matchup 3: Scrappy Underdogs vs Science Wizards

An underdog is a person or team most outside observers would believe is at a heavy disadvantage against their opponent, and can be expected to lose. Scrappy Underdogs are the kinds of characters who know they’re at a disadvantage, but manage to achieve the impossible through determination, ingenuity, and a little luck. They have a “never give up, never surrender” attitude, and aren’t afraid of the challenge.

You’ll meet some scrappy underdogs in Sigils & Sushi, by Nia Quinn

I suck at magic, but make up for it with style—ask my demon roomies. Checking in rental cars for supernatural beings, I score whatever they ditch flying home—and they leave some weird stuff behind. Sometimes it’s a toss-up if it’ll help pay the bills, or cause an apocalypse. I don’t wanna start an apocalypse, but I gotta eat. What’s a girl to do?

Depending on the fictional universe, a Science Wizard is either a character skilled in both the natural sciences and the magic arts, or magic itself is a branch of science, which the character studies with appropriate scientific rigor in hopes of making new discoveries.

Need a Science Wizard in your life? Check out The Magician and the Mechanical Doll, by Gaius J. Augustus

Octavian is a grad student at a top magic university working on Replika, the world's first magic robot with a perpetual power core. But upon activation, Octavian and Replika are thrown into a web of alternate universes. Will Octavian's magic & Replika's brainpower be enough to survive one spine-chilling reality after another?

Matchup 4: Genies / Djinn vs. Found Family

Genies and Djinn are magical creatures, who have the power to grant wishes to the person who summoned them. There’s a wide range in depictions of these beings, from the irreverent Genie played by Robin Williams in Disney’s Aladdin, to the terrifying and demonic djinn of Wes Craven’s Wishmaster movies. If you encounter one of these creatures, you’ll get your wish, but at what cost? And will the wish even turn out how you’d wanted it to?

A djinn is more than happy to mess with the main character in 1001 Episodes to Literary Godhood, by Nate Gillick (writing as Eldritch Thundergod)

I thought I'd be king of the world on the fiction platform Zella, but when my magnum opus about a telepathic cuttlefish and his pet human flopped, I was desperate for a way to climb the ranks. When I bought a magic lamp at a garage sale and the djinn offered me a wish, I thought I was set. But magic comes with a price, and the $10 I paid didn't count. To ascend to literary godhood, I must write 1,001 episodes with features dictated by authors and readers... while using this stupid pen name.

Found Families may also be referred to as a “Family of Choice.” Characters in these stories often lack strong bonds with blood relatives, or those relatives are deceased or far away. Over the course of the story, the character will form deep, meaningful connections with others, either forged through shared stress (like fighting in a war) or mutual interests (like a sport). There is a deliberate choice to construct a family out of the people they care for, and who care for them in turn.

Find your new favorite found family in Sigils & Sushi, by Nia Quinn.

Matchup 5: Star-Crossed Lovers vs. Secret Worlds

Most people probably think of Romeo & Juliet whenever someone mentions Star-Crossed Lovers. These characters feel a deep love for each other, but some external force stands in the way of their happiness. It could be family rivalries, politics, or a wide difference in social standing. Can these lovers overcome the forces that want them apart to find their happy ending? This is likely one of the few romance tropes where a happy ending is not the common / expected outcome.

Meet a pair of star-crossed lovers on the galactic stage in The Stars & Green Magics, by Novae Caelum.

Dressa has no wish to be the heir, but she's falling for her sister's betrothed. Two heirs, one kingdom, and with the title comes the bride. When rulers can shapeshift and masquerade as each other, who will rule? A Robot Dinosaur Press serial. S1 is [Complete].

Secret Worlds are whole societies running parallel to our own, in secret. They’ve been there the whole time, if you only knew where to look. The wizarding world of Harry Potter is a secret world, hiding from the Muggles. The John Wick franchise depicts a vast secret brotherhood of assassins, with its own arcane rules and traditions.

In A Wreck of Witches by Nia Quinn, witches and magical beings hide their talents and do what they can to pass as normal, to avoid upsetting those without magic.

When you're a witch juggling a sentient house and a magical plant nursery, you already think life is about as crazy as it can get. But scary things start happening in my mundane neighborhood when my friend goes missing. It's up to me and my ragtag group of witches—oh, and the ghost dogs—to get things under control before the Unawares figure out magic's real.

Matchup 6: Motorcycle Clubs vs. Robot Girls

Motorcycle Clubs are often depicted as full of big, burly, grilled men who are more than happy to drink you under the table or crush you at a game of pool. They may be gangsters and outlaws. One the other end of the spectrum the biker gang might be a bunch of softies, trying to help out the weak, or less fortunate.

For an example of the kinder, more wholesome version of a biker group, check out Covered, by E.A. West.

Lacey's abusive father is out of prison and more dangerous than ever. The Hawthorne Guardians, a local motorcycle club that protected her as a child, is her only hope for safety. Some of the faces have changed, but the credo is the same: protect the innocent. One Guardian, Ratchet, takes an interest in more than her safety. He wants her heart.

To paraphrase from TV Tropes, “She's gorgeous, she's sexy, and she's got a 50,000-mile warranty. She's the Robot Girl. Despite their artificial nature, Robot Girls are at the very least cute as hell, and more often drop-dead gorgeous, if not outright seductresses. Despite how cute or sexy she may be, though, the Robot Girl is often a dangerous opponent in a fight, even if they're only created to do common household chores.”

Meet Replika, your new favorite Robot Girl, in The Magician and the Mechanical Doll, by Gaius J. Augustus.

‍Matchup 7: The Chosen One(s) vs. Multiverses

The Chosen One is a character selected by fate / magic / a deity for a grand purpose. Nobody else can do it. If this character fails, all hope is lost. In the Buffy the Vampire franchise, this was the Slayer, the “one girl in all the world” with the power to take on vampires and other forces of darkness. Many characters treat Harry Potter like he is one, in the battle against Voldemort. Frodo is meant to be the one carrying the Ring.

You’ll find Chosen Ones pursuing their destinies in My Celtic Luna, by J. R. Froemling.

Multiverses - the idea that there are multiple universes, and it is possible to travel between them. Sometimes these universes are very similar, with slight variations in history (anyone remember the TV show Sliders?). Other times, they might be radically different, with different flora, fauna, and laws of nature. Magic: The Gathering might be the most well-known example of a fantasy multiverse.

If you like Multiverses, check out Welcome to the Nexus, by Nate Gillick

Epic Multiverse Portal Fantasy - A pyromancer, a dryad, and an elven warrior join forces on an epic quest across the multiverse to eliminate an ancient evil.

‍Matchup 8: Questionable Morals vs. Immortal Love Interests

Characters with questionable morals are not obviously good or evil. They may do bad things while trying to achieve positive results. They may have strong justifications for their actions, such as justice (or revenge) for wrongs perpetrated against them. You may not like the decisions these characters make, but you can understand how they got to the point those decisions seemed reasonable and correct.

You’ll find questionable morality on display in Joy, by Emily S Hurricane.

Joy. Meaning? A great pleasure or happiness. For Joy DeVries, her great pleasure comes hand-wrapped with secrets and murder.

What if the person you loved never aged and died? This is the core appeal of the Immortal Love Interests trope, where at least one partner in the relationship will never die, unless they can be killed through some unnatural (and likely violent) means. Vampires are a very popular choice as immortal love interests, but they’re not the only option. They could be a god or demi-god, have achieved immortality through magical means, or could be of an alien race where genetics or advanced technology have rendered them immortal. If the other partner is a mortal being, the relationship may have a “Mayfly-December” dynamic.

Meet your next immortal love interest in Good King Lyr, by Novae Caelum.

In the far future, interstellar con man Anais Cavere takes the job of his life to impersonate his hero, immortal demigod Barenin Lyr. But his job as contract king to an unstable world takes a dangerous turn when he learns it was his hero who hired him. Lyr and Cavere Book 1. [Complete]

Good luck, have fun!

Voting remains open until 11am Central on Friday.