Prospero's Daughter is a fantasy trilogy by American writer L. Jagi Lamplighter, consisting of Prospero Lost, Prospero In Hell, and Prospero Regained.
The narrator of the story is Miranda, of The Tempest fame, although she explains that William Shakespeare fictionalized it. Five centuries and several half-siblings later, in a Crossover Cosmology world, Miranda is running Prospero Inc., which keeps elemental powers in check by providing them with such valuable goods as phoenix ash. Her father has left her a message that he is in trouble and she must warn all her siblings that they are in danger.
Tropes featured in this trilogy[]
- Age Without Youth: Eramus's staff can do only this.
- Asleep for Days: Miranda at the North Pole; Mab wishes it was one more day.
- The Atoner
- Attempted Rape: Caliban to Miranda, in the backstory. As a result of this, Miranda regards rape as the unforgivable crime.
- Babies Ever After
- Badass Normal: Theo has stopped taking the Water of Youth and has abandoned his powers. He then proceeds to blast a hellhound with a shotgun full of rock salt.
- Bad Dreams
- Be Careful What You Wish For
- Black Magic
- Blood Magic: The denizens in Hell can really use the blood of the living.
- Blue Eyes
- Bread and Circuses
- Bridal Carry
- Broken Angel: The Good Folk are fallen angels, whose wings have been amputated. Leaving scars.
- Broken Bird
- Brother-Sister Incest
- Call to Agriculture: Prospero was gardening in his retirement.
- Cats Are Mean
- Cats Have Nine Lives
- Celestial Deadline: Prospero needs to be rescued in a certain amount of time.
- Celestial Paragons and Archangels: The archangel Uriel
- Circles of Hell: Of the Dantean model.
- Classical Mythology
- Color Coded for Your Convenience: Several of the antagonists in Prospero Lost come in red and gray.
- Contrived Coincidence
- Could Say It, But...
- Crossover Cosmology
- Crying Wolf
- Curse
- The Dandy
- Democracy Is Bad: Ulysses came to the conclusion while giving up socialism.
- Demon Lords and Archdevils
- Despair Event Horizon
- Disappeared Dad: Prospero, naturally.
- Divided We Fall
- Driven to Suicide
- Elemental Embodiment
- Emotionless Girl: Miranda
- Enemy Civil War
- Enigmatic Empowering Entity: Miranda's Lady
- Everything's Worse with Bears
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good
- Evil Is Deathly Cold
- Evil Smells Bad
- Evil Weapon
- Exact Words: Ferdinard offers a marriage-in-name-only to Miranda so she can, technically, fulfill her vow to marry him or die a maid; then they dissolve it, and she's free to marry as she pleases.
- External Retcon
- Expy: Bears some similarities to another story about a large, powerful, dysfunctional family whose patriarch has suddenly gone missing...
- Eye of Newt
- The Fair Folk
- Fallen Angel
- Familiar: Miranda has a black cat named Tybalt.
- Fertile Feet
- Fighting From the Inside
- First Kiss
- First-Name Basis
- The Fool
- A Friend in Need
- Friend or Foe
- Friend to All Living Things: Mephistopheles' Staff of Summoning summons all kinds of animals or creatures, without giving him any control once summoned; however, they don't seem to mind doing him favors.
- Genius Bruiser
- Genius Ditz
- God of Evil
- Good Wings, Evil Wings
- Grail in the Garbage: The chameleon cloak in the thrift shop.
- Half-Human Hybrid
- Heel Face Turn
- Hell Gate
- Hell Hound: The barghests
- Hidden Depths
- High Octane Nightmare Fuel: The coliseum under Logistilla's island.
- Hoist by His Own Petard
- Horny Devils
- I Gave My Word
- Ignored Epiphany
- I Have Many Names: Santa Claus does
- I Have No Son
- Immortality
- Immortality Immorality
- Immortal Procreation Clause: The Prosperos can have children, but since their immortality comes from an external source, the children die.
- In Harm's Way
- Inhuman Emotion: The natural temptations to angels and other inhuman beings
- I Take Offense to That Last One
- It Was a Gift
- Kick the Dog: Erasmus cursed Miranda with aging several centuries in a year. And then refused to revoke the curse, making her crawl to the World's End to get the cure.
- Lack of Empathy: Miranda starts out with this — badly enough that some people wonder whether she's been enchanted.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia
- Life or Limb Decision
- Light Is Good
- Literary Allusion Title
- Living Shadow
- Love Hurts: Ferdinard laments what he has suffered for the chaste love of a pure maid.
- Luke, I Am Your Father
- Magic Wand: All the Prospero siblings' Staves.
- Magic Music: Miranda's flute-playing controls spirits of the air.
- The Magnificent
- Mall Santa: Sometimes is the original himself.
- Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: The possibilities of Caliban's paternity are hashed out.
- Man Hug: Mephisto's reaction to Astreus's being freed.
- Masquerade
- Matter of Life and Death
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Gregor dismisses a vision he had as delirum, even while recounting that it changed his life.
- A Million Is a Statistic
- Missing Mom
- More Hero Than Thou
- The Mourning After: Eramus is still grief-striken for his first wife.
- My God, What Have I Done?
- My Name Is Not Durwood
- New Old Flame: Two different ones from Prospero Lost alone.
- Nice to the Waiter
- Noodle Incident
- Not Himself
- Oblivious to Love
- The Order: Orbis Suleimani
- Our Angels Are Different
- Our Demons Are Different: And Mephistopheles may be one...somehow.
- Our Genies Are Different
- Our Ghosts Are Different
- Our Giants Are Bigger
- Our Mermaids Are Different
- Painting the Fourth Wall
- Parental Marriage Veto
- The Patriarch: Prospero
- Patron Saint
- The Phoenix: Phoenix feathers and ash are valuable commodities.
- Physical God
- The Power of Love
- Power of Trust
- Powers That Be
- Private Detective: Mab takes the form of a Sam Spadesque private eye.
- The Promise
- Public Domain Artifact: Dozens. The Prosperos collect them.
- Refuge in Audacity
- Refusing Paradise: In Prospero Regained, Cornelius dies in the final battle, and is found standing over his own corpse. Not only are angels ready to escort him to Heaven, he can now see. His brothers are unable to persuade him to stay, but Miranda comments on how he can retire as he wished, and he puts off the angels and has his father resurrect him.
- Reincarnation Romance
- Royal Blood
- Sacred Hospitality: Santa Claus's is such that the Fair Folk will behave themselves under his roof.
- Santa Claus: Among his many other names.
- Self-Inflicted Hell
- So Much for Stealth
- Spell Book
- Stripped to the Bone
- Strong Family Resemblance: Miranda's assistant, not being in on the masquerade, thinks she is this.
- Swamps Are Evil: If they are in Hell, sure.
- Talking Weapon
- Tears of Blood
- Tears of Joy
- Tears of Remorse
- Ten Little Murder Victims
- They Call Me Mister Tibbs
- They Do
- Thicker Than Water: Somebody believes this...or the series would be much shorter.
- This Page Will Self-Destruct
- To Hell and Back
- Too Dumb to Fool
- Unicorn
- Unobtainium
- Vampire Invitation
- Virgin Power
- Walking the Earth
- White-Haired Pretty Girl: Miranda, as a side effect of Erasmus' curse.
- White Magic
- Wicked Stepmother
- Witch Hunt: Discussed. Gregory points out that most victims were guilty — a fact that has been censored out of history.
- With Due Respect
- A Year and a Day: How long it takes Miranda to get more Water of Life. Also, how long elves have to claim the freedom from Hell that Miranda granted before it lapses.
- Your Approval Fills Me with Shame