Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Serpent

 Serpent
type
 TVTItem
 Serpent
label
 Serpent
 Serpent
page
 Serpent
 Serpent
comment
 Serpent is a novel by Clive Cussler. It was published in 1999 as the very first book in the NUMA Files series.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })In 2000, multiple archaeological expeditions are mysteriously vanishing around the world, the only common trait being their connection to the same sponsor and the fact they were all about to uncover history-changing data about Pre-Columbian contacts with America. A scientist and diver from one of those, Nina Kirov, is fortunately rescued in time by Kurt Austin, leader of the the special operations team of the National Underwater & Marine Agency. Together, Kirov and the NUMA find proof that a Texas-based corporation led by a Hispanic millonaire might have some relation with it. What they ignore is that Halcón Industries is just the cover for something much more ancient and sinister, the Brotherhood of the Holy Sword of Truth, whose goals threaten the root of the United States.This is the first novel by Cussler not to be starred by Dirk Pitt, although it does have a brief connection to the Dirk Pitt Adventures, whose 15th installment Atlantis Found was published the same year.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })
 Serpent
fetched
 2022-04-28T00:11:08Z
 Serpent
parsed
 2022-04-28T00:11:08Z
 Serpent
isPartOf
 DBTropes
 Serpent / int_56515a39
type
 Artistic License – History
 Serpent / int_56515a39
comment
 Artistic License – History: The whole premise of the novel, the claim that questioning Christopher Columbus' place in history was a heresy punished by fire by the Spanish Inquisition, is complete fantasy. The Inquisition did have their hands in civilian affairs, but keeping an official history of the discoveries was not among them, and the Spanish Empire in general was particularly bad at this job. Technically, there was no "heresy punished by fire" either, as any charge of heresy by itself could be escaped by publicly repenting; the Spanish Inquisition only burned heretics in the stake if they refused to repent or if they were recidivists. In the novel, a Spanish historian claims that, as the Bible doesn't mention America, talking about the mere existence of a fourth continent was therefore heresy too, which is why the Crown of Spain pretended that the New World was just part of the India or China. Even without going on the fact that the Crown of Spain was actually very quick to recognize the existence of a new continent, it should be noted that the Bible doesn't mention India or China either; it simply doesn't go on about geography enough to clarify establish which lands is the Earth supposed to have. Anyway, this point in particular evidences a very Protestant-colored understanding of the Bible on Cussler's part; for the Catholic Church of the time, the Bible itself wasn't an ultimate authority on the topic of heresy (or any other), but rather the base of a doctrine that they administered and shaped to their judgement.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); })
 Serpent / int_56515a39
featureApplicability
 1.0
 Serpent / int_56515a39
featureConfidence
 1.0
 Serpent
hasFeature
 Serpent / int_56515a39
 Serpent / int_63557923
type
 Death World
 Serpent / int_63557923
comment
 Speaking of Cortés, the book's character makes an unfavorable intellectual comparison to Napoleon because the latter included scientists in his expedition and Cortés didn't. The point is fallacious, as Napoleon's campaign went through developed and familiar countries like Egypt and Siria, while Cortés was exploring fully uncharted territory three centuries earlier, in a time when scientific exploration was very primitive and the Indies were a veritable Death World – clearly not the kind of business for whose very first expedition you would summon non-combatant personal from the University of Salamanca or the like.
 Serpent / int_63557923
featureApplicability
 1.0
 Serpent / int_63557923
featureConfidence
 1.0
 Serpent
hasFeature
 Serpent / int_63557923
 Serpent / int_name
type
 ItemName
 Serpent / int_name
comment
 Serpent / int_name
featureApplicability
 1.0
 Serpent / int_name
featureConfidence
 1.0
 Serpent
hasFeature
 Serpent / int_name
 Serpent / int_name
itemName
 Serpent

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Serpent
hasFeature
 Divided States of America / int_587fb02e