More From Magnus

The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Bennan, & Maureen Johnson
Published: November 11th 2014 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
I'm not normally a fan of short story collections, but being that this was Cassandra Clare, I couldn't really turn away. Yes, I'd much rather be ready a full novel from her, but I'll still take what I can get. Also, I do realize these have all been published previously as short e-stories, but since I'm still anti-e-reader, knew the only way I'd be able to read them was by buying them all packaged together.

The first story is "What Really Happened in Peru," and reading it made me realize just why I'm not a big fan of short stories. Nothing really seemed to happen in it. There just wasn't enough time to really develop a plot, and I just didn't quite see the point of it. Definitely not the way I'd want to start off a collection and reading it had me skeptical for the rest.

But thankfully the next story took a turn for the better. As a historical fiction fan I really enjoyed "The Runaway Queen" which was about Marie Antoinette. I may not be an expert on the French Revolution, but from what I've read, it seemed historically accurate. I don't necessarily think it was necessary to building Magnus' character and the world of Shadowhunters, but it was still a lot of fun.

From there we got into the stories involving the characters from Clare's other trilogies. There were a few on Magnus and Alex's relationship, and while the were enjoyable, I liked the others more. The chapter on Raphael, which I had been looking forward too, definitely lived up to my expectations. And I really loved the stories that took place around The Infernal Devices trilogy, both with Will's father and Will and Tessa's children.

But my favorites of them all had to be the ones involving Jocelyn Fray. There were two, one that shows Valentine's rise to power and another with a baby Clary. These I think these, more than the others, really helped flesh out the Shadowhunter world. It was pretty awesome to be able to actual see moments we had referenced in the book before, but this time be able to see how they actually played out.

Overall, I really enjoyed this collection, and I don't just mean as a collection of short stories. I wouldn't necessarily list it as my favorite of Clare's but do think if you've read all her others, you'd regret not picking up this one as well.

4.5/5

Today I'm linking up with Blonde Undercover Blonde for Book Club Friday!