From Idris, With Love #03

# And with attachments from LA, Alicante and around the World

After roaming around Idris and the rest of the Shadowhunter universe for so long, it was rather obvious to get my hands on ‘the Lady Midnight’ (the Dark Artifices Series #01), ‘the Bane Chronicles’ and ‘the Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy’.

Sadly, after the IDs culminating like that, I found everything else a shade or two to the dull side.

‘Lady Midnight’ is good one-time-read even for fantasy’s sake and to know what happened next to our got-so-beloved Shadowhunter universe after MIs; whereas ‘Bane Chronicles’ stand to tell the historic background (almost up-to MI) for Shadow-world (making a reason of all-time hottie Magnus).

I almost fell in love with Magnus’s Charm after the Chronicles (but, though a hottie, he’s rather too old for me!). Chronicles soothe the itchy intrigues about the practically spell-binding warlock, though they’re not meant to satisfy at any point; keeping the character still equally charming.

The Tales too, open up and point at so many shadowy-secrets’ existence, keeping it engaging otherwise, except some parts like the ‘parabatai chapter’ seem to be a fantasy-overdose. Shadow-History and Simon go parallel and in a gripping way. Somehow, I felt the Tales to be more or less like a magazine (or newsletters) that brings the news of (my newly-beloved characters of) Shadow-world post-MIs.

Importantly, somehow these books (referring all of eleven ‘Chronicles’ as a single book and all the ‘Tales’ as the other) don’t accurately keep up with shadow-timeline. The Lady Midnight also gets timeline-sloppy at occasions. Now, I understand, reader is supposed to keep the brain on flight-mode while reading fantasy; but such easily avoidable errors might spoil it for you a bit by getting you confused. (P.S. thus, you won’t be able to top in Shadow-World-History Class).

But in all, I loved Cassandra Clare’s style and her imagination. I’d say it for sure that she has her own way of storytelling. She has created a nice, intermingled universe, with shadow-world exclusive places like Idris (the Nephilim Country), Silent City, Adamant Citadel, Spiral Labyrinth, Brocelind  Plains and Forest (sounds like Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts, right?), which is rather amusing though not fascinating. 

However unfair it seems but I could not help comparing Harry Potter with the Shadowhunter Series (as I call them all-in-one) which includes:

The Mortal Instrument Series (6 novels)

The Infernal Devices Series(3 novels)

The Bane Chronicles (Short-story collection)

The Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy (Short-story collection)

The Dark Artfices Series (still to get completed)

And I am yet to read ‘the Shadowhunter Codex’ which apparently the textbook for being a Nephilim (- if I choose to be one - which means, now u know why I haven’t read it yet).

Even without the creation of vast and meticulous parallel universe; with engrossing and continuous storytelling Cassandra Clare could possibly be the next J. K. Rowling. But unlike HP, where magic-world mostly prefers isolation from muggle-world, Shadowhunter Universe mingles with the mundane world rather amiably.