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Review: the Mortal Instruments trilogy
Whew, thank goodness THAT is over. I'm not talking about my previous post's Skip page from hell, but rather the trilogy I just finished reading: Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series. The three book titles are City of Bones, City of Ashes, and finally City of Glass.
CC is the 3rd author who I found through fanfic and then followed into their original works, and she is the only one who I regret reading. *sigh* Her Draco Trilogy fanfic (started in 2000 or so) is what propelled her to BNF status, and actually helped her land her book deal due to her established fan base. Her writing in the Draco Trilogy did improve over time, and I read and enjoyed the first two stories, but it took me forever to plow through them. I never did finish the third and final book. I'd force myself to read 10 pages a day, and I finally gave up with an actual yell of "SCREW IT!" less than half-way through. I didn't care for her characterization, her constant scene changes every couple paragraphs drove me crazy, her emo Draco was too much, and I couldn't take his apparent fate to end up paired with Ginny. Not that I have anything against Draco/Ginny, I just didn't like how CC was going about it. And I didn't have much hope she would be able to make it work. Thus, I gave up on the epic. :\
The thing is, I WANTED to like her original novel trilogy. I did! I mean, the first two volumes were NYT bestsellers, and I was sure when the third one came out, it would be too! (It was. Amazingly.) I think it's great that an author who learned their trade through fic was able to go pro, and I had hopes that maybe the writing would improve beyond the level it was when I gave up on the Draco Trilogy. But alas, it did not happen.
This series....well, first of all, the most irritating thing by far is CC's addiction to similes and metaphors. She cannot describe anything without using one. Some actual examples: "...as remote as a far away galaxy." Here's two in as many sentences: "She'd thought he looked like a lion, beautiful and deadly. He looked different to her now, that hard, defensive casing he wore like armor was gone." "He broke off, groping for the word the way someone might grop for a light switch in the dark." Over...and...over...and over! Five or six instances a page! *headdesk*
Surface ranting aside, her characterizations were shallow, I could read the plot a mile away, bad guys were bad because they were bad, the writing was thin, uninspired, and almost always fell flat. When the male love interest, Jace, was sacrificed at the end of book 3...I DIDN'T CARE. For two reasons: first, I knew he wouldn't remain dead. The female lead, Clary, would find some way to save him (I was right). And second, he meant nothing to me. I didn't like him enough to care that he was dead, and I didn't hate him enough to be passionate about his demise. I actually have no opinion on Jace, except that I found him rather boring.
CC completely recycled a scene from the third installment of the Draco Trilogy about Draco and his father Lucius, changing it to Jace and his father, Valentine. (You know how I feel about THAT name, which doesn't help my opinion. See also having the secret father be the story's villain. Yes.) Now, technically she isn't plagiarizing, since she wrote the scene's first incarnation in her Potter fic, but it just seems so....lazy. I'm sure there are other parallel scenes and borrowed dialogue between her fic and her original works that I didn't pick up on, but even this one instance seems rather lame, as it's a key moment inDraco Jace's development. (That's another thing. Jace is obviously a beefed up version of Draco, though to be fair, Jace is not nearly as emo as CC's Draco.) Also, her original characters use a device called a "stele", which is a metal rod just under a foot long, used to write magic runes for protection, healing, and extra powers. Change that to metal to wood and what do we have??? Mmmmhmmm.
Now, I realize I'm ranting up a storm here, but I am so disappointed! T.T
Things I did like about the series are few, but do exist. The manga and anime mentions are fun. Apparently Clary and her friend, Simon, like watching Trigun. In book 2, the 9 year old boy, Max, is reading a Naruto volume, and in book 3--of all things--Angel Sanctuary. That must be a nod to the angels and incest theme of Mortal Instruments. Though a 9 year old boy being interested in Angel Sanctuary is quite a stretch. *snerk*
The just mentioned incest theme was fun. I do enjoy a dash of forbidden love! You see, at the end of book 1, Clary and Jace are revealed to be brother and sister. However, I knew it would never actually be true, given CC's plotting style and the YA book angle, and I was right. Which is another disappointment, but oh well. (This was also how I knew Jace wouldn't stay dead. Not that YA characters never die, CC's writing merely told me he wouldn't remain dead.)
The thing I really honestly enjoyed was the side character, Simon, who is Clary's geeky best friend. He did turn into a vampire and trade his geek nature for hotness, but it was done in a creative way. (Rat transformation and biting a vampire! That's fun!) He also took on a dangerous tattoo at the end of book 3 that just screams sequel. If CC writes one that addresses Simon, I will read it. Simon is awesome, and for him I will wade through the blah of everything else.
So there you go. The Mortal Instruments series, by Cassandra Clare. Do I regret reading it?? Simon is the only thing that makes me hesitate a definite "no." I am undecided purely because of him. :\ At least I can comfort myself with the knowledge that I did not directly improve her book sales, since I checked them out from the library. :P~~~
CC is the 3rd author who I found through fanfic and then followed into their original works, and she is the only one who I regret reading. *sigh* Her Draco Trilogy fanfic (started in 2000 or so) is what propelled her to BNF status, and actually helped her land her book deal due to her established fan base. Her writing in the Draco Trilogy did improve over time, and I read and enjoyed the first two stories, but it took me forever to plow through them. I never did finish the third and final book. I'd force myself to read 10 pages a day, and I finally gave up with an actual yell of "SCREW IT!" less than half-way through. I didn't care for her characterization, her constant scene changes every couple paragraphs drove me crazy, her emo Draco was too much, and I couldn't take his apparent fate to end up paired with Ginny. Not that I have anything against Draco/Ginny, I just didn't like how CC was going about it. And I didn't have much hope she would be able to make it work. Thus, I gave up on the epic. :\
The thing is, I WANTED to like her original novel trilogy. I did! I mean, the first two volumes were NYT bestsellers, and I was sure when the third one came out, it would be too! (It was. Amazingly.) I think it's great that an author who learned their trade through fic was able to go pro, and I had hopes that maybe the writing would improve beyond the level it was when I gave up on the Draco Trilogy. But alas, it did not happen.
This series....well, first of all, the most irritating thing by far is CC's addiction to similes and metaphors. She cannot describe anything without using one. Some actual examples: "...as remote as a far away galaxy." Here's two in as many sentences: "She'd thought he looked like a lion, beautiful and deadly. He looked different to her now, that hard, defensive casing he wore like armor was gone." "He broke off, groping for the word the way someone might grop for a light switch in the dark." Over...and...over...and over! Five or six instances a page! *headdesk*
Surface ranting aside, her characterizations were shallow, I could read the plot a mile away, bad guys were bad because they were bad, the writing was thin, uninspired, and almost always fell flat. When the male love interest, Jace, was sacrificed at the end of book 3...I DIDN'T CARE. For two reasons: first, I knew he wouldn't remain dead. The female lead, Clary, would find some way to save him (I was right). And second, he meant nothing to me. I didn't like him enough to care that he was dead, and I didn't hate him enough to be passionate about his demise. I actually have no opinion on Jace, except that I found him rather boring.
CC completely recycled a scene from the third installment of the Draco Trilogy about Draco and his father Lucius, changing it to Jace and his father, Valentine. (You know how I feel about THAT name, which doesn't help my opinion. See also having the secret father be the story's villain. Yes.) Now, technically she isn't plagiarizing, since she wrote the scene's first incarnation in her Potter fic, but it just seems so....lazy. I'm sure there are other parallel scenes and borrowed dialogue between her fic and her original works that I didn't pick up on, but even this one instance seems rather lame, as it's a key moment in
Now, I realize I'm ranting up a storm here, but I am so disappointed! T.T
Things I did like about the series are few, but do exist. The manga and anime mentions are fun. Apparently Clary and her friend, Simon, like watching Trigun. In book 2, the 9 year old boy, Max, is reading a Naruto volume, and in book 3--of all things--Angel Sanctuary. That must be a nod to the angels and incest theme of Mortal Instruments. Though a 9 year old boy being interested in Angel Sanctuary is quite a stretch. *snerk*
The just mentioned incest theme was fun. I do enjoy a dash of forbidden love! You see, at the end of book 1, Clary and Jace are revealed to be brother and sister. However, I knew it would never actually be true, given CC's plotting style and the YA book angle, and I was right. Which is another disappointment, but oh well. (This was also how I knew Jace wouldn't stay dead. Not that YA characters never die, CC's writing merely told me he wouldn't remain dead.)
The thing I really honestly enjoyed was the side character, Simon, who is Clary's geeky best friend. He did turn into a vampire and trade his geek nature for hotness, but it was done in a creative way. (Rat transformation and biting a vampire! That's fun!) He also took on a dangerous tattoo at the end of book 3 that just screams sequel. If CC writes one that addresses Simon, I will read it. Simon is awesome, and for him I will wade through the blah of everything else.
So there you go. The Mortal Instruments series, by Cassandra Clare. Do I regret reading it?? Simon is the only thing that makes me hesitate a definite "no." I am undecided purely because of him. :\ At least I can comfort myself with the knowledge that I did not directly improve her book sales, since I checked them out from the library. :P~~~