The Red Scrolls of Magic (The Eldest Curses Book #1)
Another Cassandra Clare novel strikes again. I always think to myself-how on earth does she do it? She comes out with these 5,000 page books every two years and I have a hard time finishing an email. Imagine my surprise when I got to the end and there were written acknowledgements from a man named Wesley Chu.
Who the hell is Wesley Chu? I have no idea. No one has any idea. It’s like he popped up out of the earth and wrote this book for Clare and then went back underground.
I don’t know if it’s a bad thing that I didn’t realize there were two authors until the end or a good sign that their writing intermingled so well that they made me think it was just Clare until page 350. Or maybe this underground fella named Wesley wrote the whole thing and Clare just slapped her name on it. We will never know.
Anyways, this book was alright. It’s not one of Clare’s main installments and it definitely lacked the charm and wit that they generally have as well. Known as the first installment of the Eldest Curses Series, it details the shenanigans of Magnus and Alec, along with others like traitor-not-traitor Shinyun, Aline and Helen-yes, that Aline and Helen, and some other random appearances such as Tessa, Raphael, Malcom, Isabelle via phone calls, and some others I don’t care enough about to list.
This whole book revolves around the rather ridiculous plot that Magnus, in his infinite years and extravagant outfits, somehow jokingly founded a demon worshipping cult for his father Asmoedus, promptly forgot about it with some convenient magic or punishment or something, and while Magnus and Alec are on their long-awaited but not really vacation since at this point they’ve been dating for like six months, it all goes horribly horribly wrong Cassandra Clare classic style. Or maybe it’s Wesley’s style. Who knows.
I feel like this book was just…weak compared to others? I’m not sure how to put it. It seems like at this point I’d rather Clare focus on her main series (*cough *cough Kit and Tiberius *cough *cough) than on all these side stories from like six books ago. Especially since Alec and Magnus have progressed so much further than this book’s current timeline.
It makes for a frustrating experience when Alec is feeling emo and insecure about his and Magnus’ relationship when we all full know that it will work out. I mean, really workout. Becoming consul and having two children does not seem like a strained relationship to me.
As a consequence though, this book lacks a lot of the tension and suspense that Clare’s books usually bring. It wasn't an unpleasant read by any means, but if you don’t have the funds or the time, I would skip out on this particular adventure and wait for the next big book to come around the corner.
The mesh of characters, the trips to Europe, and the action scenes were just a little too mediocre from what I am used to being delivered that this book does not quite live up to the big name it carries.
Recommendation: Honestly, there’s probably better (and steamier) Alec/Magnus fan fiction out there that will fulfill your needs better. Not an unpleasant experience if you're a completionist like me and you want to read the full canon, but also doesn’t add much to the canon that we didn’t already know. I would search Ao3 instead of the shelves at Barnes and Noble.
Score: 6/10
