Have y ever felt like you and your favorite author don’t match anymore? I’ve been a big fan of Cassandra Clare, author of the Shadowhunter chronicles since 2013, her books were really important to me during my teenage years; but now I’m reading Sword Catcher, her “adult fantasy” debut and also her first individual book published outside the Shadowhunter world, and I’m just not feeling it.

Despite being marketed as adult, Sword Catcher doesn’t feel more mature than her previous books, aside from some occasional sexual comments. I’ve been noticing some things that bother me about her writing that just got more pronounced with this book, or maybe I’m just not interested enough in the story to just give them a pass. Also (and this is just a pet peeve of mine) it feels kinda weird that the main female character is a “petite green eyed redhead” that’s the exact description of arguably her most famous female mc!

I don’t know, it’s just kinda sad that your go to author is not delivering as they used to. I read “Chain of thorns” also by her earlier this year and despite its flaws I just kept trying to convince myself that it was okay, but I can’t seem to connect with Sword Catcher which was one of my most anticipated reads this years.

As a side note, I’m only halfway through the book, so there’s still hope for it to turn around, but this is my impression as of now. Now tell me, has this ever happened to you?

  • orodruinx@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is still fantastic. You’ve made me nervous about my planned upcoming SiaSL reread though… it’s been a solid 10 years.

    • Negative_Gravitas@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      Well that’s good to hear. But, yeah, I read Stranger when I was 13 or 14 and I thought it was amazing. I re-read it soon after college and, while there were still some good moments for sure, there were some things I found . . . well let’s just say, some of the lines Heinlein had Gillian deliver were pretty awful.

      And I could not get through Time Enough for Love a second time after thinking it was incredible when I was an early teen.

      Best of luck out there.