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?

  • Avaunt@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I think this is normal. As you get older your tastes and preferences change. Maybe you’ll circle back, but maybe not. Just read the things that suit your current interests

    I’ve been feeling this way about Sanderson lately. I loved the Stormlight Archive series, but the last two books came out during some pretty intense years of life. I think I skimmed a good part of both of those books. Then the year of Sanderson happened, and I was really excited for the hype of experiencing the novels as they came out. But, when it came down to it, I wasn’t in a fantasy mood this year. He went from my top 3 authors to not finishing any of his works since 2020.

    He might bounce back, but he might not. And I’m ok with it. I’ve read a lot of good books this year.