The Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu

Summary from Goodreads:

From #1 New York Times bestseller Cassandra Clare and award-winner Wesley Chu comes the first book in a new series that follows High Warlock Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood as they tour the world after the Mortal War. The Red Scrolls of Magic is a Shadowhunters novel.

All Magnus Bane wanted was a vacation—a lavish trip across Europe with Alec Lightwood, the Shadowhunter who against all odds is finally his boyfriend. But as soon as the pair settles in Paris, an old friend arrives with news about a demon-worshipping cult called the Crimson Hand that is bent on causing chaos around the world. A cult that was apparently founded by Magnus himself. Years ago. As a joke.

Now Magnus and Alec must race across Europe to track down the Crimson Hand and its elusive new leader before the cult can cause any more damage. As if it wasn’t bad enough that their romantic getaway has been sidetracked, demons are now dogging their every step, and it is becoming harder to tell friend from foe. As their quest for answers becomes increasingly dire, Magnus and Alec will have to trust each other more than ever—even if it means revealing the secrets they’ve both been keeping.

Review:

I’m a big Cassandra Clare fan. I know she’s not for everybody. But, I’ve always enjoyed her urban fantasy settings, her superb characters, her magical world building, and her super dramatic love stories. I’ve been reading her books since I was a teenager. Her books read like a mixture of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, and True Blood. They are aren’t the best YA out there, but wow they are addicting, dramatic cat nip for my fantasy deprived soul.

One of the things I always felt was missing from her original series was more romantic development for Magnus and Alec. Magnus and Alec are just my favorites. They might be the only reason I continued to watch the terrible Shadowhunters tv show. Getting to watch them fall in love on tv was worth all of the terrible places the writers of that show took this amazing story. Side note: why is it so hard to translate these stories to the screen? The movie and tv show were really not good. Clary and Jace always stole the spotlight. And I love them too. But I always wanted more of Magnus and Alec than I got.

When the book of short stories all about Magnus came out, I all but pounced on it. He is just one of the most interesting characters to probably come out of YA literature, ever. He’s not only the high warlock of Brooklyn, but he’s also this bisexual immortal, fun-loving, fashionable downworlder that doesn’t discriminate against anyone (including shadowhunters who most of the downworld hate). He’s kind, wise, intelligent, full of all the best one-liners, and he brings a delightful element of humor to all these otherwise highly suspenseful and dramatic stories. He’s also the son of a higher demon, and incredibly powerful. So many of the other main characters would be dead if not for him.

Yet, it always felt like his love story was pushed aside for the others. Finally, finally there is a whole book dedicated to his love story! And I absolutely adored it. I love that it takes place several books before where Clare is currently writing, so we can see the early stages of the love story. It’s a love story that travels from New York, to Paris, to Venice, to Rome, to back home again in New York.  And of course it’s not a simple romantic European vacation book either. There’s demon worshiping cults, insanely epic battle scenes on the Orient Express, lots of magic, meetups with international shadowhunters, new friends, and old friends (like Aline and Helen!), masquerade balls, double crossing plot twists, and all sorts of fun.

Like all parts of past stories and plots to involve Magnus, this was just a pure delight to read. I had so much fun getting to know him even more. And I had even more fun watching the early stages of Malec develop. A lot of their firsts happen on this trip. And I just feel like the author listened to her fans. What did everyone want? More Alec and Magnus. And here it is. I’m so glad there will be a series here too. I can’t wait to read more. I give this one a 10/10.