Book Review
Title: The Bane Chronicles: What Really Happened in Peru
Author: Cassandra Clare & Sarah Rees Brennan
Genre: YA/Paranormal/Fantasy/Romance
Rating: ****
Review: After re-reading City of Bones and changing my rating for the better I have decided to reread the series in chronologically order in terms of the story. This means I will be reading the first 3 stories in The Bane Chronicles then The Infernal Devices trilogy, but I am going to review the short stories individually as I read them. I am really excited to read these stories since Magnus is one of my favourite characters in the whole series and he constantly reappeared throughout the timeline.
The first story in The Bane Chronicles is What Really Happened in Peru, where we learn right at the beginning that Magnus has been banned from Peru in 1791 and we are going to find out why. In 1791, Magnus and a fellow warlock, Ragnor are travelling around Peru together, taking on the odd job to make money while they are there. After some rather hilarious shenanigans involving monkeys, Magnus and Ragnor are hired to guard a ship full of guano from pirates but during the trip, Magnus and Ragnor, end up in the hold where Magnus has to explain who guano is to Ragnor and the resulting tantrum destroys the ship and Magnus is blamed for it but this isn’t the reason he was banned.
Magnus returned to Peru in 1885 with Ragnor and another friend, Catarina Loss. During this trip the warlocks have been hired to retrieve some treasure hidden by their client’s ancestors in a temple. While the job is relatively easy in comparison to their last outing in Peru, the trio are labelled as wanted criminals for desecrating a temple, but this still isn’t the reason Magnus was banned from Peru. We jump forward only a few years to 1890 where Magnus is once again in Peru with Ragnor and Catarina, but this time Magnus falls in love with a mortal man called Imasu. Imasu is the first serious lover Magnus has had since his previous lover died in his arms, although we don’t know who this is specifically as he lists a few of his previous lovers. He spends a bit of time with Imasu before he reveals his true nature as a warlock and Imasu leaves him because he can’t stay with Magnus knowing what he is which breaks his heart a little, leading to a very drunken night of more shenanigans. While this isn’t the reason he was banned from Peru, we are getting a sense of who Magnus is as a person and his history. It turns out that Magnus wasn’t immediately seen as a warlock child from birth like Catarina and Ragnor due to their blue and green skin, respectively. When his eyes changed, and his mother knew what he was she killed herself and Magnus was left in the care of his father although we aren’t sure if this is his demon father or the man married to his mother.
We then jump forward again to 1962, where he meets Kitty, a young con woman and asks her to run away with him and she does. They end up falling in love and he seemingly spends a mortal lifetime with her and turned to a life of crime. Shockingly this also isn’t the reason he was banned as we learn after he was banned from Peru, he asked the Warlock Council why he was banned and what the crime unspeakable were but never received an answer so the reason Magnus was banned from Peru will remain a mystery. I really liked this story as it introduced us to a younger, more careful version of Magnus that isn’t as careful as the Magnus we see in City of Bones who doesn’t want to upset the Vampires or the Werewolves. I did really like the characters of Catarina and Ragnor too but I was a little disappointed we never found out the reason why Magnus was banned from Peru.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Also see: City of Bones
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