Queen of Air and Darkness (Spoilery) Thoughts
I read the whole damn book, and the entire shadowhunters saga before it. that’s the background i have before i go off below.
SPOILERS BELOW
1) I really, really like how, in this book, Julian *earned* the “ruthless” and “calculating” persona that the author and the narrative always seemed to apply to him in the trilogy. I’ve always loved the idea of portraying someone who could be fundamentally kind-hearted and sweet while capable of being cunning and duplicitous. The author in the past referenced how Emma’s more straight-forward character versus Julian’s reliance on schemes reflect the opposite traits their genders are usually associated with, but the books used to always put this on Emma’s shoulders to be the next “Jace” (alpha leader and warrior) rather than really show us a Julian who is sweet to his family, but more than willing to do insane things with trickery rather than flashy swords. This book changed that, and I’m glad although I wasn’t a fan of a lot of his decisions this book. I definitely felt like at the least, whatever I thought of him, he had *earned* the reputation the narrative and author placed on him. There aren’t many male characters in fiction with as sophisticated in role as Julian (Jace, as great as he is, is definitely a stereotype, as is Simon). The closest parallel I can come to is Peeta, but Julian is definitely distinct in his style as a character.
2) I did not see the AU thing coming. At all. It wasn’t a shocker so much as a “what?” I really liked the idea of the main characters wandering in and interacting with a fictional alternate universe, as well as the characters talking with alternate versions of the people they knew. I think it was 100% intentional that Clary died at the Battle of the Burren and not later in the narrative of the Mortal Instruments, because it is pretty clear in this book and in the TMI series that Sebastian would have forced Clary to be completely *his* if he won while she was alive. The author made the smart bet that Clary is better off dead without that happening to her than keeping her alive in the alternate universe, and putting her in that situation where she would have become Endarkened and/or Sebastian’s “queen.” Not just better off because of the plot persay, but better off because that would be sadistic as a writer to do upon the narrative, and the alternate universe is already plenty sadistic without adding that element in.
3) I’m really, really curious about Thule!Jace. If Sebastian is dead, is he himself again? How much of himself can he be after being a killer for many years, and an aid to the apocalypse? Also, Julian killing Thule!Julian to save Thule!Livia was…wow. It definitely mirrored Achilles killing Hector while Hector was wearing Achilles’ former armor, making it seem like Achilles was killing himself (and he was). I definitely wish that was played on, or used as a subtle hint of foreshadowing. It was just a metaphor, which is fine, but I would have liked to see the implications of it dissected more.
4) I’m not the author, but something I felt very strongly about was that Livia should not appear in the books after her death. Not as a ghost, not in an alternate universe. Thule!Livia was really cool, and I get the point that the author was trying to make-she got to be the chosen one in the alternate universe as recompense for being murdered in the real world-but I think it’s really problematic to be like “death can’t be messed with” and then have said dead character pop up every two minutes. Real death isn’t like that. Nobody is going to see their loved ones again until after death, not as a ghost, not as a alternate universe anything. Pulling that kind of move comes off as fan-service, and cheapens the death of Livia. If the point is to make Livia’s death heart-breaking and tragic-because it is-than the narrative needs to commit to the fact that she is dead. No pop-up visits, no alternate version of her, nothing. At best maybe, a vision of the past or what could have been but not this. Also, Ty was being stupid, and he was being so stupid that I think the narrative wanted to make him stupid more than I believed he actually was that stupid. If you’re going to have someone go the whole “i’m gonna bring my loved one back from the dead,” you gotta go all the way Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, or don’t bother. That manga *earned* the story it got out of that narrative, and this one was a weak echo.
5) A lot of this book felt like set-up for the Wicked Powers more than it felt like specifically part of this trilogy. This was true of City of Heavenly Fire, and this wasn’t as bad, but it was annoying. Annabelle, for all her glory on the cover and the namesake of the book, is barely a factor in the plot’s narrative. She gets killed off with little repercussion or discussion, and Horace is swiftly disposed of. Which, fine, but you have to earn that. That wasn’t earned in the narrative. Dane and Samantha Larkspears’ deaths were well-done and haunting in their own ways.
6) I think Zara and Manuel are gonna be the villains of the Wicked Powers, which I am very much looked forward to seeing that dynamic play out.
7) Christina’s polyamorous relationship felt…tacked in. The build-up for her and Kieran to have feelings for each other literally was only in this book. It’s not that such a dynamic is impossible to pull off, it just felt very apparent that this was shoe-horned in the last book instead of naturally developing. Mark and Kieran, I buy. Mark and Christina, I buy. Kieran and Christina? Eh. I will, but I’m not entirely sold if that was a natural progression of the narrative or a demand of the narrative on them.
8) I love Clary and Jace in this book. The roles felt clear and I could see them as themselves. Simon and Isabelle got drastically cut-they’re barely cameos-while Alec and Magnus are supporting characters throughout the trilogy.
9) Ash is interesting. I genuinely don’t know how that dynamic will play out. I really hope he’s not another Evil Morgenstern bc…we’ve got enough of those. I don’t mind mysterious/grey, but he better not be the Villain of the next trilogy. That said, I wanna see where his character goes because he clearly is not fitting into any boxes of savior/victim. Tbh, there’s no reason he should have wings at all.
10) Diego got a really hot scar across his face that screams “I watched the Force Awakens.” Which is fine, because I can appreciate dramatic scars across the face. Additionally, there are such strong Hamilton references in this book that as I read it, I literally thought to myself “and the author discovered Hamilton while writing this book.”
11) Horace got disposed of so quickly in the overall saga that it’s annoying that he got built up so high by the narrative. He barely lasted two books before getting neatly killed off.
12) I honestly feel like the author kinda moved on from doing a series on a supernatural universe with all sorta of creatures to fixating on faeries. The last 4 books in the Shadowhunters saga have focused primarily on the faeries, with background attention to other creatures.
13) I want the world for Dru. Really. She’s the character I’m the most excited to see in the Wicked Powers.
