Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy: A Review

He did not know why books had not taught him how to talk so other people wanted to listen.

I don’t really believe in bad books. I completely concede to whoever said, if you don’t like a book, it just means you haven’t found the right one yet. Now it might sound poetic and all, but that shouldn’t negate the veracity of the statement.

Having said that, I do believe there are good books and better books and some best books. And Tales From the Shaodowhunter Academy inevitably falls under the last column. It is a compilation of ten short stories, all primarily narrated from the perspective of Simon Lewis, my favorite-mundane-turned-vampire-turned-shadowhunter.

Now my previous love and hankering for the Shadow world might have disabled my function of judging this book objectively, but I think I cannot be blamed.

“Dear heart, who knows your courage better than I?”

Disclaimer: If you haven't finished The Mortal Instruments and The Dark Artifices series, you might not want to proceed further. It's a tripwire of spoilers from here on.

When I finished The Mortal Instruments books, my heart was heavy and there was this big black hole leeching off my happy energy, draining me. I didn’t like the story-line, per se, with all the warped and feigned incestuous love stories, and I didn’t like the end of the series completely. But...I loved the series, that whole world. It was the kind of love that grows on you, that slowly creeps on you when you are not looking, because you have been together far long enough.

The black gulf of grief soon sealed up when I started The Dark Artifices trilogy. That was progressively better. Though here again were all the worn-out tropes that are repetitive in Cassandra Clare's every series and her mind-trampling, twisted love triangles with Mark and Kieran and Christina . And it took me a fair amount of time to wrap my little brain around such deviance. I mean, I really struggled to do that. But eventually, I did, so much so as coming to appreciate its few perks and upshots. I really felt like I have grown a lot then.

And after that one and before the nasty black hole could claw out again, I delved into The Infernal Devices series. Which I had a few reservations about at first, true, one of that being it dating back to the eighties, to the glorious ancestors of Jace and Clary and Alec and Emma and Julian, and I do not really have much inclination toward the past, be it novel or my actual life.

And of course, I loved it. That’s my favorite series so far out of all the (finished) series by Clare. And though I am still conflicted about how to feel about Tessa and Will and Tessa and Jem, I adore all three in their characters.

But it is only later, when I learnt about The Elder Curse books that I realized how much I’ve come to love the world of Shadowhunters, how much I’d love to dabble in their art, how much I want to learn about the lives of these Shadowhunters and Downworlders, how much I crave to teleport to this spooky world.

And the greatest strength of this world is the characters we were introduced to. While Magnus and Alec were my favorite couple, my singular favorite character was Simon.

Simon was not pretentious. He preferred to be immersed in fictional worlds, be it games or movies or comics. He wore glasses and funky T-shirts with funny pictures and words from specific fandoms printed on them. He was cute and nerdier than I am. He was not cocky and too-complacent and thus knew not to take any girl for granted. He honestly was my ideal type.

And then, of course, he became a vampire and his desirability quotient flew up tenfold. And then there was the whole thing with him going to other dimensions and sacrificing himself twice to help the other species of beings who perpetually looked down on him. Needless to say, I was swooned. And then I was also poleaxed and wounded by the turn the end TMI took.

“It’s only as hard as you make it,” he said gently, “it’s as easy as you let it be.”

I was keen to know what happened after his memories got swallowed up by the Demon. And then suddenly, the quarantine led me to this treasure trove. This book traverses the span of two years in which Simon got into the time-frozen Shadowhunter Academy as a mundane to learn about the way of Shadowhunters and to become one. The stories are also woven through with tales of other known characters of ours, some of whom appeared as guest lecturers, some through the haze of memories, some as family debacles. It helps us to fill in certain gulfs left behind in the previous books.

Like the big one – how Simon and Isabelle got together and even engaged, as we already know from the beginning of Lady Midnight. (Can I say I love Isabelle for being so feisty and bold and unbowed-down and unsubmissive to the normative feminine behaviors prescribed by the society?) How and when Clary and Simon decided to be parabatai.

How the name of Tobias Herondale was regurgitated wrongly through the years without the privilege of having known his side of the story.

How the Circle had been formed in the Academy and how Robert’s vortex of tussling feelings and thoughts shoved him toward it.

We also got glimpses from the glittering ancestral past – shards of life of Will and Tessa as a couple, as Shadowhunting parents, into the life of their son, James Herondale, when he was in the Academy. Fragments of their whole era.

Then Magnus and Alec made their riveting and shining appearances near the end, indulging us in the story of Max, their adopted son.

Then there were also some new, totally cuddle-worthy idols of characters like George and Beatriz and Marisol and then some equally injurious-to-mental-health characters like Jon, even Julie to some extent. I mean, George is totally the roommate goal, and trust me on that - I've had my share of roommates and have been through enough roommate ordeals. His patience and perseverance and humor and the pure bromance with Simon would almost leave you teary.

The stories also showed the bigotry and classism that is imbibed thickly in their society, the prejudices against Downworlders, specially faeries, that swelled up more and without inhibitions after the Dark War. Simon’s strenuous floundering with his memory loss, his coming to terms with his own identity without the burden of the memories from his sacrificial self – all of them were etched into our comprehension so beautifully.

“You are the star that cannot be lost.”

I was overwhelmed.

And of course, there is the devastating ending. I haven’t cried after reading a book for quite a time, so with this one, the dam completely broke. And I am talking about huge, fat tears. Bawling-out-my-eyeballs tears. Sobbing-into-my-pillow, nose-running-and-then-blocked-off-air tears. Waking-up-with-swollen-eyes tears.

I guess it was a bit overwhelming, because I didn’t expect it. I get attached to the characters to a fault where I cannot function properly if I am left in utter dark about what is happening to them. It’s a real life hazard.

And then, death of any kind, of any character, has always been a bit unpredictable to me. Even though it itself is the single most predictable, reliable thing in the world. Even though it is the only thing we are certain of. But just because you know something is coming doesn’t really mean it won’t punch you in the guts and knock your breath out when it comes. It never fails to unnerve me, how final death is.

How would it be if there was nowhere in the world that you belonged?

Ahem. As I said, I get a tad too attached to the characters. But in my defense, I applaud Cassandra Clare and the writers who helped her with garlands and flowers for creating such adorable characters.

So as I said, I am aware I am not unbiased when it comes to these characters, but well, there is a good reason I am biased. We can be biased for good reasons, can’t we?

“I will always look to you for light.”