The Rise of the Hotel Dumort

The Bane Chronicles #5

by Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson

In 1920s Manhattan, Magnus Bane hobnobs with the elite at a glamorous Jazz Age hotspot.

The immortal Magnus Bane is making the most of his time in the Roaring Twenties: He's settled into New York society and is thriving among the fashionable jazz set. And there is nowhere better to see and be seen than the glamorous Hotel Dumort, a glittering new addition to the Manhattan landscape. But a different type of glamour may be at play...

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Short Stories, Paranormal, Vampires, Urban Fantasy, Magic

61 pages, ebook

First published July 16, 2013

About the author

Hello Goodreadsers. Here's my official bio:

"Cassandra Clare was born overseas and spent her early years traveling around the world with her family and several trunks of fantasy books. Cassandra worked for several years as an entertainment journalist for the Hollywood Reporter before turning her attention to fiction. She is the author of City of Bones, the first book in the Mortal Instruments trilogy and a New York Times bestseller. Cassandra lives with her fiance and their two cats in Massachusetts."

You can find me online at

www.cassandraclare.com

I have a blog:

http://cassandraclare.livejournal.com/

and a Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/Cassandraclare

and a Twitter:

www.twitter.com/cassieclare

I'll be available here on Goodreads to answer questions for a Goodreads Author Discussion starting September 18 — http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/3...

Go sign up so you don't miss the conversation when it starts!

Reviews

[MischaS_ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm lost... What was this even about? Like seriously, I have no idea!

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raphael is such a little shit :')

What Really Happened in Peru - 2 Stars
The Runaway Queen - 2 Stars
Vampires, Sconces and Edmund Herondale - 4 Stars
The Midnight Heir - 5 Stars
The Rise of the Hotel Dumort - 4 Stars
Saving Raphael Santiago - 4 Stars
The Fall of the Hotel Dumort - 3 Stars
What to Buy the Shadowhunter Who Has Everything - 4 Stars
The Last Stand of the New York Institute - 4 Stars
The Course of True Love [and First Dates] - 4 Stars
The Voicemail of Magnus Bane - 4 Stars

[★MC's Corner★ · Rating 4 out of 5]

HUH???

I DIDN'T GET IT!!!!
UGH!!!

PLEASE RAISE YOUR RIGHT HANDS FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT IS DISAPPOINTED THAT MAGNUS BANE DID NOT MEET A HAWT VAMP!



@gleekidMC

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story of the supernatural happenings around the time of Prohibition and the Great Depression.

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Nothing is permanent," Magnus said. "I know this from experience. But you can get new things. You can meet new people. You can go on.”

I loved how this short story was set in 1929 New York, while Magnus is trying to run a speakeasy. And seeing his magic camouflage this secret pub into a tea party was pretty much the best thing ever. Sadly, that’s all I truly enjoyed about it. I mean, I guess seeing Hotel Dumort almost become a portal to Hell was pretty cool, too. But this story, and the new characters, just didn’t win me over as hard in this one.

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(I read this in The Bane Chronicles!) ✨

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars



Narrated by Cecil Baldwin, Jamie Bamber, George Blagden, Gareth David-Lloyd, Jordan Gavaris, Stephen Lunsford, David Oyelowo, Andrew Scott, Michael Trevino, Jesse Williams

Five of ten adventures in The Bane Chronicles.

This was a story that I was curious about, we've know Hotel Dumort as it was in the Mortal Instruments, but I always wondered how it came to be ... This solidifies my thought of it being one of grandeur at one point in time, but used and abused for ill purposes. Very interesting story, tying in real event references to this fantasy world.

[Grace (LovingDemBooks) Z. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Buy this book HERE on Amazon

2.5 of 5 stars (Please read my rating system further below). I definitely was interested in finding more about the history of Hotel Dumort, but this story for some reason was not very entertaining and developed very lowly for a short story. My favorite part was Magnus's fashion sense.

My rating system: (I do use half stars.)
5 - I do not use the 5 star. Not because a book might not be worthy, but because a book is never perfect.
4 - I loved it! There weren't too many flaws, and I had no trouble getting through it. (A 4 star rating is the highest rating I've ever given a book.)
3 - I enjoyed the book, but there we're flaws that made me enjoy it less.
2 - I finished the book, but there were too many flaws for me to enjoy it.
1 - I could not finish the book, and I probably did not finish it....

[clem · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars

I loved the introduction to prohibition and the economic crise. The world building was really cool too.

[Ferdy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Spoilers

-Really boring. There was barely any plot. The first 20 odd pages was just Magnus whining about his Speakeasy, the cops, and a bunch of random humans using him for his money/club/hotel. And then the last few pages he was sorting out some silly demon problem at some other hotel.

-Magnus was as shallow as usual. He only ever likes young and handsome people, anyone unattractive he either dislikes or dismisses. Ugh.

-Why does Magnus hate Shadowhunters so much? What have they ever done to him? Sure, they don't like him but why does he have a problem with that since he feels exactly the same way about them?

-I'm getting annoyed at Magnus's repeated mentions of Camille and his relationship with her. What actually happened between them? Why does he keep bitching about her? Am I meant to hate her or something? From what little I've read about her she seems much better than Magnus, at least she doesn't pretend to be something she's not.

-Why did Camille send that Dolly vampire to warn Magnus about the Wall St crash and apparent end of the world? Why didn't Camille just go see Magnus herself? It made no sense.

-What's the point of these novellas? They've not elaborated on anything important, all they've done is 1. Show Magnus on various forgettable adventures 2. Make Magnus come across as a self pitying, whiny, selfish, judgmental brat and 3. Highlight how easily Magnus falls in and out of love.
I wanted to know about Magnus's dad, his real age, his relationship with Camille and Alec, and his duties as a warlock. I've gotten none of that.
The novellas have made me hate Magnus, he's become such a weak, pathetic, pointless character.

[Sonja ✧･ﾟ｡★･ﾟ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

❛It wasn't a bad life. It wouldn't last, but nothing ever did.❜

The Rise of the Hotel Dumort is honestly a pretty pointless story. I kept on reading the story wondering when something interesting would happen; and eventually when something out of the ordinary did happen, it was executed poorly..

Also, the ending was really abrupt?? I'm so confused by this short story.. Like why does it exist? It feels like it wasn't edited or looked over with a critical eye at all.

The last Magnus Bane short story I read was so great, and this one is just rubbish in comparison. Also, Shadowhunters are arrogant and annoying assholes, but what else is new?

❝When have I ever claimed not to be a fool?❞

____________________
I read this in The Bane Chronicles 💫

[Beenish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much to say about this little story :)

[Isa Cantos (Crónicas de una Merodeadora) · Rating 5 out of 5]

¿La crisis del 29, el brujo más poderoso y viejo de todos los tiempos, un viejo amor de Magnus y un bar secreto que desafía la prohibición del alcohol? YES, PLEASE!

No saben cómo adoro que Cassandra Clare sitúe algunas de las historias de Magnus en momentos históricos claves y que lo involucre como protagonista de detalles menores de la Historia. Primero tuvimos las líneas de Nazca, luego su participación en la Revolución Francesa, y ahora lo tenemos en medio del crack del 29, del Jueves Negro, del nefasto día en que Wall Street se volvió loco y la gente saltaba de los edificios porque lo había perdido todo.

Y es que la Historia mundana se entrelaza de una manera genial con la de los Downworlders en un momento en el que demonios están siendo convocados, un gran brujo está masacrando a los más ricos de Nueva York y abriendo un gran portal del tamaño del Hotel Dumont.

Y Camille... ay, Camille. Sabemos que tú, vampiresa escurridiza, estabas detrás de todo de alguna manera.

[Lazaros · Rating 3 out of 5]

In comparison with its predecessors this was not so good. I still enjoyed reading it and devoured it in a matter of minutes but this is my least favorite. It's still interesting and I love how Magnus never runs out of memories and experiences and stories to tell us. I'm glad he stayed and didn't go with Aldous. What would we have done without him?

[dia · Rating 3 out of 5]

it’s confusing that these stories follow each other chronologically, but there is still a big time gap between them anyway. the fifth story was boring and the plot wasn’t coherent, many things doesn’t make sense to me.

[Layla (Between the Lines) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I keep pausing every few pages just to watch YouTube videos because I'm bored out of my mind. I'm so disappointed. Magnus is supposed to be such an interesting character but there's literally no emotion coming from these stories. It all feels forced. And stale.

[Andre · Rating 1 out of 5]

Basically this is boring, slow, full of clichés, continues bad patterns (Magnus is at special places etc.), is lazily written, full of plotholes, has a dumb story and a dumb main character, the villains are a joke and the climax totally anticlimactic.
I really had to ask myself whether the writers put any effort into this story.
This book: Downworlders cannot normally enter the Institute through the main gate.
City of Ashes: Luke did.

It seems to try and make Magnus look smart, kind, wise, ethical and sympathetic, as well as the story funny I guess, but it pretty much fails on all these accounts.
Magnus is not really intelligent - everyone else is simply incredibly stupid - but looks like a shallow and arrogant idiot that only cares about himself. They even ruin the moments when he tries to help other people or actually uses magic. And to be honest would there be a scenario like that in the real world Magnus would have been dead meat. But the forced plot would never allow for Magnus to even get a scratch.
And the "jokes", if that is what they are supposed to be, are not funny but plain stupid.

If there is a theme here it is in my eyes "better in comparison". And even this "better" is only in regard to the fact that the switching from Brennan to Johnson as co-author has led to a significant decrease in the number of weird and crazy phrases so typical for Clare books. But apart from that there is no improvement whatsoever, especially in terms of historical accuracy.

PS. Don't put any stock in the book description and title, they don't fit at all.


For those interested in more, let me elaborate in the spoilers section:

The story is historically "fitting"

The story is of the "in theory everything is possible" type. A shame since the period would provide so much material for stories but the authors completely wasted it. The mere fact that this story is what they came up with does not speak for a high level of creativity. Even in a cliché story like this you don't have to take the most cliché elements you can find.

The basic four problems are:
1) The portrayal of the Prohibition
2) The portrayal of the Wallstreet Crash
3) The Hotel Dumont is in Harlem
4) Magnus just runs around

1) The portrayal of the Prohibition
Total cliché: drinking + illegal = exiting; the big bad = law/police; illegal alcohol has no negative consequences whatsoever.
Even the raid on Magnus's bar is cliché, not to mention that he has daily parties in his hotel room and the hotel management doesn't do anything about that. That is unrealistic for the reason alone that a daily party where a constant stream of people pass out all the time would leave that apartment in ruins.
Also with the thousands of speakeasies all over New York (never named of course) why would any guests come to Magnus while his bar is closed?
And I have my doubts that police would have been the biggest problem back then. This book happens only months after the Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago so the gang wars that racked the East Coast (also not mentioned here) must have been a reality.
Of course the its never mentioned that many never considered the Prohibition moral/legal to begin with and others followed it out of conviction and for good reason. No mentioning of stuff like alcohol poisoning, alcoholism (massive problem in the 19th century) and the dangers of trade. Even if these authors were not interested in a realistic story they still could have used this. Also many people drank alcohol because that was their way of bringing Prohibition down, their duty as Americans (Magnus could have done a toast on that), so no regretting it all (which the book claims to be universal among Magnus's guests). Many Prohibition supporters of that time already saw that it wasn't working and if Clare would be as feminist as she claims she would from all the available myths chose that "men discovered the clitoris." Which is not really true, but people enjoyed sex more than in Victorian times and women in speakeasies and on the stock market had way more freedoms than they had before. All good stuff that you could use for a short book like this.

2) The portrayal of the Wallstreet Crash
I consider it pretty tasteless to cite all these bad omens regarding the Crash just to glance over the actual events in a few sentences (referring to Black Thursday as the first scare). They use just clichés. Did they do any research past myths at all? There is panic everywhere? It is "only" Black Tuesday and they already have boarded up banks and multiple suicides? The storm on the banks and their closure happened over the following weeks. Multiple suicides are definitely a grossly exaggerated myth, one that came up after all this. If the authors really wanted to show what happened back then, they would have had Magnus go out and visit the scene, but they did the exact opposite. I doubt they did any actual research about that time since there would be plenty of scenes that were much better to reflect the situation on that day.

3) The Hotel Dumont is in Harlem
The book Surviving the City: The Chinese Immigrant Experience in New York City, 1890 -1970 stated this:
As increasing numbers of blacks took up residence in Harlem, white residents coalesced to resist what they called a black "invasion." … Despite such hostilities, more and more blacks moved into Harlem, Whites' response was to evacuate the neighborhood.
I know this story takes place during the Harlem Renaissance but a big white hotel in a mostly black neighborhood in the late 1920s seems a bit farfetched to me.

4) Magnus's status
In City of Bones it was stated that Magnus was tall and thin as a rail, his hair a crown of dense black spikes and that Clary guessed from the curve of his sleepy eyes and the gold tone of his evenly tanned skin that he was part Asian. And Clare stated that Taiwanese actor Godfrey Gao most closely resembles him.
The Chinese Exclusion Act was still active at this time and Chinese were one of the most despised minorities in the USA. According to my book the Newspapers in New York, moreover, kept smearing Chinese throughout the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth. Economically, the New York Chinese fared even worse than their brethren on the West Coast. … different work from that restaurants and laundries offered the New York Chinese from the 1880s to the 1960s.
Yet Magnus has a room in the Plaza Hotel and there is no discrimination? No laundry/restaurant jokes, no insults, no nothing? And mark there is no mentioning of him using magic to hide any part of his appearance. Not even his (never mentioned) cat eyes.

The writing is …

The writing is better in that there aren't so many weird phrases and similes, but still instances of useless word/name/phrase dropping, like vamp vampire or the voice came from nowhere. It was in the room. It was outside. It was in Magnus’s head
The weirdest was: She had one of those New York accents that Magnus was still getting used to, even though he had been here for several months. It was brassy and big, like a blinking neon sign. (that clashes with the previous book)
Clearly no editor saw this, at least no competent one, but it's not as bad as previous books.
But I still had to ask myself whether they actually envision what they are writing there: Alfie squat-bounced on his heels for a moment which he does while being perched on the thin concrete lip just outside the window, without him having troubles with balance even when nervously smoking a cigarette. Once again the Institute is described as towering high and unmoving and still no one ever bumps into that glamoured thing or tries to tear it down. But let's not get into too much detail here since Magnus even stated that a foot and an ankle were both very handsome.

They apparently need some work for general writing as well. It was totally useless to describe the traits that separate the vampire (a small 16 year old named Dolly) from the humans when we were already told that she was a vampire.
Let's skip Alfie's terrible introduction, but know this he was a very handsome and entertaining regular with excellent taste in suits and a love of strong cocktails (aka Magnus's type).
The biggest fail was the description of the hotel Dumont: not done when Magnus sits in front of it for more than an hour, where it would fit perfectly, but instead when it's already obvious that something dangerous and magical happened and time is of the essence (a very efficient way to kill all suspense). The encounter with the demonic voices and their defeat was simply boring. They don't even come along as threatening. All they do is trying to get Magnus to join them by asking whether he is tired of his life or whether he wants to see his demon father. And the whole thing is so easily solved and so badly done that it is a shame and an insult to storytelling and the readers.

And I guess the statement And it was nice to see a neighborhood where not everyone had white skin. Harlem was the center of black culture and the best music in the entire world. It was the hottest, most cutting-edge place to be. is supposed to be tackling of racism or so. But had they wanted that why not mention some of the writers of the Harlem Renaissance or the popular speakeasies?

And as usual things are not properly explained. People not versed in US history would have to guess/look up what a speakeasy and a shimmy is. We are never told whether Dolly is 16 in human or vampire years, whether Alfie spoke with an accent or was just drunk or how big the speakeasy was (what is described seems quite big for something concealed behind the facade of a wig store on West 25th Street.). There is no actual explanation why Magnus needed hours for collecting glass, throwing wood into a pile and moping the floor and suddenly cared about normalcy considered that he used magic anyway when he grew tired and bored. We don't know why Shadowhunters care about upholding the Prohibition (it was pretty obvious it wasn't working) and why Magnus was no ordinary Downworlder in regard to entering the Institute (because of the stuff in book 3?). These tidbits of useless information are really annoying. This is the 13th book he is in and the 5th where he is the protagonist, so the authors should finally provide some actual new info. That Magnus might be of special ancestry (typical) was already suggested in City of Lost Souls. There is some more stuff, e.g. why Edgar Greymark doesn't get his phone bewitched if the noise annoys him so much but that would be nitpicking.

But speaking of him, he and the rest of the Shadowhunters are full blown idiots: e.g. they don't know Aldous is 2000 years old; think he will stay in place just because being commanded to and when it is clear that there is some very serious demonic activity they scatter instead of sticking together. Not to mention that only morons would allow a band of vampires to settle in a hotel that was used as a gate to a demon dimension, not that this part of the hotel's history is even mentioned here.

And would it kill the authors do have the bad guys not be the only people in the book that are described as looking over 40 and not pretty? That was the reason why I knew Aldous and the rich people were the bad guys.
And of course the rich people are referred to as deluded and stupid millionaires who believed that their money entitled them to control and who wanted Aldous' services to gain control over the world. I guess this was another lame attack against rich people by another rich character (it's clear that Magnus is rich) without even remotely being aware of how hypocritical and unrealistic the whole premise is. And I am not talking about magic but about the fact that rich people don't get and stay rich by being stupid. At least the demon raising was not tied to the Wall Street Crash and I really hope that the "Pandemonium" Aldous wanted to go in the Demon realm does not mean the club in TMI is some sort of demon beacon or so.

PS. The explosion inside the hotel and the magic effects reminded me of a total cliché scene from lame action movies.



Magnus is smart

The book clearly wants to present Magnus as intelligent and wise but in truth even the "better in comparison" technique fails. He just does too many stupid things for that:
1) If Magnus has seen economies come and collapse before, he should at least have a guess as to what is coming and have actual advice for Alfie.
2) He lets the Highwarlock of Manhatten wait for 1 hour and apparently drunk Alfie watch the bar.
3) Magnus thinks the speakeasy is one of mankind's greatest achievements and that drinking alcohol illegally makes it better, which proves his limited knowledge about the time.
4) Instead of just flying straight towards the Dumont on some enchanted object while being invisible (which he can do) he just ran up the east side of the park, all the way to 116th Street although time is allegedly of the utmost importance. You could say that he was tired from erasing part of Alfie's memory (another stupid move of him) but then why is running less tiring then flying, which he could do while being drunk back in 1890, and why had he enough energy left for the later sealing spells?
5) Instead of a glamour with specific conditions to hide his speakeasy permanently from the police but letting his customers in, he uses his powers each time the police do a raid to transform the interior of the speakeasy, one time it became a prayer circle, with many of the guests wearing the garb of nuns and ministers. Which of course would be especially suspicious. Seriously a specific glamour would make hallways and escape routes unnecessary.
6) When Alfie starts talking about Magnus being able to do things he immediately thinks sex instead of the pretty obvious magic he performed in front of several people several times. Even his blue flames between his fingers were visible once and still Magnus thinks he maintained the premise that he was nothing but a showman. Not to mention that Alfie outright says that Magnus can do magic.
7) After claiming that Greymark should act on what he is saying all Magnus says regarding Aldous is speak to him perhaps and keep an eye out.
8) While waiting in front of the hotel Dumont for more than an hour he does nothing to investigate, no search for clues, no talk and no spells suitable for investigation. All he does is sitting around suspiciously.
9) Despite stock tickers being pretty common in Manhattan at that time he has no idea why people play so much attention to them.
10) When Alfie seems to be close to suicide and sits on the thin concrete lip Magnus decides to talk instead of using magic to get him inside and out of harm's way.
11) Magnus had to actually follow Dolly and see Camille herself although anyone could have figured out who the "her" Dolly referred to was.
12) He said he learned to trust his instincts although they apparently failed him many times over the last few books.
13) Despite his inefficient use of magic in this book alone Magnus still thinks he is talented.
14) Despite the pile of human body parts, the blood and the talk about going to the demon universe it actually took Magnus a while to realize that Aldous was insane.

All this clearly shows that Magnus only appears smart because the other people, especially Shadowhunters, act like morons. There are the examples I had given in the section about the writing but there is also that the Shadowhunters apparently had not kept an eye on Aldous. The book has Magnus state that they probably had ignored his warning and, like him, seen the light in the sky. Which is completely ridiculous considered what the Shadowhunters are supposed to do in Clare's world. An organization like theirs would always keep an eye on a high warlock and would quickly act if that one obviously becomes crazy, especially when the Downworlders of said time are already so superstitious and anxious, but not here. They don't do anything. And that is so stupid that every halfway smart person would look like a genius in comparison.



Magnus is sympathetic and ethical

And now the biggest weakness of the Chronicles: Magnus is supposed to be sympathetic and ethical. The problem is that in this book Magnus:
1) Had to think for a full day about how much he currently cared about the collapse of the entire financial structure of the United States.
2) Reacts with the thoughts: Oh no. A story. This was perhaps too maudlin and too much for the early hour, but handsome and heartbroken young men could occasionally be indulged. Magnus tried to look attentive… Magnus didn’t really want this kind of thing this early in the morning—this talk of aching memories and wanting to forget. This conversation needed to end, now. when Alfie tries to pour his heart out.
3) Did not appreciate the slight edge of sarcasm to Edgar’s tone although that tone was entirely justified.
4) Once again whines about being involved in so many problems and battles without mentioning a single serious problem he had.
5) Whines that all would die and he would live on and on, despite the fact that there must be thousands or even millions of immortal vampires and warlocks in the Clareverse.
6) Whines that he doesn't belong anywhere and sometimes feels out of place although in the stories he mostly has a blast and many people want to know him and be friends with him.
7) Was originally resolved to do nothing about Aldous and Edgar’s dismissal of his concerns motivated him. So portents of doom and the high warlock going cuckoo did not motivate him, but the dismissal of his concerns did? This sounds more like a hurt ego to me than anything else. And what concerns by the way? He never stated any.
8) Had used his power to retrieve a lost ball for some kids and while that sounds good, he did that after sitting around for a deadly dull hour, read a newspaper to kill time, ate a sardine sandwich and had some coffee. That sounds like he did it because he was bored.
9) When seeing the panic in the lobby Magnus decided it was probably best to go back upstairs, lock the door, and get out a good bottle of wine. Apparently casting some spell to calm the people was too much to ask for.
10) Only when Alfie was suicidal did he do anything about the effects of the Wallstreet Crash. Magnus's help: first telling him that Nothing is permanent… But you can get new things. You can meet new people. You can go on. (seriously that was all) and then erasing memories so he would no longer remember the girl he was upset about and the money he lost.
11) Made an elevator full of people who had done nothing to him speed towards the ground just because Dolly was in it (and hadn't told him what he wanted) just to frighten her.

So you see when Magnus afterwards states:
And yet they had no idea that the crash was really the least of their worries, and the real danger had been averted. They would never know. They never did.
I am not feeling any praise for this selfish idiot since he didn't even remotely break a sweat to avert the danger before it was already too late. He was only the "hero" because the Shadowhunters were even dumber than he was and the way to close the demon portal was so ridiculously simply that any other warlock could have done it, which makes Aldous look like an idiot.

[nefeli · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Nothing is permanent," Magnus said. "I know this from experience. But you can get new things. You can meet new people. You can go on.”

Buddy read this with Sanyam :D


I definitely was interested in finding out more about the history of Hotel Dumort but this story for some reason was not very interesting or entertaining.

The plot was really confusing... The most boring story so far :/


Let's hope that the next ones are better :)

[katia · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was what i expected all of the novella’s to be like

[Althea ☾]

i wanted more magnus and camille i guess HAHA and didn't really care much for the side chaacters here

COFFEE SHOP JAZZ AMBIENCE ROOM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0_ej...

1. What Really Happened in Peru - ★★★☆☆
2. The Runaway Queen - ★★☆☆☆
3. Vampires, Scones, and Edmund Herondale - ★★★★★
4. The Midnight Heir - ★★★★★
5. The Rise of the Hotel Dumort - ★★☆☆☆
6. Saving Raphael Santiago - ★★★★☆
7. The Fall of the Hotel Dumort - ★★★★☆
8. What To Buy the Shadowhunter Who Has Everything - ★★★★☆
9. The Last Stand of the New York Institute - ★★★★★
10. The Course of True Love [and First Dates] - ★★★★★
11. The Voicemail of Magnus Bane - ★★★☆☆

⟹ BLOG | SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI | BOOKSIRENS ⟸

[Sinead · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great era, and Magnus's secret bar was just so typically Magnus! Seeing the beginning of Wall Street Crash was also interesting to see. As The Durmort Hotel is so famous in TMI series, it was nice to see how it began.

[crίѕтίŋα•●Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ●• · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars :D

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to enjoy life a little. We have forever. Should we really spend all of it working?”
- Magnus Bane

[Jeannette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably the best out of all of the parts of the Bane Chronicles that I've read so far. It was juicy and it had actual connection to the books that follow. I also appreciated the fact that it was very far away from Magnus' love life and the drama that follows. Plus, it was interesting to learn about how Hotel Dumort became the place that it is in the Mortal Instruments. I have the suspicion that the stories that Clare writes with Sarah Rees Brennan are not as interesting to me, whereas this one was written with another author, who's personal works I haven't read though.

[Jasleen Matharu · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has never crossed my mind before, how befitting owning a speakeasy is to Magnus' character. Of course Magnus Bane must have owned a speakeasy, what the hell ! His managings of it once again totally fit his character.

The best moment for me in this Chronicle was when my suspicions were finally confirmed that Magnus is no ordinary Warlock. Readers of The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices will know that Magnus does not need to enter and remain limited to the Sanctuary of a Shadowhunter Institute like other Downworlders in this mythology. In What Really Happened In Peru (The Bane Chronicles #1), it was hinted that Magnus' father is one of the most powerful Demon's of all... along with some crazy shizzle that happened when Alec handed him a witchlight runestone in The Mortal Instruments. Well I'll tell you this now, Cassie - WE ARE DYING TO KNOW !!!!!!! (I speak for the fans collectively).

Another interesting element of this Chronicle was the added information that was provided about the Demon Realm, The Void. So apparently Pandemonium wasn't just a night club... now apparently it wasn't just a vampire-feasting / gambling club.

For the first time, evidence in this Chronicle arises where it is clear that well established Downworlders are feeling threatened by Mundanes and their ever-increasing advancements as time goes on. Too much wisdom can be debilitating - Clare highlights this well with Aldous Nix.

Apart from that, nothing had a profound effect on me when reading this Chronicle. It was interesting to see what Hotel Dumont looked like in its prime and of course have a look at the New York Shadow and Down World in 1929. This Bane Chronicle had a good amount of more substance than What Really Happened In Peru (The Bane Chronicles #1 ), but was not as humorous as The Runaway Queen ( The Bane Chronicles #2). Therefore a 3.5 / 5 from me.

[Angigames · Rating 3 out of 5]

In questa avventura Magnus dovrà vedersela con diversi problemi: la Crisi Economica, un mondano con il cuore spezzato, uno stregone che comincia ad accusare i sintomi di una pericolosa pazzia, una vampira misteriosa e l’apertura di un portale infernale.
Come sempre Magnus è un personaggio molto simpatico e molto particolare, l’immortalità gli permette di non avere troppe preoccupazioni e di non prendere nulla sul serio. Ma quando serve lo stregone sa utilizzare al meglio la sua magia. È stato bello rivedere Magnus alle prese con gli Shadowhunters, sembra infatti che pur non apprezzandolo a pieno i cacciatori si affidino alle informazioni dello stregone.
Come al solito la Clare ci lascia con il fiato sospeso e a bocca asciutta. L’entrata in scena di Camille ha reso la storia molto molto interessante peccato che poi il racconto si sia concluso!
Ormai sono abituata ai giochetti di Cassandra Clare, ma questo lasciare in sospeso mi sta stancando!

[✨faith✨trust✨pixiedust✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay by most standards but I'm not impressed

[Thibaut Nicodème · Rating 1 out of 5]

Full review on my blog, the Snark Theater.

I…have no words. What even was this? Magnus was running a speakeasy. Then he wasn't. Also he was warned about the Great Depression by three different sources. He didn't care. Also there was something about demon summoning. It accomplished nothing. And then, *plot twist*, Camille, whom we were introduced to as the New York vampire clan's previous leader, turns out to be in New York and leading other vampires? YOU DON'T SAY.

The more I progress through these "Chronicles", the less it feels like there's any reason for them to exist. Why did the author(s) choose this time period? Why this plot? Do you not realize it's usually good to have something to say about the characters when you write a prequel? And what about the framing device that this is all a journal written for Alec? What does this reveal to Alec about Magnus's past, except that he just didn't care about people committing suicide, or the fucking Great Depression? Is that how Magnus won him back? Wow, I feel sad for Alec having such low standards, then.

[Anna (abookobsessed) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was ... interesting. I enjoyed being back in Cassie's world and her writing. It is always a pleasure to reunite with some of the old characters. That was kind of missing in this story, though. The only one we knew was Magnus, which was a little unfortunate. Overall the story was pretty boring, and probably just a "in-between" story to set up for something else. I like it when historical details are represented in books, especially from Magnus's point of view, so I really enjoyed that. I would say, however, this is my least favorite story so far. I hope the next one is a bit more interesting, since I am a huge Raphael fan!
3/5 ★

[Mairéad (is roaming the Undying Lands) · Rating 3 out of 5]

{March 11th, 2015} MINI REVIEW

3 stars.

SPOILERS i guess

Pg 247.
Wow, never figured this would be how Hotel Dumort arose. #sarcasm

Travelling back in time to the Great Depression era and the stock market crash. It's really something different than I imagined for the Hotel Dumort to arise and become infested with vampires. Regardless it is how it is. The addition of how Magnus becomes involved is interesting to note.

[Aoife · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the era this was set in and how Magnus kept being warned about the Wall Street crash. I also love his secret bar..SO Magnus! It was also interesting to see Magnus play around with altering and erasing memories for the first time in the books.

[Ronda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another good episode with the starring warlock, Magnus Bane. I just love these shorts!!!