Sarah J. Maas is a writer at the forefront of Young Adult fantasy; her novels are extremely popular and acclaimed. After about a dozen and half novels across a few series, she embarks on a new series and a new market with her first “adult” novel, House of Earth and Blood which launches the Crescent City series.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas launches her brand-new CRESCENT CITY series with House of Earth and Blood: the story of half-Fae and half-human Bryce Quinlan as she seeks revenge in a contemporary fantasy world of magic, danger, and searing romance.
Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life—working hard all day and partying all night—until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She’ll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.
Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose—to assassinate his boss’s enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he’s offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.
As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City’s underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion—one that could set them both free, if they’d only let it.
With unforgettable characters, sizzling romance, and page-turning suspense, this richly inventive new fantasy series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas delves into the heartache of loss, the price of freedom—and the power of love.
House of Earth and Blood is set in a secondary world (?) or maybe a far future that resembles fantasy (?) which has a very strong backbone for the plot – a murder mystery. At the center of the story is Bryce Quinlan, a half Fae/Human, whose friend Danika (a werewolf/shapeshifter) and packmates are murdered by a demon. Those are a lot of details to unpack the survivor, the murderer, and the victims, quite a bit of supernatural types in this world. After introducing Bryce and Danika…and having Danika killed off very early in the novel, Maas jumps the timeline two years and Bryce has moved on even if she’s understandably not “over” the events. That is until another murder happens that has uncomfortable similarities to Danika’s murder. While this doesn’t exactly make Bryce a suspect, she is something of a “person of interest.”
When the investigation into the new murders is underway, Maas introduces an assassin named Hunt who finds himself acting as Bryce’s bodyguard. They initially don’t like each other very much, which of course leads to romantic tension especially since Maas describes both of these characters as extremely attractive. I liked Bryce quite a bit, although her stubbornness is a flaw, it is also a strength and helps to drive some great narrative tension in the novel. She has some interesting relationships given that she tows the line between human and fae, but on the whole, I found myself rooting for her, which is a great trait for any protagonist to have.
Maas goes all in for the world building in this first novel of the Crescent City series. That is both a strength and also maybe my greatest issue. The world and story are very immersive, there are several fantastical character types like werewolves/shapeshifters, angels, fae, and demons. The world building was layered so thickly that it overtook some of the strength of the plot. I enjoy rich and well-developed worlds (one of the reasons why Epic Fantasy is such a favorite of mine), but it was extremely dense.
The world itself seems to have multiple disparate supernatural elements – there is at times a steampunk feel, other times a post-apocalyptic/post humanity feel, yet there are many elements similar to our own world like the technologies for communication and travel. I liked this quite a bit and although there’s a bit of clutter with all these elements, there’s a really unique and interesting atmosphere if viewed from a far. However, these many disparate elements about the worldbuilding weighed down the narrative since elements like “the Drop” or the hierarchy of shapeshifters were introduced with little explanation as to what these things mean in the world. The context clues in the narrative are minimal to the point that it comes across as if the reader is simply expected to know these things the characters know and reference. In many ways, the way these details were introduced with little detail or explanation, made House of Earth and Blood like the second book in the series where I haven’t read the first. A brief prologue that narratively outlines the worldbuilding details or even an appendix would have been extremely helpful and would have likely made for a less disjointed reading experience.
I was reminded at times of Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series for the Fae/Fairy elements as well as Aliette de Bodard’s House of Shattered wings for its angelic and demonic elements. Also, like House of Shattered Wings, Maas’s entry into the “Adult” market didn’t quite work for me as much as I hoped it would. There are many elements of this novel to enjoy, especially getting to know Bryce and her character as a whole, but the novel is ultimately weighed down very strongly by the cluttered and unclear world-building.
© 2020 Rob H. Bedford
Crescent City, Book 1 March 2020
Bloomsbury | Hardcover | 798 Pages
Review copy courtesy of the publisher
