Crescent City
Crescent City —crescent citand, by its original title in English— is the first part of House of dirt and blood, a saga of romance and fantasy new adult written by American author Sarah J. Maas, who is best known for her series A court of thorns and roses (ATTACK). The book is available in Spanish since 2020 thanks to Alfaguara. Since then, she has managed to captivate the writer's Hispanic fans.
There is no doubt that Sarah J. Maas knows her audience, and knows exactly what to give her so that she is the one who turns her books into best sellers. As it happened with Throne of glass y A court of thorns and roses, Crescent City generated a great response from fans of romantic fantasy, who, in turn, have become adept at Maas's literature.
Crescent City Synopsis
the introduction to chaos
The main protagonist of this novel is Bryce Quinlan, a half-human, half-fairy half-breed. At first, His life goes by without major shock. He holds a job during the day, and parties at night with his friends. However, during a night job someone starts killing beings in their perfect world, and his entire existence is clouded by tragedy, loss and pain.
Bryce wants revenge, but to carry it out you need to know who the culprit is. that's when makes a deal with Hunt Athalar, a fallen angel who serves as a slave for an archangel. The barter consists of the following: if he helps her investigate the crimes and find the murderer, she will ensure that Hunt obtains what she most desires, her freedom.
one step towards love
The most staunch readers of Sarah J. Maas, as well as the good lovers of letters, will be able to warn what will happen next. As Bryce and Hunt spend time together and get to know each other, their primal dislike for each other fades. Little by little, a passion wilder than the darkness of Crescent City begins to emerge.
But as you can guess, a link like yours is not something simple, especially since this couple is very similar to the others written by the author.
caste division of Crescent City
- House of Dirt and Blood: Humans, Witches, Shapeshifters, and Animals;
- House of heaven and breath: angels, elementals, goblins and fairies;
- House of many waters: nymphs, nokks, kelpies, water beasts, and water spirits;
- House of Flame and Shadow: Dragons, Necromancers, Vampires, Draki, Wraiths, Reapers, and Daemonaki.
About the structure of Crescent City
The novel is narrated in the third person.. This with the intention that the reader can know everyone's points of view, both the protagonists and the villains and secondary characters.
Likewise, The work is divided into three parts: the first one narrates the events that changed Bryce's life. The second shows a time jump of four years, during which the research is carried out. The third, resolves almost all the conflicts and closes the plot, although Sarah J. Maas leaves some points open to generate interest in the following books.
Crescent City It is presented as an introductory volume, where the scenarios are built, in addition to the political and magic systems that will exist throughout the saga. It should be noted that, as with the other texts by J. Maas, the strong point of this novel is the structuring of its universe.
A change in the construction of the usual world
Some reviewers—mostly fans of the author—affirm that one of Sara J. Maas's successes is her characters. However, what the writer does best is build worlds. Eg A court of thorns and roses it is easy to get lost in the vastness of the faerie lands, with complex and delicate social and political structures. Even so, all the scenarios created by the author so far are very similar.
The only real change associated with these has to do with, this time, the characters have access to more developed technology. In addition, the plot takes place in a dimension very similar to ours, although with the presence of vampires, werewolves, fairies, angels, demons... This is not a novelty in literature. In fact, it is something that can be found in the urban fantasy of Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (2009)
As always, perfect characters
Sarah's pen. J. Maas tends to fall into platitudes regarding the description of his characters. Both Fayre and Rhysand, from ATTACKThey are attractive, with enviable bodies and unparalleled beauty. In this sense, Bryce and Hunt are no exception to this rule. The same way, both protagonists are almost divine figures, without credible flaws. In addition, the book is exempt from inclusion.
This cliché is not new in the Fantastic literature romantic cut, since it is possible to find similar characters in books like Of blood and ashes (2020), by Jennifer L. Armentrout, and other similar titles. However, the readers of J. Maas know what they are going to find, and this narrative style is precisely what they are looking for, since it is one of those calming readings that make us escape from reality.
About the author, Sarah Janet Maas
Sarah J. Maas
Sarah Janet Maas was born in 1986, in New York, United States. She studied creative writing and religious studies at Clinton's Hamilton College. But her taste for her lyrics began long before. When he was sixteen he wrote the first chapters of Throne of glass. Later, he published them on the fictionpress.com portal. However, he later removed them to try to sell the work to a publisher.
In the end, his novel was bought by Bloomsbury, who published it in 2012. That same year the story was published in Spanish by Alfaguara. Sarah J. Maas's books are often based on classic fantasy stories. The first volume of Throne of glass is inspired by Cinderella. For its part, A court of thorns and roses is a free adaptation of La bella y la bestia.
their successors, A Court of Mist and Fury y A court of wings and ruin, are inspired by the myth of Hades and Persephone and Snow Whiterespectively.
Publication order of Sarah J. Maas books
throne of glass
stories
- The Assassin's Blade — assassin's sword (2021);
- The Assassin and the Pirate Lord — The Assassin and the Pirate Lord (2012);
- The Assassin and the Healer — The assassin and the healer (2012);
- The Assassin and the Red Desert — The assassin in the desert (2012);
- The Assassin and the Underworld —The assassin in the underworld (2012);
- The Assassin and the Empire — The assassin in the empire (2012)
Novels
- throne of glass — Throne of glass (2012);
- Crown of Midnight — Midnight crown (2013);
- Heir of Fire — heiress of fire (2014);
- Queen of Shadows — queen of shadows (2015);
- Empire of Storms — storm empire (2017);
- Tower of Dawn — tower of dawn (2017);
- Kingdom of Ash — kingdom of ashes (2018)
Extras
- The Throne of Glass Coloring Book (2016)
ATTACK
first trilogy
- A Court of Thorns and Roses — A court of thorns and roses (2018);
- A Court of Mist and Fury — A Court of Mist and Fury (2018);
- A Court of Wings and Ruin — A court of wings and ruin (2019)
second trilogy
- A Court of Frost and Starlight — A court of ice and stars (2019);
- A Court of Silver Flames — A court of silver flames (2021);
- (ATTACK 6 and 7 are scheduled for 2024 and 2025, respectively).
Extras
- A Court of Thorns and Roses Coloring Book (2017)
Crescent city
- House of Earth and Blood — House of dirt and blood (2020);
- House of Sky and Breath — house of sky and breath (2022);
- House of Flame and Shadow — house of flame and shadow (scheduled for 2024).
Other books by Sarah J. Maas
- Catwoman: Soulstealer (2018);
- The Starkillers Cycle (Developing);
- Twilight of the Gods (Developing);
Author's recommended reading order
To date, all of the books created by Sarah J. Maas can be read in any order. However, for the stories to fit perfectly and make sense to the reader, the writer recommends the following chronology:
Series ATTACK
- A court of thorns and roses;
- A court of mist and fury;
- A court of wings and ruin;
- A court of ice and stars;
- A court of silver flames.
Saga Throne of glass
- Throne of glass;
- The Assassin's Blade: Tales from Throne of Glass;
- Midnight crown;
- heiress of fire;
- queen of shadows;
- storm empire;
- tower of dawn;
- kingdom of ashes.
Saga Crescent City
- Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood;
- Crescent City: home of sky and breath.