Week 8 Review: The Shadowhunter's Codex

From Goodreads:

The Clave is pleased to announce the newest edition of the Nephilim's oldest and most famous training manual: the Shadowhunter's Codex. Since the thirteenth century, the Codex has been the young Shadowhunter's best friend. When you're being swarmed by demons it can be easy to forget the finer points of obscure demon languages or the fastest way to stop an attack of Raum demons. With the Codex by your side, you never have to worry.

Now in its twenty-seventh edition, the Codex covers it all: the history and the laws of our world; how to identify, interact with, and if necessary, kill that world's many colorful denizens; which end of the stele is the end you write with. No more will your attempt to fight off rogue vampires and warlocks be slowed by the need to answer endless questions from your new recruits: What is a Pyxis? Why don't we use guns? If I can't see a warlock's mark, is there a polite way to ask him where it is? Where do we get all our holy water? Geography, History, Magic, and Zoology textbook all rolled into one, the Codex is here to help new Shadowhunters navigate the beautiful, often brutal world that we inhabit.

Do not let it be said that the Clave is outdated or, as the younger Shadowhunters say, "uncool": this new edition of the Codex will be available not only in the usual magically-sealed demonskin binding, but also in a smart, modern edition using all of today's most exciting printing techniques, including such new features as a sturdy clothbound cover, a protective dust jacket, and information about title, author, publisher, and so on conveniently available right on the cover. You'll be pleased to know that it fits neatly into most satchels, and unlike previous editions, it rarely sets off alarm wards.

The old woodcuts and engravings have been replaced as well: instead, you'll find lavish modern illustrations by some of the brightest luminaries of the fantastic. Creatures, weapons, people, and places have been carefully and accurately rendered by the likes of Rebecca Guay, Charles Vess, Jim Nelson, Theo Black, Elisabeth Alba, and Cassandra Jean. Chapters are beautifully introduced by the drawings of Michael Kaluta, and along with our condensation of the classic 2,450-page tome, A History of the Nephilim, you will find a selection of the best of the lovely illustrations of that volume by John Dollar.

This edition of the Codex will be available in Institute libraries and what mundanes sometimes call "book stores" in October 2013.

My Review:
I had a great time reading this, I didn't know what to expect, but it is a manual, a textbook for Shadowhunters, so I was a bit apprehensive. But the way it was written, oh, was there sarcasm and humor, it wasn't dry, and it delivered the information!

But I do have to say, my favourite parts were the notes that Clary, Simon, and Jace wrote, because you could just see them commenting that, and I'm really glad that it was a part of this book! Such a fun addition to this book! 

In the children's rhyme when we go to armor and other tools, the last line was "and bronze to summon wicked powers." Which is the name of the 5th Shadowhunter series, that I'm pretty sure is going to star the younger Blackthorn children. So really liked that line!

Getting to know this information about Shadowhunters, some of it we've learned through the course of reading about this world, but here it was laid out and it was really nice. It also really made me appreciate just how hard it is to be a Shadowhunter, how much work, because either we have Clary and Tessa who are learning, or we have basically everybody else, who's grown up with the training. So that was great! 

Loved reading this, can't wait to read more of the Shadowhunter world!

Author: Cassandra Clare, Illustrated by Joshua Lewis 
Series: Shadowhunter Chronicles 
Read: February 23rd, 2022
Source: Library 
Reason Why: Love her writing and this series, and it's a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2022 Book! 
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: October 29th 2013

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars