Reading · Holly’s Literary Magic

This is The Hero’s Journey—a reading project where we’re tackling the biggest fantasy books on our to-read lists, nerding out about intricate world-building, compelling characters, and exciting adventures. For the next six months we’re reading the Crescent City books by Sarah J. Maas.

Welcome to Book Two, Week Two of our read-along of Sarah J. Maas’s Crescent City trilogy! I’m thrilled that you’re here as we prepare for the newest ACOTAR books publishing this fall (since these series connect!). I’ve included an audio voiceover for this entire piece, which may play best within your Substack app.

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Graphic by HollysLitMagic

This section of Book Two ended with an AMAZING series of reveals! Note that this newsletter will include spoilers for House of Sky and Breath pages 91 through 179, through the end of Chapter 15.

Some big revelations and introductions this section. We meet the new Archangel of Valbara, Celestina, who so far seems too good to be true. With her come two of what had been Sandriel’s triarii—the Hammer and the Helhound. Meanwhile, mer male Tharion continues his investigation into Sofie and Emile’s whereabouts and discovers that Sofie had been in touch with none other than…Danika. They had exchanged emails during the six months prior to Danika’s death about a few secret projects; and they had discussed a safe location somewhere in Lunathion “where the weary souls find relief from their suffering,” which is where Tharion thinks they may be hiding out now. We also learn that Danika was a “bloodhound,” aka she could literally sniff out bloodlines—a dangerous skill that made her a target for any powers wanting to use her talent for evil. According to wolf shifter Ithan—who is still couch surfing at Bryce’s apartment after being kicked out of the wolf pack—Danika also had been researching some arcane history that would “land her in a heap of trouble.”

Let’s recap the group that had previously been Sandriel’s triarii since they’re becoming more and more relevant, and since they all begin with the letter “H” which I’m sure can be confusing:

The Hind, aka Lidia Cervos: we saw her at the start of the novel and now know she’s also the half-sister of Queen Hypaxia of the witches.
The Hammer, aka Pollux Antonius: he seems to genuinely suck but we shall see.
The Helhound, aka Baxian Argos: “an angel with the rare ability to shift” into a Helhound, had been Sandriel’s chief spy-master and tracker. Extremely cool, I’m very into this character.
The Harpy: I don’t recall meeting this character yet.
The Hawk: Haven’t heard much about this character yet but described here as “Pollux’s main rival for power.”

I LOVED getting a look at where Tharion works in the Blue Court and understanding more about how his mer magic works. The juxtaposition of underwater world and modern technology is extremely fun to envision:

His office was in one of the glass-domed bubbles that made up the Blue Court Investigative Unit’s headquarters—the River Queen had only allowed their construction because computers had to stay dry.

Tharion is in a bit of a bind, tied to this world under the water and serving his queen when he clearly would rather spend more time up in Crescent City proper. This passage really stuck out to me—I viscerally felt Tharion’s desire for this other life, as he dug his toes into the carpet of his office:

Tharion swallowed, looking toward the wall of glass that opened into clear cobalt waters…Tharion couldn’t ever move Above, he reminded himself. His duties required him here, at the River Queen’s beck and call. Tharion peered at his bare feet, digging them into the cream shag carpet beneath his desk. He’d been in human form for nearly a day now. He’d have to enter the water soon or risk losing his fins. His parents found it odd that he’d chosen to live in one of the dry glass-and-metal buildings anchored into a sprawling platform at the bottom of the river, and not near them in the network of underwater caves that doubled as apartments for the mer. But Tharion liked TV. Liked eating food that wasn’t soggy at best, cold and wet at worst. He liked sleeping in a warm bed, sprawled over the covers and pillows, and not tucked into a seaweed hammock swinging in the currents.

I’m curious—which life would you choose if you were a mer? Let me know in the comments!

Graphic by HollysLitMagic, Artwork by Sncinderart

Finally, my favorite character Aidas, prince of the Chasm, returns in his cat form. The reveal here was *chef’s kiss* perfection, I was screaming reading at how brilliantly SJM has us on high alert that something is wrong, and how subtly she reveals what it is as Ithan says, “Your cat’s a sweetheart, by the way,” stroking the white cat curled on his lap. That is NOT Syrinx! I loved this tension between a beautiful, seemingly harmless cat that is not at all what it seems.

A few things we learn from Aidas:

He knew Theia, the last Starborn Queen, whose powers Bryce now holds.
Bryce’s starlight powers are different than Ruhn’s—his descend from Prince Pelias.
Pelias wasn’t a great guy after all, apparently having murdered Queen Theia, appointed himself as prince, and forcing himself onto Theia’s daughter, Helena.
Theia had an older daughter who vanished into the night—Aidas says “I never learned of her fate.” I’m SO CURIOUS about this.
Supposedly, Aidas and the armies of Hel are not the enemy the Asteri have painted them out to be; Aidas claims they want to aid the rebel cause today: “Hel’s armies shall strike at your command, Bryce Quinlan.” !

Finally, Aidas emphasizes that Bryce does not know how to wield her power but that someone can teach her—someone named Cormac Donnall, who has been jaw-dropingly revealed to be…Agent Silverbow. OBSESSED. This entire Chapter 15 was everything I want in a book.

Here are a few other things I’m taking note of and watching as we continue reading:

Reapers: I loved getting a closer look at one of these creatures from the House of Flame and Shadow. They dwell in the various “zones of the dead” in this world, which include the Bone Quarter in Crescent City; the Catacombs in the Eternal City, and the Summerlands in Avallen (the “Summerland” is the concept of the afterlife in Wiccan belief systems). I so hope we get to explore more of these realms of the dead as we keep reading.
Cormac’s prophecy: The Oracle told Cormac that he was “destined to unite with a princess who possessed a star in her heart. That our mingling would bring great prosperity to our people.”
Thunderbird and pegasus: We know that Sofie and Emile are both thunderbirds, which were thought to be extinct; in this section Bryce recalls that one of her Starlight Fancy horses was named Thunderbird and it was a blue-and-white unicorn-pegasus. This jumped out at me given the pegasus statue from the ballet in the previous section, which I still haven’t forgotten about.
12 Sphinxes: I just enjoyed learning this world-building detail: there are twelve sphinxes around the world, “the meanest of them, apparently, dwelled in the Ocean Queen’s court Beneath.”
Thurr: At the start of this section, Bryce calls Jesiba to ask about a “nine-thousand-year-old Rhodinian bust of Thurr” that she’s handling at the Fae Archives. It’s a minor interaction but my brain alarm went off when later in the chapter, we learn that Danika and Sofie had been in contact about something called Project Thurr (and something else called Dusk’s Truth). The bust in question is described as “a broody male who was supposed to pass for the nearly forgotten minor storm deity. All that remained of him in their culture was the behemoth of a planet named after him. And Thursdays, apparently.”

Artwork left “Thor’s Fight with the Giants” by Mårten Eskil Winge, center “Zeus (Jupiter),” right Sailor Jupiter by Guh Walker

Under the influence: “Thursday” is linked to a few different gods and cultures, most of which are a version of the god of the sky, storms, and thunder. It came from “Thunor’s day,” for the Old English god Thunor and Germanic god of thunder Thunraz; this is the equivalent of the Roman god of sky and thunder, Jupiter—who is the equivalent of the Greek god Zeus. It can also reference the Norse god of thunder, Thor—also known for wielding a hammer. The word for “Thursday” in Japanese characters also incorporates the character for Jupiter, and in most Indian languages the day’s name also references the regent of the planet Jupiter. Last but not least, we already know how much SJM loves Sailor Moon—in the manga and tv series, Sailor Jupiter also has the power of thunder, lightning, and storms.

I’m continuing to keep an eye out for possible connections, or even just similarities, to the worlds of ACOTAR and TOG.

The Hawk: a hawk shifter in what had been Sandriel’s triarii—anyone else immediately think of Rowan in TOG?
Fury’s powers: we still don’t know what exactly Fury is, but apparently Danika knew because of her bloodhound abilities. The way Fury’s powers are spoken about reminds me of Amren in ACOTAR.
Aidas’s questions: As always, Aidas asks lots of critical questions that feel extremely relevant to how SJM’s series may connect: “What was this world before the Asteri?…Where did the Asteri come from? Where did the Fae, or the shifters, or the angels come from?”

I’d love to hear if there’s anything you feel I’ve missed! Let me know in the comments.

Next week we’ll read pages 180-273, through the end of Part 1.

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Crescent City Read-Along

Jul 18

Announcing: Crescent City Read-Along

Apr 25

This is The Hero’s Journey—a reading project where we’re tackling the biggest fantasy books on our to-read lists, with structure, context, and community. Follow along if you love to nerd out about intricate world-building, compelling characters, and magical adventures.

Crescent City Read-Along: Book 2, Week 2