What Really Happen In Peru, by Cassandra Clare & Sarah Rees Brennan

This is the first book of the Mangus Bane Chronicles.  I started reading this after finishing City of Lost Souls, the fifth book from The Immortal Instruments Series.  Cassandra Clare keeps dropping hints in the TIIS that Mangus can never return to Peru due to being banned.  I have to say after several hints I had to know why.

First off I'm thinking that Sarah Rees Brennan must be the person that actually wrote this book, because the writing style is completely different than in TIIS.  The book starts off in the year 1791 and feels almost like you're reading the excerpts of a diary about him.  There are four very short stories where he travels through Peru with his two warlock friends Ragnor Fell and Caterina Loss at different periods in time getting into or escaping all kinds of trouble.  I personally found the book a little too disjointed because of the leaps through time, having the second visit be in 1885, the third in 1890 and the fourth in 1969.  In the end we never really find out why he is banned in Peru only that it probably had something to do with his sudden turn to a life of crime.

Am I venomously upset, like some of the readers of this book about not finding out the exact reason for his banning?  No.  I'm disappointed, but I learned some quirky funny things about Mangus.  Actually enjoyed how light and upbeat this book is compared to TIIS.

Blessed is he that expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.

-- Alexander Pope