The Ninja Reader

WARNING: I get personal in this post. Read on at your own risk. So, after reading Brandon Sanderson's essay on Dumbledore's Homosexuality yesterday, I was... well, confused, to say the least. I am well aware that you can't judge a writer's morals by the books they write, but I knew, nevertheless, that they affect the world they create. I found myself going through the following existential crisis: Is Brandon Sanderson a homophobe? Yes or no? I guess he is. Shit, does that make me a homophobe? After that particular episode, I reminded myself that I managed to judge Halo without focusing on the author's personal views, which, by the way, she expresses very vehemently. However, I didn't particularly like Halo, personal values or not, so I wasn't sure if that was viable. So, in this state of mind, I finished reading Cassandra Clare's "City of Bones". The freaky coincidence does not escape me.I actually found this to be quite a good read. The writing's nice, if a little on the fanfiction side, and whatever you say, she sure can write sexual tension. The kissing scenes were great and made me squeal and dance around like an undignified fangirl. This could be attributed to the fact that I haven't read a Harry Potter book in nearly ten years, but I found the story to be engaging and interesting. Jace is hot and snarky, in the way Max from The Angel Experiment wishes she was. He somehow manages to be smarmy without crossing the line (much). He's also strong, but vulnerable, and even a little emo from time to time. Clary is cute, although she sometimes struck me as a little unsensible.That said, I think Clare should borrow a page from Sarah Rees Brennan (not literally, of course), when it comes to characterization. Jace and Clary look like they wish they were like Nick and Mae, but just can't bring themselves to. I guess that's not really their fault - Nick and Mae are two very strong-willed characters, who put their love for their brothers before everything else - even their own self-gratification. Jace and Clary, on the other hand, look like they want to fall in love. Or snog at least.Something I'd like to applaud Clare for doing, though, is Luke. Now, as most heroines nowadays, Clary's mother was faced with choosing between the nice guy and the bad boy. However, Clare shows just what happens if the bad boy is really bad - Jocelyn realizes a little too late what kind of a psychopath her husband is, but has to face the consequences. You could tell Luke really loves her, and you could tell that maybe, just maybe, nice guys would win this round.The same can't be said about Simon, who seems to exist to glower and provide useless romantic tension. Also, I find the abundance of gay jokes in this book to get a little distasteful after a while. Especially since Alec's nearly dying and miraculous recovery didn't merit any limelight. Seriously, they got Magnus Bane to heal him. How? How?All in all, not a bad read, but it could have been so much better.