The Shadowhunter Chronicles

[Jetthebinturong]

Okay so, a while back I made a thread about the series The Mortal Instruments but I don't feel like reviving that topic, in fact I hope it never sees the light of day again.

The Shadowhunter Chronicles is a collection of several series of books written by the author Cassandra Clare. So far only two series have been released, with a collection of short stories but there are three more series and another short story collection before this epic tale is drawn to a conclusion.

The first series was The Mortal Instruments. Set in 2007-2008, TMI is a six-book series about the young girl Clary Fray who can see things no one else can, such as the three teenagers who the two other people in the room can't see. She meets the mysterious Jace Wayland and he quickly leads her into a world she didn't know existed. The books are called City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls and City of Heavenly Fire.

The second was The Infernal Devices which is my personal favourite out of the two series. Set in 1879, TID is a trilogy about Tessa Gray, a girl from New York who travels to meet her brother Nate who moved to England to work. When she arrives in England she is kidnapped by two old women who train her to unlock her strange abilities in preparation for her marriage to their employer, a sinister figure known only as the Magister. Of course Tessa isn't going to take this lying down. The books are called Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince and Clockwork Princess

The Bane Chronicles is a collection of short stories about the immortal warlock Magnus Bane who features in both series, there are ten of them. The Bane Chronicles can be hilarious and it can be heartbreaking and I gave The Fall of the New York Institute the literal title of "I CAME HERE TO BE AMUSED NOT EMOTIONALLY SCARRED!"

The next series is going to be called The Dark Artifices which is a trilogy set five years after TMI in 2013. TDA follows the Blackthorn children and Emma Carstairs (who were introduced in the last book of TMI, City of Heavenly Fire) as they work with the faeries to investigate a series of grisly murders which are identical to two murders in CoHF. The first book, Lady Midnight is set to release March 2016. The other two books are called The Prince of Shadows and The Queen of Air and Darkness.

Being released around this time will be the short story collection Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy but the premise of that is super spoilery for TMI so I won't mention it.

The series after that will be called The Last Hours. It will be set in 1903 and will follow the stories of the children of the TID characters and others their age. The books will be called Chain of Iron, Chain of Gold and Chain of Thorns.

The very last series will be called The Wicked Powers and that is all we know about it.

Each series can be read independently of the others but it certainly enriches the story if you read them all.

There is something big which is integral to the plot of City of Bones that may leave people wondering whether or not they want to read on, below is an answer for those unsure of whether they want to continue. If you want to continue the story regardless of the resolution to that, then go ahead but once you've read it, you'll know what I mean.

TMI

Seriously, it's really important

Last warning

Jace and Clary are not related so if the incest plotline prevents you from reading on, rest easy in the fact that it's a lie

[close]

[close]

[close]

Possible triggers for these books include: Demons, angels, blasphemy, murder, thievery, cross-species relationships (like vampires and werewolves with humans), racism (Shadowhunters are really racist to other denizens of the shadow world and the author herself condemns them and says their government needs to be remade)

Possible triggers exclusive to TMI: Homosexuality, its sinister opposite homophobia, fascism

Possible triggers exclusive to TID: Drug dependency

Possible triggers for TBC: Homosexuality, homophobia

Semi-official art below (the artist did all of the official art so I don't know whether everything she does is official or just some of it)

TMI characters

[close]

TID characters

[close]

TBC characters

[close]

TDA characters

[close]

TLH official character art

[close]

I left out everyone I considered to be spoilers

[Abbess Mhera]

BY THE ANGEL ANOTHER SHADOWHUNTER HERE RAZIEL'S NAME I CAN'T *squeals* ahem. Sorry for my mundie, she is so obsessed with this series lol. Seriously, we must talk about the series! I also roleplay as Clary on Twitter

[Jetthebinturong]

FINALLY! So have you read all of the books? If so, do you have any theories for TDA?

[Lady Ashenwyte]

I saw them in my local Popular. I'll be picking them up soon, if there is no horror.

[Jetthebinturong]

I recently found this description of TDA on Cassie's tumblr. I must say that it sounds awesome

"As for what it’s about specifically, well, you can expect magic, mayhem, love for requited and unrequited, a big cast of characters, sea-monsters, noir mystery, heartbreak, and the usual. If you want to know if any of the TMI characters show up in it, I can’t say who yet, because that would spoil who survives Heavenly Fire. But as for those who do survive, five years down the road they’ll be twenty, twenty-one — a good time to check in and see who’s still together and who’s doing what with their lives."

I'm really looking forward to it, I have a feeling it's going to be my favourite Shadowhunter series of all

[Jetthebinturong]

THE TV SERIES STARTS FILMING IN MAY!!!! It's going to be called Shadowhunters. Assuming it comes out before TDA, I'm pretty sure it can tide me over until TDA comes out. I don't think I've ever been this obsessed about something that isn't coming out for a year....

Also I found this excerpt that isn't on the site anymore that I like a lot better than the one that's currently there

Spoiler

[close]

[Jetthebinturong]

Why did I have to read the Lady Midnight chapter sampler? Now I'm even more excited for it and it doesn't come out until next year.

[Jetthebinturong]

Oh wow, the promo for Shadowhunters is really promising. I'm a little on the fence about Dom's Jace because his interaction with Clary was rubbish but his conversation with the demon was perfect. Matt's Alec and Emeraude's Izzy can't really be talked about since they haven't had any role that we've seen. The Circle members were just awful. So hammy and stereotypically villain-like. AND WHY THE HECK WEREN'T THEY WEARING GEAR? Kat's Clary seems okay so far, but nothing special. Harry and Alberto just command Magnus and Simon so well. Especially Harry, I loved his kind of sinuous movement. I can't wait to see this scene with the finished effects. Though I'm really PO'd that they still haven't addressed the naming of Seraph blades, which was one of the movie's key flaws. Like as soon as a Shadowhunter picks up a blade, it activates. NO THAT'S NOT HOW THEY WORK. How will they do the scene with Ithuriel if there's no blade naming? That just really bugs me. Also the way they did Izzy's rune? No, just no. Do you think that Clary and Simon's friend could be Maia? So it could be kind of a pretend introduction to her.

Anyway, here's the promo if you haven't seen it (it has a woman dancing in a slightly skimpy outfit on a stage, but it's not too bad):

[Cornflower MM]

Okay, this has to be the ONE time I wish I had access to a TV. Gotta go, but I do agree with your points. (My exact thoughts on Iz's rune and Jace/Clary interaction.)

[Jetthebinturong]

Having seen the ComicCon panel I've been set high hopes for the show. The cast are such great people.

[Cornflower MM]

After watching teh first few minutes of thaht, I agree.

Aaaand I'm crazily happy right now because I finally got City of Lost Souls! Yay!

[Jetthebinturong]

YES. Most people regard it as one of the best books. I agree, though not to the same degree. Fallen Angels is usually considered the worst, yet I prefer it to Lost Souls by a small margin.

[Cornflower MM]

Are you kidding? Fallen Angels is definitely awesome. (Not that my opinion would count for much) The last few chapters were great.

[Jetthebinturong]

GAH! Lady Midnight is out in two months. THE HYPE IS REAL! And you bet I pre-ordered the thing; I WANT THAT SHORT STORY DANGIT!

[Jetthebinturong]

Even though I vastly prefer Harry Shum Jr. to Godfrey Gao as Magnus, because he's an actual actor, they've made the same mistake with him again. Magnus is flamboyant yes, but when did eyeliner, glitter, hair dye and a black t-shirt covered in buckles turn into costumes like this??




The ONLY time I can think of when he wears anything formal is in Ashes and even then it's just a plain black suit with a scarf. Can we please have the Magnus that Cassie intented? The flamboyant, yet casual sassy warlock?

Allow me to copy the description of Magnus in his first appearance in City of Bones:

"Magnus? Magnus Bane?"
"That would be me." The man blocking the doorway was as tall and thin as a rail, his hair a crown of dense back spikes. Clary guessed from the curse of his sleepy eyes and the gold tone of his evenly tanned skin that he was part Asian. He wore jeans and a black shirt covered with dozens of metal buckles. His eyes were crusted with a raccoon mask of charcoal glitter, his lips painted a dark shade of blue. He raked a ring-laden hand through his spiked hair and regarded them thoughtfully. "Children of the Nephilim," he said. "Well, well. I don't recall inviting you. I must have been drunk."

HOW BRILLIANT WOULD HE BE VISUALISED? But no, we get formal Magnus. And formal Magnus is great, just not as great as normal Magnus.