The Infernal Devices
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| Author | Cassandra Clare |
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| Country | United States,Canada |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy, young-adult fiction, urban fantasy |
| Publisher | Walker Books (UK, Australia, New Zealand) |
| Published | August 31, 2010 – Present |
| Media type | Print (paperback) Audiobook |
| Followed by | The Mortal Instruments |
The Infernal Devices is a series of novels by author Cassandra Clare, centering on a race called the Shadowhunters introduced in her The Mortal Instruments series. This series takes place in Victorian England, ten years after the peace treaties between the demon-fighting Shadowhunters and Downworlders (vampires, fairies, werewolves, and warlocks) was signed. As Shadowhunters consider themselves superior or purer than Downworlders and demons, they may have few qualms about killing either. The first book in The Infernal Devices is entitled Clockwork Angel and begins the story of Tessa, an orphaned teenage girl who is looking for her brother, who has disappeared, and seeks her true identity.
Her search plunges her into a world she never knew existed, and reveals talents she never knew she had. She will have to learn to master them if she wants to find her brother, and must forge an alliance with Shadowhunters if she wants to survive in this dangerous world. Many of the family names of the Shadowhunters used in The Mortal Instruments are first introduced in this series. Another character in The Infernal Devices, Magnus Bane, the High Warlock of Brooklyn, also plays a part in this series set in Victorian England.
The books also contain many quotes referring to famous pieces of Victorian Literature like Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, and the works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Alfred Tennyson.
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Releases [edit]
- Clockwork Angel (released August 31, 2010)
- Clockwork Prince (released December 6, 2011)
- Clockwork Princess (released March 19, 2013)[1]
Plot [edit]
Clockwork Angel [edit]
London, April 1878. Shadowhunter William Herondale kills a Shax demon and searches for Jem his "hunting friend" (parabatai). Jem is in an alley and has found the body of fourteen-year-old Emma Bayliss. They find a dagger imprinted with two snakes each biting the other's tail, an ouroboros.
Tessa Gray arrives in the port of Southampton from New York to live with her brother Nate after their Aunt Harriet died. However, she is approached by two strange women calling themselves the Dark Sisters that give her a letter apparently from her brother. In it, he tells Tessa that he can't meet her off the ship, but the Dark Sisters will take her to him, and warily, she enters the Dark Sister's carriage.
Six Weeks Later, Tessa is being held prisoner by the Dark Sisters. They have been training her to Change (a process by which she takes on the appearance of someone else, living or dead, by holding something which belongs to them). This time Tessa becomes Emma Bayliss and relives her last few moments alive. The sisters are impressed and tell Tessa that they have been preparing her for an arranged marriage to a mysterious individual known as "the Magister." They expect the marriage to take place that day or the next. The sisters leave and Tessa tries to run away but is caught by the Sister's coachman. Tessa is then tied to her bed, but she attempts to escape again by using the Change. Just as she escapes her bindings the door opens. It is Will, who followed the trail from Emma's body to an organization called the Pandemonium Club and the Sister's house. Will and his friends proceed to help Tessa escape and when the Dark Sisters catch up a battle begins in which Mrs. Black is killed, and Tessa is knocked unconscious.
Tessa awakens in the London Institute to find herself being examined by Brother Enoch, one of the Silent Brothers, who informs her that she is a shape-changer and a Downworlder. Tessa meets the inhabitants of the Institute. The next morning Jessamine takes Tessa shopping; Charlotte and Henry look for Tessa's brother; and Will and Jem inspect the Sister's house. Will and Jem find a clockwork automaton wrapped in human flesh, who identifies the vampire named de Quincey as the Magister and says that he has Tessa's brother. Tessa and Will infiltrate one of de Quincey's parties. At his parties de Quincey slowly drains a human victim; this is against the Accord, which allows the Shadowhunters to attack de Quincey. Things go terribly wrong at the party when de Quincey's victim is revealed to be Tessa's brother Nate.
Tessa and the Shadowhunters kill the vampires at the party, save Nate and bring him to the institute, but de Quincy escapes. Will bites a vampire, while fighting, and accidentally swallows some of the vampires blood. To get the blood out of his system, so he won't turn into a vampire, he has to drink holy water. When Tessa brings him a bucket of holy water, they engage in a passionate kiss. But Will stopped the kiss because his darkest secret is keeping them apart. Tessa later ponders how she never expected her first kiss to taste of blood and holy water. Tessa was left heartbroken and confused. Tessa and Jem go for a walk and are attacked by the Magister's clockwork army. They make it to the institute where the Shadowhunters fight the army off. Jem loses consciousness and reveals that he is addicted to demon blood and is slowly dying from it. Most of the Shadowhunters leave to kill de Quincy who is hiding out. Mortmain, the mundane who informed the Shadowhunters of de Quincey, comes back to the institute and tells Will and Jem the location of the Dark sister who is trying to help the Magister with his army. They rush off to kill her, leaving Nate, Jessamine and Tessa alone. Mortmain comes back with the clockwork army and reveals himself as the real Magister, while Nate reveals himself as Mortmain's accomplice. The girls lock themselves in a room, but Mortmain tricks them to open the door. Tessa agrees to marry Mortmain if he will leave everyone alone and he agrees. Once the army has left the room Tessa "stabs" herself in the heart. But instead of dying, she changes into a woman who died from gunshot wounds that resemble being stabbed in the heart. This makes Tessa appear dead, temporarily making her safe.
Will rushes back when he realizes his mistake. At the Institute he runs into the army and Nate. Nate orders the army to kill Will. Jem makes it back and helps Will, and then the rest of the Shadowhunters arrive. The army leaves. Will discovers Tessa and, under the impression that she is dead, he clutches her to him, but when she reveals herself as alive, he once again withdraws. Tessa is later asked to stay at the Institute and she happily accepts. Tessa wants to have a serious relationship with Will, but he suggests a strictly sexual one and tells Tessa that she cannot have children, her warlock status makes it impossible. He also tells her that there is no future for a Shadowhunter who intimately involves himself with warlocks, which crushes Tessa. Jem comforts her, though she doesn't tell him what Will did to upset her. Will seeks the help of Magnus Bane, but it is not revealed for what reason. Will does, however, seem quite distraught.[2]
Clockwork Prince [edit]
Tessa begins to grow fond of Jem as her relationship with Will has become sour after he made cruel comments about Tessa at the end of Clockwork Angel. Tessa and the Shadowhunters attend a Council meeting where Charlotte and Tessa are questioned about the events that took place surrounding the murder de Quincy and the disappearance of Nate and the Magister, Axel Mortmain. Benedict Lightwood challenges Charlotte’s position as head of the London Institute. The Consul gives Henry and Charlotte two weeks to find Mortmain or else the challenge will go forward. Benedict offers his sons, Gabriel and Gideon, to train Tessa, Sophie, and Jessamine, who refuses to train.
Will meets with Magnus, who has been summoning demons that match the description Will gave him of a demon who put a curse on Will five years ago. The type of curse is unknown, but Magnus believes that it has to do with Tessa. In their search for Mortmain, they discover that in 1825 he had filled a complaint for the wrongful death of the Shade’s, the warlocks who adopted him. Will, Jem, and Tessa head to the York Institute to get a full record of the event. Aloysius Starkweather, the head of the York Institute, allows the three of them to stay at the Institute once he sees Tessa. Starkweather informs them that John Shade was using the Book of White to animate corpses that he had stolen and gave mechanical parts. Necromancy is against the Law, and because they were warlocks and there were no Accords at the time, the Shade’s were slaughtered. That night, Tessa screams from nightmares and Will comforts her. His kindness confuses Tessa who still has feelings for him, but Will says he doesn't regret the cruel things he had said to her on the roof of the institute. The three of them head to Ravenscar Manor, a property of Mortmain’s, and find the home to be occupied by Will’s family. An automaton that was following them attacks Tess and before it is destroyed by Will, it delivers them a warning to stop their investigation or Will’s family will be killed.
When they arrive back in London, Will goes to see Magnus and tells him the story behind his curse. He unknowingly stumbled upon some of his father’s Shadowhunter artifacts and opened a Pyxis that released a demon. The demon cursed Will, making it so that anyone who loves him dies. His sister Ella saved him and the demon fled, but she died the next day. Will took this as a sign that the curse was real and fled his family in order to protect them, seeking refuge at the London Institute. He mentions that Jem is the only one he lets in because he is already dying.
When Will is missing for a few days, Tessa and Jem become worried. Jem tracks Will and finds him at an ifrit den where he is under the influence of yin fen, the drug that Jem uses to survive. That night, Jem confesses his admiration of Tessa and they end up having a passionate moment together, only hindered when Tessa accidentally knocks over Jem’s supply of Yin Fen. The next day, Will tells them how werewolves have been using large doses of the drug because it keeps them up all night working for Mortmain. The next night, Sophie finds an invitation to Benedict Lightwood’s ball in Jessie’s room. On the back there is a love note Nate wrote to Jessie. Sophie knocks Jessie out and ties her to the bed. Tessa changes into Jessamine and Will accompanies her to the ball in order to find out more about Nate and the Magister. The ball is filled with demons and Downworlders, and benedict is seen lying with a demon. Tessa learns that Jessie has been acting as a spy for Nate and Mortmain. This is how he knew they were at Ravensclaw Manor. Tessa begins to change back into herself and flees the ball. Her and Will share an intimate moment on the balcony before Magnus interrupts, informing them that their lewd actions are the result of drinking lemonade that had warlock powder in it. Will chases after a blue demon that he recognizes from his childhood while Magnus takes Tessa back to the Institute. Jessie is questioned with the Mortal Sword but Mortmain put a block on her mind so she is taken to the Silent City.
Tessa changes into Jessie again and arranges to meet Nate at the place him and Jessie usually meet, an old tea factory that Mortmain was using to create his automaton army.
Clockwork Princess [edit]
Tessa Grey should be happy -- aren't all brides happy? Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begin to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa.
Charlotte Branwell, head of the Institute, is desperate to find Mortmain before he strikes. And Jem and Will , the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her. For though Tessa and Jem are engaged, Will is still in love with her.
The last words of a dying Shadowhunter provide the clue that might lead Tessa and her friends to Mortmain. But their small group cannot stand alone, and the powerful Consul doubts that Mortmain is coming. Deserted by allies, the Shadowhunters find themselves trapped when Mortmain seizes the medicine that keeps Jem alive. With his best friend at death's door, Will must risk everything to save the girl they both love.
To buy Will time, the warlock Magnus Bane joins with Henry Branwell to create a device that could help defeat Mortmain. As they all work to save Tessa and the future of the Shadowhunters that resides with her, Tessa realizes that the only person who can save her is herself -- for in the discovery of her own nature, Tessa could become more powerful than she ever dreamed possible. But can a lone girl, even one who can command the power of angels, face down an entire army?
Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment, and the tangled thread of love and loss intertwine as the Shadowhunters are pushed to the very brink of destruction in the breathtaking conclusion of The Infernal Devices trilogy.
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