The Mortal Instruments

The Mortal Instruments

File:Miboxed set.jpg
City of Bones City of Ashes City of Glass City of Fallen Angels City of Lost Souls City of Heavenly Fire
Author	Cassandra Clare
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Fantasy, young-adult fiction, urban fantasy
Publisher	Margaret K. McElderry (US) Walker Books (UK, Australia, New Zealand) Arena Verlag (Germany) Univers Poche (France)
Published	March 27, 2007 – March 11, 2011
Media type	Print (hardcover and paperback) Audiobook
Followed by	The Infernal Devices

The Mortal Instruments is a series of six novels by author Cassandra Clare including City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, and the upcoming City of Fallen Angels.

Publication history

The books in the series so far are City of Bones (published March 27, 2007), City of Ashes (published March 25, 2008) and City of Glass (published March 24, 2009). They will be followed by City of Fallen Angels, which is planned to be published April 5, 2011, and will switch the series' focus from Clary Fray, Jace Wayland, and Simon Lewis evenly.

On August 4, 2010, Cassandra announced in a live webcast that there will be three further books in the series. City of Fallen Angels will be released on April 5, 2011, City of Lost Souls is set for publication in May 2012, and City of Heavenly Fire is scheduled for September 2013.

Plot

City of Bones

The main characters, Clary Fray and Simon Lewis, are at a club where Clary witnesses a murder by a group of teens, and is shocked that Simon and the club's security guard, cannot see the culprit— a boy called Jace, who claims that the boy he killed was a demon. The next day, Jace offers to take Clary to meet his tutor, but before she can do so, she receives a distressing phone call from her mother. She returns home to find her mother missing, the apartment trashed, and a monstrous creature, a Ravenor demon, lying in wait for her. She defeats the creature, but is injured in the process, and Jace takes her to his home. His home is called 'the Institute', an old gothic cathedral in New York that humans, or mundanes, can't see, because it is protected by a force called glamour. Here, she recuperates and meets Hodge Starkweather, Jace's tutor, as well as his adoptive siblings Isabelle and Alec Lightwood.

Returning to her apartment with Jace, Clary is attacked again, this time by a monster called a 'Forsaken', which Jace kills. They escape through a portal to Luke's, a family friend's, house, where they meet Simon and overhear a conversation between Luke and two men who Jace reveals to have killed his father. They return, with Simon, to the Institute and recount the conversation to Hodge, who in return tells them the tale of a group of 'Shadowhunters', or demon hunters who are invisible to humans, known as 'the Circle', who attempted to kill all 'Downworlders'. Although their leader, Valentine, was supposedly burned to death, Hodge feels that Valentine may have survived. Hodge also reveals that he, the Lightwoods, Luke, and Clary's mother Jocelyn were all members of the Circle.

Hodge then acquires the help of a monk with miraculous powers, called a 'Silent Brother', Jeremiah, to discover how Clary is able to see Shadowhunters and why she was attacked. Jeremiah discovers a block on Clary's mind, and takes her and Jace to the City of Bones, where the Silent Brothers attempt to break it. Although the attempt fails, Clary discovers flashes of information, particularly the name Magnus Bane, which, with Isabelle's help, Clary traces to a party, which she attends with Jace, Simon, Alec and Isabelle. There, they discover that Magnus is the High Warlock of Brooklyn, and he placed the block on Clary, due to her mother's wishes, although his attempts to help her remember are unhelpful. During the party, Simon is turned into a rat by a faerie drink, and Jace and Clary have to rescue him after he is taken home by a vampire.

After returning to the Institute, Jace and Clary talk and eventually kiss, but when Simon catches them and gets angry they argue with each other, with Simon revealing he was in love with her. Clary begins to draw, and draws a rune which allows her to make her drawing real, leading her to believe that this was how her mother hid the Mortal Cup, within a Tarot card. They return to Clary's apartment, and are attacked by a demon who is searching for the Mortal Cup. The battle leaves Alec badly injured and Simon saves their lives. They return to the Institute and give Hodge the Cup, but he betrays them and gives the Cup, and Jace, to Valentine. When he tries to escape, Hodge is attacked by Luke in werewolf form. Luke then tells Clary that Valentine was her father, before he and his pack attack Valentine's headquarters.

During the attack, Luke and Clary get inside, and while Luke is distracted, Clary finds Valentine and Jace. Valentine reveals that he is also Jace's father, making them siblings. Luke then returns to fight Valentine, with Jace's help, but Valentine escapes to Idris, where he has hidden the Cup. Clary retrieves her mother, who is in a coma, and takes her to a hospital. In the meantime, Alec has been healed by Magnus Bane. Clary and Jace meet at the Institute and express their frustration that they cannot be together.

City of Ashes

After Jace is sent away from his home by Alec's parents, he picks a fight with a werewolf pack. Luke rescues him and, together with Clary, they confront Alec's mother, Maryse, who says she sent Jace away to spare him from the approaching Inquisitor. When the Inquisitor arrives, she locks Jace in the City of Bones. However, that night Valentine kills the Silent Brothers to get to the Soul Sword. Clary, Isabelle and Alec save Jace, and the Inquisitor agrees to let Jace stay with Magnus while he recovers.

They go to the Seelie Court, where Clary is tricked into eating fairy food, and is not allowed to leave until she kisses the boy she most desires. Simon volunteers to kiss her, but is devastated when he realises that it is Jace who she most desires. Eventually Clary kisses Jace, and the group are allowed to leave. Simon stalks off, only to be brought back to the Institute by Raphael as he is dying, with no choice but to be turned into a vampire. Luke and Maia are attacked by demons, but are healed by Magnus Bane, while Jace leaves to visit Valentine on a boat in the river. This leads the Inquisitor to suspect Jace of working as a spy for Valentine, and she unjustly imprisons him, planning to use him as a bargaining chip until Valentine returns the Mortal Instruments. However, Jace escapes by leaping supernaturally high above his prison's walls, revealing that this is the ability Valentine's experiments gave him, while Clary's ability is to create new runes.

Clary draws the rune 'Fearless' on Jace, before being kidnapped by a demon and taken to Valentine's boat. The boat is stormed by Shadowhunters, and the Inquisitor realizes Jace's innocence before sacrificing herself to save him. Jace kills the Greater Demon of fear, Agramon on the boat, and gives Simon his blood to save Simon's life. Clary uses the 'Open' rune to destroy the boat, and they discover that Simon is now able to walk in the sunlight, unlike normal vampires, and is thus known as a 'Daylighter'. Jace is welcomed back by Maryse, and tells Clary that he will act as a brother towards her from now on, unaware that she returns his romantic feelings. Finally, Clary meets Madeline Bellafleur, who says that she knows how to wake Clary's mother.

City of Glass

As the Lightwoods, Jace and Clary prepare to leave for Alicante, the Institute is attacked by Forsaken, forcing the others to leave without Clary, and take Simon with them. While the others meet up with Aline and her cousin Sebastian, Clary, stranded in New York, creates her own Portal to the city and travels there with Luke. They arrive in Lake Lyn, where the cursed water makes Clary feverish, and Luke takes her to his sister Amatis to recover. Alec is ordered to bring Simon to the new Inquisitor, who wishes to know why a Downworlder is in Alicante. Under the ruse that Simon is being sent home, the Clave secretly interrogate and imprison him.

Clary sneaks out to visit the Lightwoods, but argues with Jace and storms out. After leaving, Clary meets Sebastian, and tells him about her mother's coma and her need to find the warlock Ragnor Fell. Sebastian takes her to Ragnor's house, but Ragnor is dead and Magnus is there in his place. Magnus temporarily freezes Sebastian so that he cannot hear and tells Clary to bring him a spell book from the Wayland country home, and she convinces Jace to take her there. Together, they find Valentine's underground lab, where a dying angel tells them that Jace was imbued with demon blood by Valentine while in the womb. The manor collapses, but Jace and Clary escapeby jumping out of the house therefore landing in the grass. They kiss each other but Clary gets frustrated because she feels Jace only want another reason to loath himself because he believes he has demon blood in him. They return to Alicante in silence only to find the city in flames: the demon wards are down.

Alec, Isabelle, Aline, Sebastian and Max are attacked by demons in Alicante. Luke's pack of werewolves also arrives to help. Alec leaves to fight them while Sebastian, Max and Isabelle hide; however, Max disappears, and Sebastian attacks Isabelle. Jace and Clary meet Alec at the Gard. Clary gives the spell book she recovered to Magnus, who promises to cure her mother, then leaves with the other two to break Simon out of jail. While there, they also release Hodge, who tells them that the final Mortal Instrument—the mirror—is in fact the waters of Lake Lyn. Sebastian arrives, kills Hodge, and admits he is a spy for Valentine. From there, he throws Jace into a tree, hits Clary in the face, breaks Alec's bow, is attacked by Simon, and then runs away. The others learn that he also killed Max.

Valentine gives the Clave until midnight the next day to surrender; if they do not, he will kill every Shadowhunter left. He kills the Inquisitor before leaving. Jace and Clary talk, and Jace tells Clary that he loves her, and they sleep together in bed (not sex, just normal sleeping). Jace leaves Clary in the morning, leaving Clary a note saying he has gone to find Sebastian. Clary's mother arrives, woken from her coma, and they argue. Clary storms out, and goes to a hill then Simon finds her there and talks to her then, they see the Clave preparing to surrender. Clary remembers a rune the dying angel showed her, which can be used to bind a Downworlder and a Shadowhunter so that they share each others' powers and she also knows a partner rune. She tells the Clave, and people begin bonding, including Alec and Magnus, who reveal that they have been having a relationship.

Jocelyn tells Clary that Clary was given angel's blood in the womb, hence her power to create new runes, and also that Sebastian, not Jace, is the brother who was given demon blood. Jace is not Clary's brother, but he was also given angel blood, explaining his supernatural jumping ability. Meanwhile, Raphael agrees with the Clave that the vampires will fight if the Clave give them Simon; Simon agrees, but first Clary marks him with the first Mark ever made: the Mark of Cain. Raphael cannot kill Simon as he plans to as it will rebound on him seven-fold, although this means Simon will have to fight. Jace overhears Valentine and Sebastian talking, and learns that Valentine plans to summon Raziel at Lake Lyn. After Valentine leaves, the two boys fight, and Sebastian tells Jace that he is Clary's brother, not Jace. Sebastian almost kills Jace, but Isabelle arrives to help Jace kill Sebastian. Also, Isabelle tells Jace he's not Clary's brother.

Clary travels by portal to Lake Lyn to stop Valentine from summoning Raziel but is knocked out on the way. Valentine binds and silences her with runes, then tries to kill her, but Jace arrives and saves her life. Valentine then proceeds to kill Jace and summon Raziel. Raziel, however, sees through Valentine's selfish plans, kills Valentine and instead offers Clary a wish. The runes now gone, she asks the angel for Jace to be alive again. He grants it and they are rescued by Shadowhunters going to the lake. Jace and Clary express their feelings to one another and make it publicly known by walking into a crowd holding hands. The book ends with all of the remaining main and recurring characters sitting in Alicante watching a fireworks show, which Clary thinks look like falling angels.

City of Fallen Angels

City of Fallen Angels takes place after the events of City of Glass. It shifts its focus between Jace and Clary and Clary's best friend, Simon, and how he adjusts to life as a vampire. From the August 2nd press release: "I initially envisioned City of Fallen Angels as an ending to the story begun in City of Bones, but I soon realized that in fact where my pen was taking me was into a new trilogy, one even more epic, dark and passionate than the first. In the first three Mortal Instruments books the fate of the Shadowhunters hung in the balance; now it's the fate of the world. I can't wait to share this journey with my readers as familiar characters are deepened, new faces introduced and relationships tested like never before."

While City of Fallen Angels was originally intended to focus more on Simon, Clare later changed her mind: "As I sat down to write CoFA, and realized it was a much bigger story than I had thought, the focus shifted off Simon and more onto the rest of the characters. Magnus and Alec, who originally were not going to be in the book at all, now have a major role to play. Clary and Jace have a central role to play. That stuff about Simon leaving town? Not happening; the major action takes place in NYC. While I did try to preserve a strong plotline for Simon, in which he is more than an adjunct to the larger drama surrounding Jace and Clary, it would now be very misleading to refer to it as 'Simon's book' or indicate that it is mainly about him. It is not."

In her own words, Clare summarizes City of Fallen Angels: "City of Fallen Angels takes place after the events of City of Glass. It splits its focus between Jace and Clary and Clary's best friend, Simon, and how he adjusts to life as a vampire, but it's still an ensemble-cast story, and all the characters from the Mortal Instruments series appear in it: Jace, Isabelle, Alec, Magnus, Luke, Jocelyn, Maia, and many more. (It even helps to have read The Clockwork Angel before you read [City of Fallen Angels], because some of the characters from the [Infernal Devices] series do show up in it. However, it isn’t required.) In City of Fallen Angels, someone's killing the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine's Circle and leaving their bodies around New York City in a manner designed to provoke hostility between Downworlders and Shadowhunters. Internecine warfare among vampires is ripping the Downworld community apart, and only Simon — the Daylighter who everyone wants on their side — can decide the outcome; too bad he wants nothing to do with Downworld politics. Meanwhile Jace and Clary investigate a mystery that has deeply personal consequences for them — consequences that may strengthen their relationship, or rip it apart forever. Love, blood, betrayal and revenge: the stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels."

Many readers, however, have complained about the focus switching to Simon, wrongly believing that the book will not include Jace or Clary, to which Clare replied: "What I want to know is, where did this rumor start that they aren’t? Every description I’ve ever given of City of Fallen Angels includes the information that Jace and Clary will be in it, and be in it plenty. And yet I get this question every day. I’d love to know why!"

City of Fallen Angels is set to be released on April 5, 2011. It is an embargoed book, meaning no review copies will be available before its release date. However, Clare has released some "teasers" on her website.

Characters

Main article: List of The Mortal Instruments characters

• Clary Fray, also called Clarissa, is the main protagonist of the series. A 16-year-old Shadowhunter who was brought up as human by her mother for protection. She is a little over 5 feet tall and has wavy red hair. She is an artist, and is in love with Jace Wayland, even though for much of the series they believe they are siblings. Much of the series is focused on Clary's quest to help her mother while adjusting to her new life as a Shadowhunter. She has the ability to create new runes after being experimented on by her father who put angel blood in her system.
• Jace Wayland, also called Jonathan Christopher, and in the end Jace Lightwood, is another major character in the series. An orphaned Shadowhunter who lives with the Lightwoods at the Institute in New York City. He is said to be the best Shadowhunter of his age, having been trained severely by his father prior to his death. He is described as having golden hair, eyes(which only look golden in the light), and skin, as well as having scars all over his body from countless fights. He has a peculiar star-shaped scar on his shoulder, which is revealed later in the series as a marker of having direct contact with an angel, and also as an indication that he was part of the Herondale bloodline. Clary describes him as having the face of an angel, or a painting of an angel, with a sharp profile and features. His good looks make him popular with girls, although he has never had a serious relationship. He is sometimes very arrogant and fractious, but is a very kind, passionate, and thoughtful person underneath, as well as having an unusual, very cynical sense of humor. He falls in love with Clary early on, but is tormented by the belief that Clary is his sister all throughout the series. Some chapters in the series follow Jace exclusively, revealing the frustrated, lonely personality that he compensates for by lashing out at others. It is later discovered that he is neither Valentine's or Michael Wayland's son, but he was the son of Stephen and Céline Herondale. When an eight-months-pregnant Céline committed suicide, Hodge cut the baby out of her and Valentine raised him separately, with the help of Hodge. Jace, like Clary, has as a result of Valentine's experiments more angel blood in him than the average Shadowhunter, which gives him the ability to jump supernaturally high. Jace is stabbed in the heart and killed by Valentine in City of Glass, but Clary, through the Angel Raziel, brings him back to life.
• Simon Lewis is Clary's formerly-human, vampire best friend, who has been in love with her for several years. In City of Ashes, he is stabbed in the throat by Valentine, which is very nearly the cause of his death; however, he is saved by Jace soon after, who allows Simon to drink his blood and heal. After that event, because of the components of Jace's blood, he is able to be in direct sunlight without any damage. Because of this, he is called a "Daylighter". Simon is described as having dark hair with a crude haircut, pretty brown eyes, and crooked glasses. His physical looks are improved when he becomes a vampire, and his skin becomes paler and his eyes blacker, as well as losing the necessity of glasses. He has a witty, sarcastic sense of humor, as well as being eclectic because of his obsession with video games and his ever-shifting band. Simon and Jace make fast enemies in the City of Bones; however, some time after Simon has Turned, he and Jace form a grudging, unusual friendship in the recognition that they both have a similar interest: protecting Clary.
• Luke Garroway (Lucian Graymark), Clary's mother's best friend, once a Shadowhunter, now a werewolf. He was once one of Valetine's best friends, but they became enemies when Valentine handed him a dagger and suggested it may be better if he killed himself. Luke proves to be the stern but loving father figure of Clary, and is fond of Simon and Jace as well. In the end of City of Glass, he and Clary's mother end up falling for each other after Luke confesses his love of many years for her.
• Valentine Morgenstern, the books' main antagonist. A powerful and evil Shadowhunter. He turns up after several years when he was supposedly dead and attempts to steal the Mortal Cup from Jocelyn. He is also the real father of both Sebastian and Clary, and experimented on both of them, as well as Jace. Consumed by the belief that he must purify the Shadowhunter race and convinced of the righteousness of his cause, there is nothing he will not do to eradicate the earth of Downworlders. Joining forces with the demons, he has his son Jonathan, who is half demon and half shadow-hunter, destroy the defenses surrounding Alicante, which then allows his demon army to attack Alicante. In the end, when he kills his "son", Jace, he is in turn killed by the angel Raziel in compensation for his selfish deeds.
• Alec Lightwood, the oldest of the Lightwood children, a Shadowhunter and Isabelle's brother. Alec believes he is in love with Jace, but can never reveal his true feelings. He also strikes up a secret relationship with Magnus Bane, which he makes public in City of Glass. He is described as having dark hair and blue eyes, and he is usually very quiet, but protective of his siblings. His preferred weapon is the bow, but he has been known to use a featherstaff.
• Isabelle Lightwood, Alec's sister, a beautiful and obnoxious Shadowhunter. She seems to have difficulty with romantic relationships, gravitating towards boys whom her parents disapprove of and quickly losing interest in them. Her favorite weapon is her whip which has caused the death of countless demons. Her attitude softens as the books continue, and it is revealed that she is very protective of both Alec and Jace, as well as being consumed with guilt when her little brother Max is killed. Isabelle is described as being stunningly beautiful, with long, charcoal-colored hair, shapely legs, and a slim waist. In the series, she has short flings with Simon and a fey knight called Meliorn.
• Max Lightwood, Max is the little brother in the Lightwood family. He is interested in reading [manga] and loves comics. He always felt left out of the group, because he was only nine years old and unable to fight like his Shadowhunter brothers and sister. He idolizes Jace, who in turn views him as a very close younger brother. Max is killed by Sebastian in City of Glass.
• Magnus Bane, The High Warlock of Brooklyn, bisexual and in love with Alec. He is described as looking around the age of nineteen, but is really eight hundred years old, as said in City of Glass, with flamboyant clothes and hair. He is described as "a sexy, sexy warlock." He becomes a friend to the protagonists as the books unfold. In City of Glass, he asks Clary to find The Book of White for him after impersonating Ragnor Fell, who is presumably dead. He is also the person responsible for erasing all of Clary's early memories of Shadowhunter and demon encounters.
• Maryse Lightwood, Alec, Isabelle, Max's (and Jace's figurative, adoptive, as of City of Ashes and City of Glass) protective mother, who was once a part of Valentine's Circle. She and Jace have a tense relationship in City of Ashes, but it softens when Maryse (MAY-ris) confesses that she loves him as her own. He is from then on considered a part of their family.
• Hodge Starkweather, Isabelle, Alec, and Jace's tutor, confined to the Institute after his role in the Uprising (a battle between Downworlders and the Circle). During his stay at the Institute, he spends most of his time in the library but proves to be a fatherly mentor to the kids there. Hodge, often accompanied by his raven Hugo, is an expert at herbal remedies and overall knowledge from spending so much time in the library. Jace and Clary are both stunned when they find he is actually working with Valentine, and Clary's horror is increased when Hodge knocks Jace unconscious and hands him over to Valentine. After this, his curse of the confinement in the Institute is raised, and he is released. After a short confrontation in an alleyway with Clary, Luke emerges as a wolf and attacks him; Hodge, however, quickly vanishes from the scene. He doesn't make another appearance until City of Glass, in which he is one of Simon's prison mates under the name of Sam. After he is freed by Jace, the Shadowhunters discover that Hodge has been tricking Simon into thinking he was someone else. Hodge, however, quickly relays that the Mirror Valentine has been searching for is in fact Lake Lyn. He begins to tell Jace something that is implied as urgent when he is murdered by Sebastian. After this, Sebastian [Jonathan] confesses shamelessly that he is a spy for Valentine and expresses his contempt for the now-deceased Hodge.
• Raphael, the Spanish-speaking temporary leader of the local vampire gang.
• Jocelyn Morgenstern, Clary's mother and a Shadowhunter in hiding who, although plays a big part in the story's plot, is unconscious for a large portion of the time. She fell in love with and married the then-charismatic Valentine. She bore both Jonathan [Sebastian] and Clary, and was promptly horrified to find that her husband had been tricking her into drinking demon and angel blood while she was pregnant with Johnathan, as well as Clary. This quickly made her realize the evil in him, and she fled. After coming to Brooklyn, she changed her surname to Fray. She is often described as beautiful, with a tall, slim figure and long dark-red hair. She is especially interested in art, and is described as being an amazing painter. Previous to the events in City of Bones, she takes hold of the Mortal Cup and draws it into a tarot card in a deck owned by a woman named Madame Dorothea. As revealed in City of Glass, Clary is the person that she loves most in the world, even though Clary is angry with her for a large portion of the time Jocelyn is conscious. Her best friend, Luke, has been loyal to her since their teenage years, and at the end of City of Glass, they admit their feelings for each other, which Clary eagerly approves of.
• Maia, a teen member of Luke's werewolf pack. She appears for the first time in City of Ashes. She is described as having a curvy figure and dark hair. She is haunted by her past, of her torturesome older brother, and it is revealed later on that the ghost of her brother and her slight feelings of guilt are her worst fear. After having a rocky and somewhat violent relationship with a boy named Jordan, she breaks up with him; in vengeance, he turns her into a werewolf. Maia is depicted as being intelligent, tough but temperamental, and quick on her feet, as well as having a sharp tongue and impulsive actions. It is also implied that she and Simon may have a romantic interest in one another.
• Sebastian Verlac is a Shadowhunter who appears in City of Glass staying with his cousin Aline. It is later learned that Sebastian is actually Clary's brother, Jonathan, and a spy for Valentine, posing as Sebastian Verlac. He is half-demon and half-Shadowhunter, making him the first of a race of hybrids Valentine was trying to create. He is extremely strong and can accomplish amazing feats, but is cold and heartless. He is supposedly killed by Jace, but the body was never found. He is described as being strikingly handsome, with sharp cheekbones and thick black hair, but it is later revealed that his hair was only dyed black [he is actually blond].
• Aline Penhallow, Sebastian's cousin. She is Isabelle's foil. She is conservative on the subject of Downworlders as well as being curious about many subjects, especially vampires. Aline has a short-lived crush on Jace, to which she "makes a move" and proves to be a source of aggravation for Clary when she walks in on them kissing. However, Aline soon explains to Clary and Isabelle that Jace is "not her type". In City of Glass, she is savagely attacked by a demon, but lives through it.
• Amatis Herondale, Luke's sister, once married to Stephan Herondale. She lives in Alicante and serves as Clary's guardian in City of Glass.
• Malachi, The Consul; he pretends he is on the Clave's side but turns out to be a spy for Valentine all along. He is killed when he tries to harm Valentine's raven Hugin [also known as Hugo].
• Madame Dorothea, a witch who is neighbors with Clary and her mother. Madame Dorothea initially seems unimportant, but soon has an encounter with Clary and Jace in which she prophesizes that Jace will fall in love with the wrong person and that Clary has a very confusing future. She also has a Portal in her home, which is Clary and Jace's convenient exit from their meeting. She flares in importance when the Shadowhunters discover that Clary's mother, Jocelyn, actually drew the Mortal Cup into a tarot card in a deck she gifted to Madame Dorothea many years ago. Madame Dorothea is astonished at this acclamation. Clary quickly draws a rune, helping her to withdraw the cup, at which point a Greater Demon arises from the Portal and possesses Madame Dorothea. Her form is quickly changed to meet the demon's wishes, and it is said by the demon that Madame Dorothea is no more.
• Imogen Herondale (the Inquisitor), one of the main antagonists of City of Ashes. Twice, she files Jace away in prison, as Jace is unable to curb his sarcasm or poisonous remarks, despite the fact that Jace has done no actual crime. She is described as being very gray, with silver eyes and gray hair. For the most part in the book, she is cruel, heartless, and biting in her power, proving to be a point of extreme frustration for the Shadowhunters, namely Jace. After taking Jace prisoner a second time, she informs him that she is going to strike a deal with Valentine—for Valentine to give her the Mortal Instruments, or his son Jace will die. Jace calmly and assuredly tells her that Valentine will in no way take this deal, to which the Inquisitor is disbelieving. The Inquisitor's one spot of vulnerability is revealed when she it is shown that she really only wants to hand Jace over to Valentine in revenge for him murdering her son, Stephen. However, Valentine quickly informs her that Jace is not his spy, as she had initially and whole-heartedly believed, and that he will not trade the Mortal Instruments. Imogen is stunned, and from there, she seems to crumble. While on the ship on their way to save Simon, Maia, and Clary from Valentine's clutches, Imogen spies the star-shaped scar on Jace's shoulder and realizes that he is Stephen's son, and evidently, her grandson. She then sacrifices herself to a demon to save Jace, and parts with the words to him, "Your father would be proud." Jace interprets this as mocking until he finally realizes that her son was, in fact, his father.

Critical reception

City of Bones was highly popular at the time of release, reaching #8 on the New York Times Best Seller list (Children's books) in April 2007. Publishers Weekly commented that it "is a sprawling urban fantasy packed with just about every type of creature known to the genre". Locus praised the book as "a highly readable first novel". A review in the School Library Journal noted that the book contained a variety of narrative flaws including characters that were "sporadically characterized" and whose behavior was predictable. In spite of this they noted that the book was entertaining and would leave readers anticipating the next installment. Holly Black, best-selling author of the books The Spiderwick Chronicles and Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, stated that City of Bones was, "Funny, dark, and sexy. One of my favorite books." Author Kelly Link said, "It's vampires versus werewolves in Harlem, while sexy demon hunters prowl through downtown clubs and Brooklyn coffeehouses—City of Bones is epic urban fantasy at its demented, delightful best. Cassandra Clare is a genius."

City of Ashes has been nominated for the 2009 ALA Teen's Top Ten, a vote for the best ten teen books of the year, an award in which City of Bones achieved 6th place in 2008.

City of Glass was also reviewed favourably, with Booklist saying that there was "plenty of romance, loss, honor, and betrayal to make the journey worthwhile. An experienced storyteller, Clare moves the plot quickly to a satisfying end." School Library Journal said "Though the story is hampered by predictability and overblown writing, Clare continues her talent for mixing hip, modern humor with traditional fantasy, and fans eagerly awaiting the series conclusion should come away more than satisfied."

Popular culture references

In City of Ashes, the Faerie Realm and its inhabitants are characters from Holly Black's faerie series, beginning with Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale. Also, the characters Val and Luis from Valiant : A Modern Tale of Faerie appear in another scene in that book. Within Holly Black's third book, Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale, there is a reference to the Mortal Cup mentioned in the Mortal Instruments series.

Prequels

Cassandra Clare has announced a new series of prequels called The Infernal Devices set in the same universe as The Mortal Instruments, but in the Victorian era. This series is planned to consist of three books: The Clockwork Angel, published on August 31, 2010, The Clockwork Prince, to be published August 30, 2011, and The Clockwork Princess, to be published September 2012.

Film Adaptation

On June 10, 2010, Screen Gems announced that they were going into production on a Mortal Instruments film, based on City of Bones, with a script written by Jessica Postigo. On December 10, 2010, it was officially announced that Lily Collins has been cast as Clary Fray and that Scott Stewart would be directing.