36.12: City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments Book 5), by Cassandra Clare (2012 hardcover)

The latest in the series starring Shadowhunter Clary, her Shadowhunter society, nemesis (brother), and love interest (who she once thought was her brother), and her vampire (former love interest) and werewolf friends. Okay, so it sounds a bit cliche, but this is a decent teen series with just enough interesting non-romantic developments to keep me reading. Click on "Clare" in my word cloud to the right to get reviews of the Mortal Instruments books--and the prequel Infernal Devices books that start 100 years before Clary shows up.

7.12: Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, Book Two), but Cassandra Clare (2012 hardcover)

Cassandra Clare has a skill for creating a rich fantasy world, replete with angel protectors, vampires, werewolves, demons, warlocks, and just about any supernatural being you can imagine. It's interesting packaging for her novels, which essentially boil down to teen romances. In theory, the supernatural/combat layer may be of interest to male teens, but I suspect that her readership is predominantly teen girls--with middle aged women like myself thrown in for good measure--all the better to brood over the stunningly handsome teen boys involved. 

Clockwork Prince is the second in a prequel series published after Clare's City of Bones books (The fourth of which I reviewed in Entry 35) were under way. Set in Victorian England, Infernal Devices  series readers are introduced to the fact that the battle between good and evil has been waged for a long time (as measured in teen years, at least), and provided the opportunity to explore the mores and clothing of the Victorian era along the way. I reviewed the first in the prequel series in Entry 7, so you can check out the premise there. In this second volume, Tessa's search for who she is--and who she loves--continues. Is she a warlock or something closer to her angelic friends? Will she end up with the angry, brooding, gorgeous angel or the kind, ill, gorgeous angel? Decisions, decisions...

35: City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments, Book Four), by Cassandra Clare

The Mortal Instruments series is a strong teen fantasy offering. It follows the story of Clary Fray, a seemingly average teen girl who is suddenly drawn into a parallel world of demons, vampires, werewolves, and the Shadowhunter race that protects humans from these menaces.  Ultimately, Clary learns that this world is her legacy, and she becomes embroiled in the battle that rages outside human sight.  There is, of course, a need to save the world.  And a very cute boy.

Unfortunately, this fourth book in the series (There's also a 5th related book kicking off a prequel series called The Infernal Devices, which was book 7 in my posts.) doesn't quite live up the the preceding ones, in my estimation.  It still offers the same struggle between good and evil, a cast of interesting supernatural characters, and plenty of action.  Indeed, the battle against Lilith, the biblical Adam's first wife, who would not be subservient and was therefore banished (making her the oldest demon in this version of the myth), is complex and interesting.  However, Clary's immersion in the Shadow World lends itself to fewer overlaps with our "real" world in this volume, which is one of the more compelling aspects of the series.  The religious aspect of the Shadowhunters, who are essentially the children of angels, becomes more heavy handed in this book as well, making it a bit missionary in parts. (Assuming, of course, your brand of religion would allow for vampires, hydra demons, etc.).  Finally, there is a bit too much focus on the romance aspect.  Sure, we know Clary and Jace are connected by a bond beyond measure, but enough already. Get a room.

I'd recommend The Mortal Instruments overall, but I warn you it gets teen angsty in City of Fallen Angels.  Clare's a great storyteller, though, so I look forward to the next book in the series (which this one so clearly sets up), as well as the continuation of the prequel Infernal Devices series, in hopes it will return to the more interesting aspects of the previous books.

7: Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices Book One), by Cassandra Clare (2010 hardcover)

The first of Cassandra Clare's books I read were those in The Mortal Instruments series: City of Bones (2007), City of Ashes (2008), and City of Glass (2009). In this trilogy, Clare explores the world of Downlanders and Shadowhunters--the creatures of the dark world (vampires, faeries, werewolves, demons, etc.) and the warrior force that enforces a treaty protecting humans from these supernatural beings. In the Instruments series, the protagonist and heroine is a teenage girl who suddenly develops the ability to see these beings in the other realm, usually invisible to humans. Her quest to understand why she has this ability and how to find her mother--apparently kidnapped from someone within the shadow world--takes her from the streets of New York, to London, and eventually the Shadowhunter city of Idris. 

Clockwork Angel is a Prequel to the Instruments books, the first of The Infernal Devices series.  Like the Instruments series, the protagonist is an American teenager.  Tessa's entry to the hidden world of Downlanders is less accidental, however.  She is kidnapped upon disembarking the ship bringing her to England to see her brother and is held by warlocks in hope of developing her here-to-unknown powers of shapeshifting. Rescued from her captor, Tessa is taken in by Shadowhunters and is swept up in the battle of good versus evil raging outside the view of most humans.

Set in Victorian London, this book further develops the history hinted at in the earlier trilogy, while continuing similar themes of the supernatural, the use and abuse of power, and what it means to be human--all with the requisite teen love interest (the cute-boy rescuer, of course).  It's a bit Twilight meets Harry Potter, without Meyer's bad writing and hapless heroine and more violence than Rowland allows.  For folks enjoying fantasy writing that integrates the supernatural with the known world, it's a good read; both series have a strong female lead and enough fight scenes (including swords, knives, and magic) that it should appeal to teens of both genders as well.  I'd recommend starting with The Mortal Instruments series before picking this thread up.  However, Clockwork Angel stands on its own should you choose this as your entry to Clare's world.