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City of Bones - The Mortal Instruments
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When Clary Fray heads out into the Manhattan night with her friend Simon to Pandemonium a teen night club, little does she suspect her life is about to change…dramatically. The City of Bones is the first in The Mortal Instruments trilogy by author Cassandra Clare.
The Mortal Instruments refers to three divine objects given to the Shadowhunters. One is a sword, one a mirror, and the last a cup. The Mortal Cup has long been missing and a vicious Shadowhunter, long thought dead, spares no expense in his quest to find it.
The Big Apple, Gotham, the City That Never Sleeps whatever you call New York, it is also the city of the Shadowhunter sworn protectors of the human race against demon forces. They walk among us but there is a thin veiled curtain that prevents Mundies (us regular folk) from seeing the paranormal. Clary is an eye witness to a murder at a night club. The police are called but there is no body to be found. It’s as if everything had vanished into thin air; and yet Clary is sure of what she saw.
Jace, a Shadowhunter, knew something was different about Clary. She had actually seen him and his fellow Shadowhunters, Isabelle and Alec, quickly dispatch a demon at the nightclub. How is this possible he wonders. Jace makes contact with Clary the following evening and tries to convince her she may not be “just human.” As Jace tries to enlighten Clary, she receives a frantic message from her mother and they race home to Clary’s only to find her mother missing and a terrifying demon waiting to make quick work of anyone who interferes. Clary is attacked by the demon and Jace rushes her to the Institute. With demon blood now coursing through her veins, the Institute, a safe haven for Shadowhunters, is the only place that will be able to treat Clary.
Once recovered, Clary begins to learn a few fascinating facts about her real life, the life her mother kept hidden from her for all her 15 years. She needs the assistance of a few paranormal beings to help unlock her mind to long ago memories. When attending a party at Magnus Bane’s, the High Warlock of Brooklyn, Clary’s friend Simon is accidentally turned into a rat and ends up missing. To rescue Simon, Clary and Jace must enter a vampire’s lair and what happens when werewolves intervene is a bloody free-for-all with near deadly consequences for our young heroes.
As with most fantasy fiction, you need a paranormal dictionary to keep at hand for quick reference. I would have made good use of a reference section had there been one. Here are a few new terms to consider…
Demons: exactly what you think they are and not too bright either
Downworlders: half human/half demon, they are the Night Children also known as vampires, werewolves, warlocks and faeries
Idris: the Shadowhunter homeland
Mundie: a Mundane or human - not to be confused with Muggle, that’s another story!
Shadowhunter: Half human/half angel, they are humankind’s unseen but ever present protectors.
The Silent Brothers: they are the archivists of the Shadowhunter and rule over the City of Bones, the necropolis that holds the bodies of slain Shadowhunters. They can not only read minds but have the power to destroy them as well.
With the help of the Shadowhunters, Clary’s friend Simon, and Luke, a former Shadowhunter turned werewolf, Clary’s search for her missing mother and the Mortal Cup takes her to terrifying places, cruel and twisted beings, and certain truths that cannot be ignored.
City of Bones is the debut novel of Cassandra Clare and the first in the trilogy of The Mortal Instruments. This urban fantasy is followed by City of Ashes and City of Glass. Ms. Clare is touring the U.K. this summer publicizing the City of Glass and is working on a new Shadowhunter series set in London titled The Clockwork Angel to be released next year.
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