While at a club with her best friend Simon, 15-year-old Clary Fray witnesses what at first looks like a murder -- until the body disappears. Not 'disappears' as in is 'hidden', 'moved' or 'stolen'. 'Disappears' as in 'vanishes'. Right in front of her. And when the bouncer shows up to deal with the disturbance, Clary realizes that she's the only one who can see the three perpetrators.
She later learns that what she witnessed wasn't a murder -- it was a demon slaying:
"There hasn't been a mundane who knew about us for at least a hundred years."
"About us?" she echoed. "You mean people like you. People who believe in demons."
"People who kill them," said Jace. "We're called Shadowhunters. At least, that's what we call ourselves. The Downworlders have less complimentary names for us."
"Downworlders?"
"The Night Children. Warlocks. The fey. The magical folk of this dimension."
Clary shook her head. "Don't stop there. I suppose there are also, what, vampires and werewolves and zombies?"
"Of course there are," Jace informed her. "Although you mostly find zombies farther south, where the voudan priests are."
"What about mummies? Do they only hang around Egypt?"
"Don't be ridiculous. No one believes in mummies."
Loads of fun, wholeheartedly recommended to fans of urban fantasy. It's funny and smart, faast-paced with loads of action, romance -- some steamy moments and a love triangle, Three Powerful Magical Items, a magic carriage ride through the city*, a very cool system of non-magic, a mysterious villain named Valentine and yes, vampires AND werewolves. Your understanding of their world will expand as the characters learn -- the politics and history of the Shadowhunters are much more complicated than our young heroes and heroines realize.
My only complaint is that Clary can be somewhat dim -- there's a rather large, somewhat obvious plot point that she doesn't figure out (actually, NOBODY figures it out) for a zillion years (well, a few hundred pages) and she's also one of those My Best Friend Is In Love With Me But I Have No Idea girls (though, when it came down to it, she did redeem herself somewhat in my mind).
Then again, there was a different twist I didn't see coming AT ALL. I actually have some questions about that one, but I'll need to re-read the relevant passages first.
So there you have it. Regardless of my minor issues, I'm still depressed that I'll have to wait until March for the next book!
*Fans of Holly Black should pay special attention to this scene.
Urgh. Do they REALLY use the word "mundane" as a noun? Isn't that nearing critical mass as a sci-fi/fantasy cliche?
Maybe it's just me. I think I'm reaching my saturation point for all sci-fi/fantasy. After a while, they blur together and I have to ask, "Wait, is that the one where they called non-magical people 'mundanes' or 'normals?'"
That issue aside, this sounds fun.
Posted by: Brian F. | 09 January 2008 at 12:57 PM
They say it A LOT. AND shorten it to 'mundie'.
It is a super lot of fun, but I wouldn't run out and buy the hardback, if you know what I'm sayin'. The paperback is due out pretty soon, I think.
Posted by: Leila | 09 January 2008 at 01:17 PM
These are the kind of books i LOVE. I'm probably going to go nuts untill I read it. I get really excited, then really dissapointed.
Posted by: grace | 09 January 2008 at 01:36 PM
***spoilers****
The plot twist would have been so much easier to take if i had been born an only child. As it is, ew. Also, I'm getting sort of sick of the I-am-you-father twists.
And i agree about her being super dumb about her best friend. She could be so dense about things that I'm suprised she figured it out about Alec being gay.
Posted by: Suraya | 09 January 2008 at 05:30 PM
Okay the major plot point really ticked me off but I was annoyed already from the beginning where it took way too long to figure out what her mother's involvement was. (I mean where her mom's boyfriend is talking to the scary guys and Clary still isn't sure if her mom is the one they're talking about???)
If Buffy had been this dim she would have been dead in 15 minutes. I hope the sequel is better but I'm still taking a wait and see approach on this series.
Posted by: Colleen | 09 January 2008 at 06:31 PM
*SERIOUS SPOILER BELOW*
Here's what I didn't understand (and I didn't go back to double-check anything, so maybe I missed an important line): Didn't any of the characters think it was odd that Jace (AKA John Christopher) had the SAME NAME as the supposedly dead son of Valentine? Didn't anyone know what the other kid's name was? Did they have the same name?? I was very confused about that. I must have missed something.
Did you notice that the two big twists were Star Wars twists? "I'm you father", and "Hey, we're siblings!"
I wonder if later we are going to find out that they are somehow NOT related. That it was all a scam. That would allow them to jump each other's bones and everyone would be happy. (Well, except Simon. Oh, and Clary's mom who would have to deal with her son's death all over again.)
If I was going to compare, I'd think of her more like Movie-Buffy than TV-Buffy. Though Movie-Buffy still caught on quicker.
As much as some of it drove me nuts, I'm still really looking forward to the next one.
Posted by: Leila | 10 January 2008 at 07:14 AM
I would never, ever be able to read a Cassie Claire book without remembering, every time I spotted something familiar, all the plagiarism stuff. It's a shame, because this kind of book is like catnip to me.
(BTW, I think this is my first comment on your blog, but I've been reading the RSS feed for about a month. I've gotten so many recs, and I really enjoy your writing! :D)
Posted by: karen | 10 January 2008 at 09:01 AM
Yes, i really did notice the star wars twists! I'm tired of the bad guy always having a secret child. Especially when the secret child turns out to be one of the good guys.
If we're going to find out that they're not related then there had better be a good reason for EVERYTHING. If it turns out to be some lame, flimsy reason just so that Jace and Clary could have some drama then let them continue on being siblings.
Okay, the way i'm complaining you'd think i didn't like the book. I did--i just wouldn't want to read it again.
Posted by: Suraya | 10 January 2008 at 04:40 PM
Have you heard anything about Clare's supposed fanfiction plagiarism allegations? Is anyone familiar with this story?
http://www.fanhistory.com/index.php?title=Cassandra_Claire
Posted by: Sheryl | 21 January 2008 at 09:40 PM
OK, I just noticed Karen's comment.
Posted by: Sheryl | 21 January 2008 at 09:41 PM
i thought the book was brill!! i love these kind of stories, and no i dont thnk the star wars thing brings it down at all i just want to find out how jace and clary get together! cause theyre totali going to. and simon is gunna end up dead or with that werewolf chick!!
ssorted!!
Posted by: sally | 25 September 2008 at 04:34 PM
My god these 3 book are Great. I am so interested in them its not funny,. I can see it all happening as I read and dam I keep thinking Jase and Clairese are going to get together. I am not done City of Glass yet but I had to find somewhere to let you know this is fantastic. and are they going to make movies out of these. ? ????????
Posted by: Donna | 11 August 2009 at 05:52 PM
I was happily loving this book - shipping Jace and Clarey all the way, feeling the chemistry... And then the twist happened and i was grossed out. The sibling thing really spoiled it for me and after loving it, i was left disappointed and unusre by the end. Still hoping for it to be untwisted back to non-siblings - and with that hope i will read Book Two...
Posted by: Naomi | 02 November 2009 at 09:20 AM
A...
Posted by: | 27 January 2010 at 07:52 AM