City of Ashes (Mortal Instruments) [Hardcover]

Cassandra Clare (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 25, 2008 | Series: Mortal Instruments (Book 2)

Don’t miss The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, soon to be a major motion picture in theaters August 2013.

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go—especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil—and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings—and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City's Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up—In this sequel to City of Bones (S & S, 2007), the nonstop action continues. The Shadowhunters are battling a world of demons that few people can see. Guided by the laws of the Clave, these hunters balance fighting with the other more mundane aspects of life—love, betrayal, and confusion. Jace, the fiercest teenage Shadowhunter, seems determined to make everyone around him angry, and is looked upon with suspicion because his father, Valentine, is out to rule the world. Meanwhile, love triangles abound, vampires are reborn, and general teenage angst blossoms among a group of friends and siblings. Set in an alternative present-day Manhattan, the story comes complete with Britney Spears references and even, ironically, refers to the scientific CSI. Well written in both style and language, it compares favorably to others in this genre. The human characters are well developed and quite believable. The whole book is like watching a particularly good vampire/werewolf movie, and it leaves readers waiting for the next in the series. Watch this one fly off the shelves.—Jennifer-Lynn Draper, Children's Literature Consultant, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
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Review

"A gorgeous fantasty that's so good, it's dangerous." -- Holly Black

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books; 1ST edition (March 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416914293
• ISBN-13: 978-1416914297
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (508 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,336 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cassandra Clare is the author of City of Bones, the first book in the Mortal Instruments trilogy and a New York Times bestseller. She was born overseas and spent her early years traveling around the world with her family and several trunks of books. Cassandra lives in Brooklyn with her boyfriend, their two cats, and these days, even more books.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#30 Overall (See top 100 authors)

#2 in Books > Teens

#30 in Books

#38 in Kindle eBooks

#2 in Books > Teens

#30 in Books

#38 in Kindle eBooks

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 93 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Enthralling, despite flaws April 16, 2009

By Sommer

Format:Paperback

The fantasy genre is well known for taking rich, varied, and well known mythology and twisting it up in new ways. Or at least, attempting to twist it up in new ways. Because let's face it, the vampire has already been invented. Now it's all about what you do with him.

So first, the really good- Cassandra Clare does a mighty fine job of taking rich and varied and well known mythologies and giving them a brand new spark of life that has not been written into the ground already. I enjoy that she picks bits of mythology from all over and uses it to create a world full of truths and half-truths and the people who have to deal with it all. This isn't just another fantasy novel. It reminds me of The Dresden Files for young adults.

The other really good thing about this book, is that the characters are a lot less cliched and stereotypical than most books in this genre. The main male character, Jace, might be pretty and the love interest (more on that in a moment) but he is also haughty, cocky, unlikeable and reactionary. She writes him so well that I sometimes find myself irritated with him- a beautiful and well drafted flaw. Who says our heroes need to be perfect anyway? This is also somewhat of a problem for her though too, because she tries so hard not to write predictable characters that they tend to fall out the other side of the extreme.

I'm also delighted by her fight scenes, which are clear and well written but not long and drawn out. Fight scenes have a tendency to be repetitive. She knows when to get on with it.

The bad- some of the prose is a little watered down. Contrite but clearly written with pleasure. Clare has never met a metaphor she didn't like. Still, the book was a page turner- I ferreted away in an empty cubicle at work to devour it during my breaks, flowery language or not.

The weird (and ugly)- The romance is bizarre. It's not even thinly veiled incestuous desire...it's right in your face and deals with it in a way that is going to make a lot of people uncomfortable. It makes me uncomfortable. I was at first horrified by her choice. Why would an author do this? But I am a little impressed with her ballsy choices for romances- a very homosexual blooming romance and a heartbreaking passion between two people who only recently found out their brother and sister. That's gutsy, and I can't say I haven't been craving some gutsy romances lately. But like I said, the incestuous romance is so weird it's not good. It reminds me a lot of the incestuous romance in The Royal Tennenbaums. I'm pretty sure we'll find out they aren't brother and sister, but honestly, the damage has been done.

Finally- I like Clary. She's weak and flawed and easily scared and up until the end of the second book, she's sort of a liability in every dangerous situation she's been in. And that makes sense, up until a very short while ago, she was a normal girl getting dressed up to dance at a goth club. It does surprise me though that no one offers to help her become less of a liability, until her powers manifest over night to make her super uber awesome. This is tragic. I'd rather have a main character who is just ok but brave and smart than one who can bring the world to its knees with no apparent explanation and no hard work.

But in the end, I was still captivated and still enthralled and I devoured it in a couple of days, to the neglect of everything else. In the end, that's what matters most to me.

44 of 60 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Less derivative, although the fanfic roots still show May 3, 2008

By I Read, Therefore I Blog

Format:Hardcover

Less derivative than CITY OF BONES, this sequel suffers from the same purple prose problems, characterisation is sometimes patchy and the internal logic creaks.

Clare works harder to make the material here her own. Valentine is less cliched as a villain, with Clare doing a decent job at showing someone so utterly convinced that he is right that he can't even begin to think that he might be wrong and I could just buy into his being willing to use demons to further those ends. Unfortunately the Inquisitor feels like a rehash of `old' Valentine, a single-minded Shadowhunter who holds Jace responsible for the sins of his father and refuses to listen to any views different to her own.

Jace will appeal to teenagers - moody, handsome and with hints at special powers. His dialogue sometimes doesn't fit his age, but his scenes are confidently handled. I wish I could say the same for Clary. She remains passive and reactive and her own special powers take her too close to Mary-Sue territory. The incestuous feelings between Clary and Jace are the main theme in the book but the subject's handled in a shallow manner as neither character seems interested in the consequences or emotional implications of their feelings and Clare drops anvils as to its resolution, which robs the love triangle between Clary, Jace and Simon of tension.

Simon suffers a great deal in this book and it's a shame that Clare does not set out the scene where he's forced into a terrifying transformation. There have been hints of this since the first book but the main catalyst here happens off page and without any real build-up, which is frustrating as it robs the book of some real drama and shock-value. The dilemma that this transformation causes for Simon is resolved by the end of the book in a way that's too pat and I think it's a missed opportunity.

The prose is purple and repetitive at times and sometimes stunts the action. There are some inner-story logic problems, notably where Jace visits Valentine, finding him easily even though he's managed to evade all of the other Shadowhunters. Best scenes in the book are a dream sequence between Clary and her mother and Valentine's attack on the Silent Brothers. The cliffhanger ending is a cheap device but will leave fans panting for the concluding volume.

34 of 48 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Slow and appropriate for children? May 6, 2008

By Lasha VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I checked out City of Ashes from my local library. Unlike City of Bones, which I bought to see if I could use it in my classroom (I couldn't), I was just reading City of Ashes for my own pleasure.

There are a few good things about City of Ashes and many bad things about it. I will discuss the positive aspects first. (Be forewarned I am going to be discussing major plot points of this novel (i.e. SPOILERS), if you have not read City of Ashes, then I suggest you SKIP my review).

I must say that in this book, Ms. Clare's characterizations are somewhat better. Not a whole lot better, but improved, at least most of the Star Wars references are gone. For example, I really enjoyed the characters of Alec and Magnus. In fact, they are the only reason I gave this book 2 stars instead of one. Their love story is bold, interesting and different. I hope Ms. Clare will expand on their relationship in the third book. For me, Alec and Magnus were my favorite part of City of Ashes.

Now onto the negative aspects of the book. First, the book starts out with a bang with Valentine showing up. Then, we get 6 chapters of BORING, slow-paced nonsense. Unfortunately Ms. Clare doesn't seem to know how to write a fast-paced sequel that can keep the reader awake with drama and action. The end picks up, but by then the casual reader may have just discarded the novel.

Another negative aspect is that once again Ms. Clare is drawing from other source material for her characters (i.e. Buffy, the Vampire Slayer). In chapter one, when Clary and Simon are watching the movie Dracula, I figured out that by the end of the book Simon would turn into a vampire - and guess what he did! There was no surprise to this revelation. Now I know the book is being targeted to 14+, but that plot point was so obvious a 6 year old could have seen it coming.

Lastly, what is up with the promotion of an incestuous relationship between Clary and Jace? I understood that in book one, the two did not know they were brother and sister and had feelings for one another, but in this book they clearly know they are related and yet continue to kiss and discuss their romantic feelings ad nauseum. (At one point, Jace states he wants to be with Clary, no matter if they are related or not, Clary nixes that idea, but by the end of the book, she is okay with it?) I am not getting it. This book is geared towards young readers, so why is the author pushing an incestuous relationship onto her audience? I have my own ideas about why this is happening and will see if they play out in book 3, but for now that plot is just morally wrong. Brothers and sisters should not be thinking of making out or having sex with one another.

Overall, I cannot say I liked this book. On my hand it had some great aspects (Alec and Magnus), and then it had some downright awful things (incestuous plotline, slow pace). So, what I am recommending is that if you liked the first book, but are unsure of wanting to buy this book, then check it out of the library. Save yourself $[...].