City of Bones: Clary Fray was in the night club Pandemonium when she watched three teenagers dispose of another being. Now Clary's mother has been taken prisoner by a strange beast and she's found out that her mother has been having her memories erased by a warlock who lives in TriBeCa. What? Secrets and dreams are coming apart at the seams, and Clary's having trouble standing on her own two feet when a mysterious group called the Shadowhunters (prickly, pretty Isabelle; prickly and shy Alec; and prickly, egotistical and f-i-n-e Jace) come to help her fight the demons that are creeping up on all sides.
City of Ashes: Bodies of Downworlder children, drained with blood, have been found in dark, abandoned alleyways. Idris and the Clave, the land and government of the Shadowhunters, has decided that its time to get involved, but it would be better if our heroes were left to their own devices because what they'll have to do to save the day won't be sanctioned by any book of regulations. Clary's trapped in her own personal nightmare when she finds that she has more of a family than she ever could hope for -- if only her new-found familial ties didn't include him.
City of Glass: Keep your friends close, your enemies closer, and your family closest of all, because if their hands are in yours they can't stab you in the back. Breaking several laws, Clary breaks into Idris, the land of the Shadowhunters, enraging the highest magical law on this world or any other. While hiding out from them in their own country, Clary finds several secrets that she never thought even existed. But time's running out if she's to stop her own flesh and blood from destroying all she's come to love.
Let me tell you, these books are wicked. Yeah, sure, there might be a bit too much romance in some places, but the demon fighting it pretty awesome. And the psychology behind it all! It's really quite astounding. The other two books in this 'Trilogy' (should it be called a 'quintet'? because, clearly, there are five books) are worth nothing because a) they are simply ridiculous (Just how many times can a person come back from the dead? Cassandra Clare's got a bit of James Patterson in her.) and b) we get it. Clary has a boyfriend. Thank you. You can stop illustrating your point for us now.
I really liked the diversity of the characters in this. Simon, Clary's best friend, is the source of a good chunk of the problems for the group, but, generally, he's a good natured guy and I admire him for that. He is also a voice of stability and reason among all of the craziness and magic, which is always good in a book like this that can get caught up in the thrill of its own mystique. Jace is an egotistical maniac, and I think that it's been established that I have a soft spot for that sort. Isabelle is the ultimate femine fatal, complete with a miniskirt and a sword. Alec is a lost and a little needy, almost, until he realizes who he is and how he (and him telling the world who he is is one of the most fantastic moments in the whole trilogy). Magnus Bane is a riot, but his majesty is sort of kept under wraps for fear of throwing the whole story overboard. Clary is the perfect contemporary fiction heroine, with her cell phone and subway map. Not exactly the cast of 'Spud,' but pretty darn close.
The villain of the series, Valentine, is intensely complicated, but that doesn't make him seem any more human. One thing that I don't like about villains in general (like I have only one thing to complain about) is that they're larger than life, and that keeps them from being human. We can connect with the main characters, the protagonists, but we never feel what the bad guy is feeling. This is a technique used to make us hate the villain, which is necessary for the story to work, but it still can be sort of . . . impersonal. How can I hate Valentine if I don't even know the person he is? You have to just accept that the bad guy is a bad guy and move on in this story.
A strong point of this story, other than the wonderful cast of protagonists, is the setting. Modern New York City with an underbelly full of demons. To fight the demons, there is a system of police called 'Shadowhunters' run mainly by teenagers because they're the only ones who haven't died yet. In between the two groups are the 'Downworlders'; werewolves, vampires, Faeries, and other miscellaneous half-demon scum. It is fantastic.
The books, even though they talk about killing demons and your own family members preach about accepting people. The Shadowhunters hate the Downworlders because the Shadowhunters are part angel and the Downworlders are part demon. But to win, they must join together. It's a nice sentiment.
Final messages: The books are messed up. Messed up messed up. Like, 'oh, is this my brother I'm kissing?!' messed up. So . . . The books also have a quite bit of religion in them. Magnus quotes the Bible, at one point, and the whole thing of angels vs. demons is religious, though the demons come from different dimensions, not from deep down under. Also, Alec is gay. I, personally, find that pretty awesome because it shows his inner strength and conveys a new way of someone being who they know they are.
"The City of Bones" is a movie that comes out on August 23, 2013. The complete series is, in the order as listed, "The City of Bones," "The City of Ashes," "The City of Glass," "The City of Fallen Angels," and "The City of Lost Souls." So. The last two books do have their own charms, by the way of you getting to see a side of the characters you didn't get to see in the other three books, but they are so not the best. Especially not "The City of Fallen Angels." Just sayin'.
Is it fine to tell a white lie for the safety and well being of a person that you love? But when the lies collapse, the person you lied for might not be as well off as intended.
This link is better than most book links: www.mortalintruments.com The illustrations of the characters are lame, though. None of the people look like that, I swear.
This is the link to the movie trailer, which I watch at least once a day: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1538403/ My favorite part is when Clary says "There's too many of them!" and Jace says "Have a little faith," because Jace is so full of himself, it's rather amusing. This is the cast list to the movie, which is cool; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1538403/fullcredits Magnus is awesome.
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