I know that I haven't updated in a couple weeks, but it's because I wanted to knock out this whole series before I reviewed it. I had previously reviewed Cassandra Clare's
"Clockwork Angel", which is the first book in her prequel series "The Infernal Devices" and I really liked it. While I didn't think that
The Mortal Instruments was quite as good, mostly because I preferred the ID characters, it's a very entertaining series.
The heroes of this series are Clary and Jace. Clary is your average sixteen year-old girl, growing up in Brooklyn with her overbearing mom, her substitute father figure, Luke (who reminds me of Luke from Gilmore Girls, plaid shirt and all) and her best friend, the awkward and nerdy Simon. At least she thinks she's the average teen until her life takes a head-on collision with Jace, a handsome and arrogant Shadow Hunter, a secret class of warriors who, hidden from mortal eyes, protect the world from demons. Clary shouldn't even be able to SEE shadow hunters, so the fact that she can proves that she isn't so ordinary afterall, and as it turns out, neither are the other people in her life. While Clary proves to be not-your-ordinary human girl, Jace also proves to be not-your-ordinary shadow hunter, and both characters are lead on long journey to battle the forces of evil and find out who they really are.
While Clary and Jace are both likable characters, the real appeal lies in their fellow characters, "people" like the paternal to everyone, father to none Luke, the feisty and self-assured shadow hunter Isabelle, the forever loyal BFF Simon and the flamboyantly gay warlock, Magnus (who you'll recognize if you've read the Infernal Devices.
The one thing that I didn't care for in the series was that the last book, City of Fallen Angels, ended in a cliffhanger. Of course, I assume this to mean that the series isn't finished, but when I finish a boxset, I like all of my endings to be tied up nice and neat. I'm highly impatient with cliffhangers, and now I'm left thinking "I need to know!!!" Other than that, the series is good. Perhaps not the best fantasy series ever, but definitely worth the read, especially if you plan to see the movies, the first of which, "City of Bones", comes out in March, I believe. To its credit, I can't think of another series that has vampires, werewolves, warlocks, demons, angels, fairies... If it had a dragon, it would have everything.
Speaking of the movies, I had no interest in seeing them, because I felt like it's the kind of story that is preset for a horrible film adaptation... until I saw the casting. Aidan Turner as Luke Garroway?? Yes, PLEASE! As for the rest of the cast, they're all pretty much exactly what I pictured for the characters (or in the case of some, what the cover of the book lead me to believe they would look like). Maybe the movies won't be so bad afterall.
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