“When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray arrives in England during the reign of Queen Victoria, something terrifying is waiting for her in London’s Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gas lit streets.  Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters, a band of warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons. Drawn even deeper into their world, she finds herself fascinated – and torn between- two best friends and quickly realizes that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.”

Clockwork Angel is the first novel in the Infernal Devices series and is the prequel to the highly successful Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare. Over the past few weeks I’ve been hearing reviews mostly to the tune of “ZOMG, SO GOOD”, in regards to this book. So, not that I needed much encouragement, having already been a die-hard fan of The Mortal Instruments, I decided to see what all the fuss was about.

The story is set in Victorian London and centers on Tessa Gray who has just arrived from New York to join her brother Nate after the death of their Aunt. Tessa barely sets foot on English soil before she’s kidnapped by The Dark Sisters – a wicked pair of warlocks who have hidden Nate and taken him hostage. In return for her brother’s safety Tessa is tortured into uncovering a shape shifting ability she never knew she had.

The Magister knew of it though. He is the leader of the Pandemonium Club, a mysterious club where humans and Downworlders (vampires, warlocks, faeries, werewolves) mix and he wants control of Tessa’s unique ability.

While uncovering murders linked to the club, Tessa is discovered and rescued by the Shadowhunters – Nephilim who are the children of Angels and humans who have sworn to protect humans from demons. Taking refuge at the London Institute Tessa enlists the help of the Shadowhunters to find her brother while she helps them uncover the dark plan to wipe out their kind…

When Clockwork Angel arrived in the mail I did a bit of a dance, I was that excited. I was Shadowhunter starved! A year had passed since her last book release and I was missing the sarcasm that Cassandra Clare does so well, and she definitely delivered. It took a bit of time in the beginning to adjust to the new time period and things took a bit of time to get going because a whole lot of groundwork needed to be laid before the story was able to gain some speed.

There’s no shortage of action in this book and can be quite creepy at times thanks to the evil clockwork minions of the Magister, made from the bodies of the dead. That, plus London’s notoriously bleak weather give the book quite a dark quality.

For me, Cassandra Clare’s standout talent as a writer is her ability to create such loveable, dynamic characters. The new characters we meet in this story are no exception. We see a few familiar last names – Herondale, Lightwood, Wayland, all being the ancestors of the characters were knew and loved from The Mortal Instruments (including Magnus Bane!) We’re also presented with a bunch of new characters as well.

It probably wasn’t until Magnus showed up though that I realized just how much I had missed the Shdowhunter world. He was his charming self as always and even though in this book his appearance was briefer than I’d have preferred, he was still great. Plus, it’s Magnus that leaves us with a great cliffhanger right at the end.

Our main character, Tessa, definitely has spunk.  She’s a lady with all the politeness and proper manners that go hand –in-hand with the time period, but when it comes down to it she puts up a hell of a fight and has a comeback for any snarky comment Will throws her way.

Speaking of Will; this guy is badass. His only downfall is that he’s also an a-hole. With his dark hair and blue eyes he’s beautifully sexy and has the kind of wit and classic one-liners that we’ve come to love from Jace in TMI. As Jace’s ancestor it’s clear that’s one of the character traits he’s passed down. Like most characters in this book, Will has a dark and mysterious past, which is apparently the reason he’s a jerk to most people and keeps them at arm’s length. Everyone except his best friend and parabatai, Jem.

Jem though, has dark secrets of his own, secrets which are destroying him from the inside out. He’s the only one who’s been able to get close to Will and balances out Will’s snark with his calm, soothing demeanor. With his silver hair and musical skills Jem’s a charmer simply by being a gentleman. He catches your attention with his subtleties.

The blurb hypes the three of them to be caught in a fierce love triangle but it’s not really the case – at least not in this book. It seems clear which of the two boys Tessa prefers (but if she was smart she wouldn’t…) but we’ll see how that’ll unfold in the next books.

There’s no denying there’s a well thought out plot here. Though it seems the plot moves Tessa rather than her driving the plot, it still twists, turns and weaves brilliantly, especially at the end – right when you think you know where everyone stands, it gets turned on its head which was really great. It was also great to see Shadowhunters from the perspective of a Downworlder, at times it made them appear very elitist and superior.

We also get to see the role of women during the period from different angles from each of the ladies we meet in the book. From Jessamine who wants a more traditional life, to Charlotte who is bending the rules and pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable for a lady to do (and without a corset too!)

By the end there are still so many questions left hanging you double check the last page to see if there’s even a sentence or two more to answer at least one, but no such luck.

This is a stunning novel and it’s going to be an agonizing wait for the next book but I know it’ll be worth it. It’s a fresh take on a period piece so expect action, many lines of great, quotable dialogue, a bit of romance and plenty of Shadowhunter mystery. A huuuuuuge thumbs up!

Pages: 488
Publication Date: August 31^st 2010
Rating: :

Teaser Quote:  “That was enterprising,” Will sounded nearly impressed.

Nate smiled. Tessa shot him a furious look. “Don’t look pleased with yourself. When Will says ‘enterprising’ he means ‘morally deficient.’”

“No, I mean enterprising,” said Will. “When I mean morally deficient, I say, ‘Now, that’s something I would have done.”

As promised, thanks to Walker Books we’ve got a chapter sampler from Cassandra Clare’s Clockwork Angel to share with you all! Also, be sure to check out the official website for other goodies such as wallpapers, artwork, an excerpt and much more – www.theinfernaldevices.com

The prequel to the best-selling The Mortal Instruments will be available on August 31st.

Click below to read the Clockwork Angel chapter sampler and wallpapers…
Continue reading »

It’s officially a week to go till the release of Clockwork Angel! Cassandra Clare’s stunning prequel to the best-selling The Mortal Instruments series will hit shelves on August 31st.We’re super excited, just like we know you guys are. To tie us all over until the actual release date, MTV’s Hollywood Crush have released a great teaser trailer. We know a lot of you have already seen it, but we thought we’d share it with you anyway:

Also, in other exciting news, The lovely people at Walker Books have provided us with THREE Clockwork Angel packs to be given away, as well as a chapter sampler which we’ll share very soon. The giveaway will be posted in the coming days, as will the sample chapter, so make sure you check back in with us!

During a live chat, Cassandra Clare, author of The Mortal Instruments Series, revealed that following the April 2011 release of City of Fallen Angels (#4 in the Mortal Instruments Series), another  two books will follow – City of Lost Souls (2012) and City of Heavenly Fire (2013.)

The prequel to this series, The Infernal Devices, Clockwork Angel will be released August 31st 2010.

Very exciting!

The entire text of City of Bones is online right now to read. Yup, the whole book. So if you haven’t read the first book to the fabulous series yet, here’s your chance!
Available only until August 10th!

This just in, straight from Cassandra Clare’s livejournal blog:

The Mortal Instruments party — You’re invited! So I’ve already mentioned this to some of you, but a little while ago Simon and Schuster let me know that they were planning a special end-of-summer event for The Mortal Instruments series, emceed by the lovely Holly Black! A mad, massive TMI themed party, if you will, to be held — where else? — in New York City, where I will be signing books, answering questions, and making some Very Special Announcements about the future of the Shadowhunters books, what’s up next, and sharing some (I think) fairly awesome news. I now have the date and place and time, so I’m going to share them with you. http://www.bryantpark.org/calendar/events/event.php?event=1338 * Saturday, August 22 * 12:00pm – 2:00pm * Bryant Park Reading Room, on the 42nd Street side of Bryant Park between 5th and 6th Ave. “Join New York Times best-selling author Cassandra Clare for TWO special announcements about her urban fantasy series, The Mortal Instruments. Cassandra will read and sign books and special guest Holly Black will emcee the event! Don’t miss the chance to get books signed and hear some top secret news from Cassandra herself!” This is going to be a little different than other signing events. For one thing, the main focus of the event is the announcements of the top sekrit news. There are also going to be giveaways — signed posters and and excerpts from The Clockwork Angel (you’ll be able to choose between two different excerpts with different covers) and perhaps a sneak peek at Holly Black’s new book The White Cat. There is, if you want to attend, an RSVP email address: rsvpcassandraclare@simonandschuster.com where you can let S&S know that you’re coming. You don’t need to RSVP in order to come. You can just show up. Bryant Park Reading room is a public space. HOWEVER, if you do RSVP, you get entered in a drawing to win a Shadowhunters flash drive loaded up with excerpts from the Mortal Instruments books, an outtake from The Clockwork Angel, and even an as-yet-unread-by-anyone 10,000 word novella that tells the story of Jocelyn’s early life and marriage to Valentine from her point of view (and not just the version she decided Clary should hear . . .) I think it will be tons of fun, and not like any event I’ve ever done before or am likely to do again! I hope to see those of you who can make it there.

Author of the popular Mortal Instruments series, Cassandra Clare, posted a link on her myspace to a new website for her upcoming release,The Infernal Devices. Apparently, The Infernal Devices is set in the same world as The Mortal Instruments books, however it takes place many years before. While Jace and Clary wont be making any appearances, in an interview we did with Cassandra just before the release of City of Glass, she assured us that some of the other characters that appeared in The Mortal Instruments will definitely have a role in her new books.

If you click here , there is also an excerpt from the first Infernal Devices book, The Clockwork Angel.