I am getting ready to read Cassandra Clare‘s City of Heavenly Fire, the last installment in the Mortal Instruments series. It was a long wait for the final one since the penultimate book was released in May 2012, and this one only in May 2014. Let’s catch up with the story so far! If you want an introduction to The Mortal Instruments check out my previous post.
The lead of the story is called Clarissa Fray, or Clary for short. She is a normal girl, who lives with her mother and spends most of her time with Simon, her best friend. However, she soon discovers there is more to her mother and herself than meets the eye, when she encounters Jace. Jace is a Shadowhunter: humans that were granted angelic powers by the Angel Raziel to protect Earth and the human race from demons and the Downworlders (beings that are part human, part demon: Faeries, Vampires, Werewolves and Warlocks). This shadow-war has been going on for thousands of years and has recently intensified when Valentine Morgenstern sought to destroy all Downworlders.
After meeting Jace, Clary discovers she is also a Shadowhunter, and a very powerful one at that. She learns that Valentine Morgenstern was her father and that her mother took her away to protect her. Then her mother is kidnapped and Clary goes to the Institute (a Shadowhunter stronghold) to learn more about the Shadowhunter world and her own heritage.
She learns that her mother was kidnapped by her father, who is not – as everyone believed him to be – dead. He is intent on punishing the Shadowhunters and destroying the world in the process. While trying to figure out how to stop him, Clary and Jace fall in love. However, their bliss is soon interrupted when Jace learns that Valentine is also his father, which means that he and Clary are siblings and their love is forbidden. They both struggle a lot with this.
Valentine wants to use the Mortal Instruments (holy objects passed down from the angel Raziel) to destroy all Downworlders and is using Clary and Jace against each other. He manages to get two (the Cup and the Sword) and now only needs the Mirror to summon Raziel. Valentine intents to lie to Raziel, telling him the Shadowhunters have forsaken their duty and ask for more powers so that he can unite them. When Valentine’s plan is revealed, Clary also learns that Jace is not her brother, but Jonathan is. She met Jonathan right after she broke up with Jace and they spend some time together trying to rescue (and revive) Clary’s mother. Clary realises who Jonathan is, and that he is actually a spy for Valentine. By that time, Jace had already gone to fight Jonathan and Valentine and then Jace learns it too. Together, Clary and Jace, arrive just in time to see Valentine raise Raziel. Fortunately, they manage to convince Raziel of the truth and Valentine is killed. Jace gets mortally wounded in the process and when Raziel wants to reward her for telling the truth, she immediately wishes for Jace back. With Valentine and Jonathan dead, Clary’s mother alive and well and Clary and Jace together again, the first trilogy ends on a positive note.
In the next trilogy, Clary starts her Shadowhunter training and is happy with Jace and their official status as a couple. Previously, Jace learned he has demon blood and because he was raised by Raziel at the end of the trilogy, he lost his natural defense against the demon influence and is now having psychological problems. He is constantly dreaming and fantasizing about killing Clary, resulting in problems in their relationship (you know, duh!). When he attempts to restore the defense, he is tricked by a demon who takes over control of him. The demon wants him to help bring Jonathan back to life. Under her spell, he kidnaps Clary and brings her to the demon, who uses Clary to convince Simon (her best friend, now turned powerful vampire) to resurrect Jonathan. The trio manage to fight off the demon, but cannot stop Jonathan’s resurrection. Immediately after the fight, Clary and Jace make up: she forgives him for everything he did, because he was under a spell. He feels bad, but accepts her apologies. However, as Clary goes downstairs to join her friends and family in awaiting the Shadowhunters who are coming to clean up, Jace realises he isn’t freed from the demon’s possession. It has transferred over to Jonathan, who is now in complete control of Jace. The two boys disappear together, leaving nobody the wiser as to what happened and Clary in despair.
Jace and Jonathan start planning Jonathan’s revenge: he and his father have been wronged so many times, that Jonathan wants to destroy. He cannot hurt his sister Clary however and they both need her to come over (to the dark side ^_^) and join them. To find out what’s going on, Clary goes to them and learns about the boys’ connection. After she escapes, she tells her friends and they go find out what will separate them. It turns out only a weapon from Heaven or Hell can destroy the connection so Simon summons Raziel, who gives him a sword from the archangel Michael. In the end, they manage to sever the bond between Jace and Jonathan. Jonathan is hurt but manages to get away and Jace survives, although his blood is now infused with the Heavenly Fire from the sword.
Besides Clary and Jace’s problems, there is a lot more going on throughout the first two books of the second trilogy. Someone has been killing the Shadowhunters that used to be in Valentine’s circle at the time of his first uprising. It becomes clear that this person wants to incite a war between the Downworlders and the Shadowhunters. The Shadowhunter world is being turned upside down and tensions are rising. They are desperate to find out who is behind all of it and why. They need to figure that out in order to stop the all-out war between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that is threatening.
So, are you guys caught up with the story? Then get ready for the review of the last book …
I won’t give you one, sorry! At least not yet. I really liked the series (reading over the love triangles and the almost incest) and I’m not gonna spoil the ending for you. Just a quick setting-of-the-scene: Clary and her friends are getting ready to take on their biggest threat yet, Clary’s evil brother. Sebastien Morgenstern is turning the Shadownhunters against each other and turning them into his Endarkened army with the Dark Cup. Clary and the rest of the good guys go to great lengths to defeat Sebastien, including a journey to the demon realms. Yes, I know, it gets even more complicated the final time around. If you started the series, I advise you to finish it, because this last book is a doozy! Let me know what you think in the comments!
Happy reading,
Loes M.