Cassandra Clare has released an excerpt of her second book in The Infernal Devices series.
You can read the excerpt on her website!
Clockwork Prince will be released here in Australia in December but you can preorder your copy from The Book Depository.
Title: City of Fallen Angels
Author: Cassandra Clare
Age Group: Young Adult
Release Date: 5th April 2011
Publishers: Walker Books (Aus)
Buy From: Book Depository | Audible
Book Description: Love, blood, betrayal and revenge – the stakes are higher than ever in the fourth book in the bestselling Mortal Instruments sequence.
Simon Lewis is having some trouble adjusting to his new life as a vampire, especially now that he hardly sees his best friend Clary, who is caught up in training to be a Shadowhunter – and spending time with her new boyfriend, Jace. Simon decides he needs a break and heads out of the city – only to discover that sinister events are following him. Realizing that the war they thought they’d won might not yet be over, Simon has to call on his Shadowhunter friends to save the day – if they can put their own splintering relationships on hold long enough to rise to the challenge.
My Thoughts: Firstly I have to say that I love The Mortal Instruments series, I have read the first three books many times and was very happy when Cassandra Clare announced that there would be three more installments: City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls, and City of Heavenly Fire.
The series features many likable and well developed characters, lots of angst and romance, plenty of action and the twists and turns always keep me guessing.
I was a little concerned when Cassandra announced that City of Fallen Angels was going to feature Simon heavily, but my concerns where short lived the moment the story began. (Perhaps it was Ed Westwick’s narration that did it :) )
Without giving away anything for people that have not yet read the series, the story continues on from the events in City of Glass – basically everyone is trying to come to terms with the events in Idris. Jace, is not surprisingly still his tortured and brooding self and in this book we see how that affects his relationship with Clary.
Simon is still coming to terms with being a vampire and trying to sort out his complicated love life while he is being pushed and pulled by various factions who want Simon on their side, which puts Simon, Jace, Clary, Isabelle, Alec, Maia and newcomer Jordan in rather dangerous circumstances.
It was quite surprising, in a nice way, that Camille, from Clockwork Angel (the first installment of Clare’s prequel series, The Infernal Devices) made an appearance in this book.
I was not disappointed with Cassandra’s 4th installment in the Mortal Instruments series and judging by the massive cliffhanger City of Lost Souls (out May 2012) is going to be another heart stopper.
About the Author: Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Teheran, Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father’s backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland. Since her family moved around so much she found familiarity in books and went everywhere with a book under her arm. Her favourites included the work of the Bronte sisters and Tolkien, as well as the “Chronicles of Narnia”, Lloyd Alexander’s “Prydain Chronicles” and Susan Cooper’s “The Dark is Rising” series. She spent her high school years in Los Angeles where she used to write stories to amuse her classmates, including an epic novel called “The Beautiful Cassandra” based on the eponymous Jane Austen short story (and from which she later took her current pen name).
After college, at which she majored in literature, Cassandra lived in Los Angeles and New York where she worked at various entertainment magazines and even some rather suspect tabloids where she reported on Brad and Angelina’s world travels and Britney Spears’ wardrobe malfunctions. She started working on her first novel, “City of Bones”, in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, her favourite city. She turned to writing fantasy fiction full time in 2006 and hopes never to have to write about Paris Hilton again.
Cassandra’s first piece of professional writing, a short story called ‘The Girl’s Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord’, appeared in an anthology of humour fantasy. She hates working at home alone because she always gets distracted by reality TV shows and the antics of her two cats, so she usually sets out to write in local coffee shops and restaurants. Cassandra likes to work in the company of her friends who see that she sticks to her deadlines. She loves writing humour and fantasy and hopes to try her hand at horror and science fiction some day.
You can find out more about Cassandra and her writing on her website here!
Follow her on Twitter or Like her on Facebook!
Read an excerpt here!
Have you read this book yet? What did you think? Leave me a comment :)
Here is the brand new, hot off the press cover for Cassandra Clare’s City of Fallen Angels – Book 4 in The Mortal Instruments Series!
Love, blood, betrayal and revenge – the stakes are higher than ever…….
City of Angels is to be released in April 2011, just before Cassandra’s tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Here is the press release:
Walker Books announces New York Times best-selling author Cassandra Clare will be touring Australia and New Zealand in May 2011.
Cassandra Clare – author of the best-selling series The Mortal Instruments – will be visiting the cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland between the dates of 12-27 May 2011.
During her time here Cassandra will be a guest author at the Sydney Writers’ Festival and the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival, participating in their School Days programs as well as general public events.
Australian and New Zealand readers have rushed to embrace the books in her series: City of Bones, City of Ashes and City of Glass, causing each release to break in to the top ten bestseller lists nationally.
Cassandra’s legions of fans who connect to the books’ themes of courage and honour, love and sacrifice, will be gearing up for the greatly-anticipated release of the fourth book in the sequence – CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS, which will be released shortly before her tour.
Cassandra is looking forward to meeting Australian/New Zealand devotees of her books.
“I’m so excited to be heading to Australia in 2011!” enthuses Cassandra. “First off, I’ve never been “Down Under” and I’ve always wanted to go. Secondly, I get the best fan mail from my Australian readers! They’re so articulate, thoughtful and enthusiastic about books! I’m literally counting the days till I’m on my way!”
Hollywood studios are also in negotiations to greenlight a movie series of The Mortal Instruments which is already hotly tipped to rival the phenomenon of the Harry Potter and Twilight movie franchises.
WHO WILL BE TEMPTED BY DARKNESS?
WHO WILL FIND THEIR ROMANCE TORN APART?
WHO WILL BETRAY EVERYTHING THEY EVER BELIEVED IN?
THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS BOOK 4: CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS
By Cassandra Clare
Publishing worldwide 5 April 2011
Walker Books Australia
And if all that wasn’t enough, her is an excerpt of City of Fallen Angels:
Simon glanced toward the window. It was a brisk night, and the
wind was blowing leaves across Second Avenue like handfuls of
thrown confetti. There was a girl walking down the street, a girl in a
tight belted trench coat, with long black hair that flew in the wind.
People turned to watch her as she walked past. Simon had looked at
girls like that before in the past, idly wondering where they were
going, who they were meeting. Not guys like him, he knew that
much.
Except this one was. The bell on the diner’s front door rang as the
door opened, and Isabelle Lightwood came in. She smiled when she
saw Simon, and came toward him, shrugging off her coat and draping
it over the back of the chair before she sat down. Under the coat
she was wearing one of what Clary called her “typical Isabelle outfits”:
a tight short velvet dress, fishnet stockings, and boots. There
was a knife stuck into the top of her left boot that Simon knew only
he could see; still, everyone in the diner was watching as she sat
down, flinging her hair back. Whatever she was wearing, Isabelle
drew attention like a fireworks display.
Beautiful Isabelle Lightwood. When Simon had met her, he’d assumed
she’d have no time for a guy like him. He’d turned out to be
mostly right. Isabelle liked boys her parents disapproved of, and in
her universe that meant Downworlders—faeries, werewolves, and
vamps. That they’d been dating regularly for the past month or two
amazed him, even if their relationship was limited mostly to infrequent
meetings like this one. And even if he couldn’t help but
wonder, if he’d never been changed into a vampire, if his whole life
hadn’t been altered in that moment, would they be dating at all?
As many of you know the first book in Cassandra Clare’s prequel to the Mortal Instruments series was released at the end of August.
I was lucky enough to get a couple of copies from the Publishers (Walker Books Australia) and wrote a review which you can read it here. The second copy was sent to Kayla from my Review Team and now it’s her turn to share her thoughts :)
When it came to books by Cassandra and their success this one was no different from the rest. Like the other books in the series this one was suspenseful, engaging, captivating and so many more feelings along those lines. Most readers of The Mortal Instruments worried about this book not living up to the standards of the others books but let me say they don’t have to worry this book took awhile to really pick up for me but when it did I could not put it down. Clockwork Angel had great moments in it that kept me reading and I’m sure kept a lot of others too. I especially love the cast of characters Cassandra has created, I know we all you love to hate them or just love them. Cassandra has an amazing talent when it comes to writing and it really shows within this book, mainly because it was set in the 1800’s but never the less I recommend everyone buys a copy.
Get yourself a copy from:
Fishpond
The Book Depository (free international shipping)
Amazon
More books in the Series:
1. Clockwork Angel
2. The Clockwork Prince (coming September 2011)
3. The Clockwork Princess (coming December 2012)
Have you read this book? What did you think? Leave your review or a comment below telling us what you thought :)
Magic is dangerous but love is more dangerous still
The Infernal Devices trilogy, a prequel to bestselling The Mortal Instruments trilogy, follows 16-year-old orphan Tessa Fell, whose quiet life is thrown into turmoil when her older brother Nathaniel suddenly vanishes, leaving her alone. Tessa’s search for him leads her to England during the reign of Queen Victoria, into London’s dangerous underworld, where warlocks throw masked balls for half-demon Downworlders and vampires and supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. When the friendless and hunted Tessa discovers that she herself is a Downworlder, she must learn to trust her natural enemies, the demon-killing Shadowhunters, if she ever wants to learn to control her powers and find her brother. Drawn ever deeper into their world, she finds herself fascinated by – and torn between – two best friends; beautiful Will, a Shadowhunter hiding a deadly secret, and the devoted Jem, whose addiction to a demon drug is slowly destroying him. Tessa quickly realises that love may be the most dangerous magic of all and must draw on all her strength to save her brother and keep herself alive in this deadly new world.
Series: The Infernal Devices Series
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Age Group: Young Adult
Release Date: 31st August 2010 (US) 31st August 2010 (AUS)
You can read my review here!
Get your copy from:
Fishpond
The Book Depository (free international shipping)
Amazon
Download your own Infernal Devices wallpaper (click on the image to take you to the HQ version)
To help celebrate the release of Cassandra Clare’s new novel Clockwork Angel, the first book in the Infernal Devices series and the prequel to The Mortal Instruments series, Walker Books have given me an excerpt to share with you.
Here is an excerpt from Chapter 8:
Tessa was only halfway down the corridor when they caught up to her: Will and Jem, each walking on either side of her. “You didn’t honestly think we weren’t going to come along, did you?” Will asked, raising his
hand and letting the witchlight flare up between his fingers, lighting the corridor to a daylight brightness. Charlotte hurrying along ahead of them, turned and frowned, but said nothing.
“I know you can’t leave anything well enough alone.” Tessa looked straight ahead. “But I thought better of Jem.”
“Where Will goes, I go,” Jem said, good-naturedly. “And besides, I’m as curious as he is.”
“That hardly seems a subject for boasting. Where are we going?” she added, startled, as they reached the end of the corridor. The hall stretched away behind them; there was nothing in front of them but a blank stone
wall. “Have we turned the wrong way . . .?”
“Patience is a virtue, Miss Gray,” said Will. “You would do well to learn it.”
“If you think—” Tessa began, and broke off as Charlotte took a stele from the pocket of her voluminous skirt. It seemed to glow with a dull internal light as Charlotte placed the tip of it against the stone of the
wall, and drew, as if she were scrawling on a piece of paper. A thick black line spiraled out from the tip, forming the whorls and scrolls of a strong, delicate design.
As Tessa stared, a grinding noise came from within the stone, and a section of the wall swung open, showing another long corridor beyond.
The walls were bare of tapestries or torches: Tessa realized why Will had lit his witchlight stone. He raised his hand now, and the light shone down into the corridor, which Tessa could se now was sharply curving, disappearing almost instantly away into shadows.
“This is the entrance to our Sanctuary,” said Charlotte. “This is the place we meet with those who for whatever reason cannot enter hallowed ground. Those who are cursed. Vampires.”
She started down the corridor, the others following after her.
“Is it a curse? Being a vampire?” Tessa asked.
Charlotte shook her head. “No. We think it is a sort of demon disease. There are demons who feed on blood, and demons who, like werewolves, shift their shapes with the phases of the moon and the movement of planets. When passed to humans, these diseases manifest in what we think of as vampirism or lycanthropy. Most demon diseases aren’t transmissible to humans at all, with a few exceptions—”
“Demon pox,” interrupted Will.
“Will, there’s no such thing as demon pox, and you know it,” Charlotte said. “Now, where was I?”
“Being a vampire isn’t a curse,” Tessa filled in. “But they still can’t enter hallowed ground, then? Does that mean they’re damned?”
“That depends on what you believe,” said Jem. “And whether you even believe in damnation at all.”
“But you hunt demons. You must believe in damnation!”
“I believe in good and evil,” said Jem. “And I believe the soul is eternal. But I don’t believe in the fiery pit, the pitchforks, or endless torment. I do not believe you can threaten people into goodness.”
Tessa looked at Will. “What about you? What do you believe?”
“Pulvis et umbra sumus,” said Will, not looking at her as he spoke. “I believe we are dust and shadows. What else is there?”
“Whatever you believe, please don’t suggest to Camille Belcourt that you think she’s damned,” said Charlotte. She had come to a halt where the corridor ended in a set of high iron doors, each carved with a curious symbol that looked like four back-to-back C’s. She turned and looked at her three companions. “She’s very kindly offered to help us, and there’s no purpose in offering her such insults. That applies to you especially, Will. If you can’t be polite, I’ll send you out of the Sanctuary. Jem, I trust you to be your charming self. Tessa . . .” Charlotte turned her grave, kind eyes on Tessa. “Try not to be frightened.”
© Cassandra Clare 2010
Published with permission from Walker Books
Title: Clockwork Angel
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Infernal Devices Series
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Age Group: Young Adult
Release Date: 31st August 2010 (US)
31st August 2010 (AUS)
Book Summary: Magic is dangerous but love is more dangerous still
The Infernal Devices trilogy, a prequel to bestselling The Mortal Instruments trilogy, follows 16-year-old orphan Tessa Fell, whose quiet life is thrown into turmoil when her older brother Nathaniel suddenly vanishes, leaving her alone. Tessa’s search for him leads her to England during the reign of Queen Victoria, into London’s dangerous underworld, where warlocks throw masked balls for half-demon Downworlders and vampires and supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. When the friendless and hunted Tessa discovers that she herself is a Downworlder, she must learn to trust her natural enemies, the demon-killing Shadowhunters, if she ever wants to learn to control her powers and find her brother. Drawn ever deeper into their world, she finds herself fascinated by – and torn between – two best friends; beautiful Will, a Shadowhunter hiding a deadly secret, and the devoted Jem, whose addiction to a demon drug is slowly destroying him. Tessa quickly realises that love may be the most dangerous magic of all and must draw on all her strength to save her brother and keep herself alive in this deadly new world. (Walker Books Australia and New Zealand)
My Thoughts: After having read Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series and loving it, I had very high expectations for this book and Cassandra did not disappoint me! I loved it! I couldn’t put it down and when I was forced away from it by my children and my family duties, I was thinking about the characters and what could possibly happen next.
The plot was very well thought out and took many different twists and turns along the way. There were some surprises that I didn’t see coming which is always a bonus and Cassandra did her research well and took us on a tour of England in Victorian times with perfect detail.
The main character Tessa is an easy character to like and Will is cocky and mysterious while Jem is sweet and very gentlemanly. A perfect combination of characters in my eyes! For those of you that have read the Mortal Instruments, you will see some similarities between Will and Jace (from the MI series) and I really like that. There are also a few familiar characters and a few names that you will recognise throughout the story. Having said that, you don’t have to have read the Mortal Instruments series before reading Clockwork Angel, but I wouldn’t mind betting that you will want to get your hands on the MI series the minute you put down CA.
I would have liked to learn why Will acts as he does and more about his family, as well as Tessa’s parent’s story but I’m quite sure that all that will be revealed in later books which I am eagerly anticipating.
Fans of The Mortal Instruments Series will not be disappointed with the first book in the Infernal Devices Series and I am very happy that I have found another series to fall in love with.
My Rating: (out of 5)
Read an excerpt of the book here!
Get your copy from:
Fishpond
The Book Depository (free international shipping)
Amazon
Books in the Series:
1. Clockwork Angel
2. The Clockwork Prince (coming September 2011)
3. The Clockwork Princess (coming December 2012)
Have you read this book? What did you think? Leave your review or a comment below telling us what you thought :)
MTV’s Hollywood Crush have premiered the book trailer for Clockwork Angel. I am currently reading the book and am loving it so far. I’ll have the review up in the next few days :) In the meantime here’s the trailer:
I received two books in my mailbox in the last week! The first was Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. I loved her Mortal Instruments Series so I have very high expectations for this book and can’t wait to start reading it. I have just posted an interview with Cassandra here! I was send this book to review by Walker Books.
The second book that arrived was Halo by Alexandra Andornetto. I purchased this book because I have read some great reviews about it. Keep your eyes out for my review in the next week.
I’ve been checking out quite a few Book Blogs lately and each time I go to a new blog I find another book or another series of books that I want to read, my list is growing quite long now. If only it were possible to spend the whole day reading without any interruptions!
The Story Siren runs a meme called In My Mailbox where Book Bloggers can interact and talk about the books they have received in their mailbox. Go and check it out!
1 Why did you choose to go back in time to place Victorian London as the setting for your new series?
I’ve always been fascinated with the Victorian period. I intentionally set it toward the late middle Victorian period, a time of huge industrial expansion — a time when technology and industry were almost outrunning the ability of society to keep up with them. A time when London was choking under a haze of smog and dirt and factory smoke, because it parallels the sudden leap forward the Shadowhunters have made with their Accords, and the clash between tradition and modernity that they are experiencing.
2 What research did you do for the Victorian setting?
For six months I read only books written during, or written about, the Victorian period. I did a lot of reading of first-hand sources: journals kept at the time period, the travel accounts of tourists visiting England from America (since Tessa is American, in London for the first time) and newspapers of the period. I also employed a research assistant — Lisa Gold — to track down hard to find photographs of locations in the time period, and went to London several times myself to map out routes and select locations.
3 Who’s your favourite character in Clockwork Angel?
For me picking a favourite character is like picking a favourite child – I can’t do it! I loved writing Will, because Will is the kind of character I love reading about: he seems like he’s one thing, but he’s really something else entirely. Jem I love because he has such a good heart, and Tessa was a lot of fun to write because she’s so spirited and determined. And I always enjoy writing Magnus Bane so was happy he returned in this novel.
4 Describe Tessa’s characterisation for us. Do you think Clary fans will embrace their new ‘heroine’?
So far the reaction has been very positive. Clary and Tessa share a strong, determined spirit but both are products of their time. Clary’s far more willing to initially physically fight back against supernatural attackers, while Tessa has to wrestle with the idea that it’s not in a woman’s “nature” to be violent or even to comprehend violence. Tessa is more soft-spoken than Clary because at the time it was absolutely drilled into women’s heads that they needed to be polite, sweet, reserved, and gentle in their speech — but they were allowed to be witty, so while she isn’t as blunt or sarcastic as Clary, I like to think she verbally holds her own against the boys. On the other hand, Tessa, unlike Clary, is an enormous bookworm who lives out all her fantasies in books, which I think is something that book-lovers find easy to connect to.
5 Will Magnus Bane (a favourite warlock from the MI series) be playing a larger role in the new series?
Yes, in the sense that we’re going to see a lot of Magnus and we’re going to see some of the forces that shaped him and made him what he is in The Mortal Instruments. He starts off the series in the middle of a love affair going pretty badly, and has a distrust and dislike of Shadowhunters. Once he’s entangled in the lives of Will, Tessa and Jem he starts to see them differently and the echoes of his relationships with them resound down to his life in the present day.
6 Can we look forward to the intrigue and drama of another thrilling love triangle?
In many ways I think of this as the first real love triangle I’ve gotten to write. I think in The Mortal Instruments it was always very clear who Clary was in love with; she just couldn’t be with him. In Infernal Devices Tessa’s feelings are much more complicated. There are things she loves about Will, and things she loves about Jem. To complicate matters further, the boys are best friends, and incapable of wanting to hurt each other. They’re not so much fighting over Tessa as scrambling to get out of each other’s way, to be the noble one who steps aside. But since both are hiding secrets — and since of course the final choice is Tessa’s — there’s no way someone’s heart isn’t going to get broken.
7 Will is an intriguing character – does he bear any relation to Jace? (from The Mortal Instruments)
They’re blood relatives. Will is Jace’s ancestor. So they do have a lot in common — they use arrogance and humour to deflect seriousness and minimise emotional pain. They don’t look at all alike (aside from both being handsome!) and Will is carrying around a secret that is just nothing like Jace has ever experienced. It actually makes him very different from Jace, but we don’t find out the full extent of his secret until Book Two.
8 Where did you get the idea for tattoos to have magical powers?
In a tattoo shop! I was with a friend of mine who worked in a tattoo shop in the East Village in NY. I was looking through the flash book — that’s the book of art that a tattoo artist has designed — and hers were based on ancient runes. That’s when I got this idea about skin runes that offered protection against demons and how neat that would be.
9 There’s a lot of dialogue about the Accords – they seem to take on more significance in this series than in The Mortal Instruments?
That’s because in The Mortal Instruments the Accords have been around for a hundred years, while in the ID books they’re new. The Accords are a fact of life for the Shadowhunters in MI, but in ID they’ve changed everything — the new generation is embracing them, but the older generation of Shadowhunters hates them. In fact, the older generation of Downworlders doesn’t like them all that much. You can draw a parallel with any sort of progressive civil rights movement — it usually takes people a while to catch up and do the right thing.
10 What do you think makes your books so compelling for adolescent (and older!) readers?
I think right now we’re seeing a real boom in fantasy and a lot of rich and compelling storytelling coming out of that. I think that fantasy has that special opportunity to be universally compelling because it’s so allegorical — people of any age can draw parallels with their own lives, because fantasy tends to touch on broad and accessible themes and concepts — coming of age, the choice between doing what’s right and what’s easy, deciding what kind of person you want to be, the connections of love and family. Teenagers can relate to the characters because they are like them, and adults can relate to the characters because who can forget what it was like to be a teenager? Who can forget their first love, first big life-changing decision, first realisation that they’re becoming an adult? These things are meaningful for everyone.
11 In The Mortal Instruments Clary was a Shadowhunter, yet in Clockwork Angel Tessa is half human, half demon – does this mean the new Infernal Devices series will focus more on the world of the Downworlders?
I think we get to hear more from the Downworlders about their perspective on Shadowhunters — we get to see the Shadowhunters from outside instead of inside and get a kind of glimpse of how scary they are! Also they treat Tessa very differently than they treated Clary, who was one of their own. Tessa has to struggle with feeling like she doesn’t belong in the world of humans, doesn’t belong in the world of Shadowhunters, yet has no idea what she’d do in the world of Downworlders either, since she was brought up believing she was human.
12 ‘Shapeshifting’ – quite a cool ability! If you could change into anyone you wanted to, who would you change into and why?
I deliberately didn’t give Tessa the power of changing into animals or inanimate objects — it has to be another human being — because I didn’t want her to have a power so strong it gave her easy outs from tough situations. Because if it were up to me, I’d totally pick animal shapeshifting — I’ve always wanted to fly so I’d kick it as a bird for a while.
13 You are writing more of The Mortal Instruments series. (yay!) Is there potential for The Infernal Devices to extend beyond three books, or will Tessa, Will and Jem’s journeys end there?
No one will believe me now, but I entirely intend for the books to end at Book Three — I’m already planning the epilogue where we find out what happens to everyone! I figure once you’ve written an epilogue, you can’t ever go back.
14 You used to write for pop culture magazines – how was that?
Really exhausting actually — we had these very weird hours because most of the day was just sitting
around waiting for tips, news or gossip to come in from the West Coast which was three hours behind us.
By the time we had stories to be written it would be 6pm and then they’d often have to be shipped out
that night. It wasn’t unusual to have a workday that went from noon to 3.00 in the morning.
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