Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Published on: May 27, 2007 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder - much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air.
It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing - not even a smear of blood - to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?
This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk.
Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...
It’s 2021, and I’m barely getting started with this series. I’ve seen the movie and the Shadowhunters TV show, so I’m no stranger to the Shadow World. City of Bones turned out to be more different than I expected, though. I knew they cut stuff for the show, as they inevitably do in live-action adaptations. It's just that I didn't think they would remove as many elements from the book as they did. This makes me feel that the show will seem quite rushed if I watch it again.
For the uninitiated, the protagonist is Clarissa “Clary” Fray. She’s a fifteen-year-old redheaded girl from Brooklyn. Clary lives in an apartment with her mother, Jocelyn. We meet Clary when she visits a club, Pandemonium, with her best friend Simon Lewis. He’s your chess club type of geek and member of a yet-unnamed band. Simon normally doesn’t do clubs, but he puts up because of Clary. It’s apparent from the start how much they mean to each other. Soon, it starts to become obvious Simon has romantic feelings for Clary. She is totally oblivious to this.
The duo have no idea their lives are about to change forever. Clary spots a blond guy around her age following another guy into a secluded area. When he draws a weapon, Clary follows them both. The scene she comes upon is not what she was expecting. The blond guy, Jace, is now joined by two friends, Isabelle and Alec. The guy whom Jace followed turns out to be a demon. Clary reveals herself, which shocks Jace and the others. She’s not supposed to be able to see them.
Clary (and the reader) soon learns what’s going on. Jace sees no problem in divulging his secrets to her. He, Alec, and Isabelle are Shadowhunters, angel/human hybrids. They protect the world from demons. Regular humans (whom they call “mundanes”) can’t see Shadowhunters, demons, or other Shadow World creatures. From this, it’s not hard to guess Clary either has the Sight or is unknowingly a supernatural being. Clary absorbs all this information with barely any effort. This couldn’t help but feel a bit convenient. Some guy who claims to be invisible tells you that demons, vampires, fairies, and other creatures exist? Clary didn’t show the slightest doubt. Granted, Simon entered at the last moment and could see no one except Clary.
Still, the ease with which Clary wrapped her head around the Shadow World made less sense in the book than the show. If you've seen it, Jocelyn's expanded role changes a lot of things. Book Jocelyn tells Clary nothing. She’s determined to keep the Shadow World out of their lives for some reason. Jocelyn does get kidnapped, though. Luckily, Jace is there to save Clary when she runs into danger. She wakes up in the local Shadowhunter Institute days later. Jace’s allies aren’t sure she should linger there, thinking she’s a mundane. Jace tells them he strongly suspects Clary is a Shadowhunter.
The rest of the book deals with Clary’s two main goals: finding and rescuing Jocelyn, and unlocking her blocked memories. She finds out at one point that someone magically sealed off her awareness of the Shadow World. Clary remains alongside the Shadowhunters, seemingly on her way to become one of them. Does this mean Simon is sidelined? Fans of this character will be pleased to learn he sticks around. And Simon won’t be completely useless despite being a mundane. Incidentally, he also takes the news of the Shadow World in stride. This at least makes life easier for Jace and his group. There are plenty of battles throughout the novel, more than in the show. The magic system is also cool and original. Shadowhunters use stylus-esque tools called steles to draw angelic runes on their skin. There are several runes, and each has a specific magical effect, like giving the user night vision or rendering them faster.
Some reviews complain that City of Bones does too much worldbuilding. I didn’t mind this; it was entertaining to learn about the Shadow World. The supernatural creatures that exist include werewolves, vampires, warlocks, and fairies. Yes, that last one is the proper term for their kind. I watched the show and wondered why they called them “seelies”. Clary, Simon, and Jace don’t change that much in this book. It’s only the first entry of the series, though. All in all, City of Bones was a good book. It could have been better, but it definitely didn’t disappoint. I’m going to continue this series. It already looks like it might be better than the show, at least.
My rating: ★★★★ 1/2
4.5 stars - A fantastic page-turner!
No comments:
Post a Comment