I just finished reading Chain of Iron, book two of The Last Hours, the latest trilogy in The Shadowhunter Chronicles by Cassandra Clare. I figure it is as good as time as any to write an all-encompassing review of the many Shadowhunter books that are out there, or at least the ones I have read. If you like YA fantasy, but have somehow not read a single Shadowhunter book (there are a lot of them), or you know a teenager looking for a new book series to binge, then you may be very interested in the interconnected fantastical world that Clare has created over the span of 14 novels (that I have read so far) and several short stories and novellas.

The Shadowhunter Chronicles begins with City of Bones, book one of the six-part The Mortal Instruments series, which was first published in March 2007. It is about sixteen-year-old Clary Fray who discovers that she is a Nephilim, aka Shadowhunter. The Shadowhunters are a race of human beings who have angel blood, and they are warriors who fight demons and preside over the supernatural creatures that live in our world, such as witches and warlocks, vampires, werewolves and faeries. The Shadowhunters live among ordinary humans, known as mundanes, but they keep themselves apart from the “mundane” world. Some mundanes are aware of Shadowhunters and supernatural creatures, but for the most part ordinary humans are blissfully ignorant of the fact that they have Shadowhunters protecting them and the world.

Now, The Mortal Instruments series is not my favourite of the Shadowhunter series. The two main characters, Clary Fray and Jace Wayland, are not my favourite Shadowhunter characters and so I was not very invested in their story; however, Clare breathed new life into The Shadowhunter Chronicles with the next series, The Infernal Devices (Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince and Clockwork Princess). While The Mortal Instruments is set in 21^st century New York, The Infernal Devices is set in 19^th century London. I absolutely fell in love with this series because of the setting, the much more likeable characters, and the central love triangle (there is always at least one love triangle in these novels). The next series is The Dark Artifices (Lady Midnight, Lord of Shadows and Queen of Air and Darkness), which is set in LA about five years after The Mortal Instruments. I thought I was not going to like this series because of my feelings for The Mortal Instruments, but I ended up really enjoying it.The latest series is the one I am currently reading, The Last Hours (so far Chain of Gold and Chain of Iron), which is also set in England but in the early 20^th century. The main characters in The Last Hours are the children of the main characters from The Infernal Devices.

Cassandra Clare has created an incredibly rich world where each series builds upon the last and where the events that take place in each series are either referenced or explained in the other series. As someone who appreciates history and genealogy, I find it really interesting how the characters from all the series are related to each other. The Shadowhunter Chronicles is on par with the Harry Potter series for depth of worldbuilding, and the Chronicles has been successful (it has resulted in one movie, that unfortunately was not very good, and a more successful TV series that ran for a few seasons) but not on the same level as Harry Potter, I think because of the more mature themes. The original series is a bit tame, but each new series that is published is sexier than the last. It is like the books have grown up with the original readers.

And while Harry Potter fans are feeling conflicted about that series these days, with the lack of LGBT representation within the novels and J.K. Rowling’s recent anti-trans opinions being made very public on social media, The Shadowhunter Chronicles has always been very inclusive and has always featured gay/lesbian relationships and bisexual characters. There is even a trans character in The Dark Artifices series. There are also main characters that are not white and the central protagonist in each series is a strong female character, so there is great representation all around.

The Shadowhunters are not perfect though, as they are human after all. Their angel blood does not make them immune to the worst human traits, such as bigotry and racism. The series alternate back and forth between who the main villain is. In the present-day series, the main villains are the “evil” Shadowhunters with their own brand of neo-Nazism. They want to eradicate all Downworlders and they do not care much for mundanes either or certain other Shadowhunters. In the past, the main villains are easier to deal with as they are literal Princes of Hell who just want to destroy everyone and everything. The main characters of each series are good Shadowhunters, good Downworlders and good mundanes that do not have any prejudices against anyone, except for demons.

I have mixed feelings about the current series, The Last Hours. I feel that the Shadowhunter novels are becoming too formulaic, and I found Chain of Iron was just too dramatic, for all the wrong reasons. The characters keep too many secrets from each other and lie to each other when they do not have a good reason to lie; there are too many love triangles, and too many unnecessary obstacles keeping everyone from just being honest with each other and keeping potential couples from being together. The main villain is recycled from a previous series, but in Chain of Iron he ends up becoming a kind of not-so-important subplot.

I started reading the Shadowhunter novels in my early 20s, and 14 years later maybe it is time for me to move on from YA drama. But not before I finish The Last Hours first, of course.