City of Bones (Clare novel)

Plot

Fifteen-year-old Clary Fray goes to the club with her best friend, Simon Lewis, where she sees a blue haired boy and a black haired girl sneak into a storeroom, pursued by two other boys; one armed with what appears to be a knife. She sends Simon for help and herself follows the group into the storeroom, where she witnesses the blue haired "boy" being killed; whereupon he vanishes from the room, with the explanation that demons "return to their home dimensions when they die." Simon enters the storeroom with the bouncer in tow and questions why she is there alone; and realizing no one else can see the others, she mumbles an apology.

When she returns home, her mother, Jocelyn, scolds her for staying out so late. The next day, Jocelyn announces that they are moving from New York City to the country for the summer where Jocelyn's best friend, Luke, has a house. Clary, upset by the unexpected move, confides in Simon that she knows almost nothing about her mother or her entire family. Simon mentions seeing thin, white scars on Jocelyn's back and shoulders, but Clary dismisses this. They go to a poetry reading where Clary sees Jace, one of the boys she saw, who privately tells Clary about demon-hunters, called Shadowhunters or Nephilim, and claims Clary is not a mundane (ordinary human). Clary answers a call from Jocelyn, who frantically warns her not to come home and to tell Luke that "he" has found her. The call ends abruptly. After failure to telephone back, Clary returns to her house and finds it in disarray, with her mother gone. She is attacked by another demon, which she kills with Jace's sensor; and Jace brings Clary to the "institute": the local headquarters of the Shadowhunters, where she is introduced to two other hunters, Isabelle and Alec, and the tutor, Hodge. Jace and Clary return to Clary's house and meet her neighbor, who has a teleportation portal. To find her mother, Clary, followed by Jace, rushes through the portal, and they land at Luke's bookstore and find Simon, in search of Clary. The three hide inside the store. Luke returns with two men, Pangborn and Blackwell, whom Valentine sent to interrogate Luke about the Mortal Cup: a talisman sought by both parties. Luke claims ignorance of where Jocelyn hid the Mortal Cup, and refuses to negotiate with them or interfere with Valentine's plans. Clary and Jace, accompanied by Simon, tell Hodge what they learned, and Hodge tells them about the Circle: a group of Shadowhunters that Valentine formed to eliminate all Downworlders (vampire, werewolves, faeries, warlocks, and others), which Jocelyn, Valentine's wife, was forced to join. Clary and Jace go to the Silent City to speak to the Silent Brothers, who tell them that a block in her mind prevents her from remembering the Shadow World; itself placed by Magnus Bane. Isabelle meanwhile has found an invitation in the demon's pocket (the one that Jace had killed at the Pandemonium Club), to a warlock's party hosted by Magnus Bane. At the party, Clary meets Magnus Bane, who says his spell is too complex to remove but will fade naturally if it is not re-enforced every two years, and was placed at the behest of Jocelyn. During the party, Simon ignores Isabelle's warning and drinks a blue liquid that transforms him into a rat. Vampires take him thinking Simon was one of their own; but Clary and Jace rescue him, and restore him to human form. That night, Jace takes Clary to the Institute's greenhouse on a midnight picnic to celebrate Clary's sixteenth birthday.

As her memories emerge, Clary deduces that the Mortal Cup is hidden in one of Madame Dorothea's tarot cards. Clary retrieves the Cup, but a demon possessed Madame Dorothea attempts to take it. Aided by Simon, they escape and return to the Institute where Hodge hands over the Cup and an unconscious Jace to Valentine. Hodge flees, pursued by Clary. Hodge attacks her in an alleyway, but she is unexpectedly saved by Luke, who is a werewolf. While Luke's werewolf pack attack Valentine's followers, Clary locates her mother, who is unconscious, and also finds Jace, who says Valentine identified Jace himself as his son; this dismays both Jace and Clary. Valentine entices Jace to return to Idris with him. Jace refuses, and Valentine escapes through a portal with the Cup, smashing the portal behind him.

Characters

Shadowhunter

A secret association that is responsible for tracking down, capturing and eliminating all Demons. This specific group is a combination of the Angel Raziel's blood and Human blood, also known as Nephilim, which allows them to wield angelic blades and draw runes onto their skin with love and honor

Reception

Critical reception for City of Bones was mostly positive, with Publishers Weekly calling the book "a compelling story". Teen Ink gave a mixed review, stating that the book was "addicting" [sic] but that parts of the book were quite predictable. The School Library Journal also criticized the book's predictability, but wrote that "Despite the narrative flaws, this version of New York, full of Buffyesque teens who are trying to save the world, is entertaining and will have fantasy readers anxiously awaiting the next book in the series."

Film adaptation

The film adaptation was released August 21, 2013, directed by Harald Zwart and starring Lily Collins as Clary Fray and Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace Wayland. The film was shot in Toronto and New York.

Allusions to other works

In the novel, Cassandra Clare includes references to the works of Holly Black, who is a friend of Clare's.

She also includes references to the works of Philip Reeve, whose works Mortal Engines and Infernal Devices she drew inspiration from. Her inclusion of the antagonist Valentine, who is later revealed to be the father of Clary, is a nod to Philip Reeve's antagonist in Mortal Engines of the same name, who is also discovered to be the father of one of the main characters.