With the release of Chain of Gold only 20 days away, some Shadowhunter fans are gearing up rereading The Infernal Devices series, arguably the beginning of it all. Will, Tessa, Jem, Charlotte, Henry, and Jessamine are the characters that make up the generation before The Last Hours trilogy. With the second book in The Infernal Devices series, Clockwork Prince, fans uncover the deeper plot of the Magister, while the relationships holding the Shadowhunters and Tessa together get much more complicated.
Cassandra Clare is an American author with an adventurous childhood, advantageously applied to her fantasy collection The Shadowhunter Chronicles. She began her writing career in 2004, with City of Bones, the first book in the six-book series The Mortal Instruments. Since then, the Shadowhunter world has exploded, with spinoff trilogies The Infernal Devices, The Dark Artifices, and The Last Hours. With such a vast world of fantasy, it's easy to get lost. Here, I will be reviewing Clockwork Prince, the second book in The Infernal Devices trilogy. If you find yourself interested in learning more about the Shadow World, click here for more information on where to begin. If you're interested in more of my reviews of Cassandra Clare's work, you can find them all here.
Clockwork Prince opens with Will, our favorite mystery Shadowhunter, working closely with Magnus Bane, the warlock, to cure Will of a curse. While Will is with Magnus (among other places), Tessa and Jem have grown much closer, as friends and potential romantic partners. However, a Shadowhunter reveals himself as an enemy of the Institute, and another Shadowhunter reveals herself as yet another spy against the Institute. Somehow, the Shadowhunters of the London Institute will have to find the evil Magister if they want to remain at the Institute. None of this is going to come easily.
Clockwork Prince opens with Will, our favorite mystery Shadowhunter, working closely with Magnus Bane, the warlock, to cure Will of a curse. While Will is with Magnus (among other places), Tessa and Jem have grown much closer, as friends and potential romantic partners. However, a Shadowhunter reveals himself as an enemy of the Institute, and another Shadowhunter reveals herself as yet another spy against the Institute. Somehow, the Shadowhunters of the London Institute will have to find the evil Magister if they want to remain at the Institute. None of this is going to come easily.
Trilogies are hard - somehow, Cassandra Clare makes them look easy. While the plot thickens, so to speak, sometimes character relationships are developed to the full wanting of the audience - or the prose falls short. None of these occur in Clockwork Prince: in fact, a large portion of the novel is dedicated to Tessa's confusion about Will and Jem; Sophie's decisions with Gideon Lightwood; and Jessamine's relationship with Nate. The plot does thicken, with the uncovering of so many mysteries as the Shadowhunters start to understand the extent to the Magister's plotting, and their role in it all. And as far as the prose goes, it all makes readers want to read more, excited to flip the page to see what exactly happens next.
In my review of Clockwork Angel, I hinted at the deep friendship that was just beginning to form between Tessa, Jem, and Will. With Clockwork Prince, readers begin to understand the full depths of Jem's and Will's parabatai bond, and what each boy will do for each other. It's true, that Jem and Tessa start to develop feelings for one another with their increased alone time as Will if off to hopefully fix his curse. But, naturally, that doesn't stop Will from endlessly confusing Tessa about her feelings: can she love both boys equally, in different ways? Is there room in the world for a relationship like theirs? As the walls around the Institute go up to protect them, the walls around Will start coming down, showing what kind of man he truly is. I hesitate to call this a love triangle because it is much more complicated than that, especially because Will and Jem are tied like brothers the way they are. The ending of Clockwork Prince also shows readers the extent of that bond, and what they are each willing to do for one another, even if it hurts.
One of the most magical parts about the Shadow World is the complexity of the world itself, and how it teaches modern day readers to understand the complexities reflected in the world around them. In 1878 London, there is not a lot of equality among races, genders, and working classes. Clare begins to show up the deeper discriminatory divides that exist among the Shadow World, too. There is the clear superiority that exists among the Shadowhunters, who believe they are better than any of the species of the Downworld (vampires, werewolves, and warlocks), but how that is being challenged by Tessa's existences, who might be a mix of the two. Charlotte, as head of the London Institute, faces scrutiny under the government of the Shadowhunters for "ineffectively" running the Institute - scrutiny that, had she been a man, characters agree she wouldn't be facing. As the Magister's goal becomes clear to rid the world of Shadowhunters, the divides between Shadowhunters, and the divides between Shadowhunters and the Downworld, need to close so they can fight against the common enemy, the biggest threat they've ever seen. Will they be able to do it? We will only find out in the last book in the trilogy, Clockwork Princess.
If you're interested in more of my reviews on the books from the Shadowhunter Chronicles, you can find them all here.
*This review is also published on my Goodreads page*
One of the most magical parts about the Shadow World is the complexity of the world itself, and how it teaches modern day readers to understand the complexities reflected in the world around them. In 1878 London, there is not a lot of equality among races, genders, and working classes. Clare begins to show up the deeper discriminatory divides that exist among the Shadow World, too. There is the clear superiority that exists among the Shadowhunters, who believe they are better than any of the species of the Downworld (vampires, werewolves, and warlocks), but how that is being challenged by Tessa's existences, who might be a mix of the two. Charlotte, as head of the London Institute, faces scrutiny under the government of the Shadowhunters for "ineffectively" running the Institute - scrutiny that, had she been a man, characters agree she wouldn't be facing. As the Magister's goal becomes clear to rid the world of Shadowhunters, the divides between Shadowhunters, and the divides between Shadowhunters and the Downworld, need to close so they can fight against the common enemy, the biggest threat they've ever seen. Will they be able to do it? We will only find out in the last book in the trilogy, Clockwork Princess.
If you're interested in more of my reviews on the books from the Shadowhunter Chronicles, you can find them all here.
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