Anxiously awaited as it has been by fans the world over it does not disappoint and certainly lives up to it’s tagline ‘can the lost be reclaimed?’ We get an in depth look at each characters relationships with others, be it siblings or loved ones, to have loved and lost and to be on the brink of loss. The Seelie Queen, who we have seen more than once before in the books, makes the following remark to Clary, ‘For as is often the happenstance with that which is precious and lost, when you find him again, he may well not be quite as you left him.’ which really sets the tone for the whole book.
There are a series of scenes that expand on the fantasy element of the series, exploring Angels and Demons and their involvement with the Nephilim/Shadowhunters in ways we haven’t seen before. The Nephilim are race of humans whose blood has been mixed with that of the angel Raziel who are tasked with keeping demons from the world and to act as the law for downworlders including vampires, lycanthropes (both demon-originated diseases), faeries (part demon, part angel) and warlocks (infertile, half human, half demon which exaggerated life spans). While all the while keeping this fantastical world a secret from mundanes, aka regular human beings.
Also the book doesn’t just focus on one character, or get lost in a whirlwind of romance culminating in Clary sulking after Jace, who disappeared along with the body of her brother Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern, who had previously posed as Sebastian Verlac, at the end of City of Fallen Angels. Instead we get to see Clary being pro-active and really coming into her own as a Shadowhunter in her own right being her usual hot-headed impulsive self.
In the first two weeks after Jace’s disappearance he is the Clave’s top priority but for them it’s more about finding Sebastian/Jonathan. However, after two weeks the Clave has to re-prioritize but the same can’t be said for Clary. Questioned extensively about her brother by the Clave in the wake of his re-appearance she was banned from helping with the search. A woman on a mission she recruits Isabelle and Alec Lightwood (Jace’s adoptive family) along with Simon and Magnus (High Warlock of Brooklyn and currently dating Alec) to help her with the search.
Attempting to secure help from the Seelie Queen Clary catches site of her brother and Jace stealing books from the New York Institue’s library and rather than finding Jace, he finds her. With the help of two faery wrought rings she is able to keep in contact with Simon mentally when she goes off with Jace and Jonathan in an attempt to find out if Jace can be saved from the bond binding him to her brother. But those she left behind do not sit idle.
‘We are bound, cut him and I bleed.’
Magnus, Simon and the Lightwoods look for a weapon that will destroy the bond between Jace and Jonathan and they’ll go to some pretty extreme lengths to get it. We even get a look into the mysterious Praetor Lupus, an organisation of trained werewolves who specialize in the inducting of new downworlders or hunting down rogue ones as is the case with Marueen, a young fan of Simon and his band who was turned into a vampire and used to lure him into danger in City of Fallen Angels. We also get a glimpse that something far bigger than just the search for Jace is brewing behind the scenes.
The pacing is good, the action never stops and there are well placed breaks between characters so you’re easily able to keep pace with what each set of characters is doing at different points in time. There’s also a healthy smattering of Clare’s trademark humour and spoon full of sugar’s worth of sarcasm all building up to a well written and easy to follow battle scene where Jonathan’s newly rallied forces clashes with Jace’s rescue party. Often you find fight scenes glossed over or such a jumble of movements and characters that you’re unable to follow what’s really going on and the impact is lost. Not here.
More than once my heart stopped while reading as more than one character faces tests of character, endurance and immediate threats to their respective health. Lovingly smoothed over by snatches of happiness but really a lot of the book is about internal conflict. Coming to terms with yourself, your relationships with others, how your decisions affect them and the consequences of making decisions on their behalf. The theme of family is rigorously explored and demonstrated not just with Simon who has been tossed out of his home by his mother when she discovered he was a vampire, his front door bedecked in symbols to ward him off, who then finds him in a difficult position with his sister Rebecca caught between the two. We see the Lightwoods falling apart behind closed doors and how that affects Alec and Izzy, how it’s shaped them into who they are today and how they mean to go on and finding the strength to carry on the search for their adoptive brother who has been, essentially, kidnapped by the very man who murdered their youngest brother Max.
But perhaps most interestingly we get a real incite to the relationship, if it can be called that, between Jace, Clary and Jonathan. Clary who met and fell in love with Jace, who for most of book 2 and 3 believed he was her brother and society said her love was sick and wrong but did nothing to dampen her feelings for Jace. Who found out that the brother, who her mother had cried over annually on his birthday believing him dead, was alive and packing a punch. A brother she feels no familial connection to. Jace who believed Valentine who raised him was his true father only to find out he was one of two boys raised by Valentine and that Jonathan had known all about him but not vise versa. Who mourns Valentine’s death despite his cruelties whereas Clary, whose Valentine’s daughter by blood, didn’t even cry for him. Finally Jonathan, who grew up knowing of Jace, knowing that Jace was competition and knowing that somewhere he had a sister and can’t seem to understand why she doesn’t love him. Which raises the complicated issue whether blood makes you family, or love?
There are also hints towards characters for the sequel series that Clare has mentioned on more than one occasion, The Dark Artifices. Along with mentions of objects and names familiar to those who have read the prequel series, The Infernal Devices, with two out of three books released so far, Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince, with Clockwork Princess to follow.
Well thought out, well paced and thoroughly entertained. A highly recommended series for anyone looking to step outside your typical werewolf-centric, vampire-centric or angel-and-demon-centric fantasy story. Combining all of these fantastical elements in an original blend of fun and action.
If I had to sum up City of Lost Souls in one word, it would be Glorious.
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