With thanks to Keighley_Reads for our first Fantasy Fiction Focus!

For as long as I can remember, well since ‘adulthood’, when people have asked who my favourite author is, the answer has always been Cassandra Clare. Most people are unsure who she is and what she writes, so I try to explain it, but it is often hard to describe and complex in nature – she has written many books. Her genre is always fantasy/young adult but not Dragons like Rebecca Yarros and not spicy like Sarah J Maas. If you’re a newer fan of Cassandra Clare, you may know her from her recent work – The Chronicles of Castellane Series, which includes ‘Swordcatcher’ and recently published, ‘The Ragpicker King’. Below is a guide to the various series and books that Cassandra has published.

A standout author, where I don’t find there isn’t anything really similar to her world, Cassandra Clare is a must read for any fan of young adult fantasy. Don’t forget, Tea Leaves & Reads can order in any of the titles if they don’t routinely stock the full series!

The Chronicles of Castellane Series

The Chronicles of Castellane is a high fantasy series about a young man raised to be the body double for an unworthy prince, a young woman destined to change the world, and a host of other characters: criminals, princes, magicians, and warriors.

• Sword Catcher
• The Ragpicker King
• The Bone Conjurers (coming soon)

In the vibrant city-state of Castellane, Kel is an orphan, stolen from his old impoverished life to become Prince Conor Aurelian’s body-double. As his ‘Sword Catcher’, he and Conor will become as close as brothers. Yet Kel lives for one purpose: to die for Conor. Lin Caster is an Ashkar physician, part of a community ostracized for its rare magical abilities. After a failed assassination attempt pulls her and Kel together, they are drawn into the web of the mysterious Ragpicker King, who rules Castellane’s criminal underworld.

The Mortal Instruments Series (set in 2007 Manhattan)

Cassandra Clare’s (real name Judith Lewis) most sold books are the Mortal Instruments Series of novels about the Shadowhunters. A series of interconnected young adult fantasy books, City of Bones is the first and was published in 2007. They follow demon hunters (either in London, LA or Manhattan, depending on the series) in their quest to rid the world of various monsters and villains. At Tea Leaves & Reads we stock book one in the series and can order in any of the rest in once you’ve got addicted to them…

• City of Bones
• City of Ashes
• City of Glass
• City of Fallen Angels
• City of Lost Souls
• City of Heavenly Fire

Clary Fray’s search for her missing mother leads her into an alternate New York called the Downworld, filled with mysterious faeries, hard partying warlocks, not-what-they-seem vampires, an army of werewolves, and the demons who want to destroy it all. She also finds herself torn between two boys – her best friend Simon and the mysterious Shadowhunter, Jace. She becomes a part of a secret world of the Shadowhunters ad as she does, she discovers that rescuing her mother might mean jeopardizing everything the Shadowhunters work for.

The Infernal Devices Series (set in Victorian London)

The Infernal Devices are often called a prequel series to the Mortal Instruments, but only because they take place in an earlier time period and contain some of the Mortal Instruments’ characters’ ancestors. You don’t have to read the Mortal Instruments before The Infernal Devices. You don’t have to read the The Infernal Devices before The Mortal Instruments. You can read them in any order.

• Clockwork Angel
• Clockwork Prince
• Clockwork Princess

Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series. Sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother. Her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London’s Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural fold stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order admist the chaos’. 

The Dark Artifices Series (set in 2012 Los Angeles)

The Dark Artifices is a trilogy written by Cassandra Clare. The series is chronologically the fourth series in The Shadowhunter Chronicles and a sequel to The Mortal Instruments. It is set in Los Angeles. The series consists of the following three books:

• Lady Midnight
• Lord of Shadows
• Queen of Air and Darkness

It’s been five years since the events of the Mortal Instruments and Shadowhunter, Emma Carstairs, lost her parents. Emma is paired as Parabatai with her best friend, Julian. As Emma hunts those who caused the death of her parents, the trail they’re following leads back to those they’ve always been taught to trust. At the same time, Emma is falling in love with the one person in the world she is absolutely forbidden by Shadowhunter Law to love. Set against a glittering backdrop of present-day Los Angeles, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot.

The Last Hours Series (set in 1903 London)

The Last Hours is a Shadowhunters series set in 1903. It deals with the next generation after Will, Tessa and Jem as well as Charlotte and Henry’s children, Tatiana Blackthorn’s children, the Lightwood kids, and many more. 1903 is right around the time the Victorian era tips over into the Edwardian era — beautiful clothes, fabulous history and so much more.

• Chain of Gold
• Chain of Iron
• Chain of Thorns

Cordelia Carstairs is a Shadowhunter, a warrior trained since childhood to battle demons. When her father is accused of a terrible crime, she and her brother travel to London in hopes of preventing the family’s ruin. Cordelia’s mother wants to marry her off, but Cordelia is determined to be a hero rather than a bride. Soon Cordelia encounters childhood friends James and Lucie Herondale and is drawn in to their world of glittering ballrooms, secret assignations, and supernatural salons, where vampires and warlocks mingle with mermaids and magicians….