The Mortal Instruments (Urban Fantasy)

Kudos’s to New York Times Best Selling Author, Cassandra Clare. “The Mortal Instruments Series” was awesome. 5 stars! I just finished reading the last installment, “The City of Heavenly Fire.” She does an excellent job of tying it all together; referencing previous items or events. Everyone’s stories tie up and others are just beginning. Yes, there will be a new series and yes, I will be reading it.

“The City of Heavenly Fire” (* Spoiler Alert*)

A rune that appeared to Clary in “The City of Bones” reappeared to her periodically and it is what she used to contain the heavenly fire. And yes, she did finally lose her virginity.

There were a lot of unexpected events in the last installment. Of course Sebastian and his army were the villains. There was downworlder betrayal. Mia and Simon both had special moments; not together mind you. Of course good wins over evil, but evil is never done.

The downworlder betrayal will extend into the next series and I can’t wait. By the way, we meet Magnus’ father in the “City of Heavenly Fire,” but it definitely had a price. Also, Simon and Isabel finally DTR’ed; for it to be snatched away again. Read it and find out the details.

If I had to point out a flaw/con, for me it would be the oasis (my definition) in the demon realm. Besides moments of bliss, what was its significance? I was expecting it to be used for something special, for them to go back there after they realized their dilemma. 

Anyway, good book overall. I would definitely recommend.

“The City of Bones”: Movie vs. Book

Now, what I don’t understand is how such a good book could do so bad as a movie. Granted, I liked the movie when I 1^st watched it. It’s what motivated me to read the book; I had to find out if they were brother and sister. Since the movie was 1^st for me, most of the characters look the same in my imagination. Except for:

§  Magnus looking a little more Asian then movie betrayed.

§  Isabel looking younger and daintier then the movie betrayed.

§  And of course Valentine who has light hair (almost white) in the book vs. the dark haired Valentine of the movie.

Events and concepts are even changed/altered in the movie. Differences include:

§  Simon being forcibly taken in the movie as a bargaining tool for the cup vs. him turning into a rat in the book and then mistaken for a vampire and taken back to their lair by accident.

§  In the movie all 4 shadowhunters enter the lair to retrieve Simon, whereas, the book only has Jace and Clary entering the lair to retrieve Simon (who is still a rat). This is also were Raphael (important vampire) is introduced. He reappears in later books, but is never mentioned in the movies.

§  When the werewolves came to assist at the vampire lair, Clary stabs Luke, but in the book it is Alaric that she stabs

§  Also the motorcycle that is driven away at the end…That was supposed to be a vampire motorcycle identical to the one that Jace and Clary (with Simon in pocket) drove off of the vampire lair’s roof; yes, it flies.

§  The movie shows demons entering the Institute and the portal being there as well, whereas, the book has the portal at a different location; Renwick’s, I believe. The fight is at this location and the wolves fight forsaken not demons.

§  At the end of the movie, Clary has the cup in the storage card. In the book, the card disappears as soon as Clary removes the cup from it. The book also ends with Valentine still in possession of the Mortal Cup.

While I’m looking forward to the next movie installment, I hope that they improve the story line making it closer to the book with a lot less deviations; I only listed a few from “The City of Bones.” “The City of Ashes” is rumored to come out in 2015. Now that everyone has read the books the criticisms will probably be harsher. Like I stated earlier, I liked the movie until I read the book. Will I go see “The City of Ashes” when/if it comes out? Of course. I just hope that I’m not going to be disappointed. 

Image and excerpt from: http://www.cassandraclare.com/

Cassandra Clare writes urban fantasy novels for young adults centering on the adventures of the part-angel demon-fighting Nephilim (also called Shadowhunters). Her first series, set in New York, is called The Mortal Instruments. It’s a six-book series starting with City of Bones, followed by City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels and City of Lost Souls. The sixth book, City of Heavenly Fire, ends the series. Her second series is The Infernal Devices, set in Victorian London: Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince,and Clockwork Princess. And the third Shadowhunters series is The Dark Artifices, set in Los Angeles, centering on the characters Julian Blackthorn and Emma Carstairs from City of Heavenly Fire, five years after the events of that book.