Cassandra Clare's Books - Where to start?

So... last week I wrote a discussion post about The Hatred Towards Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunters books, and it made me wonder: Cassandra really does have many books in the shadowhunters world. 

For a hardcore fan who's already anticipating the next book, it won't look confusing at all. But for someone who wants to enter the dangerous and humorous world of shadowhunting, it may be a bit intimidating as to where to even begin. 

And so, I bring you the post that will - hopefully - make sense of things.
I'll start with naming the series\trilogies in the shadowhunters world (So far. But I think this time it's a finalized list) and will finish with tips of the order in which you should\can read the books. 

Without pulling you by the sleeve too long - because I can already see your eyes glazing - let's get straight to it ;) 

The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

You can check out the books on goodreads here. You can also check out my experience and thoughts about TMI here.

There are six books in the series and they all follow the same cast of characters, with our protagonist, Clary, in charge. 

From the end of the Third book (City of Glass),, however, they start to intersect with: 

The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

Taking place in the shadowhunters world, 100 years prior to the events of The Mortal Instruments, this trilogy follows our protagonist Tessa as she weaves her way through the traitorous world of shadowhunting in Victorian London.

You can check out the books on goodreads here. 

How do this trilogy and books 4-6 of TMI intersect, you ask? I mean, they do take place 100 years apart (and no, there is no time travel involved). Well, I can't tell you - that would be some major spoilers. All I can say is that the epicness of it beyond words. 

The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare

It looks weird right now without the covers, but TDA is going to be a trilogy. 

Taking place 5 years after the events of the last book of The Mortal Instuments, we follow a new cast of character we previously met in the last book of TMI.
A girl named Emma and a boy named Julian are two of them. And that's all I'm going to say on the matter. 

You can check out the books on goodreads here.
You can also check out my review of Lady Midnight - if you want - here.

The Last Hours by Cassandra Clare

Nope, no covers to any of them so far. 

Taking place 20-something years after the events of The Infernal Devices trilogy, this trilogy follows a cast of characters who are the children of those from The Infernal Devices.
And... I can't say anything else about it. 

You can check those books out on goodreads here. 

Also, just like with TMI & TID, The Last Hours (TLH) & The Dark Artifices (TDA) are going to intersect. I have no idea how, but I'm so excited to find out. 

The Wicked Powers by Cassandra Clare

This trilogy doesn't even have titles for the books, or a year of publication date.
Granted, considering they're going to get published after TDA and TLH. 

So this trilogy will take place 3 years after the events of The Dark Artifices and will follow two male protagonists - who so happen to be gay - which we will meet in TDA. 

Cassandra has featured LGBT elements with some of the side characters in her books, but this is the first time she's going to take it into main character level.
I'm really looking forward to this one. 

You can check the books on goodreads here. 

And the final (I think) addition is:

The Eldest Curses by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu

It's my understanding that the combination of them is going to destroy us with feels.

I never read any books by Wesley Chu, but I expect no less from Cassandra Clare. And apparently, Wesley Chu is even more ruthless on that front.
What do they have in store for us? I do not know. 

Whatever it is, I can't wait.
My reaction was of pure joy when I heard of this trilogy.
Though I absolutely would have wanted to see Cassie collaborating with Rick Riordan. It's been my dream for a long time now. Can you even begin imagine the awesomeness of it? The world might explode. 

You can check the books out here.

Also (I almost forgot):

The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare & Sarah Rees Brennan

& Maureen Johnson & Cassandra Jean

A collection of short stories - turned into a whole book - about the exceptional wizard Magnus Bane (who appears in TMI, TID and also TDA. Basically, everywhere, because there isn't any fun if Magnus is not around *wink-wink*) on his adventures through time. 

You can check the book \ the collection of short stories out here.

And yes, this book is part of the shadowhunters world. Not to mention, it gives us some very interesting information on The Last Hours trilogy (!). Oh, and, full of spoilers of what took place in The Infernal Devices trilogy, so... don't jump into this book without reading them first, okay?  

Also, there is another collection of short stories called Tales From the Shadowhunters Academy. But it gives way too many serious spoilers for what took place in the last book of TMI. So you shouldn't even check it out if you haven't read those books.

So, now that we have all the books present, where dos one even begin to read them all? Well, chronologically speaking, it goes: TID, TLH, TMI, TDA and TWP.
But just like with the x-men movies, watching them chronologically doesn't really work out. Especially considering all the delicate intersections, mystery here and there and overall epicness. 

Basically speaking, the books should be read the way they come out: 

City of Bones
City of Ashes
City of glass
Clockwork angel
City of Fallen Angels
Clockwork prince
City of lost souls
Clockwork princess
City of heavenly fire
The Bane Chronicles
Tales from the shadowhunters academy
Lady Midnight
Lord of Shadows 

But, I know a lot of people who didn't like The Mortal Instruments yet absolutely loved The infernal devices.
There is no right or wrong. It's just my preferred way. You can read TMI or TID on their own and still enjoy them to their full extent. Don't feel obliged to read all the books if you don't want to (though I highly suggest you do because... well, they are amazing).  

On the other hand, when it comes to The Bane Chronicles, Tales from the shadowhunters Academy and Lady Midnight, there are some serious spoilers to both TID and TMI.
You won't understand The Bane Chronicles, Tales from the shadowhunters academy and Lady Midnight without reading both TID and TMI first. 

About TDA, TLH, TWP and Magnus Bane Adult Trilogy... It's my understanding It's going to go something like this: The first two books in The Dark Artifices trilogy, the first book in The Last Hours trilogy, the third book in The Dark Artifices trilogy, books two and three in The Last Hours trilogy.

The Magnus Bane adult trilogy is supposed to come out somewhere between them.

And the wicked powers? It's a looong long way from now. Those books are probably going to get published after all the other trilogies. Which means... If Cassandra Clare won't collapse in exhaustion (Seriously, does she even sleep?), it's going to be somewhere around 2022.
*The future*
Doesn't 2022 sound super futurey? 

So, you see, it's all rather very complicated.
I hope I didn't manage to confuse you even more. I have a feeling I confused you even more. Sorry about that. Hope it helped you in some way (: 

Until then...

AnoHana - Last Train Home

"Books may will be the only true magic."  

-- Alice Hoffman