City of Ashes

[sawyl]

The second of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments novels, City of Ashes, is set a shortly after the end of the first book which saw rogue shadowhunter Valentine Morgenstern escape with the Mortal Cup. The principal characters — Clarissa Fray, Alec and Isabelle Lightwood, Jace Wayland, and Simon Lewis — are still reeling form the emotional shocks of the first novel, not the least of which is the revelation that neither Clary's nor Jace's parentage is as they'd always believed it to be.

Valentine's campaign against the Clave — the shadowhunters' ruling body — is far from over following his theft of the Mortal Cup. Having bound a formidable demon to cause he sets about stealing Maellartach, the Mortal Sword, from the Silent Brothers and doing something that that seems to require the blood of a number of downworlder children. Having discovered in the previous book that his father, the man he thought was Michael Wayland, was actually a cover identity adopted by Valentine following the failure of the Circle's rebellion against the Clave, Jace now finds himself the focus of the investigative ire of Inquisitor Imogen Herondale. But the Inquisitor is the least of Jace's worries: he's far more concerned by the discovery that this newly discovered connection makes his love for Clary positively incestuous.

With Jace apparently out of the emotional picture Simon Lewis, an old friend of Clary's who has been in love with her for most of his life, tries to make a go of their relationship only to be stymied by the vengeful actions of the local fairy queen. As if that wasn't enough, Simon finds himself being pulled toward the local vampire lair and has started to suspect that he might have been affected by his brief time there during City of Bones. Meanwhile Clary and Luke, her mother's friend, are greatly concerned by Jocelyn's continued unconsciousness — a coma that has persisted since her imprisonment at the hands of her husband.

Events come to a head when the Inquisitor spectacularly misjudges Valentine's intentions, leaving the shadowhunters floundering and directionless. Stepping into the void Jace and Clary, with the help of Luke, Simon, the younger Lightwoods, and the New York werewolf pack, decide to strike against Valentine before he can complete his ritual with the Mortal Sword. In order to do so, they call upon the help of the warlock Magnus Bane — Alec Lightwood's sometime boyfriend — and Clary digs deep to discover a hither-to unknown and unique talent for the manipulation of Marks — supernatural symbols used by the shadowhunters to manipulate reality.

As with Clare's first novel in the series, City of Ashes cracks along at a ferocious pace, with the moments of character development integrated into the plot so seamlessly that they don't slow down the narrative drive. The Inquisitor makes an interesting antagonist not least because although she behaves appallingly towards the lead characters, consistently misreading the situation and ultimately pushing them into harm's way, her reasons are comprehensible and realistic; having suffered a profound loss at the hands of Valentine, she attempts to place him in the same situation, unable to see that he is a narcissistic psychopath willing to sacrifice anyone and anything to reach his goal.

The great character shock of the first book — the shared parentage of Jace and Clary — fits well with the rest of the storyline: after all, if Jocelyn Frey managed to convince the world that she and her daughter died fifteen years ago, then why couldn't her husband have done the same? And had he done so, then it would have made sense for him to masquerade as a former member of his own Circle, raising his son to believe in their cover identity. Obviously, this results in a great deal of angst as the two main leads struggle to convert their romantic love into sibling affection but without a great deal of success.

The book also starts to lay the groundwork for events to come: Simon's transformation into a vampire; Jocelyn Frey's on-going coma; Luke's status as head of the local werewolf chapter; and the discovery that Clary may be more than she initially seems. The Inquisitor and some of the other senior shadowhunters indicate the Clave may not be a great force for good, suggesting that Valentine's initial reforming zeal, which seems to have done much to attract the early members of his Circle, may not have been entirely misplaced.