Lois H. Gresh - The Mortal Instruments Companion: City of Bones, Shadowhunters, and the Sight: The Unauthorized Guide

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CONTENTS

WHICH IS THE BEST BOOK AND MOVIE OF ALL?

Were post-Twilight now. Vampires and werewolves are still cool, but fans are clamoring for Cassandra Clares The Mortal Instruments with all of its angels, demons, warlocks, Shadowhunters, faeries, and of course, vampires and werewolves. Romance, epic fantasy, and good versus evil: What more could you want?

And here comes the City of Bones movie, hitting theaters in August 2013. Wow. I wrote companion guides for both the Twilight and the Hunger Games series, and now Im on the edge of my seat, waiting for City of Bones. Ive analyzed all three series in detail, immersed myself in the novelsand moviesto the point of obsession. Im an incredibly huge fan of The Mortal Instruments, probably for all the reasons youre a huge fan.

This book, The Mortal Instruments CompanionCity of Bones, Shadowhunters, and the Sight: The Unauthorized Guide, gives you a lot to think about, delving into all the reasons we love this series so much. It introduces the many complexities, analyzing key characters and intricate relationships among the more than sixty characters in the first five books of The Mortal Instruments and more than thirty characters in the first two books of prequel The Infernal Devices. These books have everything: multiple plots and subplots, epic romances, intrigue, faerie tales, myths of all kinds wound together, todays world, the steampunk world, and even other dimensions. We have supernatural hunters, relationship struggles, inner conflicts, bad boys, evil mother figures, and of course, angels, demons, faeries, warlocks, vampires, and werewolves: it seems as if everythings in The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices.

According to the author, as of August 2012, the first seven books had sold more than ten million copies,

Its hard to say which of Cassandra Clares books I liked the best. Is it City of Bones, the first of The Mortal Instruments series, which introduces us to Clary Fray, Jace, Simon, the Shadowhunters, and the Downworlders? Certainly, City of Bones sucks us right into the Mortal Instruments universe. This is the book that propels ordinary teen Clary Fray into epic romance and epic fantasy battles as she learns that shes really not ordinary at all.

Is my favorite City of Ashes, in which Clary seeks a cure to her mothers magically inflicted coma while battling Valentine and figuring out who and what she is? Is it City of Glass, in which Clary goes to Idris and continues to fight Valentine, who now has two of the three Mortal Instruments? Is it City of Fallen Angels, in which Jace has nightmares about killing Clary, Simon copes with vampirism, and Sebastian takes over Jaces mind and body? Or is it the fifth book, City of Lost Souls, which has me panting for more? I absolutely cannot wait for the next book in The Mortal Instruments series.

But of course, I also like both Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince a lot, perhaps because of their steampunk Victorian London settings and cool heroine, Tessa, with her interesting ability to Change. Or maybe I like the (currently) two-book The Infernal Devices prequel because of the clockwork armies and over-the-top characters of Mrs. Dark and Mrs. Black.

Its equally hard to say if I prefer Tessa over Clary, Jace over Will, Isabelle over Jessamine; and where do Jem and Simon fit into my hierarchy of favorite characters? Choices, choices, and more choices.

As of this writing, readers anxiously await the release of City of Heavenly Fire, the sixth bookscheduled for 2014in The Mortal Instruments. Heres what Cassandra Clare says about City of Heavenly Fire : We face in Sebastian an almost unbeatable enemy, and one who knows all of their weak spots. The Shadowhunters are going to lose a lot before they can win this one. So expect a very hard-fought battle and a lot of epic romance. And of course, Clockwork Princess, the third book in The Infernal Devices, will be out in March 2013. Because Clockwork Princess will be available by the time you have this Companion Guide, I decided not to supply any teasers here. Ive read the interviews with Cassandra Clare, so I know it takes place in England and Wales, and that Tessa will have to make some decisions about whom she wants, Will or Jem. This will be a must-read book for all fans of the series. And if that werent enough, readers also anxiously await The Dark Artifices series, which will take place after The Mortal Instruments ends, with a new generation of Shadowhunters in a very different world.

THE CITY OF BONES MOVIE!

While of course Cassandra Clare wrote the City of Bones novel, the screenplay is by I. Marlene King and Jessica Postigo. During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Cassandra Clare gave the movie her full support when she commented, It was very reassuring to come on set and see everything covered in runes and replicated down to the last detail. The movie was definitely made by people who love the books and wanted to do right by them.

In this first Mortal Instruments movie, Lily Jane Collins plays the role of Clary Fray. Born in England in 1989, Lily is the daughter of musician Phil Collins and his second wife, Jill Tavelman. The actress has a stephalf sister, Joely Collins, who is also an actress, and a half brother, musician Simon Collins, from her fathers first marriage to Andrea Bertorelli. Her father had adopted Joely, whose biological father was Andrea Bertorellis first husband. In addition, when her father remarried again, this time to Orianne Cevey, Lily ended up with two half brothers, Nicholas and Matthew Collins. So she has one younger stephalf sibling, one younger half sibling, and two older half siblingsand you thought your life was complicated? A half sibling, in case youre one of the lucky few whose parents never divorced and then remarried, means you share one parent, such as a father. In Lilys case, she has a different mother from all her siblings. Okay, now Im starting to feel like Perez Hilton, so lets move on.

When she was two years old, Lily Collins appeared on the BBC program Growing Pains, and at five, she moved to Los Angeles with her mother after her parents split up.

Lily Collins returned to the small screen as a model, actually, wearing a Chanel gown on an episode of The Hills. She also made a guest star appearance on the reincarnation of 90210, having attended the same high school (Harvard Westlake in Studio City, California) as original 90210 star Tori Spelling.

She appeared with her boyfriend, actor Taylor Lautner of Twilight fame, in the 2011 movie Abduction, and then won the starring role as Snow White in Mirror Mirror, which was an interesting part for someone destined to play Clary Fray. In Mirror Mirror, Snow White duels Prince Charming and even tells him that she doesnt want to hear any more stories about heroines simpering and whimpering and falling apart during times of distress. The actress tells Alison Schwartz and Kristin Luna of People magazine that Snow White was my favorite fairy tale [growing up], and when I first read about the project, I was like, I have to get in on this. Its such an iconic character.

Speaking of Twilight and Snow White, Kristen Stewart of Twilight fame starred in Snow White and the Huntsman after Lily Collins opted out of the role. I cant quite imagine what it would have been like if theyd switched roles, with Lily Collins playing Bella Swan and Kristen Stewart playing Clary Fray. And now that Lilys no longer with Twilight s Taylor Lautner, maybe shell make room for City of Bones s Jamie Campbell Bower. Do you think?