The Mortal Instruments is a series of six young adult fantasy books written by American author Cassandra Clare. The final book in the series was published on May 27, 2014. Within The Shadowhunter Chronicles, a larger planned series of six, The Mortal Instruments is the third series in order but was the first one published. The story follows Clary Fray, who meets a group of special angel-like humans called Nephilim or Shadowhunters. This encounter helps her learn important truths about herself and her family. Shadowhunters work to protect ordinary people, known as mundanes or "mundies," from dangerous forces in the hidden world. A common idea in all Shadowhunter Chronicles books is that "all the stories are true," meaning creatures like vampires, werewolves, faeries, and warlocks appear in the series. The books belong to the young adult genre and are classified under paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and supernatural categories.

Novels

• City of Bones: Published on March 27, 2007
• City of Ashes: Published on March 25, 2008
• City of Glass: Published on March 23, 2009
• City of Fallen Angels: Published on April 5, 2011
• City of Lost Souls: Published on May 8, 2012. The Shadowhunter's Codex: Published on October 29, 2013
• City of Heavenly Fire: Published on May 27, 2014. The Bane Chronicles: Print edition released on November 11, 2014. Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy: Print edition released on November 15, 2016. Ghosts of the Shadow Market: Published on June 4, 2019.

Main characters

• Clarissa Adele "Clary" Fray/Fairchild is the daughter of Jocelyn Fairchild. Clary is an artist, a student, and a regular human. The starting event of The Mortal Instruments is that Clary learns she is a Shadowhunter, a secret her mother kept to protect her. Later in the series, readers learn that she is also the daughter of Valentine Morgenstern and the sister of Jonathan Christopher (Sebastian) Morgenstern. Clary has the ability to create runes because her father gave her angel blood while she was in the womb as an experiment. Clary is described as stubborn and impulsive. Her best friend is Simon, and she is romantically involved with Jace.

• Jonathan Christopher "Jace" Herondale (also called Wayland, Morgenstern, and Lightwood) is a Shadowhunter and one of their best fighters. Jace is often flirty and insensitive because of his insecurity. Jace’s real family was unknown until the last few books, although he was raised by the Lightwood family at the New York Institute. He often refers to Isabelle, Alec, and Max as his siblings and to Maryse and Robert Lightwood as his parents. He was raised by Valentine Morgenstern, who used the name Michael Wayland at the time. He later learns his biological father was Stephen Herondale. Like Clary, he has special abilities that make him swift and graceful, caused by the extra angel blood he received while in his mother’s womb. His parabatai is Alec Lightwood, and he is romantically involved with Clary.

• Simon Lewis (also called Lovelace) is a teenage boy who calls himself a "hipster," though his best friend, Clary, calls him a "geek." Simon is Jewish, was raised by a single mother, and is in a band with his regular human friends. Simon began life as an ordinary human but was turned into a vampire in City of Ashes. After becoming a vampire, he did not age and stayed 16 years old. At the end of The Mortal Instruments, Simon made a deal with a demon to give up his immortality and memories so he and his friends could escape Edom, a hellish demon realm. After this trade, Simon became human again with no memories of the Shadow World or his friends. Eventually, his friends realized he still had some faint memories of the Shadow World and encouraged him to train as a Shadowhunter, a journey explored in Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy. His best friend (and later, parabatai) is Clary, and he is romantically involved with Izzy.

• Isabelle "Izzy" Sophia Lightwood is a Shadowhunter described as very beautiful, very girly, and very fierce. She carries a gold electrum whip. She is flirty and does not stay in serious relationships, often dating people her parents would not approve of, like faeries and other Downworlders. Eventually, she becomes interested in Simon Lewis. In City of Lost Souls, she admits she is in love with Simon, and in City of Heavenly Fire, she becomes his girlfriend.

• Alexander "Alec" Gideon Lightwood is the oldest Lightwood sibling. His weapon of choice is a bow and arrow. Though he is a strong warrior, Alec has never killed a demon. He is quiet but protective of his younger siblings, Isabelle and Max, the latter of whom dies in City of Glass. In the first book, City of Bones, Alec believes he is in love with Jace, his best friend and parabatai. Later, he starts a secret relationship with Magnus Bane. In City of Glass, Alec kisses Magnus in front of his parents, revealing he is gay. Alec later becomes insecure about his relationship with Magnus because of Magnus’ immortality and long romantic history. This leads him to consider changing Magnus into a human against his will, which causes Magnus to end their relationship in City of Lost Souls. However, Magnus and Alec eventually reconcile in City of Heavenly Fire.

• Magnus Bane is a self-described freewheeling bisexual High Warlock of Brooklyn. Magnus is an 800-year-old warlock who appears to be 19. Magnus is often described as glittery. In The Mortal Instruments, Magnus helped Jocelyn, Clary’s mother, erase Clary’s memories of the Shadow World. Magnus began a relationship with Alec Lightwood, the focus of The Eldest Curses. Magnus also appears in the prequel series The Infernal Devices and The Last Hours, the sequel series The Dark Artifices, and the short story collection The Bane Chronicles, which describes events in his life before The Mortal Instruments. He is one of the few characters mentioned in all the main Shadowhunter Chronicles books. His parents are an unnamed Indonesian woman and the demon Asmodeus.

• Lucian "Luke" Garroway/Graymark is a former Shadowhunter and former second-in-command of the Circle. When he was younger, he was best friends and parabatai with Valentine. However, Valentine betrayed him, leading to Luke being bitten by a werewolf and becoming one. He was the leader of the Manhattan werewolf pack, before Maia Roberts. He becomes engaged to Jocelyn Fairchild, Clary’s mother. He is described as calm, level-headed, and righteous. He is fiercely loyal to his loved ones.

• Jocelyn Fray/Fairchild is a Shadowhunter, a former member of the Circle, and the mother of Clary and Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern. In Idris, the Shadowhunter home country, she was married to Valentine but learned after the birth of their first child, Jonathan, that Valentine had been experimenting on her, mixing demon blood into her food, making Jonathan a monster. Valentine did a similar experiment using angel blood when Jocelyn was pregnant with Clary. After Valentine faked his and Jonathan’s deaths, Jocelyn left Idris and moved to

Critical reception

City of Bones was popular when it was first released, reaching number 8 on the New York Times Best Seller list for children's books in April 2007. City of Ashes was listed among YALSA's top ten teen books for 2009.

Publishers Weekly described the book as "a large fantasy story filled with many types of creatures from the genre." Locus called it "a very easy-to-read first novel." Booklist noted that the book includes "plenty of romance, loss, honor, and betrayal, making the story worth reading. Clare, an experienced storyteller, moves the plot quickly to a satisfying ending." School Library Journal said, "Although the story has some predictable parts and writing that feels too dramatic, Clare still shows skill in mixing modern humor with traditional fantasy. Fans waiting for the next book in the series will be happy with this one." A review in School Library Journal also mentioned that the book had some problems, such as characters who were "not always clearly described" and whose actions were predictable. Despite these issues, the review said the book was enjoyable and left readers excited for the next part of the series.

The Mortal Instruments series was on the New York Times Best Sellers List for 102 weeks in a row as of September 5, 2013, and reached number 1 for 9 weeks straight. During this time, the series replaced other popular series like The Hunger Games and Percy Jackson and the Olympians at the top of the list. The last time The Mortal Instruments stayed on the best sellers list for 100 weeks in a row was in May 2012. On August 29, 2013, City of Bones reached the top of USA Today's Best Sellers List, making it the best-selling book in the country at that time. Four other books from The Mortal Instruments series also appeared on the list: City of Ashes was number 8, City of Glass was number 20, City of Fallen Angels was number 35, and City of Lost Souls was number 46.

Popular culture and historical references

In City of Ashes, the Faerie Realm and its characters are part of Holly Black's faerie series, which began with Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale. Characters Val and Luis from Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie also appear in this book. In Holly Black's third book, Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale, there is a mention of the Mortal Cup, a concept from The Mortal Instruments series.

Cassandra Clare studied world mythology carefully to create the Shadowhunter world in The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, and other books in the series. Her work was inspired by books like Paradise Lost and The Inferno. While she included ideas from Western religious myths, she also researched myths from other cultures, such as Japanese and Tibetan traditions, that describe demons. Her stories also include references to angels and nephilim, which come from her study of world religions and folklore. These myths were changed to fit the stories she wrote.

Further books in the series

Cassandra Clare wrote a series of books called The Infernal Devices, which takes place in the same world as The Mortal Instruments, but in Victorian London. This series includes three books: Clockwork Angel, published on August 31, 2010; Clockwork Prince, published on December 6, 2011; and Clockwork Princess, published on March 19, 2013. The main characters in this series are Will Herondale, Tessa Gray, and Jem Carstairs, who live at the London Institute.

A sequel series to The Infernal Devices called The Last Hours continues the same world and follows the adventures of the next generation of Shadowhunters about two decades after the events of Clockwork Princess. This series includes three books: Chain of Gold, Chain of Iron, and Chain of Thorns.

The Dark Artifices is a sequel trilogy set in the same world as The Mortal Instruments, but five years in the future. The first book, Lady Midnight, was published on March 8, 2016. The second book, Lord of Shadows, was released on May 23, 2017. The third and final book, Queen of Air and Darkness, was published on December 4, 2018.

Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, and Maureen Johnson wrote a series of ten short stories called The Bane Chronicles, which tell the story of Magnus Bane, a character from The Mortal Instruments. This series was published between 2013 and 2014 and includes the following stories: "What Really Happened in Peru," "The Runaway Queen," "Vampires, Scones, and Edmund Herondale," "The Midnight Heir," "The Rise of the Hotel Dumort," "Saving Raphael Santiago," "The Fall of the Hotel Dumort," "What to Buy the Shadowhunter Who Has Everything (And Who You're Not Officially Dating Anyway)," "The Last Stand of the New York Institute," and "The Course of True Love (and First Dates)."

Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan also wrote a series of books called Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy, which focus on Simon Lewis, Clary’s best friend and Isabelle’s boyfriend, as he learns to become a Shadowhunter. This series includes ten books published in 2015. The books and their release dates are: Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy (February 17), The Lost Herondale (March 17), The Whitechapel Fiend (April 21), Nothing but Shadows (May 19), The Evil We Love (June 16), Pale Kings and Princes (July 21), Bitter of Tongue (August 18), The Fiery Trial (September 15), Born to Endless Night (October 20), and Angels Twice Descending (November 17).

In addition, Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan edited a book titled Ghosts of the Shadow Market. This book includes ten stories featuring characters from The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, The Dark Artifices, and The Last Hours. The story titles are: "Son of Dawn," "Cast Long Shadows," "Every Exquisite Thing," "Learn About Loss," "A Deeper Love," "The Wicked Ones," "The Land I Lost," "Through Blood," "Through Fire," "The Lost World," and "Forever Fallen."

Adaptations

The graphic novels The City of Bones, The Clockwork Angel, The Clockwork Prince, and The Clockwork Princess were released by Th3rd World Publishing.

In 2010, Screen Gems announced plans to make a movie based on City of Bones, the first book in The Mortal Instruments series, with the goal of creating a film series. The movie had its first showing on August 12, 2013, at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. Work on a movie adaptation of the second book, City of Ashes, was scheduled to begin in September 2013 but was delayed until 2014. The project was later canceled after the first film did not make back the money spent on it.

On October 12, 2014, Constantin Film announced that The Mortal Instruments would be made into a television series. The show ran for three seasons and included 55 episodes. It began on January 12, 2016, and ended on May 6, 2019. A graphic novel based on the first book was released to match the start of the series.

On October 12, 2014, at Mipcom, Constantin confirmed that The Mortal Instruments would return as a TV series with Ed Decter as the head writer. Martin Moszkowicz, head of Constantin Film and TV, told The Hollywood Reporter, "It makes sense to turn the books into a TV series. We had to leave out many details from the books in the movie. The series will allow us to explore the story more fully." The producers aimed to adapt all books in the series. In February 2015, author Cassandra Clare announced via Twitter that the TV series would be named Shadowhunters instead of The Mortal Instruments. In March 2015, ABC Family agreed to produce Shadowhunters directly as a series. The show was renewed for a second season in March 2016, which included 20 episodes and began on January 2, 2017. In April 2017, a third season of 20 episodes was announced. The first ten episodes of the third season aired on March 20, 2018, and the final ten episodes aired in mid-2018. The two-part series finale was shown on May 6, 2019.