City of Heavenly Fire is the sixth and final book in Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series. It is the final chapter in the fight between Sebastian and Team Good for control of the world itself. There has been major hype and excitement about this book, closing off as it does, the adventures of much loved characters. For me personally, I found the book somewhat of a disappointment. This is the final book in the series and far too often Clare took the easy road. What I liked Setup for the next trilogy. It is perhaps a measure of my disappointment that the aspect of this book I found most intriguing was the setup for the next series, The Dark Artifices. TDA is set in LA and is centred around Emma Carstairs and her friend Julian Blackthorn, whom we meet in this book. At first I’d been unconvinced about the LA setting – for me vampires/werewolves/demons etc have an old world feel, and seemed better suited to the older cities of New York and London. However Clare completely convinced me LA was a valid setting and I really loved the character of Emma. She is still little more than a…
OK I admit it, after reading The Shadowhunter’s Codex, I gave in and dipped back into The Mortal Instruments, even though I have lots of books I should be reading, and, quite frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn. Reading for me is a real pleasure, and so I choose to read what I want to read, not always what I should. I have burned through City of Ash and intend to marathon my way through City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels and City of Lost Souls. My review of City of Bones wasn’t all that glowing, but City of Ashes builds on the aspects I loved – the pacing, the worldbuilding, the clear goals – and strongly improved on the things I didn’t enjoy so much – the characters. My conclusion was that although CoB wasn’t great, it did sow some seeds for a great series, and City of Ashes fulfils that promise. If you didn’t enjoy City of Bones, please give City of Ashes a try – it’s well worth it. What I liked The worldbuilding. One of Cassandra Clare’s real strengths as a writer is her worldbuilding. The world of the Shadowhunters is so beautifully…