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City of Fallen Angels takes place two months after the events of City of Glass. In it, a mysterious someone’s killing the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine’s Circle and displaying their bodies around New York City in a manner designed to provoke hostility between Downworlders and... read more

Summary edit see section history

City of Fallen Angels will be the fourth book in the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. The series was meant to end with City of Glass, but it was announced that in March 2010, a fourth book would be added. However, Amazon states that it will release the book on April 5,... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

City of Fallen Angels will be the fourth book in the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. The series was meant to end with City of Glass, but it was announced that in March 2010, a fourth book would be added. However, Amazon states that it will release the book on April 5, 2011.<1> The fourth installment will equally follow the stories of Clary Fray, Jace Wayland, and Simon Lewis,<2> despite rumors that the novel would only feature Simon as the main character. When asked about the change in point of view for the next novel Clare replied, “Simon has always been one of my favorite characters to write about, and I’m excited to get the chance to tell his story while revisiting some of the other characters that I love from The Mortal Instruments series. The enthusiasm for telling Simon’s story that I’ve received from the team at McElderry Books and Simon & Schuster has been great, and I’m excited to be working with them to bring a fourth book to the series.”

Clare describes the next book by saying, "City of Fallen Angels takes place after the events of City of Glass. It splits its focus between Jace and Clary and Clary’s best friend, Simon, and how he adjusts to life as a vampire, but it’s still an ensemble-cast story, and all the characters from the Mortal Instruments series appear in it: Jace, Isabelle, Alec, Magnus, Luke, Jocelyn, Maia, and many more. (It even helps to have read Clockwork Angel before you read City of Fallen Angels, because some of the characters from The Infernal Devices series do show up in it. However, it isn’t required.) In City of Fallen Angels, someone has been killing the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine’s Circle and leaving their bodies around New York City in a manner designed to provoke hostility between Downworlders and Shadowhunters. Internecine warfare among vampires is ripping the Downworld community apart, and only Simon — the Daylighter who everyone wants on their side — can decide the outcome; too bad he wants nothing to do with Downworld politics. Meanwhile, Jace and Clary investigate a mystery that has deeply personal consequences for them — consequences that may strengthen their relationship, or rip it apart forever. Love, blood, betrayal and revenge: the stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels."<3>

It was later announced that there will be two more installments now following City Of Fallen Angels, titled 'City Of Lost Souls' and 'City Of Heavenly Fire'.

Characters edit see section history

  • Clarissa 'Clary' Fray: Clary has red hair and she's about 17 years old. She is the protagonist of the first three books in the series. She has recently found that she is a Shadowhunter, and is in training to fulfill her Shadowhunter blood. She is stubborn and brave. She has been dating Jace since the last book and her best friend is Simon Lewis although neither of the boys really get along.
  • Jace Herondale: Jace is one of the best shadowhunters out of anyone his age and has killed the most demons out of anyone his age. He is one of the main characters of the book and Clary's love interest. Relentlessly sarcastic and arrogant. He was raised by the Lightwoods.
  • Simon Lewis: He is Clary's best friend, protagonist. He has dark hair, wears glasses and is also a vampire. He is dating two girls at once and is in a band that keeps changing names. Has the mark of Cain on his forehead (drawn by Clary in the third book) that prevents anyone from killing him.
  • Alexander "Alec" Lightwood: A Shadowhunter, a Lightwood and Isabelle's and Max's older brother. He is 18 years old and has dark hair and blue eyes. He is gay and going out with a warlock named Magnus. Almost everybody calls him Alec.
  • Isabelle Lightwood: A Shadowhunter, Alec's sister. Fights with a golden whip. She's one of Simon's girlfriends. Has a tendency to go out with people her parents don't approve of just for fun, but she seems to be a little more serious about Simon.
  • Magnus Bane: He is the High Warlock of Brooklyn and is currently dating Alec Lightwood.
  • Luke Garroway: Aka Lucian Gray. He is a werewolf and also Jocelyn's fiancée and a father figure for Clary (also a bit for Simon, who was always with Clary and his father had died). He used to be a Shadowhunter and in Valentine Morgenstern´s Circle. He left after he was Turned and after Valentine asked him to go kill himself. He is the current head of the wolf pack in New York, and killed the pack leader to get control of it. In this pack is Maia another werewolf.
  • Jocelyn 'Fray' Fairchild: She is Clary's mother. She was once married to Valentine, and also in his the cirle but at the moment is engaged to Luke Garroway. Clary looks very much like her as they share the same red hair, big green eyes and small figures. She's still very protective of Clary, and believes Jace is a lot like Valentine.
  • Camille Belcourt: Head vampire of the Manhattan clan. Was mentioned in the Infernal Devices book. Tries to play politics and use Simon to her advantage.
  • Maia Roberts: She is one of Simon Lewis' girlfriends. She is a werewolf and a member of Luke's pack. She doesn't wear fitly or flashy clothes but is quite pretty, and is also quite clever and very stubborn.
  • Jordan Kyle: Member of Simon's band, lets Simon be a roommate in his apartment.
  • Lilith: The oldest Demon, and the Mother of Warlocks. She has many names.
  • Jonathan Morgenstern: Aka Sebastian. He is the son of Valentine and Jocelyn thus the brother of Clary. He was killed in previous book. He Had demoniac blood in him, thanks to his father, to whom he was an experiment. He looks like Valentine, with very blonde, almost white hair, very dark and intriguiting eyes and a bold, strong figure. Has supernatural strength (like Jace) because of the demon blood in him.
  • Maureen Brown: Simon's #1 fan, and the friend of Eric's little sister. She tells people that she is Simon's girlfriend. She is about 13 years old and has blond hair.
  • Maryse Lightwood: A Shadowhunter who is Isabelle and Alec's mother. She adopted Jace. She is married to Robert Lightwood. Has long, dark hair. Her daughter, Isabelle, looks very much like she looks. She is part of the Conclave, and has a lot of authority. She is respected by manybut Clary is often nervous around her.
  • Valentine Morgenstern: Clary's and Jonathan´s father. Was married to Jocelyn. He was the leader of the Circle, and had many followers. Clary kills him in the third book in order to save the people she loved. He raised Jace for the first ten years of his life, making him believe he was his son so that he could experiment on him, putting angel blood in his own. Killed by the angel Raziel because he saw that Valentine was evil nad he killed his brother.
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “So you interrupted my date to make fun of me for still living with my parents. Couldn’t you have done that on a night I didn’t have a date? That’s most nights, in case you’re curious.”
    Simon Lewis
  • “Having rock-star problems may be the closest I ever get to being an actual rock-star.”
    Simon Lewis
  • “I was born amazing.”
    Jace
  • “I think I’m better that everyone else. An opinion that has been backed up with ample evidence.”
    Jace
  • “I thought it was keep your friends close so you have someone to drive the car when you sneak over to your enemy’s house at night and throw up in his mailbox.”
    Jace
  • “Like a cross between George Clooney in Ocean’s Eleven and those MythBusters guys, but, you know, better-looking.”
    Simon Lewis
  • “'Dudes,' he said, 'do not follow other dudes to the bathroom.'”
    Jordan
  • “If love were food, I would have starved on the bones you gave me.”
    Magnus Bane
  • “I think," Jace said, "that she asked if she could touch my mango.”
    Jace
  • “I can see why you like it here. There's a thin layer of nerd all over everything.”
    Jace
  • “You're the first Shadowhunter I've met" "That's too bad" said Jace "since all the ones you meet from now on will be a terrible letdown.”
    Jordan and Jace
  • “I love you Jace Wayland-Herondale-Lightwood-whatever you want to call yourself. I don't care. I love you and I will always love you, and pretending it could be any other way is just a waste of time.”
    Clary
  • “Let conversation stop. Let laughter cease. Here is the place where the dead delight to teach the living.”
  • “You and your name-dropping," he said. "'I knew Michael.' 'I knew Sammael.' 'The angel Gabriel did my hair.' It's like I'm with the Band with biblical figures.”
    Jace
  • “You're all he ever wants.”
    Alec
  • “Because I know him. And the way he punishes himself. Not letting you near him is punishing himself, not punishing you.”
    Alec
  • “Oh, good. You are starting to talk about yourself in third person. That's not a sign of impending megalomania or anything.”
    Simon
  • “Don’t bother her, don’t try to talk to her, don’t even look at her, or I’ll fold you in half so many times you’ll look like a tiny little origami werewolf.”
    Isabelle Lightwood
  • “I can keep a perfectly good eye on Simon, thank you. He's my nephyte Downworlder to mock and boss around, not yours.”
    Jace
  • “What's the point of wasting a perfectly good brick wall when you have someone to throw against it, that's what I always say.”
    Isabelle
  • “But I watch my brothers giving their hearts away and I think, Don't you know better? Hearts are breakable. And I think even when you heal, you're never what you were before.”
    Isabelle
  • “You love each other - anyone can see that, looking at you - that kind of love that can burn down the world or raise it up to his glory.”
    Lilith
  • “He looks like he's thinking about something deep and meaningful, but if you ask him what it is, he'll punch you in the face.”
    Simon
  • “To hell with that. I swear on us""why us""because there is nothing I believe in more.”
    Jace and Clary
  • “Because he is superhot and your band needs some sex appeal." "Thank you, on behalf of us all, thank you very much.”
    Clary and Simon
  • “Don't 'yech' me. You're the one with the magical spit.”
    Isabelle
  • “Taceant Colloquia. Effugiat risus. Hic locus est ubi mors gaudet succurrere vitae. Let conversation stop. Let laughter cease. Here is the place where the dead delight to teach the living.”
    Luke
  • “One for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a wedding, four for a birth; five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret that's never been told. (counting crows)”
    Simon
  • “I don't know but I can tell you one thing. I'm the last guy in the world you should ask for relationship advice from.”
    Simon
  • “It’s fascinating," he said. "You know all these words, and they’re all English, but when you string them together into sentences, they just dont make any sense.”
    Jace
  • “Mermaids." Magnus said into his fingers. "They always smell like seaweed.”
    Magnus Bane
  • “You look sick. Thinking about what a horrible person you are? Or maybe I should say horrible vampire you are. Except that makes it sound like you're bad at being a vampire.”
    Maia
  • “He says guys do stupid things when girls are involved. Especially geeky ones who previously haven't had much luck with women." "It's like he can see into my soul.”
    Maia and Simon
  • “I'm a werewolf, Simon. Not exactly normal.”
    Maia
  • “I guess you're coming as my date now." Simon shoved the phone back into his pocket. "I'm secure enough in my masculinity to accept that.”
    Simon and Jordan
  • “No wonder you and Jace like each other so much. You're both crazy walking arsenals.”
    Simon
  • “The ritual is taken from the Song of Solomon. 'Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death.'”
    Jace
  • “Jordan looked horrified. "Dudes," he said, "do not follow other dudes to the bathroom.”
    Jordan to Isabelle
  • “It was odd, Isabelle thought, watching someone so tall try to make himself look harmless and small.”
    Isabelle on Jordan
  • “I am not a man. I have no male pride for you to trick me with, and I am not interested in single combat. That is entirely a weakness of your sex, not mine. I am a woman. I will use any weapon and all weapons to get what I want.”
    Lilith to Jace
  • “You and your name-dropping," he said. "'I knew Michael.' 'I knew Sammael.' 'The angel Gabriel did my hair.' It's like I'm with the Band with biblical figures.”
    Jace to Lilith
  • “For a bachelor who'd never had children, Simon thought, Luke had an awful lot of kids to look after.”
    Simon on Luke
  • “You're just worried that they'll hire a male instructor and he'll be hotter than you." Jace's eyebrow's went up. "Hotter than me?" "It could happen," Clary said. "You know, theoretically." "Theoretically the planet could suddenly crack in half, leaving me on one side and you on the other, forever and tragically parted, but I'm not worried about that, either. Some things," Jace said, with his customary crooked smile, "are just too unlikely to dwell upon.”
    Clary and Jace
  • “I would never hit a moose, they're endangered.”
    Clary to Jace
  • “You're a public menace. You shouldn't be allowed out on your own.”
    Simon to Jace
  • “Seems an odd time to start an insult contest, but if you insist, I could probably think up something good.”
    Jace to Simon
  • “Here’ s a hot tip: Most girls don’t like being stalked.”
    Simon to Jace
  • “Hearts are breakable. And I think even when you heal, you’re never what you were before.”
    Isabelle to Simon
  • “Because you pick guys who will never be serious about you. So you never need to be serious about them.”
    Simon to Isabelle
  • “We realized we have something in common. You annoy us both.”
    Jace to Simon
  • “I'm always so glad I have no idea what you’re vacantly chattering about. It fills me with a sense of peace and well-being.”
    Jace to Simon
  • “Your trusting idiocy knows no bounds.”
    Jace to Simon
  • “Hotter than me”
    Jace
  • “Power is a magnet. It draws those who desire it.”
    Luke
  • “Important people are a lot of trouble.”
    Simon
  • “There might not be so much of a difference between the side of Light and the side of Dark as you suppose. After all, without the Dark, there is nothing for the Light to burn away.”
    Lilith
  • “He is bound to you, but does he love you?”
    Seelie Queen
  • “Tomato soup? You want tomato soup and a mango for dinner?”
    Simon to Jace
  • “Give me one reason why I shouldn't chop him up into bastard-themed-confetti?”
    Issabelle
  • “"Or maybe it's just that beautiful things are so easily broken by the world."”
    Jocelyn to Clary (about Jace)
Show all 60 quotes from this book

Setting & Locations edit see section history

The story takes place in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
  • New York City: The bustling metropolis that everyone knows about. No explanation needed. The Mortal Instruments takes place all over here.
  • Institute: A building disguised as a cathedral to non-magical citizens of New York. Permanent home to Jace and the Lightwoods, the Institute is also the Shadowhunter headquarters in Manhattan. Visiting Shadowhunters can stay and train here, and the Institute is designed to be a haven, built on consecrated ground so demons and vampires can't come inside. It also won't open for anyone without Shadowhunter blood. The Institute is also equipped with anything a Shandowhunter might need, such as weapons, literature, a training room, and even the Sanctuary, a non-consecrated room that unholy creatures can visit safely within.
  • Idris: The country from which all Shadowhunters originate, referred to as their official 'home'. Idris is protected by wards and is virtual step back in time, without cars or technology.
  • Silent City: The underground magical city in which the Silent Brothers live and work. It also contains the Shadowhunter cemetery and jail.

Organizations edit see section history

First Sentence edit see section history

"Just coffee, please."

Table of Contents edit see section history

I. Part One: Exterminating Angels
1. The Master
2. Falling
3. Sevenfold
4. The Art of Eight Limbs
5. Hell Calls Hell
6. Wake the Dead
7. Praetor Lupus
8. Walk in Darkness
9. From Fire Unto Fire

II. Part Two: For Every Life
10. 232 Riverside Drive
11. Our Kind
12. Sanctuary
13. Girl Found Dead
14. What Dreams May Come
15. Beati Bellicosi
16. New York City Angels
17. And Cain Rose Up
18. Scars of Fire
19. Hell is Satisfied

Glossary edit see section history

  • Shadowhunter: Nephilim. Part-human, part-angel. Demon slayer.
  • Downworlder: Part-human, part-demon. Examples include vampires, werewolves, fairies, warlocks and shapeshifters.
  • Downworld: Secret world inhabited by Downworlders.
  • Mundane 'Mundie': One who does not have anything to do with the Shadow World. A human.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 4 of 8 in The Mortal Instruments. (standard series)

Preceded by City of Glass, and followed by City of Lost Souls.

This book is in 2011 Published Books. (community list)
This is book 26 of 216 in Whitcoulls Kids' Top 50 (2011). (authoritative list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Cassandra Clare (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Country: United States
Publication Date: April 5, 2011
ISBN: 9781442403543
Page Count: 432

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PZ7.C5265 Cj 2011 FT MEADE
  • Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

For 13 year-olds. A little more risque than the past installments leading up to this one.

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • City of Bones
  • City of Glass
  • City of Ashes
  • Clockwork Angel
  • Clockwork Prince

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • Clockwork Angel
  • Clockwork Prince
  • City of Bones
  • City of Ashes
  • City of Glass

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