The Mortal Instruments is a series of six novels by author Cassandra Clare including City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, and the upcoming City of Fallen Angels.
The books in the series so far are City of Bones (published March 27, 2007), City of Ashes (published March 25, 2008) and City of Glass (published March 24, 2009). They will be followed by City of Fallen Angels, which is planned to be published April 5, 2011, and will switch the series' focus from Clary Fray, Jace Wayland, and Simon Lewis evenly.
On August 4, 2010, Cassandra announced in a live webcast that there will be three further books in the series. City of Fallen Angels will be released on April 5, 2011, City of Lost Souls is set for publication in May 2012, and City of Heavenly Fire is scheduled for September 2013.
City of Fallen Angels- the early newest version of the trilogy
City of Fallen Angels takes place after the events of City of Glass. It shifts its focus between Jace and Clary and Clary's best friend, Simon, and how he adjusts to life as a vampire. From the August 2nd press release: "I initially envisioned City of Fallen Angels as an ending to the story begun in City of Bones, but I soon realized that in fact where my pen was taking me was into a new trilogy, one even more epic, dark and passionate than the first. In the first three Mortal Instruments books the fate of the Shadowhunters hung in the balance; now it's the fate of the world. I can't wait to share this journey with my readers as familiar characters are deepened, new faces introduced and relationships tested like never before."
While City of Fallen Angels was originally intended to focus more on Simon, Clare later changed her mind: "As I sat down to write CoFA, and realized it was a much bigger story than I had thought, the focus shifted off Simon and more onto the rest of the characters. Magnus and Alec, who originally were not going to be in the book at all, now have a major role to play. Clary and Jace have a central role to play. That stuff about Simon leaving town? Not happening; the major action takes place in NYC. While I did try to preserve a strong plotline for Simon, in which he is more than an adjunct to the larger drama surrounding Jace and Clary, it would now be very misleading to refer to it as 'Simon's book' or indicate that it is mainly about him. It is not."
In her own words, Clare summarizes City of Fallen Angels: "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 The 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's 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."
Many readers, however, have complained about the focus switching to Simon, wrongly believing that the book will not include Jace or Clary, to which Clare replied: "What I want to know is, where did this rumor start that they aren’t? Every description I’ve ever given of City of Fallen Angels includes the information that Jace and Clary will be in it, and be in it plenty. And yet I get this question every day. I’d love to know why!"
City of Fallen Angels is set to be released on April 5, 2011. It is an embargoed book, meaning no review copies will be available before its release date. However, Clare has released some "teasers" on her website.
