When her aunt died leaving nothing in New York City for
sixteen-year-old Tessa, she took the ticket her brother sent
and traveled to London. The first odd note comes when Nate
does not meet her off the ship. Instead a group of three
fairly strange people hand her a note from Nate, and bring
her to a dark house with even stranger inhabitants.
Imprisoned while they attempted to teach her something
impossible for a human to accomplish, Tessa feels as though
her life has plunged into nightmare... and then things get
worse. She learns she is to be given to a powerful shadowy
figure known in the Downworld of London as the Magister...as
his bride.
The Magister has his opponents however. A group of
Shadowhunters have established the London Institute, risking
their lives to rid the world of demons and protect the
innocent from creatures who wish them ill. With skin
tattooed with symbols of magical power, a Shadowhunter is
not entirely human and dedicated to taking on the worst the
world can offer.
The dark combination of Victorian machinery with the undead
adds a chilling Steampunk touch to this book of fantasy, yet
the brightness and complexity of the characters are what
keep you reading. The heroes' failings leave them vulnerable
and the evil which waits to take the Institute down hides
behind the innocuous. I was engrossed from the first page
and read the entire book in one sitting.
CLOCKWORK ANGEL resolves some of the issues in this part of
the story while leaving lingering questions to be answered
as The Infernal
Devices series (which is a prequel to Clare's Mortal
Instruments books) is continued with The Clockwork
Prince later this year.
Magic is dangerous—but love is more dangerous still.
When sixteen-year-old - crosses the ocean to find her
brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign
of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for
her in London's Down-world, where vampires, warlocks and
other supernatural folk stalk the gas-lit streets. Only the
Shadow-hunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of
demons, keep order amidst the chaos.
Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a
secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon
learns that she herself is a Down-worlder with a rare
ability: the power to transform, at will, into another
person. What’s more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who
runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power
for his own.
Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the
Shadow-hunters of the London Institute, who swear to find
her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon
finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best
friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret,
and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods
keep everyone in his life at arm's length . . . everyone,
that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the
heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the
Shadow-hunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose
between saving her brother and helping her new friends save
the world. . . . and that love may be the most dangerous
magic of all.