Jace’s Letter to Clary

Goodness, it’s been a while since I’ve had a moment to post something here! Being a grown up is not as fun as people make you think it is. What? They don’t make you think it’s fun? Oh. Right.

Anywho, Jace’s letter to Clary, which was previously only available in copies of the book from Barnes and Noble, is now available on the internet via Cassie Clare’s website. Or you can just click on the image to the right and make it bigger. Apparently the traffic from the letter crashed Cassie’s website yesterday. Good job, everyone ;)

Jace proves to be quite the romantic fellow in this letter, but it’s quite heartbreaking at the same time. If you don’t already know, it’s about Clary receiving the Morgenstern ring from Jace, who is pretty sure he’s going to die and doesn’t want the ring to be lost forever–and since he still thinks she’s his sister, the ring is rightfully hers. Here’s a bit:

I belong to you. You could do anything you wanted with me and I would let you. You could ask anything you wanted of me and I’d break myself trying to make you happy. My heart tells me this is the best and greatest feeling I have ever had. But my heart knows the difference between wanting what you can’t have and wanting what you shouldn’t want. And I shouldn’t want you.

Thoughts?

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CLOCKWORK PRINCE Chapter Titles!

I just got the Clockwork Prince chapter titles, fresh from Cassie Clare in Australia! If you haven’t seen the cover yet, you should totally click on it for the full view because it is beautiful! I’m gonna let Cassie take it from here, so enjoy! (And tell me what you think in the comments! I’m expecting mass heartbreak with this book.)

So below is a list of the titles of the chapters in Clockwork Prince. This is in the mold of the post I made about the chapter titles of CoFA, back in February 2010. The chapters, the titles of them, the source of the title if it’s from a poem, and even a few lines and spoilers. Since I’m away most of June, this will be the June Clockwork Prince teaser!

Prologue: The Outcast Dead
Will visits the Cross Bones Graveyard in London.

Chapter One: The Council Chamber
Pretty literal — the Council meets to discuss whether Charlotte is fit to run the Institute; we see a bit more of the Lightwoods, not to mention the Waylands and some other familiar families.

Chapter Two: Reparations
“Mr. Bane has been awaiting your arrival, sir,” said the footman, and stepped aside to let Will enter.

Chapter Three: Unjustifiable Death
The term, under the Accords, for a Shadowhunter killing a Downworlder without provocation.

“This was the first time she had been alone with Will in weeks.”

Chapter Four: A Journey
Tessa, Will and Jem leave the Institute and in fact, London entirely.

“Gabriel Lightwood strode across the room to meet them. He really was quite tall, Tessa thought, craning her neck to look up at him. As a tall girl herself, she didn’t often find herself bending her head back to look up at men.”

Chapter Five: Shades of the Past
This one is a pun that will probably only make sense upon actual reading. Althpugh one of the themes of the book is how the past affects the present.

Chapter Six: In Silence Sealed
Again the theme is hidden secrets. The title comes from a Charlotte Bronte poem. “In secret kept, in silence sealed.” Tessa begins to uncover the secrets of her own origins.

Chapter Seven: I had to redact the title of this chapter. It’s a spoiler. :)

“When Will truly wants something,” said Jem, quietly, “when he feels something — he can break your heart.”

Chapter Eight: The Purposes of Wrath
The title here comes from Thomas de Quncey’s (yes de Quincey!) Confessions of an English Opium-Eater. The paragraph is about addiction, and both the pleasures and the pains of opium, and the chapter is not dissimilar. Also, we meet Ragnor Fell.

Chapter Nine: Fierce Midnight
This chapter ends the night begun in the previous chapter. And has some pretty hot kissing. Titled after a Swinburne poem.

Chapter Ten: The Virtue of Angels
The virtue of angels is that they cannot deteriorate; their flaw is that they cannot improve. Man’s flaw is that he can deteriorate; and his virtue is that he can improve. —The Talmud

Someone rather unexpected hits Gabriel — who, really, was asking for it.

Chapter Eleven: Wild Unrest
This chapter title comes from the poem “City of Dreadful Night” by James Thompson. It’s really about taking on the suffering of someone you love. Will wanders about London at night. “He had reached Fleet Street. Temple Bar was visible through the mist in the distance” — Temple Bar is the structure Jem is standing in front of, on the cover of the book.

Chapter Twelve: The Ball
This is somewhat self-explanatory. There is a masquerade ball. And a balcony. And Magnus.

Chapter Thirteen: The Mortal Sword
We finally see the Mortal Sword put to its actual use: extracting the truth from reluctant Shadowhunters. And it is not pretty.

Chapter Fourteen: The Silent City
“Ah,” said a voice from the doorway, “having your annual ‘everyone thinks Will is a lunatic’ meeting, are you?”

Chapter Fifteen: Thousands More
From a poem by Charlotte Mew: There are thousands more; you do not miss a rose.

“Will has always been the brighter burning star, the one to catch attention — but Jem is a steady flame, unwavering and honest. He could make you happy.”

Chapter Sixteen: Mortal Rage
In which there are automatons and vengeance and explosions. The title comes from Shakespeare: “And brass eternal slave to mortal rage.”

Chapter Seventeen: In Dreams
There is the famous “in dreams begin responsibilities” but this title is actually from a poem by Matthew Arnold. The chapter from which this deleted scene was taken.

Chapter Eighteen: Until I Die
This chapter title has really freaked people out. So I will be nice and say that it is from a poem by Christopher Brennan (no relation to Sarah Rees):

Then seek not, sweet, the “If” and “Why”
I love you now until I die.

Chapter Nineteen: If Treason Doth Prosper
Betrayals and misunderstandings come thick and fast. And Magnus may have a new boyfriend. The title is from a poem attributed to Sir John Harrington:

“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
Why if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”

Chapter Twenty: The Last Dream
This is the chapter that made me cry! I rarely cry so I felt good about that. The chapter title comes from A Tale of Two Cities.

Chapter Twenty-One: Coals of Fire
I guess if you’re paying a lot of attention you’ll recognize this as part of something Jace quotes in City of Fallen Angels. Endings, beginnings, new characters, and, I promise, not too bad of a cliffhanger.

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Clockwork Prince – Deleted Scene

Cassie just posted this on Twitter, saying she promised the Google Group something special when they hit 5,000 members. So here is a deleted scene from Clockwork Prince, with spoilers cut out.

The darkness came and went in waves that grew ever slower. Tessa was beginning to feel lighter, less like an awful weight was pressing her down. She wondered how much time had passed. It was night in the infirmary, and she could see Will a few beds away from her, a curled figure under the blankets, dark head pillowed on his arm. Brother Enoch had given him a tisane to drink once the [redacted] was cut out of his skin, and he had fallen asleep almost instantly, thank God. The sight of him in that much pain had been more harrowing than she could have imagined.

She was in a clean white nightgown now; someone must have cut away her blood-stiffened clothes and washed her hair before bandaging her — it lay softly over his shoulders, no longer twisted into rat-tails of tangles and drying blood.

‘Tessa,” came a whispered voice. “Tess?”

Only Will calls me that. She opened her eyes, but it was Jem seated on the side of her bed, looking down at her. The moonlight spilling through the high ceilings turned him almost transparent, an ethereal angel, all silver but for the gold chain at his throat.

He smiled. “You’re awake.”

“I’ve been awake here and there.” She coughed. “Enough to know I’m all right besides a crack on the head. A lot of fuss about nothing —” Tessa’s eyes dropped, and she saw that Jem was carrying something in his hands: a thick mug of some liquid that sent up a fragrant steam.

“What’s that?”

“One of Brother Enoch’s tisanes,” said Jem. “It will help you sleep.”

“All I’ve been doing is sleeping!”

“And very amusing it is to watch,” said Jem. “Did you know you twitch your nose when you sleep, like a rabbit?”

“I do not,” she said, with a whispered laugh.

“You do,” he said. “Fortunately, I like rabbits.” He handed her the cup. “Drink just a little,” He said. “It is right for you to sleep. Brother Enoch says to think of the wounds and shocks to your spirit as you would think of wounds and shocks to your body. You must rest the injured part of yourself before you begin to heal.”

Tessa was dubious, but she took a sip of the tisane anyway, and then another. It had a pleasant taste, like cinnamon. Barely had she swallowed the second mouthful when a feeling of exhaustion swept over her. Jem took the cup and she lay back against the pillows, listening to his soft voice telling her a story about a beautiful young woman whose husband had died building the Great Wall of China, and who had cried so much over his loss that she had turned into a silvery fish and swum away across a river. As Tessa drifted off into dreams, she felt his gentle hands take the cup from her and set it down on the bedside table. She wanted to thank him, but she was already asleep.

I’m on Team Jem, so I love it! What do you think?

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City of Fallen Angels – Chapter One

Hey everyone! Cassie just posted the link to chapter one of City of Fallen Angels. It’s called “The Master” and you can click here to go to the page and read it in all its teaser glory! Check it out and then come back here and let us know what you thought!

Comments: 9 Comments

The COFA Chapterhunt has Begun!

Each day this week, one of the blogs linked below will post the same chapter with parts redacted. At the end of the week, you’ll have the full chapter! Happy Shadowhunting!

Monday Mundie Moms
Tuesday Wondrous Reads
Wednesday Novel Novice
Thursday Naughty Book Kitties
Friday Story Siren
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Clockwork Prince Cookie

Cassie just posted this cookie from Clockwork Prince on Twitter. Click here to go to the tweet or read it below. It’s Tessa and Jem.

They slowed finally at the southeastern corner of the church. Watery daylight poured through the rose windows overhead. “I know we are in a hurry to get to the Council meeting,” said Jem. “But I wanted you to see this.” He gestured around them. “Poet’s Corner.”

Tessa had read of the place, of course, where the great poets and writers of England were buried. There was the gray stone tomb of Chaucer, with its canopy, and other familiar names: Edmund Spenser, who had written The Faerie Queen, “Oh, and Milton,” she gasped, “and Coleridge, and Robert Burns, and Shakespeare —”

“He isn’t really buried here,” said Jem, quickly. “It’s just a monument.”

“Oh, I know, but —” She looked at him, and felt herself flush. “I can’t explain it. It’s like being among friends, being among these names. Silly, I know . . .”

“Not silly at all.”

She smiled at him. “How did you know just what I’d want to see?” 

“How could I not?” he said. “When I think of you, and you are not there, I see you in my mind’s eye always with a book in your hand.” He looked away from her as he said it, but not before she caught the slight flush on his cheekbones. He was so pale, he could never hide even the least blush, she thought — and was surprised how affectionate the thought was. 

She had become very fond of Jem over the past fortnight; Will had been studiously avoiding her, Charlotte and Henry were caught up in issues of Clave and Council and the running of the Institute —even Jessamine seemed preoccupied. But Jem was always there. He seemed to take his role as her guide to London seriously: they had been to Hyde Park and Kew Gardens, the National Gallery and the British Museum, the Tower of London and Traitor’s Gate. They gone to see the cows being milked in St James Park, the fruit and vegetable sellers in Covent Garden, had watched the boats sailing on the sun-sparked Thames from the Embankment. And as the days went on, Tessa felt herself unfolding slowly out of her quiet, huddled unhappiness over Nate and Will and the loss of her old life, like a flower climbing out of frozen ground. She had even found herself laughing. And she had Jem to thank for it.

“You are a good friend,” she exclaimed, and when, to her surprise, he said nothing to that, she said, “At least, I hope we are good friends. You do think so too, don’t you, Jem?”

He turned to look at her.

Leave your thoughts in the comments! :)

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City of Fallen Angels Cover (& Cookies)

The cover for the fourth book in the bestselling Mortal Instruments series has been released by Entertainment Weekly. Click here to go to the site and watch the video that goes along with the reveal. Clary and Simon are featured on the cover (confirmed by Cassie herself).

The video’s text reads: “Who will be tempted by darkness? Who will fall in love? Who will find their relationship torn apart? Who will betray everything they believed in? LOVE. BLOOD. BETRAYAL. REVENGE. Cassandra Clare’s internationally bestselling The Mortal Instruments series continues…”

What do you think of the cover? Which characters do you think will be the ones who answer those questions? Answer in the comments!

Here is the excerpt posted on EW: 

Simon glanced toward the window. It was a brisk night, and the wind was blowing leaves across Second Avenue like handfuls of thrown confetti. There was a girl walking down the street, a girl in a tight belted trench coat, with long black hair that flew in the wind. People turned to watch her as she walked past. Simon had looked at girls like that before in the past, idly wondering where they were going, who they were meeting. Not guys like him, he knew that much. 

Except this one was. The bell on the diner’s front door rang as the door opened, and Isabelle Lightwood came in. She smiled when she saw Simon, and came toward him, shrugging off her coat and draping it over the back of the chair before she sat down. Under the coat she was wearing one of what Clary called her “typical Isabelle out- fits”: a tight short velvet dress, fishnet stockings, and boots. There was a knife stuck into the top of her left boot that Simon knew only he could see; still, everyone in the diner was watching as she sat down, flinging her hair back. Whatever she was wearing, Isabelle drew attention like a fireworks display. 

 Beautiful Isabelle Lightwood. When Simon had met her, he’d assumed she’d have no time for a guy like him. He’d turned out to be mostly right. Isabelle liked boys her parents disapproved of, and in her universe that meant Downworlders—faeries, werewolves, and vamps. That they’d been dating regularly for the past month or two amazed him, even if their relationship was limited mostly to infrequent meetings like this one. And even if he couldn’t help but wonder, if he’d never been changed into a vampire, if his whole life hadn’t been altered in that moment, would they be dating at all?

Cassie also posted a short snippet from Clockwork Prince on Twitter last night for my birthday, so here’s that. It’s Jem, speaking to Will:

“Someday, Will, I will go where none can follow me, and I think it will be sooner rather than later. Have you ever asked yourself why I agreed to be your parabatai?”

On her LiveJournal, Cassie posted these close-up images of the COFA cover to show Clary’s green eyes and the Morgenstern ring around her neck.

 

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September CoFA Cookie – Part Two

Here is the second September cookie, which Cassie just posted on Twitter:

“You think you’re a vampire,” Simon’s mother said, numbly. “You think you drink blood.”

“I do drink blood,” Simon said. “I drink animal blood.”

“But you’re a vegetarian.” His mother looked to be on the verge of tears.

“I was. I’m not now. I can’t be. Blood is what I live on.” Simon’s throat felt tight. “I’ve never hurt anyone. I’d never drink someone’s blood. I’m still the same person. I’m still me.”

His mother seemed to be fighting for control. “Your new friends — are they vampires, too?”

Simon thought of Isabelle, Maia, Jace. He couldn’t explain Shadowhunters and werewolves, too. It was too much. “No. But — they know I am one.”

“Did — did they give you drugs? Make you take something? Something that would make you hallucinate?”

“No. Mom, this is real.”

“It’s not real,” she whispered. “You think it’s real. Oh, God. Simon. I’m so sorry. I should have noticed. We’ll get you help. We’ll find someone. A doctor. Whatever it costs —”

“I can’t go to a doctor.”

“Yes, you can. You need to be somewhere. A hospital, maybe —”

He held out his wrist to her. “Feel my pulse,” he said.

She looked at him, bewildered. “What?”

“My pulse,” he said. “Take it. If I have one, okay. I’ll go to the hospital with you. If not, you have to believe me.”

She wiped the tears from her eyes and slowly reached to take his wrist.

It really is kind of like he’s coming out of the closet, isn’t it?

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September CoFA Cookie – Part One

Cassie just posted the first part of the September CoFA cookie on Twitter. She will be doing TWO this month–one that is primarily for people who have read Clockwork Angel and one that is Simon-centric. I’ve pasted the first below. No spoilers for CA, but you’ll understand it more if you’ve read it.

“Camille,” Magnus said. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

She smiled. Her skin looked whiter than he recalled, and dark spidery veins were beginning to show beneath its surface. Her hair was still the color of spun silver and her eyes were still green as a cat’s. She was still beautiful. Looking at her, he was in London again. He saw the gaslight and smelled the smoke and dirt and horses, the metallic tang of fog, the flowers in Kew Gardens. He saw a boy with black hair and blue eyes like Alec’s, heard violin music like the sound of silver water. He saw a girl with long brown hair and a serious face. In a world where everything went away from him eventually, she was one of the few remaining constants.

And then there was Camille.

“I’ve missed you, Magnus,” she said.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but this made me bounce with glee.

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