As with The Eldest Curses, I can’t do a full trilogy overview with the third book coming out next year. But Idecided why not post this just to finish off the Shadowhunter Chronicles. it took 4 years but I finally did it! Anyway, here are my thoughts so far.

I mentioned in my post about the Infernal Devices that I enjoy how immersive Cassandra writes when doing her period dramas. She does detailed description of the landscape, architecture and etiquette nicieties of the time while also showing how they grapple with the limitations based on race, and gender. It makes the characters’ reactions differ from modern day frankness when it comes to such problems as courtship and ‘mortal’ weaknesses like alcoholism and that’s what makes it interesting.

Clare also mentioned that this was inspired by Great Expectations as you might be able to surmise from the titles-Chain of Gold, Chain of Iron, Chain of Thorns from “Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day.“

I also see some hints of Vanity Fair as the extensive Shadowhunter family trees and closeness of the London ton makes this an ensamble drama where damaged reputations are given as equal importance as a Jack-the-Ripper-like demon murdering Shadowhunters.

Which makes sense as this trilogy focuses on the next generation of Shadowhunters, the children of Edmund and Tessa Herondale, The Lightwoods and so on so they have more eyes on them than average. Especially James who has inherited demonic powers allowing him to turn into shadows and travel between realms. Despite how he is sometimes a phariah for his ‘tainted’ blood he still has his cousins and friends who band together as the “Merry Thieves.”

His little sister, Lucie is still learning of her strength and is very excited for her best friend and future parabati, Cordelia Carstairs to move to town. Unfortunately the circumstances of her family’s relocation is not a happy one. Her father is under trial for desertion and betrayal of his responsibilities as a Shadowhunter which she is certain that he is being framed for. Cordelia takes center stage here as she fights to find the truth and help free her father, but there are larger forces at play, bigger than Cordelia ever imagines as James, Lucie and all the others get involved in interweaving threads.

Besides the major drama involving demons and Herondale powers that I won’t get into because of spoilers, there’s also Lucie’s own adventure as she meets a quiet, handsome boy. Mainly because he’s a ghost. Jesse Blackthorn has actually been dead for several years but his mad mother Tatania has paid dark magic to bring him back in secret and as Lucie and he get closer, Lucie starts dappling in even darker powers so she could revive him in his body and live again.

Meanwhile, Jesse’s adopted sister is presenting a bigger obstacle for Cordelia and James. Cordelia has loved James for ages but has always been ignored as just his siter’s friend. While, her main mission is to save her dad, she also hopes that she will attract James’ eye. Unfortunately, when she arrives in London she finds out that James is hopelessly besotted with Grace Blackthorn. In a very Havisham-Estelle esque inspiration, the icy, aloof Grace is using magic to keep James in her thrall, as part of Tatania’s bitter vengence on all the families who ruined her. Not that anyone knows this but it provides some heartbreak and intrigue as James does find snatches of feelings for Cordelia when he is away from Grace and makes for even more complex bedfellows when Cordelia and James end in a convenient marriage. Yes, like in Bridgerton, I know. It was a common trope back then.

But that’s not all, there’s also James’ parabati, Matthew who is dealing with his own demons and failings, and Alastair whose family estrangement and inner conflict make him my favorite character as he reaches out to his sister again and learns to love himself.

And then there’s more like Anna and Thomas and. . .

That’s somewhat the problem with this piece for me. I have said before that it’s an ensamble drama but when you have ten different POVs all placed with equal importance, it makes for a crowded and very very long book. Furthermore, it’s kinda clear that they’re not all of equal importance in the narrative (Like Anna. I’m sorry, Anna is fun but her unrequited lovestory is kinda disconnected in the bigger scheme of things). Yet Clare has each chapter switching off to a new character for several pages, focusing on one story thread before returning to the original. It’s a bit like whiplash. I’d rather have omniscent narrator narrating the events in the ton instead of the constant switching back and forth. Not to mention the rather unnecessary fanservice chapter that was only three pages just so fans could see from Tessa’s point of view. It was just padding, it was unnecessary.

Secondly, the trilogy suffers because of where it is set. It tries to be high stakes but as we already know how the Shadowhunter society stands in 2000s where one of the biggest events was Valentine’s Circle, we know that any “world changing threats” that are going to come up here isn’t going to change anything. If so, they would have been mentioned before. Also it constrains the urgency and the tension of the romances. Like even though Grace presents an obstacle to James and Cordelia, we already know that they’re going to get together and have children, Grace will be with Christopher and so on. I guess it’s interesting to see how it will happen, but I’m not honestly.

So it feels a bit forgetable? Constrained? Somewhere there. It may be because it’s been over a year since I read Chain of Iron but I’ve forgotten a lot of it. It just hasn’t stuck with me. I remember the societal plots and the romances more than the Shadowhunter threats they’re fighting which shows where most of the focus lies. In fact, I feel like this would have worked better if it was several hundred pages shorter and just focus on societal drama because the influences of Great Expectation/Vanity Fair are too hard to ignore. It feels like it’s trying too hard to fit into a fantasy genre instead of London drama that happens to be set in a fantasy world. If that makes sense.

Even so, the characters are engaging. At least Cordelia and Alastair are. Cordelia is so fiery and independent but vulnerable when it comes to love and her own strengths. She also has a blind spot where her father is concerned which also stems from a sort of chosen one idea, she believes she is meant to wield the Cortana and be a hero but doing the job proves to be harder than she had first thought. Hero overcoming doubts is a classic a coming of age staple, and Clare does well in navigating Cordelia’s growth.

As for Alastair, he is more than aware of the failings of his father and has his own pain stemming from him translating to his arrogant and guarded personality. Even though he’s aloof, it’s clear how much he cares for his family and like I said, I love sibling bonds so I really enjoy them getting closer and trusting each other to be protectors. I only wish Clare touched more on their Persian heritage which she acknwleges they experience some racism, but it feels too set in the background considering their status as outsiders.

James, I’m sad to say is sorta boring as he’s either mind-controlled or he’s brooding, lovesick boy. Matthew is entertaining but he is also too into his own issues. Really, they’re all very involved in their own problems that aside from the Merry Thieves, I don’t see much friendship with each other which only exacerbates how the various storylines feel disconnected as they don’t really communicate with each other.

So while the story is interesting, the constrained stakes, and too many characters make it weaker to me. At least we got the new generation of Carstairs out of it. So those are all my thoughts for now until The Chain of Thorns comes out.