City of Bones is Cassandra Clare’s debut novel and the first novel written in the Shadowhunters universe. The books fall in the urban fantasy/paranormal genre, and in addition to demons and Shadowhunters, they feature creatures common in paranormal books, including vampires, werewolves, fairies, and magic-users, such as warlocks. The Mortal Instruments series is set in modern day, and the Shadowhunter families named in the series appear in other series set at different points in history, including the Infernal Devices (steampunk-ear London) and the Dark Artifices (set after the events of the Mortal Instruments and featuring Clary and Jace as adults). The Shadowhunters Universe also contains many short novels and stories about side characters, such as Magnus Bane.

Cassandra Clare was heavily inspired by the works of Holly Black. Together, Clare and Black wrote Not For Humans (2015), a mashup of the Clare’s Shadowhunters and Black’s Modern Faerie Tales universes, which includes Jace, among other characters from the Mortal Instruments. In Clare’s books, characters from Black’s faerie world are Down-worlders and make appearances in City of Bones as well as throughout the rest of the Mortal Instruments series. Black also references Clare’s work, using

Don't Miss Out!

Access Study Guide Now