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Chain of Iron is the second installment in The Last Hours trilogy by Cassandra Clare.

Description[]

Cordelia Carstairs seems to have everything she ever wanted. She's engaged to marry James Herondale, the boy she has loved since childhood. She has a new life in London with her best friend Lucie Herondale and James's charming companions, the Merry Thieves. She is about to be reunited with her beloved father. And she bears the sword Cortana, a legendary hero's blade.

But the truth is far grimmer. James and Cordelia's marriage is a lie, arranged to save Cordelia's reputation. James is in love with the mysterious Grace Blackthorn whose brother, Jesse, died years ago in a terrible accident. Cortana burns Cordelia's hand when she touches it, while her father has grown bitter and angry. And a serial murderer is targeting the Shadowhunters of London, killing under cover of darkness, then vanishing without a trace.

Together with the Merry Thieves, Cordelia, James, and Lucie must follow the trail of the knife-wielding killer through the city's most dangerous streets. All the while, each is keeping a shocking secret: Lucie, that she plans to raise Jesse from the dead; Cordelia, that she has sworn a dangerous oath of loyalty to a mysterious power; and James, that he is being drawn further each night into the dark web of his grandfather, the arch-demon Belial. And that he himself may be the killer they seek.[1]

Chapters[]

Part One

London:East End
  1. The Bright Web
  2. All That Turns
Grace: 1893-1896
  1. Bitter and Sweet
  2. A Good Name
  3. The King Is Dead
London: 48 Curzon Street
  1. Things To Come
Grace: 1896
  1. Tread Lightly
London: Finch Lane
  1. To Bring a Fire
  2. The Scars Remaining
London: Shoe Lane
  1. The Damned Earth
Grace: 1897
  1. Crowns and Pounds and Guineas
London: Shepherd Market
  1. Requiem
Grace: 1899
  1. The Wintry Wind
  1. The Flaming Forge
  2. Walk by Daytime
  3. Dark Breaks to Dawn
London: Golden Square

Part Two

  1. Prophet of Evil
  2. Goblin Market
  3. Thine Own Palace
  4. Equal Temper
Grace: 1899-1900
  1. Hell's Own Track
  2. Heart of Iron
Grace: 1903
  1. A Silken Thread
  2. He Shall Rise
  3. Archangel Ruined
  4. Older Than Gods
  5. Wake With Wings
Grace: 1900
  1. No Wise Man
  2. A Broken Mirror

Epilogue

Characters[]

Shadowhunters[]

Downworlders[]

Others[]

more...

Gallery[]

Art[]

Editions[]

International covers[]

Special content[]

  • Collector's First Edition: These contain 10 paper-cut silhouettes of the main characters—Cordelia, James, Lucie, Matthew, Christopher, Thomas, Alastair, Anna & Ariadne, Grace, and Jesse—by Kathleen Jennings and a short story entitled "One Must Always Be Careful of Books" featuring Brother Zachariah and Magnus Bane on a mission in the Spiral Labyrinth.[2]
  • Waterstones Exclusive Edition: This special hardback edition contains an extra short story entitled "Fever" which is the scene from Chain of Gold where James gets scalding fever from Cordelia's perspective. It's cover features a pattern of death's-head moths with the Enkeli and Wedded Union runes.[3]
  • LitJoy Crate pre-order: Those who ordered through LitJoy's Chain of Iron pre-order special received an exclusive letter from Matthew to James about an incident at the Devil Tavern.[4][5]
See all freely released additional content here

Trivia[]

  • Though the majority of the action takes place in 1903, the narrative moves back and forth in time, quite similar to that in Chain of Gold, with chapters subtitled "Days Past". However, rather than give background on multiple characters, these flashbacks only follow the history of a specific character—Grace Blackthorn.
  • The title "Chain of Iron" can be referenced to the Grace's bracelet, though it also holds a metaphorical meaning (that Cassandra Clare has not specified) and is originally derived from a quote in Great Expectations.[6]
  • The death's-head moths on the cover are meant to signify Lucie's necromantic abilities.[7]
  • The chapter titles, like in The Infernal Devices, are all taken from poetry of the Victorian and Edwardian era that the characters would be familiar with.
  • This book is told from several characters' points of view, namely: Cordelia, James, Lucie, Grace, Belial, Thomas, Ariadne, and briefly Will, Christopher, Alastair, Matthew, Anna, Malcolm, and Tatiana.
  • Leading up to publication, Cassandra Clare released a number of letters that told the story of a party set in between the events of Chain of Gold and Chain of Iron.[8] The party was seemingly referenced in this book.

References[]

Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunter Chronicles
The Mortal Instruments
City of Bones City of Ashes City of Glass
City of Fallen Angels City of Lost Souls City of Heavenly Fire
The Infernal Devices The Dark Artifices
Clockwork Angel Lady Midnight
Clockwork Prince Lord of Shadows
Clockwork Princess Queen of Air and Darkness
The Last Hours The Wicked Powers
Chain of Gold The Last King of Faerie
Chain of Iron The Last Prince of Hell
Chain of Thorns The Last Shadowhunter
The Eldest Curses
The Red Scrolls of Magic The Lost Book of the White The Black Volume of the Dead
The Bane Chronicles
What Really Happened in Peru Saving Raphael Santiago
The Runaway Queen The Fall of the Hotel Dumort
Vampires, Scones, and Edmund Herondale What to Buy the Shadowhunter Who Has Everything
The Midnight Heir The Last Stand of the New York Institute
The Rise of the Hotel Dumort The Course of True Love (And First Dates)
The Voicemail of Magnus Bane
Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy
Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy Pale Kings and Princes
The Lost Herondale Bitter of Tongue
The Whitechapel Fiend The Fiery Trial
Nothing but Shadows Born to Endless Night
The Evil We Love Angels Twice Descending
Ghosts of the Shadow Market
Cast Long Shadows Son of the Dawn
Every Exquisite Thing The Land I Lost
Learn About Loss Through Blood, Through Fire
A Deeper Love The Lost World
The Wicked Ones Forever Fallen
Companion books
Secrets of Blackthorn Hall
Better in Black: Tales of Romance
The Shadowhunter's Codex
A Long Conversation
An Illustrated History of Notable Shadowhunters & Denizens of Downworld
All the Stories are True: Classics Reimagined in the World of the Shadowhunters
Adaptations
The Mortal Instruments: The Graphic Novels
The Official Mortal Instruments Coloring Book
The Infernal Devices: Manga Series
City of Bones: The Graphic Novel
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments
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