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City of Glass is the third novel in the The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare.

Description[]

To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters—never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and her best friend, Simon, has been thrown in prison by the Clave, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family's past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he's willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City — whatever the cost?

Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the third installment of the New York Times bestselling The Mortal Instruments.

Chapters[]

Part One: Sparks Fly Upward

  1. The Portal
  2. The Demon Towers of Alicante
  3. Amatis
  4. Daylighter
  5. A Problem of Memory
  6. Bad Blood
  7. Where Angels Fear to Tread
  8. One of the Living
  9. This Guilty Blood

Part Two: Stars Shine Darkly

  1. Fire and Sword
  1. All the Host of Hell
  2. De Profundis
  3. Where There is Sorrow
  4. In the Dark Forest
  5. Things Fall Apart

Part Three: The Way to Heaven

  1. Articles of Faith
  2. The Shadowhunter's Tale
  3. Hail and Farewell
  4. Peniel
  5. Weighed in the Balance

Epilogue: Across the Sky in Stars

Characters[]

Shadowhunters[]

  • Clary Fray - the main protagonist of the series, Clary's gift is crucial to their victory against her father, Valentine.
  • Jace Morgenstern - a very skilled Shadowhunter who, upon realizing that his father is alive and is the evil Valentine Morgenstern, is having problems figuring out who he wants to be.
  • Alec Lightwood - the eldest Lightwood and Jace's parabatai; Alec's sexuality, which is frowned upon in the Nephilim society, and relationship with Magnus Bane bring up issues for himself and his family.
  • Isabelle Lightwood - Alec's beautiful younger sister, Isabelle is a strong and fierce Shadowhunter, as well as a rebellious daughter.
  • Valentine Morgenstern - the notorious leader of the Circle, father of Clary and Jace, and husband of Jocelyn. With the Mortal Instruments now at his disposal, Valentine puts his plans for the downfall of Shadowhunters and Downworlders in action.
  • Jocelyn Fray - Clary's mother who put herself in a coma to prevent Valentine from getting answers from her.
  • Maryse & Robert Lightwood - parents of the Lightwood children and heads of the New York Institute.
  • Max Lightwood - the youngest Lightwood child at nine years old.
  • Sebastian Verlac - a mysterious new player who meets Clary and the Lightwoods in Alicante.
  • Aline Penhallow - a friend of the Lightwoods and the cousin of Sebastian Verlac.
  • Amatis Herondale - Luke's sister who lives in isolation in Idris.
  • Inquisitor Aldertree - the Inquisitor who replaced the recently deceased Inquisitor Herondale, Aldertree, contrary to his job, is not above blackmailing, lying, and pointing fingers at innocents to close a case.
  • Madeleine Bellefleur - a friend of Jocelyn who claims to know how to help Jocelyn awake from her coma.

Downworlders[]

Angels[]

  • Raziel - the patron Angel of the Nephilim.
  • Ithuriel - an angel imprisoned by Valentine whose blood he used on his experiments.
more...

Gallery[]

Art[]

Editions[]

International covers[]

Trailers[]

Special content[]

  • Repackaged paperback edition: The repackaged and updated version of the books' paperback, released on September 1, 2015 in the US and Canada, features a new cover with spine art and includes minor corrections and changes, a map of Shadowhunter New York by Drew Willis and new exclusive content written by Cassandra Clare, including a new foreword and Jace's letter to Clary that's mentioned in the book and was previously released in a limited edition of City of Fallen Angels.[1][2]
  • LitJoy Special Edition: A special edition box set of the series released in February 2022 as a part of the Cassandra Clare Collection. It features cover art by Carlos Quevedo with lettering by RJ Gualberto, symbol sprayed edges, endpaper artwork by Jorge Jacinto, 2 tip-in artworks by Sophia Volovik and Gonzalo Mendiverry, and all the books are in a slip case designed by Irina Shirokova featuring Clary's new Empathy rune by Valerie Freire created for the box set. Each book has Cassandra Clare's annotations and select chapters from The Shadowhunter's Codex. City of Glass also has the map of Shadowhunter New York and Jace's letter to Clary from the repackaged edition.[3]
See all freely released additional content here

Trivia[]

  • The original (now hardbound) cover features Jonathan Morgenstern while in the guise of Sebastian Verlac. The repackaged (paperback) cover features Simon Lewis bloody and sitting on the ground with chains around him, signifying his imprisonment in the book, with the Agony rune behind him.
  • Cassandra Clare had wanted the cover to feature Jace and Sebastian.[4]
  • The title refers to Alicante, which is often referred to as "the City of Glass".
  • City of Glass was originally set to be the last book in The Mortal Instruments trilogy, but the series was later expanded to include three more books.
  • The book is told from several points of views, namely: Clary, Jace, Simon, Isabelle, and Alec's.

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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