At the beginning of this year, I set a challenge for myself – to read all of Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunter novels. There are over ten books within this world, separated into a collection of three series and a few short story bind-ups. I have always been fascinated by the Shadowhunter novels but also quite intimidated since there are so many of them! Seeing how much other people love these books made me even more interested. But what ultimately sold me to the idea of reading them was how the books interlink. I love following an author’s work when they weave their various books together, whether via Easter Eggs, characters, or plot lines. An example of this would be Brandon Sanderson who has many Easter Eggs scattered throughout his Cosmere universe. Despite being a bit hesitant about vampires, werewolves, and the like coming together in this world, I wanted to give the Shadowhunter novels a try.
In this challenge, I will be reading Cassandra Clare’s three Shadowhunter series – The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, and The Dark Artifices – as well as one short story collection, Tales of the Shadowhunter Academy. The only two books I decided to leave out of the challenge are The Bane Chronicles and The Shadowhunter’s Codex, both of which I have been told are not entirely necessary to read. Clare recommends reading the Shadowhunter novels in a peculiar order, starting with the first three books of The Mortal Instruments. Today, I will be discussing my experience reading these books, marking the start of my journey into the Shadowhunter universe!
