Cut to last fall, after I've 1) read A Song of Ice and Fire and thus become desensitized to anything ever seeming weird after the relationships in that series and 2) transferred to Michigan and need something to distract me from my anxiety. I decide to give City of Bones another go because of the movie, and wham bam thank you ma'am, I'm hooked.
I've finished all of the Mortal Instruments books now, so I figure now is as good a time as ever to start the Infernal Devices, right? Good decision, me.
Clockwork Angel is set over a hundred years before the Mortal Instruments series begins and centers on Tessa Gray, who makes the journey from New York to London to meet up with her brother, Nathaniel. Their aunt has just died, and Nate is all the family Tessa has left. When she arrives in Southampton, she's met by Mrs. Black and Mrs. Dark, a pair of sisters who say Nate sent them in his stead to pick up Tessa.
Wrong. The Dark Sisters actually imprison Tessa in their home, forcing her to use magic she never knew she was capable of and preparing her for marriage to "the Magister," whoever that may be. They say they have Nate locked up somewhere, and that the Magister will release him once she's married to him, if that's what she wants.
Fortunately for Tessa, she's rescued by Will Herondale in a Shadowhunter raid on the Dark Sisters' home. He takes her back to the Institute, where she's offered sanctuary until they figure out how to stop the Magister and find her brother. Tessa accepts, although she's wary that the Shadowhunters will want to use her powers for their own gain, just as the Dark Sisters did.
Tessa and the Shadowhunters - Will, Jem Carstairs, and Henry and Charlotte Branwell - work with the vampire Camille Belcourt and the warlock Magnus Bane to take down Alexei de Quincey, the alleged Magister. They even manage to rescue Nate in the process, much to the delight of both Tessa and Jessamine Lovelace, a Shadowhunter who'd much rather be a lady of society.
De Quincey isn't the man they're looking for, however, and a few twists of betrayal leave Tessa still in danger at the end of the novel. Will's backstory is also still unsolved, much to my frustration. (I'd also like to learn a bit more about Jessamine, if I had my druthers.)
Clockwork Angel is a great example of a spin-off series that still does the original justice. The storyline is fresh and engaging, and the characters aren't carbon copies of their predecessors (postdecessors?), though they do share some quirks. I also love seeing Magnus and Camille appear in this series - it feels like a nice unifier.
I know from City of Heavenly Fire that some of the characters from this series will survive to see that series end, too, so a lot of my brainpower is devoted to figuring out exactly how that's going to work. I think I have one of the character's trajectories traced already....
Overall, Clockwork Angel is definitely worth the read. It's interesting and unique while still incorporating well-loved elements from the Mortal Instruments. My only complaint is that some of the characters feel too reminiscent of characters Cassandra Clare already created at times, but it's not like different people can't have similar habits. 4/5 stars.
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