Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Clare, C. (2011). Clockwork Prince. New York, NY: Margaret K. McElderry Books.

ISBN-13: 978-1416975892

Genre: Fantasy, Magic, Vampires, Werewolves, Warlocks, Demons, Angels, Fairies, Romance, Elves, Steampunk

Reading level/ interest age: 16+

Plot summary:

Charlotte, head of the London Institute, is in danger of losing her position. As a temporary fix, the Consul appoints Gideon and Gabriel Lightwood to watch over her and instruct the household in fighting techniques. Tessa, Will, and Jem continue to search for clues regarding Mortmain’s master plan. They discover an address and quickly leave to verify its validity. During their observation of the house, Will ends up seeing his sister and worries that his family may have been caught up in Mortmain’s scheming. He decides to seek out a local warlock for assistance and breaks down admitting that he is cursed. The warlock agrees to assist Will and they spend many secret nights together attempting to summon the demon who cursed him. Becoming discouraged, Will begins to substance abuse and Tessa and Jem end up finding him in a drug den. Tessa discovers that Jem is angry at Will for his adventure because the same drug is what is both killing Jem and preventing him from dying. Some days later, the group discovers that Jem’s drug is disappearing off the streets. Word is that Mortmain is buying all of it up. Jem starts becoming sick without the drug which spurs the residents of the Institute into action.

Reader’s annotation:

Tessa, Will, and Jem continue their hunt to unlock the mysteries of Mortmain. Can they stop him before he looses his cloclwork army on London?

Information about the author:

“Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Teheran, Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father’s backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten years old.

“Since her family moved around so much she found familiarity in books and went everywhere with a book under her arm. She spent her high school years in Los Angeles where she used to write stories to amuse her classmates, including an epic novel called ‘The Beautiful Cassandra’ based on a Jane Austen short story of the same name (and  which later inspired her current pen name).

“After college, Cassie lived in Los Angeles and New York where she worked at various entertainment magazines and even some rather suspect tabloids where she reported on Brad and Angelina’s world travels and Britney Spears’ wardrobe malfunctions. She started working on her YA novel, City of Bones, in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, her favorite city. She turned to writing fantasy fiction full time in 2006 and hopes never to have to write about Paris Hilton again” (Clare, 2014).

Curriculum ties: N/A

Booktalking ideas:

1.       What do you think Mortmain plans to do if he catches Tessa?
2.       What would you do if your brother betrayed you?

Critical evaluation:

The Infernal Devices contain many subplots that both add to and take away from the story. This is what makes the series so interesting in that it does not follow a linear path from beginning to end. In actuality, the story does not end at all as Tessa is immortal and remains a minor presence throughout The Mortal Instruments. The amount of characters can be overwhelming too. This distracts readers from the already complex story and takes away some element of clarity. Reading Cassandra Clare’s work leaves the reader’s mind in a bit of a fog afterwards. They have to really focus on maintaining a clear view of all of the subplots and characters which can turn into a bit of a headache. Overall, Clockwork Prince is a good book and part of an even better series with an interesting plot and cast of characters. Great for anyone who loves fantasy.

Challenge issues: N/A

Why included:

I believe that because this series contains so many different genre and sub-genre that it will appeal to a wide audience.

Reference:

Clare, C. (2014). My Bio. Retrieved August 22, 2014 from http://www.cassandraclare.com/about/

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