THE INFERNAL DEVICES
“Let me give you a piece of advice.
The handsome young fellow who's trying to rescue you from a hideous fate is
never wrong. Not even if he says the sky is purple and made of
hedgehogs.” - Will Herondale; The Clockwork Angel.
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Anyone who recognised the term Shadowhunters, are no doubt familiar with Cassandra Clare's world of The Mortal Instruments. It is by far one of her best-selling book series after all. With sensational, wonderfully written characters that seem to come alive with every pages from City of Bones to the recent City of Lost Souls, Clare has created a paradox of astounding universe with the likes of fantasy creatures such as vampires, werewolves, warlocks, and faeries (mind you- Clare's faeries are perhaps one of the most devious, and cunning kind among the other mentioned species). But, alas, today is not the day The Mortal Instruments receive the spotlight. In fact, it is the prequel installment of the Mortal Instruments: The Infernal Devices.
Set in grey subdued London, during the Victorian era, the series focuses mainly on the pivotal London Institute (a safe house for Shadowhunters), centering around the Tessa Gray, Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs. This is the time where the peace treaty between the Shadowhunters (a secretive race of human with angelic blood- sometimes referred as Nephilims) and Downworlders (hybrid creatures of part human, part demon such as vampires, werewolves, warlocks, and faeries) had not existed yet in oppose to the modern day setting of The Mortal Instruments. Therefore, Shadowhunters have no qualms in killing Downworlders as they consider themselves higher in regard and superior of the latter species.
To sum up the trilogy, I will do my best to cover the basic outline of the story (Warning: spoilers ahead). Theresa "Tessa" Gray arrived in London from America, when she received a letter from her brother to come and find him. Unfortunately, she was captured by the Dark Sisters - a pair of female warlocks- only to be exploited for her shapeshifting power which was unbeknown to her until then. She was rescued by a Shadowhunter, Will Herondale and brought to the London Institute led by a woman (controversial subject that takes place in the story as many had disagree with a woman as the head of well, practically anything - remember this is the victorian era where it is unconventional for a woman to be placed as a leader), Charlotte Bramwell. From there, Tessa met the many residence of the Institute including Jem Carstairs that will held a special role in the future. The main complication faced by the protagonists was going against the deadly clockwork army of Axel Mortmain, who wishes to rid of all Shadowhunters due to an old vengeance. Thus Mortmain's desire to snare Tessa in order to obtain her power, was to raise a legion of demonic clockwork that has its own mind and body, and also hard to be destroyed unlike the previous normal clockwork. The emotional apex was the love triangle between the three main characters as Will had spurned Tessa's love as he believe he was cursed by a demon that involves anyone he cares to die, Tessa torn between her two love, and Jem succumbing to his illness due to Yin Fen addiction caused by a greater demon feeding him demon poison when he was a child. It also involves Tessa finding her identity and well, to be exact what category of species she fits into since the readers will learn early in the series that she is definitely not a human.
