The Last Hours – Characters

Cordelia Carstairs. Bit of a scapegrace and ever since she was ten she’s had a sort of a crush on

James Herondale, who is parabatai with

the always-delightful Matthew Fairchild, and has a very odd relationship with Tatiana’s Blackthorn’s ward

Grace Blackthorn, whose brother Jesse Blackthorn may or may not be dead

a mystery that occupies the busy brain of writer

Lucie Herondale, whose father would really prefer she marry

Alastair Carstairs, Cordelia’s older brother. Shown with Cortana — looks like Elias did as Tessa suggested and passed it down to his own children after all. Alastair is best friends with

Charles Fairchild, who you may remember as Potentially Buford from Clockwork Princess. Charles would like to be the next Consul, alas, and Henry finds he rather gets along better with Cecily and Gabriel’s son

who is the younger brother of the ever so sophisticated

Anna Lightwood.

This isn’t all the characters, but it’s a visual tour of quite a few of the significant ones (barring those, like Tessa, Jem, Will and the other adults, who you already know!) I find having visuals of characters often helps while I’m writing so these live above my desk!

(Via – cassandra Clare’s Website)

The Last Hours

The Last Hours is a new Shadowhunters series set in 1903. It deals with the next generation after Will, Tessa and Jem as well as Charlotte and Henry’s children, Tatiana Blackthorn’s children, the Lightwood kids, and many more. 1903 is right around the time the Victorian era tips over into the Edwardian era — beautiful clothes, fabulous history and so much more that I’m excited to write about! (I’ve even been keeping a crazy Pinterest board for inspiration.)

The title is taken from the book Great Expectations, of which the series is a retelling: those of you who’ve read The Midnight Heir installment of the Bane Chronicles probably have some ideas about certain of the characters!

You have been in every line I have ever read, since I first came here, the rough common boy whose poor heart you wounded even then. You have been in every prospect I have ever seen since — on the river, on the sails of the ships, on the marshes, in the clouds, in the light, in the darkness, in the wind, in the woods, in the sea, in the streets. You have been the embodiment of every graceful fancy that my mind has ever become acquainted with. The stones of which the strongest London buildings are made, are not more real, or more impossible to be displaced by your hands, than your presence and influence have been to me, there and everywhere, and will be. Estella, to the last hours of my life, you cannot choose but remain part of my character, part of the little good in me, part of the evil. — Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

There will be three books: Chain of Thorns, Chain of Gold, and Chain of Iron — also a reference to Great Expectations.

(“Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day.” — Great Expectations)

The books will interconnect with The Dark Artifices trilogy as two separate trilogies that are also the stories of the Blackthorns, Herondales and Carstairs, much like TMI and The Infernal Devices interconnected despite taking place in different time periods and locations. The exact order of publication isn’t decided yet. Lady Midnight, the first of the Dark Artifices, will certainly be the next Shadowhunter book coming out, and I’ll keep you up to date on the publication order when it’s nailed down.

I hope you’re looking forward to reading about Jem, Tessa and Will and their immediate families and descendants as much as I am looking forward to writing about them! In the meantime, I thought you might like to see/get to know a few of the prominent characters. Cassandra Jean drew these for me months ago, back when I was still solidifying some of the plot outlines and character details. You can also find most of these names on the family tree and identify their connections.

(Via – Cassandra Clare’s Website)

The Infernal Devices

When 16-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London’s Downworld,where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos. Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What’s more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa’s power for his own. Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by — and torn between — two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm’s length . . . everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world… and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.”

There are three books in the Infernal Devices series: Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, and Clockwork Princess. The Infernal Devices are often called a prequel series to the Mortal Instruments, but only because they take place in an earlier time period and contain some of the Mortal Instruments’ characters’ ancestors. You don’t have to read the Mortal Instruments before The Infernal Devices. You don’t have to read the The Infernal Devices before The Mortal Instruments. You can read them in any order.

(Via – Cassandra Clare’s Website)