City of Fallen Angels

City of Fallen Angels

Cover of the book released in December 2010
Author	Cassandra Clare
Cover artist	Cliff Nielsen
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	The Mortal Instruments
Genre	Fantasy, Adventure
Pages	432 pp
Preceded by	City of Glass
Followed by	City of Lost Souls

City of Fallen Angels is the fourth book in the The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare.^[1] The series was meant to end with City of Glass; it was announced in March 2010 that a fourth book would be added, with Cassandra Clare later saying that she views this as a "second trilogy" in the series. The book was released on April 5, 2011.^[2][3][4]

Plot

The book follows Simon's difficult transition into vampirism. Simon receives an offer from a vampire named Camille Belcourt who claims to have been usurped by Raphael. She says that if Simon joins her side as the Daylighter, then he will finally earn his place in vampire society.

Jocelyn and Luke, now engaged, attend an engagement party organized by Luke's werewolf pack, in which Simon disappears. Clary also disappears after being kidnapped by Jace. He lied to Clary about leaving the Silent Brothers early (though Jace does not lie about how he wants to be bound to Clary, as the possession has not affected his feelings for her). Jace tells Clary about a rune that binds them to one another forever. Clary accepts and hands him her stele. He begins to draw a rune, but Clary finds out too late that this is not the rune he told her about. She begins to fall unconscious and Jace catches her and carries her away. Simon is led away from the engagement party by Maureen, now a vampire, and is taken to Lilith, who has been alive since the beginning of time. She turned up at one of Simon's band's gigs and introduced herself as a promoter called Satrina (one of 17 names given to Lilith). She explains that she needs him to resurrect Sebastian (Jonathan) from the dead. When Simon tells Lilith he cannot bring the dead back to life, she tells him that he has had that power since he became a Daylighter. In order to persuade him to resurrect Jonathan (Sebastian), she possesses Jace by a rune and orders him to kidnap Clary. Jace brings Clary to Lilith and she orders him to kill her if Simon does not resurrect Jonathan (Sebastian). Simon reluctantly bites Sebastian and drains some of his blood; being poisoned in the process due to Sebastian's demon blood.

Isabelle, Alec, Maia, and Jordan follow Simon using a business card they found in his wallet. When they get to the building, they find the place that Lilith used as her "nursery", with all the children dead. Everyone of them had clawed hands and black eyes, like the one Clary and her mother saw at the hospital. The babies were the outcome of Lilith trying to make half-demon children like Sebastian. While going through the room, Isabelle notices something in the corner and attacks it, but it turns out to be a mother of one of the babies who then explains to them what was happened.

Meanwhile, Clary tricks Jace by saying she does not wish to watch and he embraces her. She then grabs Jace's knife and cuts the rune that Lilith is using to possess him on his chest, causing Jace to be freed from Lilith's control. Jace tells Clary to run away, and believes that she did, but then Lilith reveals that Clary stayed and starts torturing her with a whip. The third time that she goes to hit Clary, Simon kills Lilith by throwing himself in between Lilith and Clary. The Mark of Cain, of course, causes Lilith to be destroyed. The Clave appears at the scene, and Isabelle tells them what happened, while Jace waits for them upstairs. Up on the roof, Jace is ashamed of his actions, but Clary tells him that she loves him no matter what happens, and the two kiss. She then goes down to the lobby to meet her mother, Luke, Simon, Maia, Alec, Magnus and Isabelle.

Reception

The Manila Bulletin gave a mixed review, writing that, "when it departs from Simon's story is when it is at its most weakest".^[5] Commonsensemedia gave the book four stars and wrote "Exciting entry in bestselling series has creepy cult stuff."^[6]

References