Cassandra Clare Talks Her New Release, Shadowhunters Universe, And Top 5 Book Recommendations
EXCLUSIVE: The Mortal Instruments returns with the final trilogy in the massive Shadowhunters universe.
Faerie romantasy remains one of the most popular sub-genres – proved by Sarah J Maas’s latest release in the ACOTAR universe (A Court of Splintered Harmony) sparking global midnight launch parties and pushing the author past the milestone of 100 million book sales in her career. However, Maas is far from the only author playing in the Fae realm – or with a new release out.
Cassandra Clare first started publishing her Shadowhunters universe in 2007, with City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments ), and the series has been a bestseller, with multiple adaptations. Now, nearly twenty years later, the series is entering its final trilogy: The Wicked Powers. Starting with The Last King Of Faerie (releasing Nov 3), the series digs into the world of the Shadowhunters and the Faerie realm on a deeper level, and promises everything that fans love about this universe.
It’s Drusilla Blackthorn’s fourth year at Shadowhunter Academy when a chance encounter at a nightclub turns into a kidnapping. Dru finds herself held prisoner by Prince Ash Morgenstern in the land of Faerie, a place that proves just as dangerous as it is beautiful. Despite herself, Dru is drawn to Ash and the darkness that seems to surround him—but one false move could cost her life.
Meanwhile, a shocking disappearance rocks the foundations of the Shadowhunter world. Kit Herondale and Ty Blackthorn must set aside the bitterness that lingers between them and join forces on a perilous quest to save everything they cherish.
The first installment of the long-awaited concluding trilogy to the Shadowhunter Chronicles has all the nail-biting adventure, heart-pounding romance, and trademark humor that makes Cassandra Clare the reigning queen of YA romantasy.
It’s Drusilla Blackthorn’s fourth year at Shadowhunter Academy when a chance encounter at a nightclub turns into a kidnapping. Dru finds herself held prisoner by Prince Ash Morgenstern in the land of Faerie, a place that proves just as dangerous as it is beautiful. Despite herself, Dru is drawn to Ash and the darkness that seems to surround him—but one false move could cost her life.
Meanwhile, a shocking disappearance rocks the foundations of the Shadowhunter world. Kit Herondale and Ty Blackthorn must set aside the bitterness that lingers between them and join forces on a perilous quest to save everything they cherish.
The first installment of the long-awaited concluding trilogy to the Shadowhunter Chronicles has all the nail-biting adventure, heart-pounding romance, and trademark humor that makes Cassandra Clare the reigning queen of YA romantasy.
Ahead of the book’s release, ScreenRant talked to Cassandra Clare about what it’s like to create such a sweeping fantasy world, writing fantasy and the Fae pre-BookTok, and what readers can expect from this final trilogy.
You can pre-order The Last King Of Faerie Cassandra Clare Talks Her New Release, or Cassandra Clare Talks Her New Release,.
ScreenRant: How do you keep the Shadowhunters lore straight after 19 years?
I have to check things all the time! But the continuity is important because the history of the Shadowhunters is also the story of the modern characters: their families, their relationships, their mistakes, and the consequences of decisions made generations ago, all of it factors in.
<p>When I started writing City of Bones, I wasn't thinking about what it would mean to keep track of almost twenty years of fictional history, multiple generations of families, multiple worlds, and a complicated magic system. These things get more complex, not less, over time. So it was after a few years that I decided to keep a master list. I used to be an entertainment reporter, so I was thinking about TV show bibles: a folder that contains story arcs, characters, worldbuilding, family trees, etc. So I refer to that a lot. It's a physical object so I always joke that if my house catches on fire I'll have to save it before I save my husband.</p> </blockquote>I have to check things all the time! But the continuity is important because the history of the Shadowhunters is also the story of the modern characters: their families, their relationships, their mistakes, and the consequences of decisions made generations ago, all of it factors in.
When I started writing City of Bones, I wasn’t thinking about what it would mean to keep track of almost twenty years of fictional history, multiple generations of families, multiple worlds, and a complicated magic system. These things get more complex, not less, over time. So it was after a few years that I decided to keep a master list. I used to be an entertainment reporter, so I was thinking about TV show bibles: a folder that contains story arcs, characters, worldbuilding, family trees, etc. So I refer to that a lot. It’s a physical object so I always joke that if my house catches on fire I’ll have to save it before I save my husband.
SR: As a pre-TikTok YA romantasy writer, how has it felt to see the genre boom in popularity?
When I started writing The Mortal Instruments, the term “romantasy” wasn’t in use the way it is now. We talked about paranormal romance or fantasy romance, which was often set in our own world, with fantastical hidden communities or hidden creatures: angels, werewolves, faeries. People have always liked romance intertwined with fantasy.
<p>What's changed is the visibility of that readership. BookTok has helped make enthusiasm for romantic fantasy much more public. It's also moved the genre away from our world and into invented secondary worlds, though not always. There's still room for plenty of stories where a magical world exists alongside our own.</p> <p>I think what's grown out of the boom is a wide range of different types of romances. Some are primarily romances set in fantasy worlds, while others are epic fantasies with important romantic storylines. My books have always included romance, but they've also been about friendship, family, politics, identity, and the choices people make in difficult and dangerous situations. I love that there's room for all those different kinds of stories!</p> </blockquote>When I started writing The Mortal Instruments, the term “romantasy” wasn’t in use the way it is now. We talked about paranormal romance or fantasy romance, which was often set in our own world, with fantastical hidden communities or hidden creatures: angels, werewolves, faeries. People have always liked romance intertwined with fantasy.
What’s changed is the visibility of that readership. BookTok has helped make enthusiasm for romantic fantasy much more public. It’s also moved the genre away from our world and into invented secondary worlds, though not always. There’s still room for plenty of stories where a magical world exists alongside our own.
I think what’s grown out of the boom is a wide range of different types of romances. Some are primarily romances set in fantasy worlds, while others are epic fantasies with important romantic storylines. My books have always included romance, but they’ve also been about friendship, family, politics, identity, and the choices people make in difficult and dangerous situations. I love that there’s room for all those different kinds of stories!
SR: If you could bring The Dark Artifices and The Wicked Powers to the TV screen, who would you want to play Kit Herondale and Ty Blackthorn?
Oh, definitely unknown actors. Kit and Ty are young, and you don’t necessarily want actors who are strongly associated with other characters. With Kit and Ty, I think the most important thing would be finding actors who could really capture their personalities and their relationship. They have a very particular dynamic, with Kit being defensive but vulnerable, and Ty holding a lot of secrets. I also think it’s important that Ty’s autism be portrayed thoughtfully and authentically. That’s something I would care about much more than finding an actor who happens to resemble a description.
</blockquote>Oh, definitely unknown actors. Kit and Ty are young, and you don’t necessarily want actors who are strongly associated with other characters. With Kit and Ty, I think the most important thing would be finding actors who could really capture their personalities and their relationship. They have a very particular dynamic, with Kit being defensive but vulnerable, and Ty holding a lot of secrets. I also think it’s important that Ty’s autism be portrayed thoughtfully and authentically. That’s something I would care about much more than finding an actor who happens to resemble a description.
SR: What have you most enjoyed when writing about the faeries?
I’ve written about faeries before, and got to use a lot of things I enjoy from mythology, like the Wild Hunt. But in The Wicked Powers I do get to explore Faerie as a place where people actually live, rather than somewhere Shadowhunters visit on a dangerous mission. I’d say I love the extremes of Faerie. It’s a place of extraordinary beauty, but also tremendous danger. It’s full of power but that power can be wild and uncontrollable. It’s full of strict rules, but everyone spends their time figuring out how to break them. And there is no punishment for breaking them if you do it cleverly enough. Which is one of the great things about Faerie, it’s a place that respects style and flamboyance more than brute strength or wealth.
</blockquote>I’ve written about faeries before, and got to use a lot of things I enjoy from mythology, like the Wild Hunt. But in The Wicked Powers I do get to explore Faerie as a place where people actually live, rather than somewhere Shadowhunters visit on a dangerous mission. I’d say I love the extremes of Faerie. It’s a place of extraordinary beauty, but also tremendous danger. It’s full of power but that power can be wild and uncontrollable. It’s full of strict rules, but everyone spends their time figuring out how to break them. And there is no punishment for breaking them if you do it cleverly enough. Which is one of the great things about Faerie, it’s a place that respects style and flamboyance more than brute strength or wealth.
SR: Have you seen any fan theories that accurately predicted the storylines and plot twists in The Wicked Powers?
A few! Usually no, but sometimes they do guess stuff, even really wild things. One of the interesting aspects of writing a series this long is that readers have almost twenty years of material to draw on. They can go back to earlier books and look for clues, connections, and details. They can weave a theory about how a tiny piece of information dropped in City of Bones will matter now, or how the cat featured in the Mortal Instruments will save the world. (You never know.) I love seeing that kind of excitement, even when I have to keep quiet about whether anyone has guessed correctly.
</blockquote>A few! Usually no, but sometimes they do guess stuff, even really wild things. One of the interesting aspects of writing a series this long is that readers have almost twenty years of material to draw on. They can go back to earlier books and look for clues, connections, and details. They can weave a theory about how a tiny piece of information dropped in City of Bones will matter now, or how the cat featured in the Mortal Instruments will save the world. (You never know.) I love seeing that kind of excitement, even when I have to keep quiet about whether anyone has guessed correctly.
SR: How do you feel about the theory that Isabelle Lightwood will die in this series?
I’ve never heard it! Poor Isabelle. I think the issue is that I’ve killed someone with the last name Lightwood in every series I’ve written about Shadowhunters. They’re just trying to figure out which Lightwood bites it this time. Which is hilarious.
</blockquote>I’ve never heard it! Poor Isabelle. I think the issue is that I’ve killed someone with the last name Lightwood in every series I’ve written about Shadowhunters. They’re just trying to figure out which Lightwood bites it this time. Which is hilarious.
Cassandra Clare’s Essential Book Recommendations
Spinning Silver (Naomi Novik)
A reimagining of Rumpelstiltskin, about a young woman who takes over her father’s failing moneylending business and attracts the attention of a dangerous faerie king when she develops a reputation for turning silver into gold. I love the way Novik weaves together the stories of three very different women, each finding ways to survive and exercise power in a world that gives them very little of it. It’s beautifully written, atmospheric, and wonderfully clever.
The Darkangel (Meredith Ann Pierce)
Really predates a lot of paranormal romance and romantasy, but in some ways serves as a very early blueprint for it. It’s set in a fantasy world, about a young woman named Aeriel who is taken captive by a beautiful, terrifying creature called the Darkangel, who has stolen the souls of his previous brides. It’s part fairy tale, part nightmare. I love its strange beauty and its willingness to be genuinely dark and unsettling.
The Thief (Megan Whalen Turner)
This is a classic of fantasy for younger readers — I’m a YA writer, so I recommend a lot of YA! A young thief named Gen is recruited to steal a legendary treasure for a king. I feel like literally anything else would be a spoiler because the book is so twisty. It’s funny, full of political intrigue, but what I particularly love is the way Turner is a master of creating a story in which you come to understand that what you based your feelings about a character on was only the part of the tale the character chose to show you.
Swordspoint (Ellen Kushner)
It begins with a description of a drop of blood in snow and stays in this beautiful, lyrical place for the whole story. Riverside is a city where aristocrats settle their disputes by hiring professional swordsmen to duel for them. Richard St. Vier is a brilliant duelist whose relationship with a mysterious young man named Alec draws him into dangerous political games. I love the elegance of the writing, the amazing dialogue, the gorgeous queer romance, and the way Kushner creates an entire fascinating fantastical society without ever needing to include any magic.
The Lies of Locke Lamora (Scott Lynch)
If you love a caper movie or a heist, this is a great fantasy book for you. It’s about a gang of thieves operating in the city of Camorr, a magic Venice-type setting full of canals, elaborate criminal schemes, betrayals, reversals, and more betrayals. Locke Lamora is a con artist whose ambition and cleverness regularly get him into trouble along with his loyal band of criminals. I love the setting and plot, but most of all the friendships between the characters. It’s just a blast from start to finish.
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