'Clockwork Angel' by Cassandra Clare

The opening line: The demon exploded in a shower of ichor and guts.

Setting and time: Victorian London, England

Key Themes: an American teenager in London; assortment of demons, underworld dwellers and a part-angelic warrior race tasked with hunting/policing them all; love triangles; monster v. human dilemma  

Kalinda’s Review

Although Kalinda has read this first installment of the prequel series to Cassandra Clare’s bestselling Mortal Instruments years ago she was so busy writing her Young Adult literary masterpiece and plotting silent invasion of Earth that she is only publishing this review today.

Set in the same universe as the commercially successful Mortal Instruments (now, a movie – due for release in 2013) with its part-angel race of demon-crushing Shadowhunters, the first Infernal Devices novel adopts a different point of view – that of a Downworlder. 

Tessa Gray (16 year old) travels to England from New World in search of her brother, but instead finds herself thrown deep into the middle of a supernatural struggle between good and evil of rather large proportions. Clare paints dreary but at times enchanting landscapes of London: a windswept, rain-drizzled world of grey, dark blue and black which at times  spills over into the characters' moods, creating a brooding, dark atmosphere.

The Downworld denizens (namely, lycanthropes, vamps, evil/misunderstood fairies and warlocks, etc) are portrayed as creatures subjugated and controlled by the Shadowhunters – a race descendent of angels, and in possession of some metahuman strength normally acquired by burning a series of ancient runes onto their skin. Shadowhunters are sort of supernatural police, legitimised by their purpose of slaying demons which keep spilling into the human world and threatening the balance. 

In Clockwork Angel, Clare continues exploring complex relationships between Shadowhunters and Downworlders through her main protagonist’s story. Kalinda found Tessa Gray tough and open-minded in the face of manifold prejudice and unfairness she encounters as ‘the Other’ while at times suffering from general blandness as a character. 

Kalinda thought Clare’s exploration of such binaries as ‘Mundane’ v. ‘Sacred’, ‘Us’ v. ‘Them’, and the done-do-death ‘Good’ v. ‘Evil’ were intriguing but not always fully developed. Kalinda enjoyed the fact that the novel explored societal issues pertinent to the times of Victorian England, like gender and class politics (Tessa and other female characters have to operate in the world dominated by men, etc). And although it was clear from Clare’s world-building that the Shadowhunters had their own society and rules within the ‘profane’ human world, they still appeared to exhibit gender inequality and intolerance of the difference, just like their human counterparts.

Finally, a special word needs to be said on the use of poetry as an artistic tool in Clare’s writing arsenal. Era-appropriate poetry and prose are used in the beginning of each chapter to set an atmosphere and to foreshadow the story to come. The likes of William Ernest Henley, Lord Byron, Robert Browning, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Christina Rossetti, John Keats and Emily Brontë are enlisted by Clare in Clockwork Angel. 

Kalinda’s Verdict:  

Although desirable, it is not crucial to read the Mortal Instruments series first as Clockwork Angel is a prequel and there will be no spoilers of Clare’s books which are set up chronologically later on. Clockwork Angel is a decent book and an easy read, if not very memorable. The book cover is lovely. Beware of a nauseating love triangle. Kalinda gives Clockwork Angel 3 out of 5 stars.  

Coming up next on Kalinda Reviews Paranormal: The Host by Stephenie Meyer, The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, and Working Stiff by Rachel Caine