The Mortal Instruments Series

I realize I've been remiss in posting.  This doesn't mean I haven't been reading.  Quite the opposite, in fact, as I've finished 4 books in the last few days.  In this post I will focus on City of Glass by Cassandra Clare, the third in her Mortal Instruments Series (following City of Bones and City of Ashes).  While not a new series, it came to my attention a year or so ago when I saw a trailer for the movie adaptation of City of Bones.  I liked the trailer, and thought, "oh, they're slayers" (a la Buffy).  Well, perhaps on the screen, but not so much on the page.

I would characterize this series as entertaining, but not enthralling (for me, as a middle-aged man anyway).  Having finished the third book of a series of six, I am done.  This book reached, what I felt, was a good point of closure.  I found the book to be closer to Twilight then Buffy (and I quit after the first Twilight--I am firmly in the vampires-don't-sparkle camp), but also closer to Harry Potter than Twilight (again, my opinion).  There is the assortment of vampires, werewolves, warlocks, and teen angst.  There is a Voldemort-like villain (whose name, Valentine, shares an alliterative element with J.K. Rowling's creation), whose goal, like that of He-who-shall-not-be-named, is to cleanse the blood of his supernatural/superhuman race, the Nephilim (who, as you may guess from the name, have a connection to angels).

If you like this sort of story, or if you share the tastes of 15-year-old girls, you will probably like these books much more than I did, and are likely to read all 6 in the series, plus all of the corollary works which Clare seems to be producing.  Again, this series did not really interest me to the same level as some other YA books lately have (The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Park Service, as examples).

Happy reading, and happy Valentine's Day (although, not the Valentine referenced above).