Whether you are a Cassie Clare newbie or a seasoned Shadowhunter, one thing is for certain – Cassandra Clare created a very detailed and intricate world, featuring many Shadowhunters families with long and complex (and heartbreaking, let’s be real here for a second) histories. This means it’s pretty easy to get lost, unless you have a) an eidetic memory OR b) your Shadowhunters knowledge is all-encompassing, in which case, kudos to you!
But since I am a mere mundane (at least until a brooding and sarcastic naturally blonde dude shows up and tells me I am obviously a Shadowhunter. Still waiting for that. Second biggest disappointment in my life after not receiving my Hogwarts letter at 11), I find it useful to have all the important information I should keep in mind before picking up Chain of Gold in one place! So I put together a little guide with all the essential information you should know before picking up this thrilling new series. You are welcome! (TBH, I did it for myself mostly. If I mix up Thomas and Christopher Lightwood one more time I am going to cry. But for you readers as well, of course). Here we go!
What is Chain of Gold?
We are merely days away from a brand new Cassandra Clare series launch and the buzz surrounding Chain of Gold is at its highest all over social media. Chain of Gold will be the first novel in The Last Hours trilogy set in the Edwardian London and following Shadowhunters that we’ve heard of before, but never gotten their full stories.
The Last Hours trilogy will be Cassandra Clare’s fifth series in order of publication date – her first published series was The Mortal Instruments, the first book of which got published back in 2007, followed by The Infernal Devices trilogy (the publication of this trilogy overlapped with The Mortal Instruments) and The Dark Artifices trilogy. The latter concluded with one of the most talked about books of 2018, Queen of Air and Darkness. And last year, Clare published the first book of her fourth series The Eldest Courses, making The Last Hours her fifth published series. Still following this?
Okay so now we cleared the publication date of these books. But there is also a chronological order we need to take into account – and based on the chronological order, The Last Hours is actually the second series in the Shadowhunters universe. So basically, we are getting a blast from the past, an opportunity to learn more about the characters that were mentioned in the series that take place in the 21st century.
Chain of Gold namely follows a set of characters we’ve read about before, be it in The Infernal Devices trilogy or one of the short story collections (The Bane Chronicles, Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy or Ghosts of the Shadow Market), so here’s a quick summary of all the characters and main plot points you should be aware of before embarking on this journey shot with danger and epic battles! (I’ll avoid possible spoilers in case you haven’t read all the series yet and stick to just the most basic and essential information! So read on without worries! And if I do include a little spoiler, there will be a spoiler warning beforehand!)
The Plot
Okay so this part is still mostly a mystery to most of us (except those lucky readers who got an arc of Chain of Gold!), but Chain of Gold takes place in the Edwardian London, roughly twenty years after the events of The Infernal Devices, and follows the kids of our main The Infernal Devices protagonists (more on that in the characters section of this article!). Here’s a quick synopsis so you know what to expect from this new tear-jerker! (Look, we haven’t read it yet, but was there ever a Cassie Clare book that didn’t make you cry?)
Synopsis from Goodreads
Welcome to Edwardian London, a time of electric lights and long shadows, the celebration of artistic beauty and the wild pursuit of pleasure, with demons waiting in the dark. For years there has been peace in the Shadowhunter world. James and Lucie Herondale, children of the famous Will and Tessa, have grown up in an idyll with their loving friends and family, listening to stories of good defeating evil and love conquering all. But everything changes when the Blackthorn and Carstairs families come to London…and so does a remorseless and inescapable plague.
James Herondale longs for a great love, and thinks he has found it in the beautiful, mysterious Grace Blackthorn. Cordelia Carstairs is desperate to become a hero, save her family from ruin, and keep her secret love for James hidden. When disaster strikes the Shadowhunters, James, Cordelia and their friends are plunged into a wild adventure which will reveal dark and incredible powers, and the true cruel price of being a hero…and falling in love.
The Characters
Okay now comes my favourite part of every Cassie story – the characters! And most importantly, these are the kids of fan-favourite The Infernal Devices characters! Let’s do a quick walk-through of all the main ones and unravel these familial ties! (I admit, as I mentioned before, whenever I pick up Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy or Ghosts of the Shadow Market I immediately forgot which part of the Lightwood family Thomas comes from and which Christopher. And I am deeply in love with these books, yearly rereads and all. It’s a mess. But this might clear the air a bit for people like me who sometimes can’t keep these offspring separate).
(In the following section there will be some spoilers for The Infernal Devices trilogy and Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
James and Lucie Herondale
James Herondale © Bowater 
Lucie Herondale © Bowater
James and Lucie Herondale are siblings, children of Will Herondale and Tessa Gray, and two of the main protagonists of The Last Hours. Because Tessa is half Warlock and half Shadowhunter, her children inherited some special abilities not usually present in Shadowhunters. We learned a bit about what James can do in a short story regarding his time at the Shadowhunter Academy (from Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy), but we will find out more about Lucie’s abilities in Chain of Gold (as Cassie hinted before).
“My father was cursed,” James said from the darkness. “Whereas I? I’m damned.” (The Bane Chronicles, Cassandra Clare)
Matthew and Charles Fairchild
Matthew and Charles Buford Fairchild are brothers, children of the Consul Charlotte Fairchild-Branwell and her husband Henry Branwell. Matthew is the younger brother and also parabatai to James Herondale, which makes him one of the main protagonists of The Last Hours. Charles, as he is seven years older than Matthew and other protagonists, will probably play a minor role in this new series. The Fairchilds are one of the most powerful families in the Shadowhunters world, but they also carry a lot of dark secrets – as revealed in one of the short stories in Ghosts of the Shadow Market. We’ll probably learn more about said secrets in this new series as well!
Cordelia and Alastair Carstairs
Cordelia Carstairs © Bowater 
Alastair Carstairs © Bowater
Cordelia and Alastair are siblings and cousins to Jem Carstairs, one of the main protagonists of The Infernal Devices trilogy. Whereas Cordelia gets along with James and Lucie (and is even Lucie’s parabatai), Alastair never got along with James – while at the Shadowhunter Academy, Alastair was known to bully James and in the end even got him expelled as shown in Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy. Cordelia will be the main protagonist of Chain of Gold and is even pictured on the cover.
Anna and Christopher Lightwood
Anna Lightwood © Bowater 
Thomas Lightwood © Bowater
Anna and Christopher are two out of three children of Gabriel Lightwood and Cecily Herondale (their youngest sibling is named Alexander and is still only a toddler during the events of Chain of Gold). Anna is already one of the most beloved Shadowhunters in this series by fans due to her appearance in Ghosts of the Shadow Market, where it is said that she loves to wear men’s clothes and has impeccable style. Christopher on the other hand is known as an eccentric inventor, who is happiest when he can experiment with Henry Branwell (father of Matthew Fairchild). Anna and Christopher share familial ties with many protagonists of Chain of Gold – they are cousins of Thomas (via their father) and Lucie and James (via their mother).
Some of the other important character we’ll encounter in Chain of Gold are of course the heroes of The Infernal Devices, as they are the parents of most of our main protagonists, Jesse and Grace Blackthorn, who are hiding a dark secret, Thomas Lightwood who is Sophie Collins and Gideon Lightwood’s third child and only son and has two older sisters, and some other fan favourites such as the (in)famous Warlock Magnus Bane.
Why read Chain of Gold?
Okay just in case promises of a heart-stopping plot and an amazing cast of characters weren’t enough to convince you, here are some extra reasons why you should add Chain of Gold to your TBR right now!
- Diverse characters in terms of sexual orientation and identity! From what we know so far, this cast includes a genderqueer character and bi characters!
- Picturesque descriptions of Edwardian London! Judging from Cassie’s previous books we are in for a treat with beautiful prose, feeling like you are actually walking down a London alley!
- Relationships! Cassie knows exactly how to capture our hearts with epic love stories of all sorts! Enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, love triangles and more, Cassie does it all! And she does it very well. *starts thinking about all my Shadowhunters OTPs*
- Cunning villains! Based on Cassie’s teasers on Tumblr, there will be more than one villain in this book. And we are always here for great villains, right?!
And now we wait for this new installment in the Shadowhunters universe. Anxiously wait. It’s a Cassandra Clare book, characters are going down. HAPPY READING!
