First up is a lighter, romantic comedy type companion series focusing on Magnus and Alec called The Eldest Curses of which the first instalment comes out in April 2019. The series will consist of three books: The Red Scrolls of Magic (Cassanda Clare and Wesley Chu, April 9th 2019), The Lost Book of the White, and The Black Volume of the Dead.

The Eldest Curses trilogy sees Magnus and Alec (affectionately known by their ship name Malec, to some fans) at the center of their own story, taking place in the timeline during and shortly after the events in the series that started it all – The Mortal Instruments. The Red Scrolls of Magic begins during the couple’s holiday away together during the timeline of the fourth book in The Mortal Instruments – City of Fallen Angels. The sequel, The Lost Book of the White , takes place after, in the years between the end of The Mortal Instruments and start of Cassie’s next series, The Dark Artifices.

Readers can expect to see more insight into the development of the relationship between Magnus and Alec, as well as the usual Shadowhunter business of taking down demons, as the plot of the first book involves the couple tracking down a demon worshipping cult known as The Crimson Hand.

At first, fans were under the impression this would be an adult series as Cassie first intended, but recently she has explained on her popular Tumblr blog that it can now fit happily in the YA category; “In recent years there’s been a sea change in YA, and it’s much more open to gay romances taking center stage, when once there was the harmful attitude that gay romance was necessarily more adult than straight romance. I’m really happy that gay teens and my other loyal readers will be able to find The Red Scrolls of Magic in the YA section with my other books”.

Then there’s The Last Hours trilogy, which I am so excited for. There will be three books; Chain of Gold, Chain of Iron, and Chain of Thorns. Chain of Gold is set for release in November 2019. It begins in 1903 in London and focuses on the next generation after the popular but tragic The Infernal Devices trilogy. Cassie has said we should expect to see James and Lucie Herondale, Matthew Fairchild, and Cordelia Carstairs take center stage. Do these names sound familiar? It’s no coincidence because the main stars are the children of Will, Tessa, Henry, and Charlotte (characters from the previous series). If readers are still missing Will and Tessa, then they will be pleased to know that Cassie revealed that there will be chapters with points of view from them too.

Cordelia Carstairs is the star of this gorgeous cover so we can predict her to be an important part of Chain of Gold.

With regards to the plot, the synopsis from US publisher Simon and Schuster reads: “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.”

We can look forward to some romance going on as Cassie has dropped a hint that not one, but two people will have a crush on Cordelia. She has also mentioned more drama in further hints on her Twitter that a character’s family tree may not be accurate. It’s never simple in the Shadowhunter Universe!

As for the antagonist in the new trilogy, Cassie has been quoted speaking about the evil of the series being a different type to previous novels, describing it as “almost a force rather than one specific person or thing”. Sounds ominous.

Now I am even more eager for The Last Hours as I am looking forward to meeting new characters and covering new ground. It may have the same vibe as The Infernal Devices as looks to be dramatic, with hearts on the line! Cassandra Clare takes the tired “love triangle” trope and puts her own spin on it. I wonder what pairing we will be rooting for next.

Lastly, we’ll see a short stories bind-up released on June 4th titled Ghosts of The Shadow Market, which were published as ebooks over the course of 2018. The stories are written by Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson, Robin Wasserman, and Kelly Link in collaboration with Cassandra Clare of course.

The Shadow Market is a meeting point for faeries, werewolves, warlocks, and vampires. There, the Downworlders buy and sell magical objects, make dark bargains, and whisper secrets they do not want the Nephilim to know. Through two centuries, however, there has been a frequent visitor to the Shadow Market from the City of Bones, the very heart of the Shadowhunters’ world. As a Silent Brother, Brother Zachariah is a sworn keeper of the laws and lore of the Nephilim. But once he was a Shadowhunter called Jem Carstairs, and his love, then and always, is the warlock Tessa Gray. And Jem is searching through the Shadow Markets, in many different cities over long years, for a relic from his past.

Which 2019 Shadowhunter book are you looking forward to the most? Tell us in the comments below!

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Set in New York, City of Bones follows fifteen-year-old Clary Fray who soon discovers the world is not as it seems. She learns she is part of the Shadow World, a world full of vampires, werewolves, faeries and warlocks with angelic-like humans who protect humans from demons. From the funny best friend to the hot and brooding soon-to-be romantic love interest, the series contains all the crucial elements of a young adult novel.

The Mortal Instruments series was originally planned to be a trilogy, but with fan demand, the series was extended to a total of six books with a two-year gap between the third and fourth book.

The two-year gap was not only because Clare planned to extend the series, but also because she was creating a prequel series titled The Infernal Devices. Unlike its predecessor, Infernal Devices is set in 18th century London but still follows a similar dynamic in regards to its plot. Clare alternated publication years with the final three Mortal Instruments books and this series as some elements and plot points were interwoven and gave readers a better understanding.

Clare also released The Bane Chronicles, which followed Magnus Bane, a warlock present in both series and was a compilation of eleven short stories written by Clare along with Sarah Rees Brennan and Maureen Johnson. Last year Clare also released another ten novellas to create Tales of The Shadowhunter Academy, written along with Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson and Robin Wasserman.

Most recently, Clare has now created The Dark Artifices series, which picks up five years after the events of the final Mortal Instruments book, but in Los Angeles this time. The first instalment, Lady Midnight, was released last year with its sequel Lord of Shadows to be released in May this year. Clare plans to do the same with this series as her others by intertwining the story with yet another series titled The Last Hours, which follows on from The Infernal Devices.

Are you lost yet?

With a total of twelve published books and almost another ten on the way plus two upcoming series, it just goes to show how popular the books still are. Not only this but the series is also caused a film to be released in 2013 starring Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell Bower, however, it did not do well in the box office and for some fans, it was a bit of a miss. Production for the sequel was meant to begin in 2013 until it was pushed back another year and eventually cancelled.

Since then, the rights were acquired by Freeform (known as ABC Family at the time) in 2014 with 13 episodes ordered and heading to TV in 2016. While the adaption of the series was not received well by all fans, the network confirmed the series would continue in 2017 for a second season, but with 20 episodes.

Many believe the series to be overhyped, but the series still continues to attract new fans as it could possibly be considered one of the most popular young adult book series out there. It may be because it was published at the right time as during the mid to late 2000’s is when the young adult genre began to gain significant traction within the world along with other series such as Vampire Academy, Fallen and Twilight. It’s also considered a period in time where the supernatural became the must-see and must-read genre of choice, just as fantasy and retellings are some of the most popular topics at the time this article was written. Some also believe the Shadowhunter Chronicles should have been discontinued after The Infernal Devices, but with the somewhat different structure in the latest series, it gained quite a substantial amount of positive reactions.

All in all, it looks like the series that began 10 years ago still has another 10 years ahead with the multiple books scheduled for release. It’s shocking to think that I began reading this series at the age of 12 and it will still be going when I hit the 30s. I can’t think of many series which have been written by the one author and span such a lengthy time period other than the Anita Blake series, which now has 25 novels since it began in 1993 and continues to this day!

Have you read City of Bones? Are you still a fan? Let us know in the comments below!

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In the previous episode Jace and Clary met the angel Ithuriel; Alec and Magnus grew closer; Simon and Maia went on a date; Luke attempted to rescue Cleophas from Valentine; and Izzy went on the hunt for some more yin fen.

The episode opens with us returning to Izzy, who is surrounded by vampires. Since she couldn’t get yin fen, she is now going straight to the source to get vampire venom. The vampires begin to attack her, but Raphael steps in. She begs Raphael to bite her and despite his initial refusal, she convinces him.

We see Maryse and Max Lightwood return to the Institute to announce Max has finally passed his trails and will be receiving his first rune. Unfortunately, Robert Lightwood isn’t attending, so Alec must organise Max’s ceremonial party. But with tensions still high between Alec and his mother, he asks Magnus to plan the party in an attempt to show Magnus is here to stay, as well as the fact he throws some excellent parties. Valentine also returns in this episode and meets up with creepy warlock Iris from a few episodes ago and forces her to do something for him, otherwise he will harm Madzie, the warlock child.

After Simon’s date with Maia and her voicing her thoughts, Simon decides to come clean to Clary about his feelings. Simon being Simon, he rambles on and drops the love bomb to Clary, but she kisses him. Thankfully the kiss they share is sweet, and not at all awkward like Clary and Jace’s first kiss in Season 1. Speaking of relationships, Jace ends up talking to Magnus about Alec. Jace tells Magnus he can feel Alec is happy through the parabatai bond and also gives Magnus the talk and warns him about hurting his brother.

Max’s ceremonial party begins with Clary and Simon arriving all playful. Both Jace and Maia see, which causes a bit of awkward tension for the two. Jace speaks to the lovebirds and Simon becomes nervous, but Jace tells Clary he is happy for her, although it seems he continues to pine away for her. Maryse and Max then arrive, and despite her anger towards Magnus hosting, she still brings a thank-you gift in the form of alcohol because she ‘heard Magnus likes to drink’.

Meanwhile, the party isn’t going so smoothly. Clary catches Maia and Simon kissing and when she confronts him, he acts as though it shouldn’t matter. Magnus gives Max a gift, but then he becomes rude and when Jace scolds him, Max lets it slip that Maryse no longer calls him a son. Maryse races after Jace to apologise, but attacks him instead.

Izzy is still making her way to the party when she meets Raphael. She begs for another bite as she wants to appear strong in front of her mother. He refuses and tells her again she needs help, reflecting on his own past when he became a vampire and Magnus helped him. However, he caves and she gets the venom while he gets Shadowhunter blood. Fans of the books don’t appear to be happy about this pairing, but in reality, it’s not really out of character for Isabelle as she dates Downworlders.

Back at the party, Clary sees Simon and Maia together again and she flips, but Magnus tells her she’s hallucinating and realises something is off. Soon after, Alec also begins to hallucinate in thinking Clary is blaming him for her mother’s death. He is then found on the ledge ready to jump, and he does. But Magnus arrives in time to save him with his magic. With all the Shadowhunters now in the same place, they begin to argue which causes Magnus to get his spellbook. He removes the spell, but then his spellbook disappears so he casts up his wards to prevent anyone leaving.

After inspecting every guest, he comes to the conclusion it must be the red cat from earlier. They find the cat and just as it’s running away, he casts a spell and it reveals itself to be Iris, the creepy warlock. The two begin to throw spells at one another and it is quite an epic magic battle for the show. He learns Valentine now has his spellbook and could undo everything Magnus has ever done. For her crime, he sends her through a portal to the Clave.

Jace and Clary then reveal to everyone what happened with Ithuriel and the runes Clary can create. Magnus realises Clary has pure angel blood because of her connection, which also means she can be used to activate the Soul Sword.

After all the drama, Clary and Simon share another moment, Max receives his first rune, and Maryse and Jace make up with one another. Maryse also tells Jace and Alec that Robert has been cheating, but not to share the information with Isabelle as she loves him too much.

The episode ends with Valentine and the warlock child at the park where he says Clary and Madzie will like one annother, so it seems as though the two will be involved with the Soul Sword.

Overall, the episode had it all again and let’s hope we can expect this from every future episode. Shadowhunters continues next with ‘Bound by Blood’.

What did you think of the episode? Let us know in the comments below!

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Shadowhunters has found its Sebastian Verlac in English actor, William Tudor. He is best known for his roles in Game of Thrones as Olyvar and Humans as Odi.

In an interview with TVLine, showrunner Todd Slavkin says the crew were sold by his ‘chilling’ performance.

“When he taped, he had an American accent, which was really interesting,” Slavkin explains. “But when we saw his reel, saw him on Game of Thrones and Humans, then looked at our take on the character, we were like, ‘Oh, you’re from London. You’re from the London Institute. Use your British accent.’ And it works so well.”

This means that Sebastian won’t be from the Paris Institute like in Cassandra’s books, but instead from the London Institute. Slavkin also says the show has put their own spin on the character, as they have done with most of the show.

His first appearance in the TV series will be in the latter half of the season, rumour has it that it will be around episode 10.

What do you think of the casting! Let us know in the comments below and also check out the video of Will introducing himself!

Meet the handsome @WillTudor1, who will play Sebastian on #Shadowhunters. We are so excited to welcome you to the Shadow Fam! pic.twitter.com/vOGQaAXETe

— Shadowhunters (@ShadowhuntersTV) January 26, 2017

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The first episode picks up right where it left off as Jace leaves with Valentine to protect his friends. Clary seems to have acclimated quite well to discovering the guy she shared passionate kisses with is actually her brother. On the other hand, Jace appears a little more confused, which seems like the more appropriate response.

Changes to the show are immediately noticeable in the first scene with Jace and Valentine fighting. If the blades they used in this scene are seraph blades, they have changed both visually and in sound, as they sound more like swords rather than lightsabers. These small, but necessary, changes can be accredited to the new showrunners, Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin. The overall feel and appearance of the show has changed immensely. The visual effects gets a big thumbs up as the portals have turned from an awful glittery purple haze into more of a walk-through whirlpool.

While these can be chalked up as the positives, there are some new negatives. Only fifteen minutes into the show, it becomes quite jarring with a continual back and forth between character close-ups. Not only this, but the director has attempted to make the settings feel more realistic by using wider angle and panning shots, with many of them feeling quite unnecessary and awkward. The sets have been expanded so this can be done, but one thing that remains frustrating is how some sets still look fake, such as the rooms in the Institute.

The episode plot and dialogue still feel off. The scene where Clary and Jocelyn reunite lacks chemistry, although Jocelyn does come across as overprotective just like her book counterpart. This scene is a clear example of the issues with the plot as Jocelyn replies with ‘that’s impossible’ which then cuts to a new scene with different characters, and then back to Jocelyn and Clary again. The scene in between provided no substance to the conversation and these disruptive or abruptly ending scenes appear to happen quite often in the show.

It was great to see more intense fight scenes, although the camera work could have been a little better. The training scene between Isabelle and Clary was fun to watch, especially when you think about how duration of the show is only over a few weeks and Clary really hasn’t had that much training. But alas, during the fight sequences, the music becomes a little too overbearing, especially in the last fight sequence with Jace and the vampires.

The vampires! We have more realistic vampires! The slow-mo effect added to the killing of each vampire wasn’t necessary as it wasn’t a fight sequence which will leave you in awe (think Arrow and The Flash). Simon has had a few tweaks to his character which will be exciting to see as he grows (or doesn’t) as a vampire. Simon is definitely the character who provides the comedic relief, but sometimes it just feels like he is there to fill in the blanks to get another character from point A to B.

The same can be said for Magnus with his witty remarks, or even when the show needs a bit ‘oomph’ they can just throw in a shirtless scene where he is doing tai chi magic on the balcony. It seems like Magnus and Alec’s growing relationship will be a big part of the season as Alec is struggling coming to terms with kissing Magnus.

Honourable mention to Nick Sagar on his character, Victor Aldertree. His acting and lines felt genuine and not forced, the same can be said for Alan Van Sprang, the master of evil and manipulative characters.

Dishonourable mention to the following: the bizarre memory sharing rune, which felt a little extreme, and it’s time for the shapeshifting rune to disappear as it feels odd that it can be used and Shadowhunters not see through it like a glamour. Also, 3D maps, luscious wigs and unrealistic night backdrops.

Bonus points for a proper title sequence instead of the five second clip in season one.

Shadowhunters will be back after its dramatic and surprising ending on January 9th with ‘A Door Into the Dark’.

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