The Mortal Instruments Series - YA Fantasy with a Significant Gay Teen Character

By Cassandra Clare

Clary is 15 when she goes to the Pandemonium Club in New York City and witnesses a murder committed by three teens - Jace, Alec and Isabelle, who are covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air.

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

I really liked author Justine Larbalestier's blurb for it:

"City of Bones has everything: vampires, werewolves, faeries, true love, and stuff that blows up. What's more, Clare's characters are brilliant -- she better not kill any of them off in the next two volumes!"

And at the end of this first book, one of the significant characters is revealed to be gay. (More info on this in the spoiler section, below)

It's a series that's projected to be six books:

City of Bones (Book One) - the publisher's description is above

City of Ashes (Book Two)

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go -- especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil -- and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings -- and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City's Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.

City of Glass (Book Three)

Clary has to use all her ingenuity and newfound magical skills to get herself to the Glass City in Idris, the secretive Shadowhunters’ home country, where she is forbidden to go—for it is only there that she can find the cure to her mother’s enchanted sleeping sickness.

When Valentine attacks the city and destroys the demon towers, Clary and her allies are all who stand between him and the total annihilation of all Shadowhunters. Love is a mortal sin and the past tangles inextricably with the present as Clary and Jace face down their father in this third volume of The Mortal Instruments.

City of Fallen Angels (Book Four)

Who will be tempted by darkness? Who will fall in love, and who will find their relationship torn apart? And who will betray everything they ever believed in?

City of Lost Souls (Book Five) - to be published 5/1/12

City of Heavenly Fire (Book Six) - to be published 9/1/13


You can read the beginning of City of Bones, Book One here for free. And you can add your review of any and all books in the Mortal Instruments series in comments!









And as promised, here's the spoiler section of this post - with more info on the gay character. If you want to be surprised, don't read on until you've finished "City of Bones!"






On the Mortal Instruments website there's an interview with the author which includes this question, "Why did you decide to make Alec gay?"

Here's her answer:

Why did I decide to make Isabelle straight? I didn't go into writing Alec thinking "there must be a gay character in this story." As Alec's character evolved, I realized that he always seemed to be angry about something and that he seemed to dislike Clary more than made sense. That he was in love with Jace explained both things about him, and suddenly I understood his character better. Once I did, I knew I very much wanted it not to be the only character note about him. Alec is a good guy, a great friend, an excellent demon hunter, and has a terrible dress sense. He's just also gay.

I love her answer!

Enjoy the series,
Namaste,
Lee