Chain of Thorns is the third and final installment in The Last Hours trilogy by Cassandra Clare.
Description[]
Cordelia Carstairs has lost everything that matters to her. In only a few short weeks, she has seen her father murdered, her plans to become parabatai with her best friend, Lucie, destroyed, and her marriage to James Herondale crumble before her eyes. Even worse, she is now bound to an ancient demon, Lilith, stripping her of her power as a Shadowhunter.
After fleeing to Paris with Matthew Fairchild, Cordelia hopes to forget her sorrows in the city's glittering nightlife. But reality intrudes when shocking news comes from home: Tatiana Blackthorn has escaped the Adamant Citadel, and London is under new threat by the Prince of Hell, Belial.
Cordelia returns to a London riven by chaos and dissent. The long-kept secret that Belial is James and Lucie's grandfather has been revealed by an unexpected enemy, and the Herondales find themselves under suspicion of dealings with demons. Cordelia longs to protect James but is torn between a love for James she has long believed hopeless, and the possibility of a new life with Matthew. Nor can her friends help—ripped apart by their own secrets, they seem destined to face what is coming alone.
For time is short, and Belial's plan is about to crash into the Shadowhunters of London like a deadly wave, one that will separate Cordelia, Lucie, and the Merry Thieves from help of any kind. Left alone in a shadowy London, they must face Belial's deadly army. If Cordelia and her friends are going to save their city—and their families—they will have to muster their courage, swallow their pride, and trust one another again. For if they fail, they may lose everything—even their souls.[1]
Chapters[]
Prologue
|
Intermission: Grief
Coda Epilogue |
Characters[]
Shadowhunters[]
- Cordelia Carstairs — a young Shadowhunter who believes her life is over now that she is the sworn paladin of Lilith.
- James Herondale — the man Cordelia is married to and grandson of the Prince of Hell Belial who struggles with his demonic abilities, and only recently realized his true feelings for Cordelia and Grace.
- Lucie Herondale — James's younger sister who can control ghosts and has runaway to resurrect Jesse Blackthorn.
- Matthew Fairchild — James's parabatai who is in love with Cordelia and is struggling with his past and his alcoholism.
- Thomas Lightwood — a member of the Merry Thieves who is secretly in love with Alastair Carstairs.
- Christopher Lightwood — a member of the Merry Thieves whom has the mind of an inventor and is working on a new form of communication for Shadowhunters.
- Grace Blackthorn — the adoptive daughter of Tatiana Blackthorn who is currently imprisoned in the Silent City for her deeds in her mother's name.
- Anna Lightwood — the group's watchful eye and lively friend who is avoiding the advances of an ex-flame who broke her heart.
- Ariadne Bridgestock — the Inquisitor's daughter who has decided to break out on her own.
- Alastair Carstairs — Cordelia's older brother that is trying to make amends for his regrettable actions in adolescence.
- Jesse Blackthorn — Grace's newly-resurrected brother who needs to find a way to exist without getting his love Lucie in trouble for necromancy.
- Charles Fairchild — Matthew's older brother and Alastair's former lover with aspirations to become the next Consul, which he will not sacrifice.
- London Enclave — governing body of the local London Shadowhunters, which consists of Will and Tessa Herondale, Cecily and Gabriel Lightwood, Sophie and Gideon Lightwood, the Consul Charlotte Fairchild and her husband Henry Fairchild, and the Inquisitor Maurice Bridgestock and his wife Flora.
Downworlders[]
- Malcolm Fade — High Warlock of London who was roped into Lucie's exploits for his own nefarious reasons.
- Magnus Bane — a warlock friend of the Herondales, Lightwoods, and Fairchilds.
- Hypatia Vex — Magnus's latest lover and owner of the Hell Ruelle.
Others[]
- Belial — a Prince of Hell who is working together with Tatiana to destroy London and everyone James loves.
- Jessamine Lovelace — the ghost guardian of the London Institute.
Gallery[]
Art[]
Editions[]
International covers[]
Special content[]
- Collector's First Edition: All first editions come with a reverse second cover on the inside of the dust jacket by Charlie Bowater, 10 interior illustrations by Alexandra Curte, and an extra short story, Aught but Death, about Cordelia and Lucie's parabatai ceremony.[2]
- Waterstones Exclusive Edition: This special edition includes the above content and a letter from Matthew to James. It's cover features a pattern of Love runes and flowers.[3]
- LitJoy Crate pre-order: Those who order through LitJoy's Chain of Thorns pre-order special receive an exclusive letter from Jesse to Lucie.[4][5]
Trivia[]
- The title "Chain of Thorn" can be referenced to the thorns around Blackthorn Hall, though it also holds a metaphorical meaning in respect the "chains of secrecy, grief, and responsibility" that connects the characters, and is originally derived from a quote in Great Expectations.[6]
- The roses on the cover symbolize secrecy—a major theme of the series and fitting for the revelations of secrets in this installment.[7]
- The chapter titles, like in The Infernal Devices, are all taken from poetry of the Victorian and Edwardian era that the characters would be familiar with.
- The paperback edition for this book is the first main series paperback since 2015 to not have a map included. It is unclear as to why this was excluded and if one will be added eventually.
- This book is told from several characters' points of view, namely: Cordelia, James, Lucie, Thomas, Ari, Grace, Anna, and briefly Jesse, Alastair, Brother Zachariah, and Letty Nance.
- Cassie originally planned on the first edition's short story being the story of the found family tree, with explanations as to why it is incorrect and what the true family tree is.[8][9]
- The book was published nearly a year later than initially planned[10] due to Covid-19 related publishing delays[11][12] and resulting supply chain issues.[13]
- The series was originally meant to have a very tragic ending with numerous horrible deaths and the final scene being James on his deathbed as an old man reflecting on the best friendships of his life and seeing those friends waiting for him on the other side;[14] however, due to the pandemic, Cassie couldn't bring herself to write it in an already troubling time.[15] This change happened early on in the series' writing process so the characters are not completely the same as they would have been for said ending.[16]
- The song Cassandra Clare listened to the most while writing was "Lilith" by Halsey.[15]
References[]
- ↑ Chain of Thorns synopsis — Simon & Schuster
- ↑ Cassandra Clare's June 2022 newsletter
- ↑ Cassandra Clare's October 2022 UK newsletter
- ↑ Cassandra Clare's second May 2022 newsletter
- ↑ "It is from someone whose name rhymes with "Dressie" to someone whose name rhymes with "Gloosie."" Cassandra Clare on Twitter
- ↑ "The chain of thorns would be both the wall of thorns around Blackthorn Manor and the invisible chains of secrecy, grief and responsibility that bind the characters." Cassandra Clare in a comment on Instagram
- ↑ "Roses actually symbolize secrecy." Cassandra Clare on Twitter
- ↑ "I decided [the extra for Chain of Thorns is] going to be the story of the family tree, what it actually is and why there was a messed-up version of it." Cassandra Clare on Tumblr
- ↑ "There is an explanation of why the family tree ended up the way it did; that’s special content in the first edition of Chain of Thorns. But a new family tree is not." CC on Tumblr
- ↑ "CoT in 2022. All March." CC on Tumblr
- ↑ "It's likely that because of delays in the publication process due to COVID, the last TLH book and Sword Catcher will publish later than originally anticipated." Cassandra Clare on Tumblr
- ↑ Cassandra Clare's July 2021 newsletter
- ↑ Cassandra Clare's April 2022 newsletter
- ↑ "Part of it was older James on his deathbed, and as he lay dying seeing all of his friends who had died so horribly so long ago waiting for him on the other side, and thinking how he had never had friends again like the ones he had when he was young." Cassandra Clare on Tumblr
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Chain of Thorns cover reveal on SimonTeen's Instagram Live
- ↑ "I knew really early on... So none of the characters that you know are the characters as I would have constructed them for a much less hopeful ending." CC on Instagram