City of Bones

City of Bones
Information
Author(s):	Cassandra Clare
Cover artist:	Cliff Nielsen
Audiobook narrator:	Ari Graynor Mae Whitman
Release date:	March 27, 2007 (US)
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster (Margaret K. McElderry)
Cover character:	Jace Wayland
Series
Chronology
Preceded by	Chain of Thorns
Followed by	City of Ashes
Release order
Released after	N/A
Released before	City of Ashes

City of Bones is the first novel in The Mortal Instruments series written by Cassandra Clare.

Description

When Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder. Much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with odd markings. This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons — and keeping the odd werewolves and vampires in line. It's also her first meeting with gorgeous, golden-haired Jace. 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 an ordinary mundane like Clary? And how did she suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...

Chapters

Part One: Dark Descent Pandemonium Secrets and Lies Shadowhunter Ravener Clave and Covenant Forsaken The Five-Dimensional Door Weapon of Choice The Circle and the Brotherhood Part Two: Easy is the Descent City of Bones Magnus Bane Dead Man's Party

The Memory of Whiteness The Hotel Dumort High and Dry Falling Angels The Midnight Flower The Mortal Cup Abbadon In Rat's Alley Part Three: The Descent Beckons The Werewolf's Tale Renwick's Ruin Valentine Epilogue: The Ascent Beckons

Characters

Shadowhunters

• Clary Fray - the main protagonist of the series, Clary is a Shadowhunter who grew up in the mundane world.
• Jace Wayland - one of the most skilled Shadowhunters of his generation, Jace is an orphan who witnessed his father's death.
• Alec Lightwood - the eldest Lightwood and Jace's parabatai, Alec is very protective of his family and finds himself not trusting Clary, whom Jace is inexplicably drawn to.
• Isabelle Lightwood - Alec's beautiful younger sister, Isabelle is a strong and fierce Shadowhunter, as well as a rebellious daughter.
• Valentine Morgenstern - the notorious leader of the Circle, believed to be dead for over a decade.
• Jocelyn Fray - Clary's mother who goes missing, kidnapped by Valentine.
• Hodge Starkweather - the tutor of the New York Institute, cursed to forever be unable to leave the Institute grounds because of his past treachery.

Mundanes

• Simon Lewis - Clary's geeky, mundane best friend who inevitably joins Clary and the Shadowhunters because of his feelings for her.
• Madame Dorothea - a hedge-witch who has lived in the same building as the Frays for years.

Downworlders

• Magnus Bane - the High Warlock of Brooklyn, Magnus is believed to be the key to unlocking Clary's past.
• Luke Garroway - a former Shadowhunter and now a werewolf, Luke is a close friend of Jocelyn who helped raise Clary.
• Raphael Santiago - leader of the New York vampire clan.

more...

Gallery

Covers

Original US cover

Repackaged paperback cover

Repackaged spine art

10th Anniversary Edition

City of Bones movie tie-in edition

City of Bones movie tie-in Walmart exclusive edition

Shadowhunters TV tie-in edition

Textless art for the repackaged cover

COB cover, UK 03.jpg

UK collectable edition

Early UK & Australian cover

2nd UK cover

4th UK cover

UK movie tie-in edition

2nd UK movie tie-in edition

UK Shadowhunters TV tie-in edition

Brazilian-Portuguese cover

2nd Brazilian-Portuguese cover

Bulgarian cover

2nd Bulgarian cover

Catalan cover

Chinese cover, 1st part

Chinese cover, 2nd part

2nd Chinese cover

3rd Chinese cover

Chinese movie tie-in edition, 1st part

Chinese movie tie-in edition, 2nd part

Chinese movie tie-in complete edition

Croatian cover

Czech cover

2nd Czech cover

3rd Czech cover

Czech movie tie-in edition

Danish cover

Danish movie tie-in edition

Dutch cover

2nd Dutch cover

Dutch movie tie-in edition

Estonian cover

Finnish cover

Finnish movie tie-in edition

French cover

2nd French cover

3rd French cover

French movie tie-in edition

Georgian cover

German cover

2nd German cover

German movie tie-in edition

Greek cover

Greek movie tie-in edition

Hebrew cover

2nd Hebrew cover

Hungarian cover

2nd Hungarian cover

Hungarian movie tie-in edition

Indonesian cover

Italian cover

2nd Italian cover

3rd Italian cover

Italian illustrated edition

Italian movie tie-in edition

Japanese cover, 1st part

Japanese cover, 2nd part

Korean cover

Latvian cover

Lithuanian cover

Mongolian cover

2nd Mongolian cover

Norwegian cover

Norwegian movie tie-in edition

Persian cover, 1st part

Persian cover, 2nd part

Polish cover

2nd Polish cover

3rd Polish cover

Polish movie tie-in edition

Portuguese cover

2nd Portuguese cover

Portuguese movie tie-in edition

Romanian cover

Romanian movie tie-in edition

Russian cover

2nd Russian cover

3rd Russian cover

Russian movie tie-in edition

Russian 10th anniversary special edition

Serbian cover

Slovak cover

2nd Slovak cover

3rd Slovak cover

Slovenian cover

Spanish cover

2nd Spanish cover

3rd Spanish cover

Spanish movie tie-in edition

2nd Spanish movie tie-in edition

Swedish cover

2nd Swedish cover

Thai cover

Turkish cover

COB cover, Ukranian 01.jpg

Ukranian cover

Vietnamese cover

2nd Vietnamese cover

3rd Vietnamese cover

Art

Special edition poster of Clary by Alexander Taini

Portraits by Cassandra Jean, included in the 10th Anniv. edition

Chapter header illustration ft. Garroway Books by Kathleen Jennings, used in the 10th Anniv. edition

Sneak peek at the 10th Anniv. edition

Video

CoB10y trailer 01

Trailer for the 10th Anniversary edition

Special content

• Repackaged US/Canada paperback edition: The repackaged and updated version of the books' paperback, released on September 1, 2015, includes minor corrections and changes, a map of Shadowhunter New York and new exclusive content written by Cassandra Clare, including a new foreword and the extra story When Midnight Comes.
• Limited repackaged hardbound edition: A hardbound City of Bones with the new cover art (normally, from September, the repackaged editions are only in paperback while the hardbound editions will be printed with the original designs; this will be a special, limited edition) which will also contain the maps from the repackaged paperbacks, a poster of Clary done by Alexander Taini, and a brand new extra: the beginning of the book rewritten from Jace's point of view called Awake.
• 10th Anniversary Special Edition: A special edition released on November 7, 2017 to commemorate the book's 10-year anniversary since its first release. It features new cover art, gilded edges, over thirty interior illustrations, six new full-page color portraits of characters, a new piece written by Cassandra Clare, and contains the "Clave's files" on many characters—including Jace, Clary, Alec, Isabelle, Raphael, Magnus, and Church—which specifies their birthdays, their scars and Marks, and the Clave's analysis of their personalities.

Film adaptation

The film adaptation of the book, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, was released on August 21, 2013. Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell Bower starred as Clary Fray and Jace Wayland, respectively, and the film was directed by Harald Zwart. The film was set to be the first of at least a trilogy; the poor reception, however, led to the cancellation of future plans and the eventual reboot into a TV series.

Trivia

• The original (now hardbound) cover features Jace Wayland, the skyline of New York City and the graves found in the Silent City. The repackaged (paperback) cover also features Jace (with the model the same as the one on the original City of Lost Souls cover), this time kneeling and reaching for the Mortal Cup's tarot card on the ground, wearing his Morgenstern family ring on one hand and a sword in the other, and the Enkeli rune behind him.
• The Jace on the original cover was, in fact, two people edited and put together as one.
• The title refers to the Silent City, which is sometimes referred to as the City of Bones.
• The book is told from different points of view, namely from Clary and Jace, and briefly in a demon's and Luke's.
• Cassandra Clare is good friends with the author Holly Black. Both have referenced each other's works in their own books.
  • Stepping Razor, a band Clary was listening to in her room, is the name of Ellen Fierch's band in Holly Black's Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale. (chapter 2, Secrets and Lies)
  • Val and Luis, characters from Valiant, are seen by Clary during a carriage ride on the way to the Silent City. (chapter 10, City of Bones)