Chain of Gold (The Last Hours, #1)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
View on Goodreads
Click above to buy this book from my Bookshop.org shop,* which supports independent bookstores (not Amazon). You can also find it via your favorite indie bookstore here.
Cover Description
Chain of Gold is the first novel in a new trilogy that stars the Shadowhunters of Edwardian London.
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.
TL;DR Review
Chain of Gold is exactly the kind of book fans of Cassandra Clare have come to love and expect from her, with old and new characters to love hard.
For you if: You are a fan of Cassandra Clare’s other work. Don’t start with this one if you haven’t read her before, lol.
Full Review
“We do not get to choose when in our lives we feel pain," said Matthew. "It comes when it comes, and we try to remember, even though we cannot imagine a day when it will release its hold on us, that all pain fades. All misery passes. Humanity is drawn to light, not darkness.”
Excluding short story collections and other sort of spin-off books focused on side plots, Chain of Gold is the 13th full-length installment in Cassandra Clare’s (gigantic) world of Shadowhunters. If you’re new to her and looking for a fantastic adventure, go back and start with City of Bones. It might feel daunting to jump in now, but if you are a fan of YA fantasy, it’s worth it. The final battle from the book published before this one, Queen of Air and Darkness, actually caused my Apple Watch to tell me that my heart rate was dangerously elevated, and was I okay? lol.
Anyway, Chain of Gold drops back in time chronologically, following the events of The Infernal Devices trilogy and featuring those characters’ children — James Herondale, Matthew Fairchild, and Cordelia Carstairs (wielding Cortana, which will eventually belong to Emma in The Dark Artifices trilogy), plus a few others with last names you’ll recognize.
Everything has been quiet (too quiet?) since Will and Tessa and Jem and the rest defeated the clockwork army, but now the attacks are resuming. But this isn’t just normal demon activity — these attackers are immune to daylight. As you may guess, there is much more nefarious scheming going on, featuring necromancy, curses, and revenge plots. Meanwhile, we readers begin the process of falling in love with new characters and watching them fall in love with one another … which is, to be frank, what we’re all reading these books for anyway.
If you’ve liked Cassandra Clare’s other books so far, you’ll like Chain of Gold too. It’s not the most exciting one of all, but it’s fast-paced and interesting and definitely an exposition for what promises to be allllll the amazingness in books two and three. And I really love how many queer characters she’s put in this setting of Edwardian London!
Trigger Warnings
None
*This is an affiliate link to Bookshop.org, an online alternative to buying books on Amazon. A portion of every sale goes directly to independent bookstores! When you buy a book using my link, I will also receive a small commission. Thank you for supporting indies. They need us.