Book Review
Title: Chain of Gold (The Last Hours Book 1) by Cassandra Clare
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical
Rating: 3 Stars
I have a love hate relationship with Cassandra Clare’s books at the moment but The Mortal Instruments was ok but The Infernal Devices was brilliant and the short stories I read were also great. Chain of Gold is following the character from The Infernal Devices and their children so I couldn’t wait to get into it, even if it was only to see Will, Jem and Tessa again. We can tell from the very beginning that there is going to be some timeline jumping in this novel which I wasn’t too keen on, but the novel opens in 1897 with Lucie Herondale meeting a strange boy in the woods surrounding her home after she gets lost and falls down a fairy hole. This didn’t seem that significant as we jump into the “present” but it might come into play later. In the present we are introduced to the Merry Thieves consisting of, Matthew Fairchild, James Herondale as well as Thomas and Christopher who are all descendants of the characters from The Infernal Devices. In this time demon activity in London is very low and the boys are dismayed about that but this is soon overshadowed when James learns that Tatiana Blackthorn and her adopted daughter, Grace are coming to London as he has been in love with Grace for a long time despite the fact Matthew doesn’t approve of her. Cordelia and Alastair Carstairs along with their mother, Sona are also moving to London for Lucie and Cordelia to become parabatai but it is also because their father, Elias Carstairs is awaiting trial as he being blamed for a mission gone wrong and Cordelia wants to seek Charlotte’s help in freeing him. Cordelia also has also been in love for a long time with James and Lucie believes that the girl he is in love with is Cordelia as no one except Matthew knows about Grace. For the outset I wasn’t as keen on this love triangle between James, Grace and Cordelia as I was about Will, Jem and Tessa as there doesn’t seem to be any chemistry between the characters right now.
Many people notice the interaction between Grace and James even though they believe that they don’t know each other that well and Cordelia puts it together that the girl James is in love with is Grace and not her which is a major blow to her. Lucie also notices a boy with Tatiana and Grace and it is the same boy she met in the forest when she was younger but no one else is able to see him. In another room he reveals to her that he is a ghost but not the normal kind like Jessamine and his name is Jesse Blackthorn who died many years before. Nothing really seems to be happening so far despite being over 100 pages in and I am hoping it picks up soon. The next afternoon all the young Shadowhunters go on a picnic where Cordelia confronts James about his behaviour the night before but not about her feelings for him as Grace is also there. We see the relationship between Grace and James is very strange as he seems to be far more invested in it than she is but I want to wait and see what happens there. However, the afternoon is quickly interrupted by a pack of demon that attack the Shadowhunters leaving several injured and three critically wounded to the point where the Silent Brothers have to be called in to help. These demon weren’t normal as they are able to appear and attack in daylight and none of the young Shadowhunters can recognise what race of demons were appearing which is something very dangerous. While the others are tending to the injured James wants to willingly go into the shadow realm as he believes his ability is in part responsible for the demon attack and the reason Barbara spotted them so quickly and Matthew helps him but in order to do it he has to hurt his parabatai emotionally which he didn’t want to do. I wanted to see more of Matthew especially after what we learnt in the short stories but he doesn’t seem to be around much.
At this point we are over a quarter of the way through the novel and I decided if it didn’t pick up but around page 225 then I would take a break from the novel before returning to it at a later date which was disappointing for me as I loved The Infernal Devices. Lucie soon learns that there is a ghost at the Blackthorn house in London that knows of daylight demons and she knows instantly that this is Jesse and as she is one of the only people outside the Blackthorn family that can see him she decides to sneak over there with Cordelia. At the manor Lucie sneaks in to speak to Jesse and she learns that his body has been unnaturally preserved against the laws of the Clave which is why he is the way he is but he makes Lucie swear not to tell anyone. He explains that sometimes he gets glimpses of the future because of the way he is but she doesn’t have time to ask him about the demons as she knows Cordelia needs help. Despite trying to distract Grace, Tatiana asks Cordelia to leave but she is attacked by a Cerberus demon in the garden but luckily James comes to her rescue. He explains that when he entered the shadow realm he saw a light and believed it to be the light of her sword, Cortana and followed it to her. They dispatch the demon and meet up with Lucie before preparing to leave but the soon notice the whole of the Enclave is racing to the Manor and they have nowhere to hide which is a good thing as the Cerberus demon’s eggs are hatching and they need to be dealt with so they don’t grow and become a problem later on.
Obviously, James gets in a lot of trouble with his father who is currently the head of the clave but the real issue seems to be getting around Charles. James count admits that he used his shadow ability in order to get into the Blackthorn house and he also doesn't want to admit his relationship with Grace. In the end he sells for opinion that he is just madly in love and his behaviour reflects that, however, he also doesn't tell them that Lucie and Cordelia also at the house. James ends up at Matthews house where he receives a letter from grace asking to meet that night because she's in danger and James obviously answers who called for help. During this time Cordelia is having tea with Anna and this meeting is interrupted by Matthew as he has to meet James at the Tavern at midnight. Anna confesses that she invited Cordelia to tea in order to join her mission finding a cure for those that were poisoned because the Clave isn't doing anything about it. Meanwhile Jesse pays a visit to Lucie and explains that the Cerberus demon that James killed was protecting the Blackthorn house, however, as he killed the demon it spawned smaller demons who also have the mandate of protecting the Blackthorn family. This means these new demons we'll hunt Grace down in order to protect her but if James happens to be with her when they find Grace then they will see him as an enemy and attack him and Lucy knows she has to go to her brothers aid and is going to get some help. We are now almost halfway through the novel, and it does seem to be picking up slowly but I'm not really enjoying it I am hoping that it will pick up more in the second half and like many other people have read it I will come to love it but it really suffers from first book syndrome.
Cordelia who is with Anna and Matthew accidentally ends up saving the lives of two warlocks and they use this to their advantage as one agrees to someone Ragnor Fell the current High Warlock.
While this is happening James meets up with Grace, who is distressed and ask James to marry her and leave the Shadowhunter world behind so that she can escape from Tatiana. While James loves Grace this would mean being stripped of his Marks and leaving all of his family behind which is something he isn't willing to do. Even when she tries to use his love for her against him he refuses as he will lose everything and she will lose nothing, it is here that Tatiana finds them and takes Grace home. James wants to write to Grace but Tatiana threatens to report grace to the Clave and this stops James in his tracks because he does truly care about Grace. One interesting thing to note is during the scene where the demons are attacking one actually speaks to James and recognises him as being the grandson of a greater demon. The demon bargains with James to stop their attack out of respect for his grandfather who he claims is one of the Princes of Hell. James takes the deal but is warned that if he speaks to anyone about it their families will pay the price for it. they all returned to the institute where they find that Ragnor fell is waiting for them, fell explains to them to another warlock called Emmanuel Gast might be responsible for the recent spike in demon activity. However, this is overshadowed by the fact that Barbara lightwood dies she is the first of the poison victims to die at this point but it could be the fate awaiting them all. Thomas is obviously shaken by the death of his sister as is everyone else but they agree that they need to look into this connection in order to find a solution. It is around here that Cordelia learns of Alastair’s relationship with Charles Fairchild despite Charles being engaged to Ariadne. From the flashback scene in Paris we can also assume that Thomas might have a crush on Alastair as well and she finally realises why her brother has been acting the way he has as the man he loves is currently engaged to a woman, and is to be married to her because they can't be together due to society. Despite this they all set off to Gast’s flat, here they found evidence that he did indeed summon the demon but they also find his dead body. It is here that Lucie discovers her ability to summon ghosts which presumably comes from her mother’s warlock blood but unlike James's ability went unnoticed because all of the Herondale family can see ghosts. Lucy manages to convince Gast to explain what happened to him, he claims someone killed him and took the demon he had summoned and this person must have been extremely powerful in order to overpower a warlock. This person who took the demon might be James’ grandfather or it could be someone close to or working for James’ grandfather.
At this point we have now crossed into the second half of the novel, while the story is picking up and the events currently happening are interesting I'm not finding it as gripping as The Infernal Devices trilogy. As the group being on working what to do about tracking down information of the demon we get several things happening in close succession. The first is Tatiana is attacked and brought to the Institute and it is here that Grace tells James that nothing can happen between them now as she is marrying Charles Fairchild. This is horrible for more than one reason as Charles has broken off his engagement to Ariadne who has been unconscious since the initial attack and Grace has basically used James for her own end without actually caring about him. Matthew tries to confront her about this but she commands that he kisses her and he does, almost like she has the ability to control others and threatens to tell both James and Charles if he says anything about her using James. Soon after this they realise that the box in Gast’s flat was no ordinary box by a Pyxis used for housing demon and that the demon in question is a manticore which explains a lot. Manticores are extremely poisonous and thought to be extinct which is why none of the remedies are working, they also have the unique ability of being able to split their body into several smaller sections which is why it seemed like a flood of demons came out of nowhere. The group realise the easiest way to deal with the manticore is to capture it again as all its smaller parts will vanish if that happens but most of the pyxis’ were destroyed or moved to Idris after the Clockwork War but Cordelia remembers seeing a similar box in the club where she saved the lives of the two warlocks and they will have to ask for it or steal it. As it is very stupid to steal for a warlock the group turn to Anna for help as she has had a brief relationship with one of the warlocks in the past and they want her to seduce the warlock again in order to get this box, which means the group are going to be going after this demon alone which never goes well in these novels.
Things really start picking up during this point in the novel, as the group split into two. Anna, Cordelia, James and Matthew are going to get hold of the pyxis while Christopher, Thomas and Lucie will spy on the Clave meeting and get all the information they can that isn’t being given to them directly. With Anna’s group they enter the club and Cordelia provides a distraction for Anna to go about seducing the warlock but Charles makes an unexpected appearance at the club so James and Cordelia have to hide as Charles will go mad if he finds them there but he expects that kind of behaviour from Matthew. While they are hiding in the whispering room we are treated to a delightful scene between James and Cordelia and I can’t wait to see how it impacts their relationship and it also made me wonder what kind of books Cassandra Clare would write if she took a step into the smutty territory like Sarah J Maas. Anna manages to get the pyxis to them and they leave returning to the Institute. During this time, Lucie and the boys manage to learn that London is on lockdown for the Shadowhunters with no one coming in and no one leaving under any circumstances until the demon has been dealt with. They learn that more attacks have happened and more have died, even Oliver who wasn’t attacked by the demon but by Barbara shortly before she died meaning the disease they are infected with can be passed along to others. This ruling causes a massive divide between the adults but the children are going to use it to their advantage. When they release the current demon house in the pyxis and dispatch, they are interrupted by none other than Magnus Bane who at first doesn’t want to help but Cordelia convinces him even if it is just to watch them while they try to contain the demon. They all head to Tower Bridge where they think the demon is hiding and draw it out into a fight but it is going to be harder than they expected. James is once more confronted with his heritage as the demon wants to take James to his grandfather but he refuses continuing to fight alongside Cordelia who lands a solid blow on the demon. They do contain it but it manages to break free of the pyxis before Cordelia deals with it but she ends up in the Thames for it and it is Jesse Blackthorn who saves her and delivers her into Lucie’s waiting arms and I can’t wait to see what happens in the final 150 pages of the novel.
Things are heating up for the climax now as the relationship between James and Cordelia is progressing despite both of them being warned by Alastair. He is overprotective of his sister for several reasons but he does confess to Cordelia that the reason their father can’t remember anything about the raid is because he was blind drunk at the time and he has been for a while, which is followed up by a confession from her mother that she is expecting another child very soon. Cordelia’s innocent image of her father is shattered and she realises how much weight both Alastair and her mother have been carrying in order to protect her innocence but now is the time for action. The boy figure out the missing ingredient for the antidote can be found in the greenhouse of the Blackthorn home where they encountered the Cerberus demon but before the boys can head out for it they are attacked and Christopher is injured and taken to the Silent City. It now falls to Thomas to finish the antidote so the girls head to collect it while the boys head to the Silent City as James received a note from Jem. When they arrive the poisoned people begin calling to James as if someone is speaking through them telling him he has been summoned by his grandfather and he has no choice but to go to him. Jem tells them to flee the city and they do but they realise James has been poisoned through Christopher meaning he really doesn’t have a choice but to venture into the demon realm and confront the demon who could possibly be his grandfather and the others have no choice but to let him do it or he and the others could die without the cure especially if the antidote doesn’t work.
James travels into the shadow realm where he comes face to face with his grandfather and learns what he plans to do and he knows he can’t allow it to happen or everyone he loves may die including his parents, his sister, his parabatai and Cordelia who he is coming to love. While he is facing down a greater demon, Lucie ends up saving Grace from a demon and learns the truth about Jesse and what Tatiana has been planning all these years and while she wants to protect Jesse, she has to save her brother so she commands Jesse to take her to the Silent City travelling the way ghosts do and it works. Lucie’s powers obviously lie in necromancy while James are in the manipulation of shadows, when she arrives she finds Matthew unconscious and Cordelia missing. During this time Cordelia has used Cortana to fight her way into the demon realm to help James and together they end up taking down the manticore and wounding the greater demon ending his reign of terror over London and they end up back in the graveyard surrounding the Silent City. However, James is dying and they can’t save him until Jesse tells Lucie to use his final breath to save her brother end if it means he will die for good and maybe become a normal ghost like Jessamine and she does. At this moment Thomas and Alastair arrive with the antidote and Thomas heads into the Silent City to alert the brothers and Alastair wants to take Cordelia home. At first she refuses but when she realises her brother has summoned the entire Clave to the Silent City she relents and returns home with him.
The ending of Chain of Gold did set up the overarching plot well and I am excited for what is going to happen in the future books but it did leave me feeling a little underwhelmed overall. I will definitely be reading Chain of Iron hopefully in the next couple of months but so far The Last Hours series just failed to grip me the way The Infernal Devices did but hopefully it gets better. I liked most of the characters my favourites were obviously Cordelia, Jesse and Matthew but we didn’t see much of the boys. I am hoping that Matthew’s secrets will be revealed in later books and to see the aftermath of that and how he hopefully begins to heal from that trauma and I am intrigued to see where the plot line with Jesse is going to go given his relationship with Lucie in this book and her powers. I also wanted to mention that I absolutely despise Grace as a characters and I really hope she dies at some point, Alastair was also a character I didn’t like but he has some redeeming moments towards the end of the book that I hope Cassandra Clare builds on in the later books. Overall, Chain of Gold was definitely worth the read considering I am trying to read the entire Shadowhunter universe but it wasn’t a favourite.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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