“We are all the pieces of what we remember. We hold in ourselves the hopes and fears of those who love us. As long as there is love and memory, there is no true loss.”
City of Heavenly Fire ― Cassandra Clare

By now you probably already know that i intended a lot of series in this blog. This time is author works face off! Basically it's me comparing author books because apparently we got a lot of authors with multiple books that they've released. I'd compare them based on mostly everything that i noticed, probably some similarity, also comparison, and yes, the author's growth also, how their writing style "transforms" through their works also the world that they developed.

So today's chapter, i want to talk about Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series (later we'll call it TMI) and The Infernal Devices (later we'll call it TID cuz it's too long to type it and i'm a lazy prick). Both were based on same Shadowhunter world that she built. But in different timeline, and different city.  TMI based in New York Institute in 2007, while TID based in London Institute back in 1878.

Which Should I read First?

So here's some way to read them, but to be honest if you reach each of series, which way first, they just spoiled you to each other no matter what. Here's pros and cons for it anyway.

1. You can start by which series released first which TMI then TID

2. You can go with the timeline of the book which TID first then TMI

Which is how i read it and kind of regretting it now.

Pro : The system of the world is more developed, great characters, reading it by timeline you can see how Shadowhunters World developed past century. Got to know who's who in TID then occurs again in TMI and recognize how the character developed since.
Cons : Spoilers in the epilogue for the TMI book which is why i regretting it.

3. Read by Publication Date

• Read first season of TMI (book 1-3)
  
• TID book 1 : Clockwork Angel
• TMI book 4 : City Of Fallen Angel
• TID book 2 : Clockwork Prince
• TMI book 5 : City of Lost Soul
• TID book 3 : Clockwork Princess
• TMI Book 6 : City Of heavenly Fire

Pros : again, it's good to read by the publications date so you can see how the author's writing style growth
Cons : it's tiring to go back and fort between two series, sometimes it can be confusing also spoiler here and there too, in my opinion.

4. How I suggest

So there are 3 concern in regard of which i read first and why. First, i don't want to read any potential spoilers for next series i've read, second i don't want to face the downside of reading disappointment because i read books with better writing style first then the move to the first series she ever wrote. Third i don't want to read the well developed system then to the just being made system in the world she set in.
So, here's how i suggest you to read it

• Read the first season of TMI which is book 1-book 3
• Read TID series BUT skip the epilogue
• Read TMI season 2 (book 4-6) AND skip the Epilogue
• Read the Epilogue of TID
• Read the Epilogue of TMI

In that order you got introduced to the early set of Shadowhunter world that Cassie made, also her writing style, then you got to continue it by timeline (first season of TMI doesn't spoil anything to TID related) and then for sure you avoid the spoilers.

Well that's quite an introductions, shall we go to the comparison now?

The Comparison

Again i'd say this is not a comparison of 2 series, but 3 for me. TMI is divided into two seasons (in my opinion and we'll call it that anyway cuz it's my blog, my rule. lol) so i'd compare these 3 series (TMI season 1, season 2 and TID) instead of just two.

The Plot

TMI First season focus is in defeating Valentine, the famous Shadowhunter that once create a society named Circle that its purpose it to purify the world from demon, and Downworlders which is part demon. He failed because of his wife betrayed him, then fake his death. 15 years later he show up again with same goal, this time not just to slay Downworlders, but to control them by collecting all the Mortal instruments

With the Sword I can call to me an obedient army of demons. They will serve me as tools, do whatever I demand. They will have no choice. And when I am done with them, I will command them to destroy themselves, and they will do it.
Valentine - City of Ashes

I won't talk about the review anymore because i've done it, click this picture below just in case you missed it

I also sum all this first season of TMI in another post below

In Season two of TMI, the adventure continues with Jace and others trying again to save the world from Valentine's descendant, Sebastian. This time not only try to control demon and Downworlders, Sebastian's main focus is to rule, not just controlling Downworlders, but also Shadowhunters.

TID in other hand is more about war between a villain called The Magister, who's building clockwork machine (in simple word is robot) in order to get revenge to Shadowhunter.

Some Similarities

You definitely will find some similarity between TMI and TID, the way some main character met for example :
In TMI when Jace the main character playing piano

"Alec?" he said. "Is that you?"
"It's not Alec. It's me." She stepped farther into the room. "Clary."
City of Bones

Same thing also happen when Jem play Violin

“Will?” he said, without opening his eyes or ceasing to play. “Will, is that you?”
Tessa said nothing. [...]
“You’re not Will.”
The Clockwork Angel

I mean, i don't mind, but it's kind of funny.

Also the way Jace introduce the institute probably almost the same way Will introduce it to Tessa.

There also some catch phrase that Cassandra Clare use mostly in her books when someone releases the breath that they didn't realized they was holding, it appears in EVERY TID book even twice in the last book and in some TMI books altho i think not whole of the series this time. But that sentence is just so cliche that every time i read it i just can't stop myself to roll my eyes.

Villain

We can't skip a good book without a good (or badass) villain.

In First season of TMI, we got Valentine

But blood calls to blood, as they say, Fate has borne us to this convergence. Our family, together again. We can use the Portal, go to Idris. Back to the manor house."
Valentine - City of Bones

He's a mastermind. He truly knows his goal, and will do anything to achieve it, but he is also a romantic person. Longing for his wife back to him. In the second season of TMI altho he's no longer alive there, Sebastian himself told Clary how Valentine still waiting for Jocelyn to get back to him, it shows with the room specially for her, with clothes all for her.

In Second Season of TMI we got Sebastian

Sebastian is partly like his Dad, but meaner in some point of his plan. But still he need to be with his family, he attached to Jace and Clary a lot. Even until the end of the book he decided to loose everything just to be with Clary.

“Do you think you can forgive me? I mean, do you think forgiveness is possible for
someone like me?”
Sebastian - City of Lost Soul

It's obvious how unwanted child want to be received well in his family, which in his term is Clary for the most of the time. To be love back. I feel pity of him specially in City of Lost Souls.
 

In TID we got Mormain The Magister

His identity is quite complicated at first. Well to sum it up he is a mundane that raised by Warlock couple which the one that begin the revolution of the clockwork but failed, Mortmain practically "creates" Tessa, then want to marry her of course before she got rescued by Will Herondale.
He's also a Mastermind. I mean, the plot twist is everywhere in this whole series.

“Adoptive parents, you call them, but they were as much my parents as any amount of blood could make them. They raised me up with care and love, just as yours did you. And then they were killed by Shadowhunters. My father wanted to create these beautiful automatons, these clockwork creatures, as you call them. They would be the greatest machines ever invented, he dreamed, and they would protect Downworlders against the Shadowhunters who routinely murdered and stole from them. You saw the spoils in Starkweather’s Institute. You saw pieces of my parents. He kept my mother’s blood in a jar.”
Axel Mortmain ― Clockwork Princess

But from all of that three villain we can see obviously it's Love that is the first cause of their actions. The love for the Shadowhunter future made Valentine's Goal, Sebastian for his feeling being accepted, also Mortmain who avenge Shadowhunter for the sake of his Warlock parents (that obviously not his true parents but he loves them anyway).

Writing Style and Shadowhunter World Development

In term of Writing style it's obvious that Cassandra Clare developed a lot, i was struggling to read City of Bones for sure, (i read TID first so i can sense the struggle in her writing style) when she wrote TID series it's obviously more developed, not just about Shadowhunter and Downworlders, but also about the Silent Brothers, in TMI season 2 she also write more about the iron sister, which mentioned first in TID and also developed another clan, which is the Wild hunt and the Spiral Labyrinth.

I'd say the World is well developed once it reached TMI season two, which is by the publish date, Cassandra Clare released TMI season 1, then TID and TMI season two back and fort, so i guess TMI season 2, which is City of Heavenly Fire is the most  well developed world.
The whole thing about Parabatai also deeply developed trough out the series. In the first season of TMI Jace and Alec are introduced as a Parabatai but doesn't really make a big different from other Shadowhunter that doesn't have Parabatai partner. In TID the Parabatai thing is absolutely became one of the main focus of the story, which made me understand why they should be a Parabatai after all. The mention of Parabatai become more active in TMI series in season two (which by the chronology is the same time Cassandra Clare writing TID too)  which we can say, yes it's well developed.

Characters Development

In terms of characters, i'd say i love TID characters a lot more. Jace and Clary from TMI just frustrate me a lot in whole series, with Jace changing sides quite couple times (willingly or not) and Clary is just as annoying as stubborn little girl.
I got it that Cassandra Clare want to make Jace like Will Herondale, some bad boy type, but i think Jace's character is just inconsistent and i just can't get to understand him. If i have to compare Jace with Will, Jace is the character what i want to slap him in the face just to wake him up. While with Will i want to give him a hug reassuring that everything is gonna be alright, i understand you kind of feeling.

Jace and Will also have some similarity with Duck

Somehow in TMI i discover Jace's Duck scene

“It’s my special magical power. I can read your mind when you’re thinking dirty thoughts.”
“So, ninety-five percent of the time.”
She craned her head back to look up at him. “Ninety-five percent? What’s the other five percent?”
“Oh, you know, the usual—demons I might kill, runes I need to learn, people who’ve annoyed me recently, people who’ve annoyed me not so recently, ducks.”
“Ducks?”
Jace andClary ― City of Lost Soul

Since i read TID first when i read this part i kind of recall the scene in TID series

“Remember when you tried to convince me to feed a poultry pie to the mallards in the park to see if you could breed a race of cannibal ducks?”
“They ate it too,” Will reminisced. “Bloodthirsty little beasts. Never trust a duck.”
Jem to Will ― Clockwork Angel

In other hand TMI can't stop made my eyes roll for every romance part in the book. It's frustrating, with the forbidden love thing to me. Of course i love Magnus's Love line a lot ini here, the one that made me literally scream (i post my true reactions in my insta story at that time, sorry my insta friends), and other love line is complicated ad some part and annoying at the other part.

Well... it's obvious i prefer TID over TMI in this aspect.

What I Don't Like

I hate Jace and Clarry in the first season of TMI a lot. I struggled a lot to finish the whole series, only the promising Brother Zachariah side story in this TMI (like i said, i read TID first) that made me keep my spirit to finish this series (which he end up appears in the second season anyway).

I don't think Sebastian's decision in the end of the series doesn't make sense in second season of TMI, i mean, after all this time? he just give up that just for silly ruling to that kind of world only? I mean, i kind of understand why Cassandra Clare choose that so she can finally reveal Mangus's part of story for this plot, but it just doesn't make sense for Sebastian's decision side.

Also the way Cassandra Clare bend the story about Silent Brothers is just doesn't feels right. At City of Ashes Valentine killed all the Silent Brother in order to get the Mortal Sword.

The Silent Brothers might have had an idea, but Valentine killed them all. There won’t be more for at least a little while.”
“All of them?” Simon demanded in surprise. “I thought he only killed the ones in New York.”
“The Bone City isn’t really in New York,” Isabelle said. “It’s like— remember the entrance to the Seelie Court, in Central Park? Just because the entrance is there doesn’t mean the Court itself is under the park. It’s the same with the Bone City. There are various entrances, but the City itself—”

Isabelle to Simon ― City of Glass

And yet in the next book, which is the start of the second season of TMI, she bent a bit of the story so Brother Zachariah can fit in the story.

Not that there were many such guardians left. Valentine had killed nearly all of them while searching for the Mortal Sword, leaving alive only the few who had not been in the Silent City at the time. New members had been added to their order since then, but Clary doubted there were more than ten or fifteen Silent Brothers left in the world.

City of Fallen Angel

I mean, i don't mind for more Brother Zachariah, but it just doesn't feels right at some point. Or am i just being negative? Well...

In all series, i hate that the ending is too long. We already know that the enemy is defeated but Cassandra Clare still writing and writing a long chapters plus a long epilogue for it. I understand that she want to give the reader explanations for what happen for whole characters after it, but it just feel dragging. Maybe it's just for me, but i think i prefer book with not that long ending, you know the feeling of "yes finally finish this book!" while slap the cover of the book close? I just don't get it in here, there's always reading and reading pages of the "Finale" which is why i call it dragging ending. 

Overall

Overall, for the term of whole series, i love TID more. But if i got to choose the best book overall, it think i love TMI 6th Book The City of Heavenly Fire a lot than the others. It's fully action pack, less dramas. Probably because it's the end of the whole series (not just TMI but also TDI in my opinion) altho i think there are some chapters with Emma's POV that shouldn't be or not necessarily included in the book because it feels kind of dragging.
I understand that Cassandra Clare is giving a lead of the next series she's working on which is The Dark Artifices series, which i haven't read so i won't give any further comment about it, altho Emma really catches my attention from the first chapter of her pov in the book (i think i will like her). But again, when i read her pov i feel like i want to skip it like JUST GIMME THE FIRE ALREADY kind of feeling you know?
So yeah. I'd say this i love TID better than TMI, because altho i like City of Heavenly Fire a lot, but that one book can't really live up the other five of the series in comparison of TID which is great in each book of it.

Verdict

So my verdict : TID wins!
Tell me about what you think about this Author's Work Face Off series and which Author i should discuss more in the future.

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