Clockwork Angel
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| Clockwork Angel | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Author | Cassandra Clare |
| Release Date | August 31, 2010 |
| Published By | Margaret K. McElderry Books |
| Cover | Will Herondale |
| Series | The Infernal Devices |
| Pages | 476 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by N/A | Followed by Clockwork Prince |
Clockwork Angel is the first novel in The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare. Chronologically, it is the first story in the Shadowhunter Chronicles.
Contents |
Summary
Edit
Magic is dangerous – but love is more dangerous still.
When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, Nephilim warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.
Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.
Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by and torn between two best friends: Jem, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length...everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.
Plot
Edit
In 1878 in London, parabatai Shadowhunters Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs find the dead body of fourteen-year-old Emma Bayliss in an alley. An investigation of the dagger found with her body and the symbol of an double ouroboros leads them to the Pandemonium Club.
Meanwhile, Tessa Gray, still grieving from the death of her Aunt Harriet Moore, goes to Southampton to meet with her brother, Nathaniel Gray. Instead of Nate, however, Tessa is greeted by the Dark Sisters, Mrs. Dark and Mrs. Black, who then insist that they are there to pick her up for Nate. Hoping to see her brother, Tessa agrees to go with them.
Six weeks later, Tessa is still being held prisoner by the Dark Sisters, training her to "Change", to shapeshift, an ability which Tessa still cannot explain why she has. The sisters gave her a personal item of the person they want her to Change into, and, eventually, Tessa learned to control her power.
One evening, Tessa is asked to become Emma Bayliss, a girl whose existence is apparently threatening to the sisters. Tessa relives Emma's last few moments alive. The sisters are impressed and tell Tessa that they have been preparing her for an arranged marriage to a mysterious individual known as "the Magister." They expect the marriage to take place that day or the next. The sisters leave and Tessa tries to run away. She hits Miranda, the servant girl, but is caught by the Sisters' coachman.
Tessa is tied to her bed but is able to break away from her binds by Changing into the small Emma. Hearing someone outside, Tessa hides behind the room's door amd hits the intruder: Will Herondale, whose investigation of the Pandemonium Club led to the Dark Sisters' home. After a confusing first introduction including Will cursing at her, quoting poetry and comparing himself to the fictional character, Sir Galahad, Will declares that he will help Tessa escape. The Dark Sisters catch up and a battle begins between Will and two other Shadowhunters who came with him, in which Mrs. Black is killed, and Tessa is knocked unconscious.
work in progress; needs work from this point on
Tessa awakens in the London Institute to find herself being examined by Brother Enoch, one of the Silent Brothers, who informs her that she is a shape-changer and a Downworlder. Tessa then meets the inhabitants of the Institute.
The next morning, Jessamine takes Tessa shopping; Charlotte and Henry look for Tessa's brother; and Will and Jem inspect the Dark Sisters' house. They find a clockwork automaton, later revealed to be Miranda, wrapped in human flesh. Charlotte and Henry find Axel Mortman - the last known employer of Nate Gray - to inquire regarding his whereabouts. Axel Mortmain, a mundane with great knowledge of the Downworld tells them that the head of the Pandemonium Club is the Magister, the vampire Alexei de Quincey.
Later, another vampire, Lady Camille Belcourt, comes to the Institute and informs them that de Quincey has been throwing parties where he tortures and kills humans for entertainment, thus breaking the Accord. However, the Shadowhunters realize that they need to catch him in the act of breaking the law before making a move against him, as de Quincey has been considered an ally of the Clave for so long. Camille admits that her motives for coming forward was revenge against de Quincey who killed her lover, and also to meet Tessa, who has become very talked-about in Downworld, and reveals that Tessa's brother may be with de Quincey.
Will and Tessa decide that the only way that they can attend the party without causing a stir is for Tessa to attend the party disguised as Camille, with Will posing as her human companion. Camille also says that her lover, the warlock Magnus Bane will attend the party with them for assistance.
The Enclave gathers at the library to discuss the plan, and they agree to allow Tessa and Will to infiltrate de Quincey's home, and wait outside for a signal.
At the party, Magnus informs Will and Tessa about some plans for a demonic clockwork army found in the library, but they are forced to join the other vampires in another room before they can discuss the matter further. The room is set up to host one of de Quincey's 'performances' but as the human is revealed to be Nate, Tessa blows her cover in an attempt to save her brother. Will summons the other Shadowhunters, who fight and kill the vampires. Will confronts de Quincey as he attacks Camille/Tessa, and bites him, mocking him and asking the vampire how it feels to be on the receiving end of one. Infuriated, De Quincey manages to escape, and Will accidentally consumes some of the vampire's blood because of the bite. They also save Nate and bring him back to the Institute.
Back at the Institue, he and Tessa share a passionate moment when she brings him holy water to drink to cleanse his body of the vampire blood, but he abruptly ends their kiss and sends her away.
Unaware of these events, Jem cheers up Tessa and takes her to his favourite place in London, where they are attacked by members of the Magister's clockwork army. They make it to the Institute, but Jem collapses before he can open the door. Tessa manages to alert the Shadowhunters inside, but not before one of the clockwork figures smears his hand with the blood from Jem's injuries. The figure waves in a grotesque manner before retreating.
Later, Tessa is summoned to Jem's room, and he explains why he collapsed earlier; when he was living in China, a greater demon broke into their home and tortured Jem in front of his parents as an act of revenge against his mother, who had raided the demon's nest and killed it's babies. They tortured him by constantly feeding him a demon drug that caused him to hallucinate for days. He was found by some other Shadowhunters, but his parents had been killed. Jem admits that his body is now addicted to the drug and he has to take some of it every day, causing his skin, hair and eyes to pale to a silver colour, and without it his body cannot function. He did not take any when he was out with Tessa, which was why he collapsed. He also tells Tessa that the drug is killing him, but when Tessa asks him why he does not simply give up his dangerous profession, he declares that "there are more things to life than not dying".
The following day, most of the Shadowhunters leave to kill de Quincy in his hideaway in Chelsea. Mortmain, the mundane who informed the Shadowhunters of de Quincey, comes back to the Institute to tell Will and Jem about the Dark sister who is trying to help the Magister with his army and her location. They rush off to kill her, leaving Nate, Jessamine and Tessa alone with Sophie, Agatha and Thomas. Mortmain comes back with the clockwork army, using Jem's blood from the clockwork figure's hand to gain access, and reveals himself as the real Magister. Nate reveals himself as Mortmain's accomplice. While Thomas tries to fight the clockwork automatons off, Tessa, Sophie and later Jessamine escape to the Sanctuary, but Mortmain tricks Jessamine into opening the door by disguising his voice as that of Will's. Tessa agrees to marry Mortmain to spare Sophie and Jessamine's lives. Mortmain, believing he has won, agrees, but once the army has left the room, Tessa stabs herself in the heart and falls into the fountain.
Will rides back once he realizes he and Jem have been tricked, leaving Jem to ride the carriage with only one horse, slowing him down. When Will arrives at the Institute, he's just in time to witness Thomas' death and after thanking him for everything that he has done, goes on to look for Tessa and the others. While Jem arrives, he runs straight into Nathaniel and his four clockwork automatons, two of them holding Jessamine and Sophie; one holding the Pyxis, a box that holds demon energies needed to revive the automatons. Nate orders the army to kill him - Jem fights them off, but Nathaniel and the Pyxis can flee, just before Charlotte and Henry come to help Jem finish of the automatons. Charlotte reveals that de Quincey, had laughed at the Enclave for mistaking him for The Magister.
At the same time, Will finds Tessa and Mortmain in the Sanctuary; Tessa, bleeding and dead in the fountain, Mortmain, kneeling beside her. Will lunges at Mortmain but he disappears. Will breaks down and mourns her death. Tessa then awakens in his arms and reveals that she tricked the Magister into believing that she was dead by changing just before she pretended to stab herself; she changed into a gunshot victim she had previously changed into whilst living with The Dark Sisters; the dead woman's blood had poured down Tessa's chest, looking like she had wounded herself.
After Thomas and the others are buried, Tessa thanks Charlotte for her hospitality, but assumes that she is going to be asked to leave. Instead, Charlotte asks Tessa to stay, a offer that she accepts.
Tessa goes to Will wanting to have a serious relationship after he confirmed his feelings for her in the Sanctuary, but he cruelly suggests that while he'd be open to sleeping with her, they'd never have any real relationship ; "There is no future for a Shadowhunter who dallies with warlocks. One might befriend them, employ them, but not [marry them]". He then points out the fact that as a warlock, she is not able to bear children. Tessa is horrified because this is the first time that she has heard this, and runs away from Will.
Jem finds and comforts her, saying that although she feels that she is unlovable because she is not human, "The right man won't care" subtly declaring his feelings for her. (Jem is completely unaware of the complicated relationship between Tessa and Will.) Tessa gratefully accepts Jem's comfort, but does not completely realize the sincerity behind his words. The clockwork angel (the necklace around Tessa's neck, which was lost during the chaos of the battle in the Institute), flys back to Tessa's arms.
The story concludes with a deeply distressed Will turning up at Magnus Bane's temporary residence (Camille Belcourt's House) asking for help, the issue is unknown as the epilogue ends.
Chapters
Edit
- Prologue: London, April 1878, and Southampton, May 1878
- The Dark House
- Hell Is Cold
- The Institute
- We Are Shadows
- The Shadowhunter's Codex
- Strange Earth
- The Clockwork Girl
- Camille
- The Enclave
- Pale Kings and Princes
- Few Are Angels
- Blood and Water
- Something Dark
- Blackfriars Bridge
- Foreign Mud
- The Binding Spell
- Call The Darkness Down
- Thirty Pieces of Silver
- Boadicea
- Awful Wonder
- Epilogue