good combination

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fantasy, YA

Review: I continue to be impressed with Clare's ability to combine material from other stories into something quite different. She's still borrowing heavily from the Buffy and Star Wars canon, but Clare has brought her trilogy to a satisfying conclusion. The background behind Jace and Clary's supposed siblinghood is revealed, and some explanation is given for the startling abilities Clary exhibits in previous books. Although some of the explanations and resolutions are fairly predictable, the process of getting to them is enjoyable.

inconsistent timing

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fantasy, YA

Review: This book seemed like much less of a mush of other books than the first one in the series did, which was a relief. It picks up shortly after the first book left off, with all the main characters just recovering from the wounds they sustained in the big fight against Valentine's Forsaken. Which brings me to my only major problem with this book: the timeline. Although we're told that it was August during the events of City of Bones, in this book it seems to be late fall (there's always a chill in the air). Clary wakes up and eats a doughnut on her way to meet Simon, and then suddenly it's late afternoon. And a few more occasions of missing time...

If you can ignore those inconsistencies, though, this is a good read. Plenty of twists and turns, and unexpected action. A few characters wind up not being dead a few too many times (an author can only pull that trick so many times before all the tension leaks away). And, although the book dragged in a few scenes (ok, Inquisitor, we get your point), I'll be waiting with a fair degree of anticipation for the last (hopefully, since I don't think this story-line can last for more than one more book) book in the trilogy.