"City of Fallen Angels" drags readers down into a
fantastical world; magic and mystery stirs story
C hrisann K im _________________
Acclaimed New York Times
best-seller Cassandra Clare
released the fourth book of
"The Moral Instruments" series,
"City of Fallen Angels" on
April 5. Filled with fantastical
excitement, love and betrayal,
Clare elegantly plots out the
book's story, including new
discoveries and relationship
situations in which teens will
definitely take interest.
The book begins with Simon
Lewis, the protagonist, Clary
Fray's best friend, struggling to
adapt to his vampirism. In the
previous book, "City of Glass,"
a vampire friend of Clary,
Raphael, bit Simon, turning
him into a vampire. Lewis is
approached by the vampire
Camille Belcourt and is asked
to join her and the Daylighters
and earn his place in the
vampire society.
The relationship between
Clary and Jace Herondale, the
"beautiful golden haired angel"
as Clary calls him, continues
to build slowly and softly
through the first few chapters.
Simon’s band is approached
by Kyle, a handsome boy with
good vocals wishing to join the
band. Clare does a good job of
obscuring the true character of
Kyle and his motives.
The plot builds as Simon's
mom discovers his secret:
bags of blood hidden in
his refrigerator. There are
People may not listen to
compact discs anymore with
iTunes on the rise in 2011. But
now, at least people have a day
dedicated to local stores that
still sell vinyl.
Record Store Day is an effort
to help out local independent
record stores. It was founded
in 2007 as a day for artists to
release special albums and
songs only available on this
day and only in vinyl. On
this day, people buy records,
listen to live music and have
cookouts. Record Store Day
is the third Saturday of April
each year. The first band
included in Record Store
Day was heavy metal band
Metallica.
This year, over 600 bands
visited their local stores for
this day. An ambassador
was chosen for Record Store
Day, Ozzy Osbourne. Past
ambassadors include Joshua
Homme (Queens of the Stone
Age, Them Crooked Vultures)
and Jesse Hughes (Eagles of
Death Metal).
miscommunications and
betrayal. Though Clare uses
Simon well done. Clare uses
clever dialogue and simple
Also, as typical of a female
teenager I may be, I found the
wrote made the romantic
scenes sweet and they made
me chuckle at the cheesiness.
Those scenes weren't as much
as a flaw to the entire book, but
they did feed into the story.
The author also uses a
plethora of biblical references
such as the story of Cain and
Abel, bible verses and the
symbolic images of Angels,
the messengers of God. It
made me wonder if Clare was
somewhat of a believer, or that
she was just using the biblical
archetypes to give a twist to
e plot. These allusions were
sed at the end of chapters,
leaving a dark and suspenseful
liffhanger—one of the main
reasons that I had to continue
reading.
From the charming love
scenes to the battles between
wolf and vampire, I give this
b o o k ★ ★ ★ ★ * front to back.
If you're a fan of teen fiction,
fantasy and a bit of love here
and there, I highly recommend
this book.
Be sure to read the first
three books of the Mortal
Instruments series, "City of
It m e a n s , ' he said, 'that love is the most
powerful force in the world. That love can do
anything.'"
-Jace Herondale, "City of Fallen Angels"
a lot of fantastical archetypes
in the story of bringing two
different clans together, a
subplot of Clary and Jace's
difficult love life makes an
incredible tie as it serves
both as a distraction and an
intensifier to the characters'
main purposes.
Clare does a fabulous job
of creating the characters
so their personalities are
relatable and lovable. Being a
fan of the entire series, I was
attracted to Jace's sarcastic and
nonchalant dialogue. Clary’s
stubborn, yet strong character
foils against Jace's manly
behavior; the two are perfect
for each other. Through the
previous books, Simon also
went through both physical
and mental transformations.
His nerd status has evolved
into a dark and introverted
vampire and his fun, light and
whimsical behavior around
Clary has turned quiet and
secretive. I find the quick yet
meaningful metamorphosis of
descriptions to convey
the story's underlying
message: "Love just
isn't enough."
The overall plot
wasn't as creative as I
thought it would be;
Simon tries to bring
the Shadowhunters
(those like Jace and
Clary) and the
Downworlders
(those like Kyle
and Camille)
together. Yet I
felt the way the
characters felt;
pulled into a
new world of
mystery and
stirring action, j
Some notable releases
for Record Store Day have
included a reissue of the first
release of White Stripes on
Lips limited edition box set.
I'm glad that we have
Record Store Day. We don't
have many days, if any,
my nose in
the book
constantly. Once a
chapter left on a cliffhanger,
I thought, "Oh man, I HAVE to
finish this." It was impossible
for me to drop the book in the
middle of something intense.
Photo by Gwyn Fisher, Fiiekr Creative Commons
A customer browses Music Millennium’s huge collection of records. It
was one of the stores which participated in Record Store Day this year,
a day designed to help local record stores by offering special release
albums to customers.
7" red and white swirl vinyl,
limited edition Pink Floyd
66/ 6 7 vinyl and The Flaming
Bones," "City of Ashes" and
I had
for celebrating music in its
entirety. Record Store Day
isn't just a day to release cool
romance
parts cute and simple. The
descriptions that the author
music, it's a day to enjoy the
same music the other people
in your community like too.
It's a way to meet friends,
find new music and have a
good time. It's what is missing
with iTunes. There's really no
interaction when you wait for
an album in your house, at
your computer or by yourself.
iTunes is a wonderful
convenience and I use it often.
But it doesn't beat the physical
copy of holding an album
in your hands as if you won
a trophy. And with recent
vinyls, it has a code so you can
download the music from the
vinyl onto iTunes.
I guess what I'm trying
to say is that Record Store
Day is essential to remind us
of our roots, of what music
used to be. I'll end with this
quote, which I think represents
Record Store Day well: "I think
it's high time the mentors, big
brothers, big sisters, parents,
guardians and neighborhood
ne'er do wells, start taking
younger people that look up to
"City of Glass." Fans of this
series can look forward to
the fifth installment, "City of
Lost Souls," coming May 1,
2012. "City of Fallen Angels"
is available in all major
bookstores and as a digital
eBook.
them to a real record store and
show them what an important
part of life music really is," Jack
White, in the bands the White
Stripes, the Dead Weather and
the Raconteurs, said. "I trust
no one who hasn't time for
music. What a shame to leave
a child, or worse, a generation
orphaned from one of life's
great beauties. And to the
record stores, artists, labels,
DJ's, and journalists; we're all
in this together. Show respect
for the tangible music that
you've dedicated your careers
and lives to, and help it from
becoming nothing more than
disposable digital data."
There are multiple record
stores around Portland
that participate in Record
Store Day, including Music
Millennium (3158 E Burnside),
the Record Room (8 NE
Killingsworth, at comer of
Williams) and Jackpot Records
(203 SW 9th Ave, 3574 SE
Hawthorne). And remember
to save the date for next year,
April 21.