City of Ashes
The second installment of author Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series opens with a description of Manhattan’s new downtown condominium tower, the Metropole, along with the summoning of a demon named Agramon by the warlock Elias and Valentine, holder of the Mortal Cup. Early on, Jace goes missing, and Clary’s mother Jocelyn is still in the hospital, not recovering from unconsciousness during the story, although a woman named Madeleine appears in the epilogue promising a method by which to wake her. Another one of the franchise’s eponymous Mortal Instruments, the Mortal Sword, plays part as well.
One character becomes a vampire, as well, with Jace finding himself in captivity as well aboard a ship. There is also occasional confusion as to whether Maryse and a character referred to as the Inquisitor are the same person or different individuals, and overall, the second entry of the series definitely isn’t as strong as the first, feeling more like a tale of human (and in some cases supernatural creature) interest rather than hard contemporary fantasy. The first Mortal Instruments sequel certainly won’t appeal to everyone, given the presence of occasional confusion, but is by no means a bad story.