Cassandra Clare is the pen name of Judith Lewis (born Judith Rumelt in 1973), an American author of young adult fantasy. She is best known for “The Mortal Instruments” and the wider Shadowhunter Chronicles, which began in 2007 with her first novel, “City of Bones”, a New York Times bestseller.
Clare was born in Tehran to American parents and travelled a great deal as a child, spending time in Switzerland, England and France. She went to high school in Los Angeles and afterwards worked for entertainment magazines and tabloids in Los Angeles and New York, among them The Hollywood Reporter. She started “City of Bones” in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, and turned to writing fantasy full time in 2006.
“The Mortal Instruments” runs to six novels, ending with “City of Heavenly Fire” in 2014. Its heroine, Clary, is a fifteen-year-old New Yorker who witnesses a murder that nobody else can see and is drawn into the world of the Shadowhunters, human-angel hybrids who protect humanity from demons. “The Infernal Devices” is a prequel trilogy set in Victorian London, and “The Dark Artifices” moves to Los Angeles to follow the Shadowhunter Emma Carstairs. “The Last Hours” is set in London and Paris in 1903, while “The Eldest Curses”, written with Wesley Chu, concerns the warlock Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood.
The first book was filmed as “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” (2013), starring Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell Bower. A television version, “Shadowhunters”, ran on Freeform for three seasons from 2016 to 2019.
Away from the Shadowhunters, Clare wrote the five Magisterium books with Holly Black between 2014 and 2018. They are children’s fantasy novels set in an underground school where mages train apprentices to control the elements. “Sword Catcher” (2023) and “The Ragpicker King” (2025) belong to a separate series, The Chronicles of Castellane.
“Better in Black”, a collection of ten Shadowhunter love stories written by Clare alone, was published in December 2025. “The Last King of Faerie”, due on 3 November 2026, opens The Wicked Powers, the trilogy planned as the conclusion of the Shadowhunter Chronicles.
Publication Order of The Mortal Instruments Books
City of Bones
2007
City of Ashes
2008
City of Glass
2009
City of Fallen Angels
2011
City of Lost Souls
2012
City of Heavenly Fire
2014
Publication Order of The Infernal Devices Books
Clockwork Angel
2010
Clockwork Prince
2011
Clockwork Princess
2013
Publication Order of The Dark Artifices Books
Lady Midnight
2016
Lord of Shadows
2017
Queen of Air and Darkness
2018
Publication Order of The Eldest Curses Books
The Red Scrolls of Magic (With: Wesley Chu)
2019
The Lost Book of the White (With: Wesley Chu)
2020
Publication Order of The Last Hours Books
Chain of Gold
2020
Chain of Iron
2021
Chain of Thorns
2023
Publication Order of The Wicked Powers Books
The Last King of Faerie
2026
Publication Order of Magisterium Books
The Iron Trial (With: Holly Black)
2014
The Copper Gauntlet (With: Holly Black)
2015
The Bronze Key (With: Holly Black)
2016
The Silver Mask (With: Holly Black)
2017
The Golden Tower (With: Holly Black)
2018
Publication Order of The Chronicles of Castellane Books
Sword Catcher
2023
The Ragpicker King
2025
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
The Bane Chronicles (With: Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson)
2014
Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy (With: Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson, Robin Wasserman)
2016
Ghosts of the Shadow Market (With: Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson, Kelly Link, Robin Wasserman)
2019
Better in Black
2025
Publication Order of Graphic Novels
The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel
2012
The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Prince
2013
The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Princess
2014
The Mortal Instruments: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 1
2017
The Mortal Instruments: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 2
2018
The Mortal Instruments: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 3
2019
The Mortal Instruments: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 4
2020
The Mortal Instruments: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 5
2022
The Mortal Instruments: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 6
2022
The Mortal Instruments: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 7
2023
The Mortal Instruments: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 8
2024
The Mortal Instruments: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 9
2025
The Mortal Instruments: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 10
2026
Publication Order of Shadowhunter Companion Books
The Shadowhunter’s Codex (With: Joshua Lewis)
2013
A History of Notable Shadowhunters and Denizens of Downworld (With: Cassandra Jean)
