Clockwork Angel

This is the first book in the prequel series to the Mortal Instruments series.  Remember those?  City of Bones, City of Ashes and City of Glass - that little (okay big) trilogy that I devoured (really, you need to read them!).  Clare decided to write a prequel series, explaining how the conflicts between all the different species began, the history of the character who had been alive very long, the background.  I'm often quite hesitant of these kinds of books - I liked the originals so much that I wasn't sure that these could be good.

This is the story of a couple primary characters - Tessa, a girl who was born in America but is requested by her brother to visit him in England.  Her arrival does not go at all how she plans and she soon finds herself in the care of a strange group of people, in the company of a cat named Church, and is thrown into a battle that has been ongoing for quite some time, involving creatures both human and not, who each have their own personal agenda.

It took me a little bit to get into this book, but once I hit about 50 pages or so, I was captivated.  There are several elements of mystery in this book that I didn't see coming, that kept me guessing and even surprised me a few times.  I liked meeting some of the characters from the first series, learning more about them, even the minor characters.  I'm a bit torn because there are more books coming out in the Mortal Instruments series and I don't know if I can keep everyone straight jumping back and forth.  It would be like watching Star Wars 4 and 5, then 1 and 2, then 6 and back to 3.  Not sure my brain can handle it.  On the other hand, I really loved the original series and don't know if I can wait years to read all these before finishing all those.  Ah, the great complexities of life...