The Shadow Market

Ghosts of the Shadow Market by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson, Kelly Link, and Robin Wasserman

Narrated by: Reilly Dolman, Jonathan Bailey, Lara Pulver, Ross Butler,  Kiersey Clemons, Emily Bett Rickards, Melissa Fumero, and Candice King

Publication Date: June 4, 2019

Summary from NetGalley:

The Shadow Market is a meeting point for faeries, werewolves, warlocks and vampires. There the Downworlders buy and sell magical objects, make dark bargains, and whisper secrets they do not want the Nephilim to know. Through two centuries, however, there has been a frequent visitor to the Shadow Market from the City of Bones, the very heart of the Shadowhunters. As a Silent Brother, Brother Zachariah is sworn keeper of the laws and lore of the Nephilim. But once he was a Shadowhunter called Jem Carstairs, and his love, then and always, is the warlock Tessa Gray.

Follow Brother Zachariah and see, against the backdrop of the Shadow Market’s dark dealings and festive celebrations, Anna Lightwood’s first romance, Matthew Fairchild’s great sin and Tessa Gray plunged into a world war. Valentine Morgenstern buys a soul at the Market and a young Jace Wayland’s soul finds safe harbor. In the Market is hidden a lost heir and a beloved ghost, and no one can save you once you have traded away your heart. Not even Brother Zachariah…

This is the third set of short stories set in the Shadowhunter world written by Cassandra Clare and her merry band of co-writers.  The stories were all released last year as e-books and audio-books.  The print book will be released this summer.  

If you have never read any of the other short story collections, you should know that they can be a bit perplexing.  They often skip around the many years and different characters that have been in the other books.  They are mostly stories that explain things that happened between books or to characters that are only mentioned briefly in the other books.   But they are important in filling in the gaps. There is usually a theme, or one character that is in all of the stories.  In this one it is James Carstairs, also known as Jem or Brother Zachariah depending on where you are in the stories.

For the most part I enjoyed all of the stories.  I listened to to the audiobooks for all of them except one.  I chose to switch to the e-book for The Land I Lost, mostly because it was so long and I had more time to read it than to listen to it. All of the narrators were excellent and for the most part enhanced my enjoyment of the stories.   Here are my quick thoughts about each of the stories.

Son of the Dawn:  New York 2000.  This is the story about when Jace came to live with Alec and Isabelle.  I really enjoyed this one.  It was fun to see all of them as young tweens, and their first meeting was just like I imagined it would be.  Jem is there as Brother Zachariah helping as always.  

Cast Long Shadows:  London 1901.  In this one Matthew Fairchild is fighting his own demons and wanting more out of life than just being a Shadowhunter.  This one was good, although this was hard for me to relate to.  We have only met Matthew and the other Shadowhunters in this time period in  these short stories, so I don’t feel like I have been able to develop a relationship with them.  This is an important story to read before Chain of Gold comes out in the fall.  

Every Exquisite Thing:  London 1901.  This one is about Anna Lightwood.  It was probably my least favorite of this group.  I’m not sure why, but it just didn’t seem to relate to the others, and if I remember correctly there was no Shadow Market in this one.  

Learn about Loss:  Tennessee 1936.  This was one of my favorites.  It was more of what I expected these stories to be.  This one was all about a Shadow Market and the nasty things that go on there.  It was also where Jem first learns of the lost Herondale and starts his quest to find them.  

A Deeper Love: London 1940.  This was a beautiful story about the endurance of love.  It is about Jem and Tessa during WWII.  Jem has found a lost Herondale and wants to help them but is mortally wounded so goes to Tessa for help.  It is so heartbreakingly beautiful.  Loved it!

The Wicked Ones: Paris 1989. Another one of my favorites.  This was about Jace’s mother Celine Montclaire.  She is briefly mentioned in a couple of the books, but her story is truly a tragic one.  This is the story about how she was brought into Valentine’s inner circle.  

The Land I Lost: Buenos Aires 2012.  I liked this one, but not as much as I thought I would.  It was just a tad long and didn’t seem to relate to much of the other stories except for perhaps this is the story about how Alec finds their second son Raphael.  Lots of Shadow Market action though which was fun.  

Through Blood, Through Fire: California 2012.  This was also one of my favorites.  It catches Jem and Tessa up to the present day of when they help to rescue Kit from the demons that killed his father.  Another beautiful testament to the endurance of true love.  I won’t spoil it for you though, but just know that if you like Jem and Tessa this is the story for you.  

As I was thinking about how these stories jump around in the time line I was thinking that it would be nice to get all three books and read them according to the timeline.  (I’m also beginning to think that I need a family tree for all of them, just so I can keep straight who is related to who).  I remembered seeing on Cassandra Clare’s website a suggestion of how to read the books.  But then I came across this one on Riveted, which gives four different ways to read the books.  The last one gives a chronological ordered timeline of the stories and books which I think would be an interesting way to approach it.  But only if you have read them all already.  I don’t suggest this for a newcomer.  

This was a really good addition to the already rich world that Cassandra Clare has created.  If you love the novels and the other short stories this is one to definitely add to your list.