The Shadowhunter's Codex

The Shadowhunter Chronicles

by Cassandra Clare, Joshua Lewis, Various (Illustrator)

Delve into the details of all things Shadowhunter with this special collector’s edition of the illustrated guide to the knowledge and lore of the Shadowhunter world.

Since the thirteenth century, the Shadowhunter’s Codex has been the one and only manual for Shadowhunters looking to brush up on their demon languages, learn proper stele use, and discover just what exactly a pyxis is. Featured in both The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices, this guide is a necessity for any young Nephilim on their journey to becoming a Shadowhunter. Beautifully illustrated, the Codex contains images of the famous Shadowhunter homeland of Idris, as well as depictions of demons and other Downworlders.

But this isn’t just any copy of The Shadowhunter’s Codex. It’s Clary’s copy, and as an artist herself, she’s sketched pictures of her friends and family in the book, and scrawled helpful advice in the margins. Of course, she couldn’t exactly stop Jace or Simon from adding their thoughts either. Part encyclopedia, part history, part training manual—complete with commentary from Shadowhunters who have seen it all—this beautiful guide is a perfect supplement to the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Vampires, Young Adult Fantasy

274 pages, Hardcover

First published October 29, 2013

About the author

Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Tehran, Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father’s backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten years old.

Since her family moved around so much she found familiarity in books and went everywhere with a book under her arm. She spent her high school years in Los Angeles where she used to write stories to amuse her classmates, including an epic novel called “The Beautiful Cassandra” based on a Jane Austen short story of the same name (and which later inspired her current pen name).

After college, Cassie lived in Los Angeles and New York where she worked at various entertainment magazines and even some rather suspect tabloids where she reported on Brad and Angelina’s world travels and Britney Spears’ wardrobe malfunctions. She started working on her YA novel, City of Bones, in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, her favourite city. She turned to writing fantasy fiction full time in 2006 and hopes never to have to write about Paris Hilton again.
Cassie’s first professional writing sale was a short story called “The Girl’s Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord” in a Baen anthology of humor fantasy. Cassie hates working at home alone because she always gets distracted by reality TV shows and the antics of her cats, so she usually sets out to write in local coffee shops and restaurants. She likes to work in the company of her friends, who see that she sticks to her deadlines.

City of Bones was her first novel. Sword Catcher is her most recent novel.

Reviews

[Hanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't care if some people think that this book is annoying or unnecessary, I'm excited. I'm going to add it to my Shadowhunter collection and I'm going to love reading it, too.



my book blog: https://pagehaven.tumblr.com

[Della Dwindaputri]

I feel sorry for everyone who dislike the idea of Cassandra Clare writing another series about shadowhunters. I think the synopsis explain the book itself, THIS Shadowhunters Codex is for only only ONLY for the fandom of the mortal instruments (tmi) and the infernal devices (tid), and if you have a problem with that just don't buy this book okay? THIS book has mentioned in clockwork angel with Tessa's arrival at the institute (spoiler but not really) and Will gave her The Shadowhunters Codex to gave her a chance to know Shadow World better by reading this book.

For the another series that Cassandra Clare will write at the future, she write the novels just for people who likes reading about shadowhunters. So stfu, i love the world that Cassandra's built and i want MORE because after i read tmi/tid, EVERY books I'm about to read just put me down

Oh and i hope this book is an illustration, so there will be photos and other interesting things, and the cover's please in hologram or something exciting. Hoping for this codex comes out as real as we imagine on the series

[Beth]

Yes. Yes!!! YESS!!!!
Best thing ever. Can't wait. I love the Mortal Instruments. I love the Infernal Devices. I can't wait for the Dark Artifices. I can't wait for the Bane Chronicles. And now I can't wait for this!!!

[Melanie (meltotheany) · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.) City of Bones ★★★
2.) City of Ashes ★★
3.) City of Glass ★★★
1.) Clockwork Angel ★★★
4.) City of Fallen Angels ★
2.) Clockwork Prince ★★★★
5.) City of Lost Souls ★★★★
3.) Clockwork Princess ★★★★★
6.) City of Heavenly Fire ★★★★★
*.) The Bane Chronicles ★★★
*.) Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy ★★★
1.) Lady Midnight ★★★★★
2.) Lord of Shadows ★★★★
3.) Queen of Air and Darkness ★★★★

Okay, I’m not going to write up a big review for this because honestly? I was a little bored while reading this and I kept forcing myself to pick it up! I did think the illustrations were absolutely beautiful! And I loved the addition of the scribbles and doodles in the margins, so we can see what some of our beloved characters thought while reading this book that is supposed to be an actual book in the Shadowhunter world. But, sadly, it reads like a textbook. But I am happy I read it, because I do think it not only expanded my knowledge of the world, but a few parts were actually interesting. But I for sure think you do not *need* to read this by any means whatsoever.

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[Parmida Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can i just say something to all of you who are complaining out there?!
If you don't like Cassie's work then feel free not to read them! Because a lot of us are very interested in her work and she worked very hard to create this amazing world and she has the rights to create as many novels about it as she wants because she created them all herself.
Cassandra's books mean the world to me and i would love to thank her everyday for luring me into the adventure of my life with her books.
And to have a book like The Shaowhunters' Codex,makes me feel like one of the amazing characters and feel like I'm living in their world.
So please stop hating on her work when many such as myself think it is a masterpiece!
Very excited to read this book,really cannot wait!
<3 <3 <3 <3

[biblioceraptor]

YESSSS! *pumps fist in triumph* I can now have a reference for when I am bored and have a pen-knife and want to carve some runes into my skin for funsies!!!

[Vi Vi]

The Codex is the Codex itself, a textbook for new Shadowhunters, and also notes and art added in by Clary, commenting and updating things. (For one thing, the Codex’s official take on things is often not quite the same as what Clary knows to be true. The facts it claims about warlocks alone are outrageously incorrect!)

We've heard this before.

We've heard this shit before.

God damn it Clare. STOP. JUST STOP.

This will never be Hogwarts A History (aka the Encyclopedia that JK may hopefully someday write but maybe never will).

This will also never be:


1) Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (which also employed the whole 'extra doodles and notes from the main characters thing')

2) Quidditch Through the Ages

3) The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Which were also actual books from the series that were turned into real books that fans could buy.

MUST YOU STEAL ALL THE IDEAS? EVEN ALL OF THEM?

At least when JK Rowling wrote her supplements she had the decency to donate the money to charity. I wouldn't be surprised if Clare pocketed the proceeds from what is clearly a pathetic cash grab.

Clare needs to let this delusions of grandeur thing GO. She will never be Rowling. Her work is not extensive or deep or sophisticated or complicated enough to warrant both a book of critical essays and a comprehensive supplementary guide devoted to them. Her books consist of plot lines stolen from better books and lots of make out scenes, and Jace dying but then being brought back to life seven hundred times.

STAWP THIS MADNESS.

God I miss the Harry Potter days.

Haters come at me.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was scrolling through my to read list when I saw The Shadowhunters' Codex's cover. Why was I not informed that there was a cover and a release date?? September 2013!?!?! That's so far away and I have so little patience.

[Juliana Zapata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es un libro hermoso, lleno de imágenes increíbles y con el que aprendes todo acerca del mundo de los cazadores de sombras.

Las anotaciones de Clary, Jace y Simon me encantaron y me hicieron reír muchísimo.

Estoy lista para ascender.

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A rundown of everything you could possibly need to know about the Shadowhunter world with some funny commentary. It was a good refresher as I prepare to read the entire works.

[Sushi (寿司) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sapevo di essere uno Shadowhunter. Il mio nome? FoxStorm come in Tempesta di Volpi. Perchè? Perche sono una volpe e mi fa ridere una tempesta di volpi (dopo i tornado di squali che vuoi che sia) e poi Storm in Giapponese, anche Clary legge manga (oltre a Max finchè ... lo sapete), si dice Arashi e io adoro loro. Sono fuori. 😆
A proposito penso che mi allenerò per combattere con la Angel Blades. Adoro le spade.

Il Codex commentato da Magnus Bane fa troppo ridere. Adoro Magnus nella serie in realtà.
La 15, lo Shadowhunter radioattivo, mi ricorda Spiderman e la 17 è sicuramente su Clary come le ultime righe sotto i 17 punti. 😂😂😂

Se qualcuno ha letto cosa ho scritto su E&L saprà dei miei dubbi su alcune parole tradotte. Luoghi e cose come sempre. Una di queste era Conclave che in originale è The Clave. The Clave significa La Chiave e Conclave significa, ho cercato pure le parole latine scritte, Con Chiave. Ora io non so il latino e Cum di Cum Clavis potrebbe essere stato aggiunto al posto dell'articolo per lo The. Ma penso che alla fin fine possa passare e la metto come buona. Sono piuttosto simili.

"Jace è considerato il materiale più favoloso da usare per fare uno Shadowhunter".
Non posso che essere d'accordo. Attenta Clary che me lo rubo. 😆

Comunque come resoconto totale. E' un libro da avere per la vostra collezione Shadowhunters ma non indispensabile. Se sapete l'inglese tutte queste cose sono anche su Wikia. Per esempio i disegni dei demoni. Infatti mentre leggevo Città di Vetro ho dovuto cercare il Behemoth per vedere come era. Stesso disegno del libro. Certi mostri esistono già nell'ideologia fantasy. Sono giusto un po' diversi. Cambiano da autore ad autore. Ho, avuto ormai, Behemoth anche nel gioco di FFBE solo che invece di essere una specie di lumacone era un lupo umanoide, su due zampe, e cornuto.
Ma potete sempre divertirvi con i commentini cretini di Clary, Jace e Simon e resta sempre un buon passatempo se volete leggervi qualcosa di veloce e non impegnativo.

[Josue Ramos · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Emily]

** DURING THE READING **
The Shadowhunter's Codex reads like a Wikipedia article on broccoli.

[Alice Bane]

I love the Shadowhunter world and all of Cassie's novels, and I expect to be a life-long fan of her novels. A book like this is absolutely brilliant, and is ment to be used as a reference guide or an addition to the Shadowhunter tales (though I will most likely devour the entire book in a day or two, as is my usual for novels by Cassie.). Can't wait to start reading this, though my current reading list already consists of Stephen King's Firestarter, Cassie's Clockwork Prince, and V. C. Andrew's Flowers in the Attic and Petals in the wind. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to find the time.
P.S.~
After reading Clockwork Angel, I have since taken to drinking tea, learning to play the violin, and hating ducks.

[Hamad · Rating 3 out of 5]

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City of Bones ★★★ 1/2
City of Ashes ★★ 1/2
City of Glass ★★★ 3/4
Clockwork Angel ★★★ 1/2
Clockwork Prince ★★★ 3/4
Clockwork Princess ★★★★ 1/2
City of Fallen Angels ★★
City of Lost Souls ★★ 1/2
City of Heavenly Fire ★★★★ 1/4
The Shadowhunter’s Codex ★★★

I got a physical copy of the codex because I thought it is a book better read in a physical form. I already finished TMI series (both trilogies) and TID and so this book didn’t add much into the world.

The book is supposed to be like a text book that the Shadowhunters study and the copy we have is Clary’s books which has doodles from her throughout the book along with Simon and Jace. The problem is that this is a text book and it felt like one, I was bored while reading most of the book and I was just looking forward to the illustrations and doodles. The book is divided into parts discussing the magic, the places, the creatures …etc but after reading 3000+ pages in the world, I already knew this information well. What I am trying to say is that it was repetitive!

The writing is kind of dry, I enjoyed the doodles but they don’t make up for a whole book. The illustrations were very good! I was pretty impressed by the quality of the illustrations. I finally got to see illustrations of the runes and I think they should have been implemented in the original series.

Summary: Overall I think it was boring and dry. It didn’t add anything new to the story (except for a few interesting pages). The format makes it a bit less enjoyable if read before the main series and unnecessary if read after. I enjoyed the illustrations and doodle so that’s why it gets 3 stars from me.

[Zoe Stewart (Zoe's All Booked)]

I have no idea how to rate this, to be quite honest. It was enjoyable for the most part, but it did get pretty dry in places. Dry to the point where I'd read five pages and fall the fuck asleep. At 10 am. There were times where it tried to read like a textbook but didn't at all, and it was pretty jarring, and not in a good way.

This does have me wishing for some sort of spinoff where we learn more about the Silent Brothers and the Iron Sisters though. Those two groups are cool as fuck.

Again, no idea how to rate this damn thing. It's like trying to rate an actual history textbook.

[Azbaqiyah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my gosh.
I'm truly excited to start reading ShadowHunters series by next year.
I'm finally joining this fandom!

[Andre · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was too stupid for too many reasons (listing them alone would hit the character limit so I will only mention a selected few examples in the spoiler sections, you can find a longer list here: http://fav.me/d6w6853). I hope I will never again read such a bad book.
The start reads like the beginning of a Pokemon game, which is good for those games but not for a book like this that claims to be a book every Hunter knows but clearly addresses only those that either have not yet or will later drink from the Mortal Cup (which was missing at the time this book was written; the later statement of it being officially labeled "misplaced" was one of a huge array of examples of Hunter idiocy) and become Shadowhunters. Furthermore this book addresses people from around the world, but all the name suggestions are in English. We also never get told why there are names like "Lightwood" if their names are supposed to be inconspicuous. And what about all the Britain references like comparing the Accords with the Bill of Rights if this is supposed to be an international book? Do they expect the readers to just know what that is? If yes it's even odder that they have to explain what a sword is, because I am pretty sure that more people will know the meaning of "sword" than "Bill of Rights". And let's say there are versions in other languages, why was that never addressed in this book? It definitely isn't "the young Shadowhunter's best friend" as the advertisement claims.

I guess the book is supposed to be some sort of field manual for warriors but apart from having the labels "milking the cash cow" and "self-insertion fantasy" written all over it I cannot say anything for sure. The space isn't even used well. The artwork and "Q&A" sections are mostly useless and they have stuff like names and runes listed in a very space consuming fashion (names are all written one below the other). And based on the book itself this is a "corrected" version by Clary, which only highlights her stupidity/egoism because her "corrections" are either non-present (no extra info about the angel Raziel and she only gloated with her ability to make new runes) or what she wrote clashed with what was written in the other books (If gay marriage is legal in Idris, why is their society so allegedly homophobic as Isabelle claimed in City of Bones?), respectively it was stuff only fans would care about, like when she states that she had an icepack on her hips from training with Jace.

I guess some stuff is supposed to be comic relief, but it is so idiotic that they let the Hunters appear like lunatics , like Magnus's 17 reasons why people become Shadowhunters or the fact that the two examples for more colorful means of appointing their representatives in the Council include a dance competition and a giant chess tournament where the biggest looser is the representative. Or it's completely useless, like the banter of Clary & Co.
Some flaws and quirks in a made up world like the Clave's refusal to combine runes with warlock magic could actually flesh out a world, make it look more real, but if there was such an attempt here, it was rendered meaningless by the sheer amount of flaws this world-building has. And apart from its flaws, the whole book often screamed laziness. For instance:
There are no original fighting/combat styles, it's all taken from the mundanes.
The demon chapter did not read like a guide for future warriors, e.g. it doesn't contain common defenses against the different demons and the descriptions do not fit the danger level of the demons (the more dangerous, the more info you need). And the names are not only crap but a global order of demon-Hunters should have a much wider variety of demon names and they should match their real world counterparts.
The "origin" of the werewolves was basically "demon came -> creates -> leaves," that's it. There aren't even oral tales of what happened or anything, it doesn't concern anybody, despite the whole thing reeking of a hidden plan, just like the origin story of the vampires. Here the first vampire is Vlad Tepez III (aka Dracula aka biggest cliché in the genre) and they were created by the demon Hecate, which makes no sense at all. To make it as short as possible: She was variously associated with crossroads, entrance-ways, fire, light, the Moon, magic, witchcraft, knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants, necromancy, and sorcery, a protective goddess and one who bestowed prosperity and daily blessings on the family. And while the book gets the connection to witchcraft right the fact remains that she is a very bad choice as creator of the vampires. Not only are there the associations I stated (which often run completely counter to the image of the vampire) but also because of the animal most associated with her: the dog! Hecate would have made way more sense as creator of the werewolves.


There is also this constant theme that the Hunters are better than the "mundanes" like having no such uncivilized mundane notions as political parties and being trained to be faster and stronger than mundanes. And naturally the book states them to be connected to all world religions, despite it being obvious that this franchise does not acknowledge the legitimacy of those belief systems, since that is basically what you do when you call upon the names of angels to power your blades, speak mostly of demons from Judeo-Christian folklore, turn Hecate into a demon and state "Kali" as a name of Lilith from Jewish folklore,.

Every halfway decent idea, like color coding your special arrows, is ruined by the Hunters' incredible incompetence that makes them look even more idiotic than previous books already did (no global order of warriors would ever act this way). They don't even use firearms (the reason is still "mark + gunpowder = no ignition") despite gold being poisonous to demons so even gold-coated bullets/weapons should have some effect, the same for the other metals for the Downworlders. They also usually fight in short, improvised confrontations, close quarter, rather than in planned battles; against enemies that can spit acid, breathe fire, fire projectiles, do spells, are super strong and fast and they literally say that demons are of infinite variety. They rarely use bows from a save range but rather in the midst of chaotic battle, which is practically suicide. The useless art of throwing daggers is widely practiced just for showing off, but all we get to the question why they don't just use water cannons against demons (water disrupts their magic,) is "it doesn't work like that," despite the fact that it is stated that holy water is severely toxic to demons. And despite all this stupidity the book claims that they prioritize detailed assessment of the environment and learn to avoid harm by wits and reflexes. This lack of planning and inventiveness only makes them look like incompetent morons.
And despite being an order with members from all over the place, they don't have a common language apart from the "language of Raziel and the Gray Book" aka the runes.
Basically according to this book there are several things that could aid them against the demons. But do these morons use that to their full advantage? Not according to this book.

And if Downworlders and Hunters are sworn to secrecy and can even claim specific rights and reparations because of the Accords than the entire franchise is a testament to the impotence of these Accords, since no side acts accordingly!


The artwork is of decent quality but for the most part totally misplaced and often nothing but fan-service since it adds nothing to the book, or can anybody here tell me a good reason why all those pictures of Clary, Jace & Co. are there? Several pictures clash with the books: e.g Magnus has a different built, mostly light hair, moderate clothes and the wrong eyeshape and Luke's wolf form isn't even black (no werewolf picture fits). The art on the "mundanes" was downright insulting and said "the world = USA". At least the grammar was ok, even if the wording was often weird.

Actually I don't know when this book is supposed to have been read by Clary in-universe, I guess between City of Glass and City of Fallen Angels, since Clary plans to ask her mother regarding the protection ritual on new born Hunters but I have my doubts due to the convoluted material.
And convoluted fits this book to the last letter. A book like this is there to answer questions that were raised while reading the novels. But this book doesn't do that, at all. It flat out contradicts several elements of the other books of the franchise. For instance:
The parabatai connection is allegedly very special and serious (but still the vow is made when the involved are kids) but the books never showed that and now it is stated that romantic bonds between parabatai is forbidden since it evokes magical harm. If that is the case then why is Alec still ok?
In City of Ashes Luke could kill a demon by hitting it with a truck, but here mundane weapons allegedly cannot harm them permanently (later they say enough blunt force can kill everything).
The book says werewolves look no different in human form, but City of Lost Souls states that their eyes have the gold-ringed pupils of lycanthropy.
Now their transformation is described as painful and graphic (falling out teeth and all), but we got that only in City of Ashes, nowhere else, not even when werewolves were seen transforming by others.
Here vampires generally look pale, sallow and thin, as though weakened by malnourishment or some wasting disease but in other books their beauty was often noted and none was ever said to look malnourished or something. And just like pretty much every book since City of Bones, this one here totally ignores that the vampires in City of Bones were said to have hands that curled into claws at the tips and being able to transform into bats, mist and rat form. And not only where they shown to be transformed into bats by stating above flew the vampires, hissing and screeching, filling the night with predatory cries, that they can transform into rats was a plot point, it was the reason they thought transformed Simon was one of their own.
And if the unhallowed cannot enter an Institute, how could Luke in TMI? According to this book physically he is a run-of-the-mill werewolf.
Allegedly "many original members" and many of "the closest of Morgenstern's original followers" had fled from him before the Accords, but who? The other books only talked about Jocelyne and still no one warned the Clave?
It is remarkable how little these Hunters know based on this book. How is it possible to fight demons and Downworlder for about a millennium and still know so little? On the other hand if they have no actual record of any summoning and even claim to know least about angels than any other supernatural creature, then how do they know all these does and don'ts and other stuff regarding angels?

The book contradicts itself several times so often I lost count in fact.
During the first years of the vampires chaos arose, as neither Nephilim nor vampires yet understood how new vampires were made. And this after saying that Vlad & Co had already created new vampires and that new ones popped up as quickly as old ones disappeared.
The offspring of a human and a fey is human (often with some "fey characteristics") not fey but the book states a few pages later that they abduct humans to be used to produce new faerie children. Would such offspring be stated to be half-fey I would say "ok, that makes sense" but that is not what the book states, the book states at first that the offspring of such a mix is human and later that its used to produce new faeries.
In the werewolf chapter they state that werewolves do not pass on their condition to their children (previous books suggested otherwise) and later on there is constant talk about inherited werewolf traits. So is the condition inheritable to not? Or is the offspring of even two werewolves some human werewolf mix?
This makes even less sense considered that the Mortal Cup can be used to kill Downworlders because ingesting the fluid makes the "demonic and angelic war fruitlessly" within them. The same mechanics causes stillbirths for Nephilim-demon mixes according to the book, so why can Hunters mix with fey and werewolves?
How can a Hunter become a Forsaken by stripping its Marks? The book says that allegedly they are made mundane by stripping them from their Marks and later that a child of Hunter who is "stripped" is still a Hunter by blood, so how could they say only pages before that they make some into mundanes as a punishment by taking away their marks?
If Lilith is the mother of demons and she was Adams first wife then how on earth can demons be older than humans? They say themselves that the oldest Nephilim texts say that Lilith was Adam's first wife. Are we to assume that Lilith was a demon from the beginning, became Adam's wife and "rejected the ways of mortals?"

There is no sense over the course of several chapters and basically way more questions are raised than answered. Like:
Why are there only seraph blades and not other weapon types?
If Rowan, Ash and Oak are so often used by Hunters, why don't they have big forests planted?
Why is a chart showing the different demon frequencies a waste of time? If useless in the field, just learn the chart by heart and you won't have to go through the dangerous experience of recognizing demons by sight. Modern sensors have mapping systems, proximity alarms and other colorful features but no screen to show the demons they detect?
Why did it take until the 1960s for rune miniaturization magic to appear and make the sensors smaller? Where did that "magic" (the stuff they allegedly don't use, btw. they literally state here that their marks are magic) come from?
Why can the sensor detect demons but not Downworlders when they have demon magic installed in their souls?
If demons can be repelled by holy symbols why don't Hunters wear those all the time?
If no Forsaken has ever been turned into a Hunter by drinking from the Cup why do they even state this is an alternative to killing them?
How is it possible to place newborn Hunters under protection spells to strengthen them for receiving Marks if the only magic they have are the marks and the Mortal Instruments?
If Hunters are so few and die so young, why is there a law against marrying mundanes, and why no polygamy or more recruitment? Seriously they once recruited whole families and in the Middle Ages they had a lower infant mortality rate due to their rituals. People would have signed up in droves just for that.
And how does Idris even function? Who grows food, who builds houses? Who repairs stuff? Etc.


What you see of world building here is basically what you already know from the other books and the new stuff mostly either contradicts these books, doesn't add anything or clearly wasn't reflected in the books. As a matter of fact it is incredible how little they know about so many topics. They don't even know the original name or origin of their founder, just calling him Jonathan Shadowhunter, and the story how they came to be contradicts facts from the book (e.g. being able to fight successfully against demons with mundane weapons). The origin story contradicts City of Bones (there Raziel was summoned by a warlock).

Real world history and psychology is basically ransacked, allegedly magic and superstition has no influence today anymore, despite both being widespread over all continents, the first demon invasion allegedly caused the crusades because people thought all those corporal demons are there because the Holy Land is not in Christian hands. That example of a fake angel was utterly ridiculous for too many reasons to list here. And the whole chapter on mundanes was basically:
a) mundanes are idiots and of no use
b) pity mundanes for it, we have to protect them
The book even speaks as if the Mayan Empire still exists, could not find a better female role model than Boadicea (btw. if one of the first 3 Shadowhunters was already a female warrior why did the women need centuries to achieve equality?), claims Idris has totally unspoiled nature, that other major religious traditions have stories that may be talking about Lilith and Sammael and the story of the first Hunters in the Americas is a bad copy of the Mayflower stuff (down to the harsh winters and the helpful "first people") just like the story of the "lost Ethiopian Nephilim" who still kept the way is a rip-off of the story of the Beta Israel. They even have "Scorpion-Riders" in mid-1600s Australia. And I am not commenting about the story in 1199 Ireland; that breaks too many laws. and the Hunters come along as incompetent idiots that should have been wiped out a long time ago, or better they would be if the demons weren't even bigger idiots.

The main heroes of the franchise come along either as idiots as well or simply assholes who care about nothing but themselves (based on what is presented here all of them should react quite differently , e.g. in City of Bones some holy water for Simon to drink would have been enough to negate the effects of the vampire blood that he had consumed and it wasn't as if that was something Jace shouldn't have known, this book is a revised edition of 2002 and City of Bones played in 2007 and it was clear that Simon had bitten vampires at least 6 times. Jace didn't even report this to anyone which according to this book he would have been obliged to do and he would have also been forbidden to ruin those vampire motorbikes, actually the vampires could have demanded reparations for that under the law.).
And thank gosh I am not one of Raziel's chosen. He didn't even give the Hunters the seraph blades, the only weapons that according to this book can permanently injure a demon (marked weapons only make them retreat to lick their wounds) right away, instead they had to "discover" them later by, well chance is the best word. And not only do they cause mundanes to burn to death, they even burn Hunters unless appropriately marked as well. That angel seems to be the biggest idiot and/or asshole in the entire universe.
I guess often the book tried to be "different", like when demonic cults are stated as mostly harmless and only raising weaker demons, respectively ending in the participants being killed by the summoned demons, (why demons don't use cults to strengthen their foothold in the human world is anyone's guess) but the result is that huge sections of the book screamed of bad-copying, unoriginal ideas, rip-offs, lip service to diversity and equality which downright fail since not only are Hunters clearly claimed to be better than mundanes time and again, Clary & Co do not object to the actually racist crap in the book and even Jonathan Shadowhunter was born special (allegedly the 7th son of a 7th son and of noble birth). And don't get me started on the "feminism" in this book, pure laziness and lack of a competent editor and constructive criticism.
Would I be a fan of these characters, I would hate this book.

PS: This is not a rip-off of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them". That book was a nice short mix of information and comic relief. This here was a worse example of world-building than Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Guide.

[Avani ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree the codex is necessary from the information point of view. But as a book it was blahh !!

The comments by Clary, Jace & Simon actually kept the book moving ahead.

[Lucy Qhuay]

I want to know everything there is to know about the shadowhunter world! +.+

[Bella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aaaaah I loved this compilation of all things Shadowhunter world! It was amazing and the commentaries from Clary, Jace and Simon had me dying of laughter from end to finish. It was just soo them and I love reading their opinions on certain topics and we even see some excerpts of Jace and Clary's day-to-day relationship! I JUST LOVE IT OKAY

But apart from all of the hilarious commentary, we actually learn a whole deal about not only Shadowhunters and their history and beliefs, but also about how demons came to be, the Downworlders, the angels, and all the different branches that all of these may create!
It was such a recreational read and I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I did, but thank god I did.

I marked some parts as my favorites as well, some where the Clave is being downright sarcastic and sardonic, ahem:

"All Shadowhunters carry a witchlight stone, to remind them that light can be found even among the darkest shadows, and also to supply with actual light when they are themselves literally among dark shadows."

Is it weird that I had to put the book down because I was laughing so hard?

In all seriousness guys, this book was uh-mazing I totally recommend it if you loved The Mortal Instruments series (which you probably did) and The Infernal Devices Trilogy (which you obviously did)

PLUS, THE AMAZING ILLUSTRATIONS ARE AMAZING

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this so, so much! I will be making a video review so I won't say much here, except if you're a fan of Cassandra Clare I'd definitely recommend getting this in some format.
The commentary throughout was really funny (and also included some great Jimon moments- those two just have the best banter) and it is beautifully designed and illustrated.
My favourite part of the codex came in the last two sections, the 'History of the Nephilm' (so much cool stuff about Johnathon Shadowhunter) and 'the Ninth Accords', which talks about the Circle Era.
To sum up this book is awesome and I'd recommend it to all shadowhunters out there!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was oh lord so so good.
It was funny and interesting and informative as hell. Cassandra Jean is such an amazing artist and Joshua and the rest of them!
Clary, Jace, Magnus and Simon's notes were hilarious. Ah, what a delight.

[Renata · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

This shows the complex world Cassandra Clare created and it's amazing, I mean she has a great cretivity and this book just shows you that it's not something that she dreamed about and done. It's a lot of work and wow.

To be honest some parts you already know (80% let's be honest) from the books since I've read all of them so far and also some things could have been explained better but in general it was really fast to read (if you have time because it took me months omg).

[Reza · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know the book is not really necessary, but..

The cover is so awesome! I will probably buy (and read) it just for the cover.



Yes. I have a problem.



EDIT: So I gave in.. and I bought it. It's a nice read though and the illustrations are beautiful.

[Hallie (thecommonroomshop) · Rating 4 out of 5]

if and when i ever write a book, i hope the universe in my mind is as fleshed out as this one is🤍

[Katerina · Rating 4 out of 5]

So,I'm reading the demonology part in the bus (you know,the one with the demon sketches etc) and the guy next to me curiously asks what book is this,and after I explain I rush to reassure him that I don't worship satan and perform bloody rituals under the full moon.Still not sure if he believed me

[lana!! ꨄ (regulus’ version.) · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was so pointless 😭

[Irene ➰ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.3/5

Short story: I finally finished this book. Here is why it took me this long lol
So I was reading this book on my train trip when I went to the Shadowhunters convention this July. Then the post convention depression got me and this book reminded me too much of that period. So I put it on hold even because I was missing the last two chapters full of history dates and infos and the Law chapter which was as everything interesting but "heavier" as a subject.
Now I found motivation to finish it, so here it is, I did it 😂😂
____

This book is SO informative, it's full of details, history and "curiosities", plus Jace, Clary and Simon comments that me laugh so hard more than once. I can totally see this as a text book, because that's the feeling I had while reading it. For personal taste I of course found some chapters more interesting than others, but I can't deny that this is very interesting and it's definitely a very good exapansion to this amazing universe!

[Zero vi Britannia]

Why? Why? Why? We've had enough of this crap, Clare. Move on. Why don't you Write a book about mermaids or trolls or witches or zombies...demon fairy warriors from the Edo period. Anything other than these $#%@ing Nephilim! just retire comfortably and live off the completely undeserved money you earned from your piece of shit series?