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The Lightwoods, the Shadowhunters who run the New York Institute, are expecting a new addition to their family: the orphaned son of their father's friend, Jace Wayland. Alec and Isabelle aren't too sure they want a new brother, and their parents are not assuaging their fears, too occupied with the dark news that Raphael Santiago, second-in-command of the New York vampire clan, has brought from the Shadow Market.

48 pages, ebook

First published April 10, 2018

576 people are currently reading
13528 people want to read

About the author

Cassandra Clare

200 books278k followers
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.

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5 stars
3,454 (38%)
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3 stars
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,257 reviews
Profile Image for Jesse (JesseTheReader).
573 reviews190k followers
Read
December 18, 2018
While I tend to gripe about the fact that you have to read some of these novellas before reading the main books... I still end up trash for these little stories. It was nice seeing interactions between different characters and also seeing moments when some of the characters met for the first time.
Profile Image for Emma Giordano.
278 reviews106k followers
May 12, 2018
I'm so happy to be back in the world of new Shadowhunter content! Son of the Dawn was a great first installment to what will surely be a fantastic novella series.

(As a note, this novella includes spoilers for The Infernal Devices series)

Being honest, I do tend to struggle more with Cassandra Clare's novellas than her full novels (I just feel 500-700 pages does her writing more justice than being restricted to short stories) so this is definitely not my favorite work of hers, but was enjoyable nonetheless. This is not the most entertaining story I've read from the Shadowhunter world. It was a little underwhelming at some points and I very strongly cared for one plotline over another, but I'm a sentimental mess when it comes to these books so it did not have a huge impact on my reading experience. I am confident that as these stories continue and we are more deeply immersed in the tales of one Shadowhunter at the Shadow Markets, I will become more connected to each installment.

I always love the way Cassie Clare can seamlessly weave stories across centuries together. If you are a lover of references to her books old and new, I'm sure Son of the Dawn is a story you will gush over. My absolute favorite part of the story was seeing the classic New York Shadowhunting Crew (Jace, Izzy, and Alec) act as children, especially meeting for the first time. Cassie does a fantastic job at capturing her character's voices as teens, adults, and now children. The beginning of their older personalities are evident in their youth and I adored seeing them interact while so young. I was also so pleased to see greater development from Lily and Raphael, two characters who don't get a ton of page time in the full novels. Their banter is hilarious and I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed their role in this story. (Also, Bless Cassie for including some on-page confirmation of Raphael's aromanticism/asexuality.)

I'm so excited we are getting more Shadowhunter novellas and I cannot wait to dive into #2!!
Profile Image for Virginia Ronan ♥ Herondale ♥.
651 reviews35.3k followers
Want to read
April 11, 2018
WAIT!!!
WHAT?!!!
Hold your horses!!!

When did this become a thing and how come I didn't even know about it?!
OMG!!!
I need to read this asap!!!
Like yesterday!!! Which is btw the date this short story was actually released.
Dang it! XD

*runs off to add it to my amazon cart*
Profile Image for Melanie (meltotheany).
1,196 reviews102k followers
November 20, 2018
“Every world contains other worlds within it.”

It is official, The New York City Shadow Market is the coolest one we’ve seen so far? Abandoned theater? Ahhh, the aesthetics. But this story takes place in 2000, and I will be honest with you all, I sure in the hell wasn’t expecting a story about how Jace came to join the Lightwood family. Damn, my emotions are all over the place, because seeing Raphael alone makes me weep. Also, I think it was really smart for Cassie Clare to show us a “good” side of Robert Lightwood, especially after finishing Lord of Shadows. Also, all that talk of parabatai bonds? Lord, help us all. But I think my sappy self cried hardest over two initials. Okay, I know this brief review is all over the place, but this was such an unexpected treat and I was smiling while reading this entire story. From Izzy watching Alec discover who he is, to me crying even more over Max, to Jace being Jace even at a young age, to Lily Chen actually making me laugh out loud, to me screaming at seeing Raphael confirming that he is ace, I love all of this. And even just seeing Raphael come to Brother Zachariah for help and to go on what ends up being such a meaningful adventure, that really impacts all their lives eventually, it was just amazing. I really loved this short story and I think it was such an amazing glimpse at the past, that really makes you appreciate the future so much more.

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(I read this in Ghosts of the Shadow Market!) ✨
Profile Image for Isa Cantos (Crónicas de una Merodeadora).
1,009 reviews43.8k followers
November 19, 2019
“Every world contains other worlds within it. People wander through all the worlds they can find, searching for their homes".

Ay, ¿pero qué es esto tan lindo y triste a la vez? Sí que sabía que los relatos de Ghosts From the Shadow Market se iban a centrar en Jem, pero no me imaginé que Son of the Dawn empezara tan atrás en el pasado. Aquí Jonathan Wayland (es tan raro no decirle Jace) ni siquiera ha llegado a vivir en el Instituto con los Lightwood y el Hermano Zacariah (Jem) empieza el relato paseando por el Mercado de las Sobras. Allí lo encuentra Raphael Santiago y le dice que necesita su ayuda, pues un cargamento de yin fen está a punto de llegar y no pueden permitir que esa droga inunde la ciudad.

Por una parte me partió el corazón ver al Hermano Zacariah todavía peleando contra los poderes de los Hermanos Silenciosos que lo obligan a olvidar su vida pasada. Él no quiere olvidar quién fue, todo lo que vivió como Jem hace décadas, a quiénes amó. Era súper duro leer cómo se repetía una y otra vez los nombres de Will y Tessa, las dos personas más importantes en su corazón, para no olvidar que, debajo de todas esas runas y prohibiciones de los Hermanos Silenciosos, sigue siendo Jem Carstairs.

Y por otro lado tenemos a Jonathan Christopher Wayland, que acaba de perder a su padre y ahora lo están enviando a vivir con quien era el parabatai de Michael, Robert Lightwood. Fue tan raro leer a Jonathan siendo pequeño y, aún así, usando su sarcasmo y su pose de chulito para protegerse de la incertidumbre, del llegar a donde unas personas que no conoce y del miedo que siente. Lo adoré. Y es muy tierno ver cómo es su primer encuentro con Alec y con Isabelle. Los amo muchísimo. ¡Y cuando por fin le empiezan a decir Jace! Creo que ese fue uno de los momentos más emocionantes del relato, pues es ahí cuando él entiende que puede pertenecer a esa nueva familia.
Profile Image for Beth.
925 reviews629 followers
November 18, 2018
5 STARS!

Life is not a boat, bearing us far away on a cruel, relentless tide from all we love. You are not lost on me on some forever distant shore. Life is a wheel.

She's done it again. My heart is ripped into teeny tiny shreds and spat out with a big gaping hople in the shape of Will Herondale. For anyone that knows me, knows that The Infernal Devices is my favourite ever series, and will leave me in tears no matter what. So whenever I get the smallest snippets of characters from that, I'm pretty much sold! This had everything I could of wanted, and even if you prefer The Mortal Instruments you get all of your favourite Lightwoods and Jace thrown into this as well! THEN we also see Raphael! I mean what more could you want in such a small short story?!

No, said Jem, because he was always James Carstairs when he spoke of what was dearest to him. Not mine. My parabatai’s. W and H. William Herondale. Will

Just a few things I wanted to mention that I loved!
- Soooooo we get little snippets of both TID and TMI... love
- JEM! So much Jem and what he's trying to get rid of hits you right in the feels!
- So many laughs from Izzy... thinking that Jem looked like a "mundie singer"
- How sweet Izzy and Alec are so young and that Izzy always knew about Alec.
- BABY MAX!
- Lily changing Brother Zachariahs name was very amusing (I just want to call him Jem BUT it had to be this way, you'll get what I mean)
- JEMS STAFF. MY HEART. I CANNOY. Still ugly crying. yep.
- Just seeing how Jace was introduced to the Lightwoods legit melts your heart

I can't wait to read the rest of the stories, after that I need them all in my greedy hands right now!

Despair was never stronger than the thought of them. He could not betray them by giving up. They are Will and Tessa, and you were Ke Jian Ming. You were Jem.

Son of Dawn - 5 Stars
Cast Long Shadows - 3.5 Stars
Every Exquisite Thing - 5 Stars
Learn About Loss - 5 Stars
A Deeper Love - 4 Stars
The Wicked Ones - 4 Stars
The Land I Lost - 5 Stars
Through Blood, Through Fire - 5 Stars
Profile Image for ✨    jami   ✨.
774 reviews4,188 followers
June 15, 2018
Jem hoped he would find happiness.
Jem smiled back at a boy long gone.
Sometimes, Will, he said. You seem very close


wow okay this gave me the FEELS. I just .. I am trash. I am a massive trashcan who would die for the Shadowhunter-verse and all these characters. Like, they're all my kids and I LOVE THEM.

This is the story of Jace coming to the Institute for the first time, told from Jem Carstairs point of view. Everything about it was so sweet, Alec and Isabelle as children are ADORABLE. I loved how it showed Alec's baby gay crush on Jace. And just the interactions between the three Lightwood/Herondales are so pure, I love my children.

Raphael Santiago and Lily Chen are also in this and jfgh I LOVE THEM. Raphael is one of my favourite characters in this world so it was so so good to see him again. I miss him so much. Lily is also incredibly funny in this and those jokes about Jem being highkey hot? I felt that

Cassandra Clare's short stories are often hit and miss with me, like I've really loved some and hated some others. But this is one of the better ones! I liked it a lot and I'm pretty excited to read the others she puts out in this collection.

Profile Image for Carrie.
3,567 reviews1,692 followers
September 20, 2018
Son of the Dawn by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan is the first novella in the young adult paranormal fantasy Ghosts of the Shadow Market series. This series is another companion set of novellas that are brief glimpses into events set in the Shadowhunter world of the Mortal Instruments series.

This first installment takes place in the year 2000 as Raphael Santiago meets up with Brother Zachariah to warn of news going around the Shadow Market. At the same time the Lightwoods are preparing for the arrival of Jace Wayland who is joining their family at the New York institute after the death of his father.

I’m always excited for any glimpse into the Shadowhunter world so of course I liked traveling back for a closer look at some things that happened in the stories. These companion novellas though probably won’t make a lot of sense to anyone not already being a fan of Clare’s whole Shadowhunter universe but are definitely recommended to the fans waiting for the next in the latest series.

For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/
111 reviews16 followers
May 11, 2018
5/10/18
CRYING SO MUCH.
I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. JEM, WILL AND TESSA MAKE ME SO NOSTALGIC!


3/30/18
Jem etched Will's initials onto his cane.
Send help. LOTS OF IT. >CRYING SO HARD<

2/17/2018
LOOOOOK aT thIS COVer! >INSERT HEART EyES<

wHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THIS?
IT HAS JEM CARTSTAIRS
>INSERT CRYING EMOJI<
I AM DYING......SEND HELP
Profile Image for Josu Diamond.
Author 9 books33.3k followers
February 16, 2019
Pues me ha gustado. Una historia corta, sencilla, nada del otro mundo, pero que nos enseña parte de historia que deseaba conocer. ¿Cómo fueron los primeros días de Jace con los Lightwood?

Aparte de eso, y como el hilo conductor de estas historias corta es Jem, aprendemos más de él, y lo que significa ser un Hermano Silencioso. Nos reencontramos con Raphael Santiago, se habla sobre Magnus, y aparece de nuevo el yin fen.

Entretenido, y añadiendo datos interesantes para que todo quede increíblemente bien atado. Hala, a seguir.
Profile Image for emily.
300 reviews2,485 followers
November 5, 2018
if you listen closely you can hear me not giving a fuck about any cassandra clare character that isn't magnus bane or the blackthorns

ladies.........i regret to inform you that i don't think i can get behind anything cc writes that isn't the dark artifices. i just don't have the energy to care about a million different characters and events and dkjhdfkfhj i'm literally only here for some Soft Blackthorn Family Bonding that's the type of shit that makes me cry dude!!!

i guess this is just me being bitter about the fact that this novella is once again about j*ce and for some reason i expected literally Anything Fucking Else.

i feel so drained from this novella and i don't know if it's the fact that i'm still hungover or if it really was that fucking boring, i truly can't decide.

sorry for hating on all of your favs! i'm gonna go back to being miserable now. cool beans

description

✦ buddy read with this kerrat
Profile Image for Romie.
1,197 reviews7 followers
April 15, 2018
I loved every second of it! I listened to it as an audio book and the narrator did such a great job!

I was expecting this story to be narrated from Jem's perspective, it absolutely broke my heart every single time he mentioned Will or Tessa. My poor Heronstairs heart wasn't ready at all.
Also getting more Rafael was a dream coming to life, and I nearly cried at the mall while listening to it. My sweet vampire deserved so much better, I'm still bitter about what happened to him, and now I want to hug Lily. I'm so sad for her? Why does everything hurt?
MY BOY ALEC, MY SMOL BOY™. Honestly we all loved reading about Alec getting a crush on Rafe and the ‘wow’ he said the first time he saw Jace was iconic! He's a disaster gay™.
Reading about Michael and Robert also made me sad, both when people said Robert regretted having a parabati and when they said Michael must have been someone harsh. MY PRECIOUS CHAOTIC BI DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER.

Honestly I'm a mess right now. And I know my soul will hurt for each story
Profile Image for Noura Khalid (theperksofbeingnoura).
547 reviews826 followers
November 7, 2018
“He remembered traveling across the sea, having lost his family, not knowing that he was going to his best friend.”



I can’t explain to you how much sadness I felt while reading this novella. I think I could hear my heart splintering on multiple occasions. We got to see the first time Jace came to the New York institute to live with the Lightwoods. I loved seeing a glimpse of younger Jace, Alec and Isabelle. I loved how comfortable they came to being with each other.


“Jonathan Wayland shrugged. “I applied to the Iron Sisters, but they sent me a hurtful and sexist refusal.”


We also got to see our dear Jem Carstairs! Along with Rapahel Santiago and Lily Chen. Two of my favorite Vampires. It has been quite some time since I last read about these two and it felt very nostalgic. Coming back to the story and the characters always feels like coming home. I’ve been a part of the Shadowhunter fandom for the past 6 years now, and Cassandra Clare’s books always seem like comfort reads for me.

"Jem hoped he would find happiness.
Jem smiled back at a boy long gone.
Sometimes, Will, he said. You seem very close."


I loved reading from Jem’s point of view. He’ll always have a special place in my heart. I’m so excited to read the rest of the stories in the Ghosts of Shadow Market Anthology.
Profile Image for sam.
430 reviews749 followers
December 26, 2018
THE FIRST PART OF THE GHOSTS OF THE SHADOW MARKET YAYYYY!

I flew through this one really quickly and it was really beautiful. Especially the parts about choosing your parabatai and such. If y'all haven't read the mortal instruments or the infernal devices or the dark artifices yet I highly suggest you go read it because they're amazingggggg!
Profile Image for Maureen.
607 reviews4,139 followers
December 28, 2019
VERY EMOTIONAL ABOUT THIS ONE. JACE. JEM. FEELINGS.
Profile Image for Dulce María.
947 reviews42 followers
April 15, 2018
Aunque me gusto mucho, nadie superará jamás a Simón como narrador de historias cortas y es que ni este cuento, ni las crónicas de Magnus Bane me emocionan tanto como me emociono Shadow hunters academy, aún así espero que se ponga más interesante en las siguientes historias.
Profile Image for B .
681 reviews927 followers
Read
May 22, 2021
“Life is not a boat, bearing us far away on a cruel, relentless tide from all we love. You are not lost on me on some forever distant shore. Life is a wheel.”


Rating- 4 stars

Jem deserves all the love in the world.


“There are more kinds of love than stars, said Brother Zachariah, If you do not feel one, there are many others. You know what it is to care for family and friends. What we keep sacred, keeps us safe. Consider that by trying to cut yourself off from the possibility of being hurt, you shut the door on love and live in darkness.”


This was a fun read. I liked seeing how Jace, Izzy and Alec met for the first time. It was very enjoyable to read!

“The letters were worn by time and Zachariah's own flesh, but they had been struck deep into the wood in the precise places where Zachariah would put his hands on them when they fought. So, in a way, they would always be fighting together.
The letters were W and H.”
Profile Image for Kayla Silverss.
Author 1 book127 followers
April 10, 2018
This was such a great novella! I had a great easy time with it and getting to know the lightwood and Jace's history better was really nice.
Profile Image for Savannah Cieslak.
151 reviews11 followers
April 25, 2025
This is the last novella I needed to reread before going into the Mortal Instruments series. I originally read the series back in 2018 and loved it! This time around, I wanted to read the Shadowhunter Chronicles in chronological order instead of by publication order. I recommend doing this, but only if you have already read the books before. It spoils what's to come in the novellas if you read in chronological order. This novella did a great job of introducing the main characters in the Mortal Instruments series and showing what the characters were like as children and when they all first met. This was another great addition to the overall series!

R.R.
Profile Image for Althea ☾.
719 reviews2,244 followers
March 11, 2021
4.0

i love emotions

this focuses more on Jace, Izzy, and Alec, and how they first met... and of course relating it to our parabatais in TID too T_T
Profile Image for Suzzie.
954 reviews171 followers
August 20, 2018
Love love love reading about when Jace met Alec and Isabelle. The shadowhunters are hands down my favorite series and characters so I am eating up these short stories. This one featured Raphael & Jem so that was an awesome added bonus!

My quick and simple overall: short but fun short stories!
Profile Image for Kaitlyn.
279 reviews165 followers
April 12, 2018
Wow. Five years later, and the clockwork trio still have me in a chokehold.
Profile Image for Melissasfandomworld.
715 reviews119 followers
November 22, 2018
This first novella is set in 2000 and we follow Brother Zachariah in a quest that has him confronting his mortal past in a most cruel way #AllAboardTheTIDFeelsTrain. In a time when Isabelle & Alec Lightwood are awaiting one Jonathan Wayland to arrive on their doorsteps, who is going to live with them, Jonathan/Jace crosses paths with Brother Zachariah when Brother Zachariah is in search of the yin fen that’s about to be distributed on American shores, starting with New York city. Alongside Lily and Raphael, two vampires we got to meet in the Mortal Instruments series, as well as Robert Lightwood, they’re going to try to stop the werewolves from bringing the yin fen into the city.

We mostly read from Brother Zachariah’s pov, but reading these small bits and pieces from Isabelle’s pov were so precious too! Brother Zachariah coming across Jace and fighting alongside him on the ship made me feel all the feels because we all know – when having read the TID books – how BZ fought alongside Jace’s ancestor in the past and the background story to it all… <- I mean, come on. How much can a fangirl handle when being emotionally attacked so often in just a couple of chapters? #sobslikecrazy. And then the fact that we got to see Isabelle, Alec and Jace being this young? So cute!

This novella in a nutshell: One moment I want to cry while lying in a fetal position, feeling like I’m never going to recover from experiencing all these feels and the next I’m laughing like crazy because Lily having a crush on Brother Zachariah is the funniest thing ever, I think haha. Her ‘nicknames’ for him are hilarious… But yeah; My feelings were all over the frigging place when reading this novella.

a little snippet of Jace talking to Brother Zachariah:

"What do the initials mean? On your staff. Do all Silent Brothers have them?"
They looked together at the staff. The letters were worn by time and Zachariah's own flesh, but they had been struck deep into the wood in the precise places where Zachariah would put his hands on them when he fought. So, in a way, they would always be fighting together."

"The letters were W and H."

"No, said Brother Zachariah, I am the only one. I carved them into the staff on my first night in the City of Bones."
"Were they your initials?, the boy asked, his voice low and a little timid.
"Back when you were a Shadowhunter, like me?"

"No", said Jem, because he was always James Carstairs when he spoke of what was dearest to him. Not mine. My parabatai's.
W and H. William Herondale. Will."
Profile Image for jessie.
345 reviews262 followers
July 13, 2020
(i forgot to update this ugh)

Oh. My. Precious. Baby. Raphael. aka the only decent character in tmi. Well no. Actually I have a complicated relationship with tmi. It’s not that I hate the tmi characters, I just feel irritated by them. Which is quite something since tmi is supposed to be like the ‘main series’ in the world. The problem with this novella however, is not about my annoyance. It’s actually about the writing. It’s really... bad. It might be a long time since I read a Cassie Clare book (the last one was QoAD two years ago) but the writing doesnt even sound like Cassandra Clare. I like the story, the plot and also let’s not forget sweet baby Raphael, and his relationship with Lily. But the writing feels wrong. I would just assume Sarah Rees Brennan wrote this alone.

Can we all agree on one thing? The nicknames Lily gave Jem is cringe-y af. I forgot if she actually gave him nicknames in the tmi series but no I can’t stand this novella. Good thing I decided to pick it up first.
Profile Image for kim hannah.
356 reviews54 followers
October 28, 2018
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ┊ 5 stars

Oh what a beautiful insight to the Lightwoods receiving Jace to be under their care! The little Izzy, Alec and Max! How their relationships all began.



I was sooooo happy to read about Jem and Raphael again ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Oh I miss them!

────────────────────────────────────────
1. Son of Dawn ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. Cast Long Shadows ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. Every Exquisite Thing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. Learn About Loss ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5. A Deeper Love ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
6. The Wicked Ones ⭐⭐⭐
7. The Land I Lost⭐⭐⭐
Profile Image for Reem Ghabbany.
414 reviews346 followers
July 11, 2018
I enjoyed this. missed being in the shadowhunters world
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,257 reviews

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