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Matthew Fairchild is the Consul’s son and the golden-haired boy of the Nephilim. He has the love of his family and his parabatai James Herondale, and nothing to wish for, except excitement and artistry and beauty that do not seem to fit in with a warrior’s way of life. Matthew gets more than he bargained for at the Shadow Market, where he commits the greatest sin of his life - something he can never tell his parabatai, or any of the honorable Shadowhunters around him.

2 pages, Audiobook

First published May 8, 2018

340 people are currently reading
7115 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
3,104 (39%)
4 stars
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3 stars
1,465 (18%)
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48 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,142 reviews
Profile Image for Emma Giordano.
278 reviews106k followers
December 21, 2018
4.5 Stars! I really enjoyed this novella. I've mentioned before that I sometimes don't enjoy Cassie Clare novellas as much as full novels, but I really loved this one!

CW: I don't typically hide content warnings because I believe they should be easy to access for those who need them, but I feel this one is particularly spoilery and people should be able to choose whether or not they want to see it.

I felt the storyline of Brother Zachariah at the Shadow market and the storyline of Matthew Fairchild dealing with his internal demons was more cohesive than the first novella. I loved the dyanmic between these two characters, as well as one of the first introductions to the characters we will follow in The Last Hours. Though we have only been exposed to them in short novellas for now, I feel Matthew, James, Lucie, Anna, and Christopher have all received fair development - Their unique characteristics and personalities are already present and this novellas has IMMENSELY increased my excitement for this new series.

Speaking of The Last Hours I ADORE how crucial this novella is in setting up the story of a new generation of Shadowhunters. I honestly can't imagine going into Chain of Gold without having the information disclosed in this story and I highly recommend you pick up these novellas before it's 2019 release. Installment #2 of Ghosts of the Shadow Market has definitely strengthened my interested in both this novellas series as well as the future Shadowhunter Chronicles!!
Profile Image for Līga Sproģe.
Author 1 book110 followers
May 9, 2018
7/03/2018

Me, trying to remember all the family trees and relationships:

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Me, when all of these series will finally be over, remembering how I first took "City of Bones" in my hands...

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9/05/2018

Matthew, das gay!!

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ha, i KNEW i won't be able to remember all Herondale-Lightwood-Fairchild-Carstairs lineage. But I had a feeling this was feelsy, u feel me? Like, if I'd reread Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy I could give this higher rating because I would actually know what is going on? But I had a feeling I understood and it gave me enought heartbreak.

Also, ofc the Jem ending killed me again. These stories always ends on heronstairs parabatai feels AND I AM NOT OKAY

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Profile Image for Melanie (meltotheany).
1,196 reviews102k followers
November 20, 2018
“Old sins cast long shadows.”

Okay, I’m still hyped for The Last Hours though, but I think it is mostly for James Herondale, even though Matthew Fairchild is such a little sweetheart. I loved seeing him interact with Brother Zachariah, and loving him just because so many of his loved ones love him. I love that feeling, and I think that’s something in life that I experience a lot that books rarely depict. But in this short story takes place in London 1901, and we get to see Matthew dealing with something that’s really bothering him, while willing to do anything to find out the truth. Oh, and Alastair Carstairs is such a little jerk, but I know Cassie is going to give him a homelife (and a father, I think) that is going to make us feel a lot of empathy toward him. But why the hell is Sophie (my queen, still) and Gideon’s kid friends with him? Yet, I love seeing Henry’s disability rep, I love seeing Charlotte say fuck your misogyny to the Clave, and I just love seeing all these glimpses at old friendships that we already love, but also all the new glimpses at what is to come. And seeing Jem, Will, and Tessa living their lives after Clockwork Princess will never not equal parts break my heart and heal my soul. And yeah, I’m still crying over that staff. Lord, help me.

Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Youtube | Twitch

(I read this in Ghosts of the Shadow Market!) ✨
Profile Image for Sofia.
230 reviews8,971 followers
February 27, 2021
Cast Long Shadows is a novella that takes place before the events of Chain of Gold. It follows young Matthew Fairchild, a wild, ambitious child who is about to make the biggest mistake of his life.

I only read this because Matthew was my favorite character from Chain of Gold. I loved his recklessness and the way he covered up his hurt with brash words. His backstory is murky in CoG, so I was interested in learning why, exactly, he acted the way he did.

I was disappointed. It wasn't as dramatic or heartwrenching as I feared. His pain didn't really feel genuine to me in the moment, which was probably due to the strange writing style, which seemed different from TLH. I get that Matthew was a totally different person back then, but something about his personality felt artificial.

I also don't care much for Jem Carstairs, so I wasn't interested in his side of the story, but overall, this novella was short and intriguing enough to keep my attention.

3 stars


Cassandra Clare — A little something for a (hopefully) fun...
Profile Image for Beenish.
424 reviews459 followers
January 9, 2023
5★ | Old Sins Cast Long Shadows

edit: after this second re-read, I really do wish Jem had told Charlotte or Henry, or urged Matthew to do so. I wonder what would've happened if he had. Alas! Here we are.

I read Chain of Gold and there was something I didn't understand which I do now after having read this short story. I'd suggest you people read this story before Chain of Gold.
I cannot tell just how much I love Matthew Fairchild. And this short story will only give you an understanding of what he's done that he's not able to forgive himself and why he's suffering.

I also forgot this and the reread really helped me remember why Matthew has blonde hair when both his parents don't.

Brother Zachariah, formerly known as Jem Carstairs, remains his precious self. He knows Matthew's secret and advises him well and remains kind to him but what's done is done. And for such a little boy to bear that burden, God! My heart just breaks for Matthew!

Also, look how handsome he has grown up to be. Charliebowater's art is just stunning! Please, Cassie. Let this boy be happy. 🙈



Other short stories about The Last Hours Characters.

Cast Long Shadows
Every Exquisite Thing
The Midnight Heir
The Penultimate Hours
Profile Image for Isa Cantos (Crónicas de una Merodeadora).
1,009 reviews43.8k followers
October 23, 2019
“I thought I would walk with you a little way, my parabatai”.

Este fue, honestamente, un relato un poco difícil de entender, pues aquí nos encontramos con un montón de personajes que Cassandra nos presenta como un preludio de lo que será su siguiente serie: The Last Hours. Todo empieza con un atormentado Matthew Fairchild en el Mercado de las Sombras buscando una solución que, al final, le saldrá más cara de lo que nunca se hubiera imaginado. El peor pecado y error de su vida. Mientras avanza el relato y vamos conociendo a James Herondale, Lucie y Christopher, el misterio de lo que ha hecho Matthew se va desenvolviendo y entendemos cómo un chico tan dulce y brillante queda hundido en medio de la desesperación y la oscuridad.

Sé que, en teoría, lo más importante de esta historia deberían ser quienes serán los protagonistas de The Last Hours, pero todo queda opacado en el momento en el que aparecen Will, Tessa y Jem. Mis amores. De verdad, es precioso verlos juntos de nuevo hablando, recordando algunos de los momentos en los que Jem aún era un Shadowhunter y no un Hermano Silencioso. No se alcanzan a imaginar el amor que siento por ellos. Mi corazón fue tremendamente feliz leyendo la última escena porque WILL Y JEM SON LO MÁS LINDO DE LA VIDA Y POR QUÉ TUVO QUE SUCEDER COMO SUCEDIÓ Y SIGO SIN SUPERARLO, VIDA CRUEL.
Profile Image for April (Aprilius Maximus).
1,172 reviews6,393 followers
December 7, 2018
*4.5 stars*
PUNCH ME IN THE HEART, WHY DON'T YOU?
Oh man, I'm so obsessed with these characters already! I NEED CHAIN OF GOLD RIGHT NOW!
Profile Image for Josu Diamond.
Author 9 books33.3k followers
March 2, 2019
Probablemente el peor de los relatos de todos los de las Shadowhunters Chronicles.

Entiendo que es necesario, que presenta a personajes de The Last Hours y que tiene unas tramas importantes para el futuro desarrollo de dicha saga... pero no. Es que me ha sido imposible.

Normalmente los relatos de Sarah Rees Brennan son mis favoritos, aunque en este caso no haya sido así. Me voy a inventar un ejemplo, aunque no dista mucho de la realidad. Literalmente los párrafos de relato eran de este estilo:

Matthew odiaba a su tía, pero James siempre había querido a su padre. Después de aquel evento, Lucie le había dicho a Charlotte que las cosas cambiarían para Matthew, pero Matthew sabía que Henry cuidaría de él pese a que James le pidiera un favor a Anna. Por lo tanto, James sabía que si Matthew estaba en peligro, Lucie le ignoraría, pero su tía estaría ahí siempre.


Imaginaos eso todo el rato. Es que me estallaba la puta cabeza. Nada tenía sentido. En serio, estaba super perdido. Meter tantos personajes en 70 páginas o menos me parece una locura y más cuando apenas los conocemos. Este relato me ha parecido increíblemente mal llevado, un error.

Le pongo dos estrellas por Jem y por alguna escena con la que me he reído, y sobre todo por el final, pero por lo demás, como os he comentado... en fin. Qué pena.
Profile Image for Noha Badawi.
632 reviews609 followers
June 6, 2021
Oh Matthew, my poor tortured child! You break my heart.
Profile Image for ☆ Annie ☆.
229 reviews44 followers
June 1, 2018
You know, sometimes, with Cassie's books whether they are big or small, you just need a moment to let everything sink in. To give your heart a break after seeing people you love so well and that you miss so much. To put your mind at ease after being teased for something that won't be here for quite some time. To slow your breathing. And to just return to reality. Cause you know, sometimes living in Cassie's worlds is just simply better and nothing really ever compares.
Cast Long Shadows is as much of a returning as is an introduction and it makes the anticipation for The Last Hours both sweeter and so much more intensely excruciating! Seeing Jem arrested in this now familiar in between, Tessa and Will loving and living, Charlotte and Henry and all those new burning fires which are their children fills me with such joy and such longing and so much much much love for them all. Cassie knows all the best combinations anyway!
So I'll store all my feelings and bottle up my anticipation, until the next chapter and the next series and with that, I leave you 😌

~

Where shall I carry it?
"Wherever you please. I thought I would walk with you a little way, my parabatai"
How far?
asked Jem.
Will smiled. "Need you ask? I will go with you as far as I possibly may."
Profile Image for Beth.
925 reviews629 followers
November 18, 2018
3.5 Stars Maybe?

"I watched a secret almost destroy a man once, the finest man ever made. Such a secret is like keeping treasure in a tomb. Little by little, poison eats away at the gold. By the time the door is opened, there may be nothing left but dust."

I'm not going to lie, this isn't my favourite Cassandra Clare short story, I think especially after Son of the Dawn was so well done for such a short story. This time around not so much. Everyone who knows me, knows I'm absolute trash for anything Shadowhunter related, and usually if my fave Will is involved it's more than likely going to be 5 stars.

For me this time around, it didn't really interest me or grip me as much as what I would of liked, I think the main reason is, there's a lot of new characters with a boat load of information; children belonging to who, other characters that were thrown in that for the life of me I couldn't remember.

I adore seeing all of my favourite characters come together, I really do but it always breaks my heart because of the bloody epilogue in Clockwork Princess and it RUINS me! Then we get more heartache! Why can't my characters just be happy?!

Some nice little bits that I enjoyed:
- Henry's love for Charlotte is just ahhhh, I just love it so much, he's so wrapped up in his inventions but when it comes to Charlotte, it melts my little heart
- Will and Tessa. Once again my hear cannot take this
- James is a reader, certainly takes after his Mum and Dad! I'm kind of excited to see more of James! Plus his like ability type thing... kind of need to know things.
-Jem and his cane!
- Uncle Jem ^_^

"Will has always been my favourite too."
Same Jem, Same.

Son of the 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 Carrie.
3,567 reviews1,692 followers
September 30, 2018
Cast Long Shadows by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan is the second 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.

As much as I love Clare's entire Shadowhunter world I will admit that sometimes it gets a bit confusing when going back over 100 years and having some characters pop up that are similar to later characters with all having the same few last names. With this one being about Matthew Fairchild & James Herondale I was doing a who, what, when moment and will admit to having to figure out who it was even about since it was the bigger well known characters. But despite that I'm sure the diehard fans will still appreciate even more detail being added to the whole world.

For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/
Profile Image for Zoë ☆.
922 reviews197 followers
March 18, 2021
Reread 2021: OMG rereading it with the knowledge of Chain of Gold/Iron makes it even more heartbreaking 🥺🥺🥺


2018:
I couldn't help myself and bought the ebook.... And I don't regret it! I just love all of these characters! :) But I have to admit, I was kind of confused at the start about who was who's child and stuff, but I think I got it now XD Now we have to wait for another month... :P
Profile Image for Noura Khalid (theperksofbeingnoura).
547 reviews826 followers
January 20, 2021
“This is why we are chosen warrior partners, because we share such a perfect bond of sympathy. Come to me, Jamie, that we might share a manly embrace.”


Oh, Matthew Fairchild how I adore you. And all the Herondale/Lightwood children. It feels wonderful to be going back this far. Seeing the children of characters that I grew to love so much.

I loved seeing Charlotte and Henry’s relationship. It has been years since I read The Infernal Devices but the image of them came back to me like it was yesterday. Will and Tessa of course are another great joy. And we can’t forget about Jem.

I loved the kids so so much! The bond between James, Matthew, Christopher and Thomas was heartwarming. I wish we saw more of the girls and hopefully we will in the next novellas. What Matthew kept bottled up was awful. No one should have to keep something like that in. I felt pained reading about how he felt and it is quite devastating that the events in this book changed him forever. As well as Charlotte. I can only hope that The Last Hour releases quickly at this point.

“James still had his book tucked under his arm, but Matthew knew better than to fight doomed battles”


The end of the novella splintered my heart though. Seeing Will and Jem walk together and still care for eachother like they used to added 10 years to my life. I don’t think I’ll ever love two characters more than these two.

“I thought I would walk with you a little way, my parabatai.”
Profile Image for Cassandra.
859 reviews97 followers
June 20, 2018
"Is that why you insist on carrying about enormous tomes everywhere you go, that you might visit violence upon innocent persons? Done to death by my best friend - my heart's brother - my own dear parabatai-"

I'm going to get this out of the way early: I went into this much more hesitant than the other short stories in the past. This is setting up for the fourth Shadowhunters series and I'm beginning to worry that I'm going to fall out of love with these books and this universe soon.

Thank God that didn't happen. Instead, I'm now pumped for The Last Hours because how did I manage to forget that the series is about the children of my children from TID?

Also, I love Matthew Fairchild. Actually, I love all of these new characters much more than I expected to. Why must I wait until 2019 to meet and love all of them? I can't wait to see all of the disasters they like borderline psychotic munchkins get themselves into.

"This is why we are chosen warrior partners, because we share such a perfect bond of sympathy. Come to me, Jamie, that we might share a manly embrace."

Also, Matthew may be a blood relative of Henry and Charlotte, but this child has the tongue of a Herondale, I swear.

"What absolute bosh," said Matthew."
Profile Image for Dulce María.
947 reviews42 followers
May 16, 2018
Siento como si estuviera super spoileada de The Las Hours y aun no ha salido.

SPOILERS

-Pensaba caminar contigo, mi parabatai.
¿Cuán lejos? pregunto Jem.
Will sonrió.
-¿Necesitas preguntar? Iré contigo lo más lejos posible.


No me esperaba este dolor, me esperaba el llegar a sufrir por Jem, Will o Tessa, pero jamas me imagine el estar sufriendo por Matthew Fairchild.
Es horrible ver como se deja llevar por las mentiras de Alastair, y llega a desconfiar de mi maravillosa Charlotte, odio saber que siguen diciendo cosas de ella solo por ser la mejor Consul de la historia y fue horrible saber lo de la perdida de su bebe, y aun más saber que Matthew cargara con el peso de esa culpa.
Resultado de imagen para gifs sadness
Profile Image for Suzzie.
954 reviews171 followers
August 20, 2018
There is just something about Jem & Will together on a page that just does me in! Loved reading about Matthew (and of course James). The shadow market is not a good place for Matthew we learn very early (as early as possible in a short story lol). Still a good fix on some of the characters we love from these Shadowhunter series.

My quick and simple overall: quick, enjoyable little read.
Profile Image for Alexandra Elend Wolf.
646 reviews319 followers
April 29, 2019
"Bad news comes like rain and good news like lighting, barely seen before a crash."

What a lovely, heartbreaking, warm read.

Contradicting much? Maybe, but in my defense, this tiny little snippet has the deepness and feeling of a much larger book.

In less than a hundred pages we are told this story that's captivating and plays with our heartstrings.

Matthew Fairchild is a very lively character, so full of life and innocence that it's difficult not to smile at him. Yet even in the sunnier of places, there must come the night and shadows.

How can there be so many lovely quotes in something so short? I'm sure I didn't know, but this tiny thing was full of enchanting, beautiful quotes of the sort that Cassandra Clare never seems to fail to deliver.

This just makes me more anxious to read The Last Hours, yet we still have to wait for *sights* at least we got this story to read and re-read until the time comes.
Profile Image for Iris.
620 reviews249 followers
December 31, 2018
SO GOOD!!! These novellas are all INCREDIBLY PAINFUL, and I love it, and AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

I fell in love with Matthew. He was such a lovely character, and I loved seeing how he went from this sweet innocent child to someone who was so hurt (I know, I'm mean.) (Honestly that just sounds super wrong, and not really like what I'm even trying to say, but... You probably know what I mean...).

He was wonderful, and I hope we get to see more of him in future books.

And also did I mention how much this story HUUURRRTTT?!?!?! Because it did hurt! It hurt so much, and in the very best way possible, and AFGFJGHKFGHJKFGHJSFGJSDADFJGKFSAGJLFGFLJGSFLFGL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO GOOD!
Profile Image for sam.
430 reviews750 followers
September 26, 2024
A secret too long kept can kill a soul by inches. I watched a secret almost destroy a man once, the finest man ever made. Such a secret is like keeping treasure in a tomb. Little by little, poison eats away at the gold. By the time the door is opened, there may be nothing left but dust.

4/5⭐

I'm so happy to be able to read about some of my favorite characters again. Also I'm really intrigued by Matthew Fairchild's personality so I can't wait to see his character growth in the upcoming books!
Profile Image for Leon Enciso.
499 reviews49 followers
December 16, 2019
Debi verme el arbol genealogico antes de leer esto, la mitad del tiempo estube confuso acerca de quien era hermano/hijo/primo de quien. XD

Alastair es un imbecil. :P
Profile Image for B .
681 reviews927 followers
Read
May 22, 2021
“Later Matthew would look back and remember it as his last happy day.”


Rating- 3.5 stars

Cast Long Shadows is the second short story in Ghosts of the Shadow Market.

This one was about Mathew and his secret, which is a major part of Chain of Gold.

My heart ached for Mathew and how he feels, but I will admit this was one of the more average stories in this book. It was still enjoyable regardless.

Personally I would recommend to read this before Chain of Gold.

“It lightens my heart to see you with it. We could all do with lighter hearts tonight.”
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