Welcome to Edwardian London, a time of electric lights and long shadows, the celebration of artistic beauty and the wild pursuit of pleasure, with demons waiting in the dark. For years there has been peace in the Shadowhunter world. James and Lucie Herondale, children of the famous Will and Tessa, have grown up in an idyll with their loving friends and family, listening to stories of good defeating evil and love conquering all. But everything changes when the Blackthorn and Carstairs families come to London...and so does a remorseless and inescapable plague.
James Herondale longs for a great love, and thinks he has found it in the beautiful, mysterious Grace Blackthorn. Cordelia Carstairs is desperate to become a hero, save her family from ruin, and keep her secret love for James hidden. When disaster strikes the Shadowhunters, James, Cordelia and their friends are plunged into a wild adventure which will reveal dark and incredible powers, and the true cruel price of being a hero...and falling in love.
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Lucie Herondale was ten years old when she first met the boy in the forest. DAYS PAST: 1897
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(@WalkerBooksUK, 3 March 2020, 617 pages, hardback, bought from @AmazonUK)
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So, I'm a rabid Shadowhunters fan. After tearing through this, I have read all of the books. I can't wait for the sequel next year and the second book in The Eldest Curses later this year. I prefer Shadowhunters book set in current times but the period Chain of Gold is set in didn't affect my enjoyment. There are some familiar characters here such as Tessa Grey, Will Herondale, Jem Carstairs and my favourite, Magnus Bane and a whole slew of new ones to get to know across this new trilogy. The themes and ideas here are familiar to other Shadowhunters novels; demon killing, twisted love affairs, the Clave being a stickler for the rules and lots of fighting. In some way, this is no different than other Shadowhunters books, just the setting and the form of the big bad is different. Still, I loved this book. I enjoyed it some much I read over 400 pages in one go.
