Some of the books in the Showhunter Chronicles series.Fan created diagram of several potential reading orders. (view larger to use)
The Shadowhunter Chronicles is a young adult urban fantasy book series written primarily by Cassandra Clare. The first book was published in 2007 and the series is ongoing.
The entirety of the The Shadowhunter Chronicles is made up of several trilogies, a hexalogy, and short story collections.
Reading Orders:
Due to shifts in time period, there are several possible reading orders.
The "Recommended" order and the "Publication" order are the two best options for readers who are new to the series to avoid spoilers. As they both start with The Mortal Instruments, if a reader wanted to start with The Infernal Devices, "By series—B" would be the next best option.
Recommended order:
This order is the recommended order as presented by the publisher, Simon Teen, as seen in one of their Instagram posts. It is built upon a previous recommended order from Cassandra Clare's website, but with updated information as books have since been released.
The Mortal Instruments, part 1:
City of Bones
City of Ashes
City of Glass
The Infernal Devices:
Clockwork Angel
Clockwork Prince
Clockwork Princess
The Red Scrolls of Magic
Note: In the order linked above, The Red Scrolls of Magic is listed as before The Infernal Devices trilogy, but it mentions some details about The Infernal Devices and therefore should be read after.
The Mortal Instruments, part 2:
City of Fallen Angels
City of Lost Souls
City of Heavenly Fire
The Bane Chronicles
Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy
The Lost Book of the White
The Dark Artifices:
Lady Midnight
Lord of Shadows
Queen of Air and Darkness
Ghosts of the Shadow Market
The Last Hours:
Chain of Gold
Chain of Iron
By series—A:
This order is chunked by series and focuses on publishing order of the first book in each series.
The Mortal Instruments:
City of Bones
City of Ashes
City of Glass
City of Fallen Angels
City of Lost Souls
City of Heavenly Fire
The Infernal Devices:
Clockwork Angel
Clockwork Prince
Clockwork Princess
The Bane Chronicles
Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy
The Dark Artifices:
Lady Midnight
Lord of Shadows
Queen of Air and Darkness
The Eldest Curses:
The Red Scrolls of Magic
The Lost Book of the White
The Black Volume of the Dead (not yet published)
Ghosts of the Shadow Market
The Last Hours:
Chain of Gold
Chain of Iron
Chain of Thorns (not yet published)
The Wicked Powers (not yet published, titles to be announced):
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
By series—B:
This order is chunked by series and focuses on the chronological placement of the first book in each series. Short story collections are listed last as they encompass many time periods. The Eldest Curses trilogy is split up as they interweave with the other books. This list does not include unpublished works. If a reader is using this order as their introduction to the series, a variation could be reading The Last Hours after The Dark Artifices as the third book in The Last Hours is not yet published.
The Infernal Devices:
Clockwork Angel
Clockwork Prince
Clockwork Princess
The Last Hours:
Chain of Gold
Chain of Iron
Chain of Thorns (not yet published)
The Mortal Instruments, part 1:
City of Bones
City of Ashes
City of Glass
The Eldest Curses, book 1:
The Red Scrolls of Magic
The Mortal Instruments, part 2:
City of Fallen Angels
City of Lost Souls
City of Heavenly Fire
The Eldest Curses, book 2:
The Lost Book of the White
The Dark Artifices:
Lady Midnight
Lord of Shadows
Queen of Air and Darkness
The Bane Chronicles
Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy
Ghosts of the Shadow Market
Publication order:
Read the series as it happened in the eyes of readers who have followed these books since 2007! This order is for those who want to see the story and connected details in the order they were revealed. While short stories were available as ebooks individually before their collections were published, this list only includes the physically published collections. Publication year will be listed below each title.
City of Bones
2007
City of Ashes
2008
City of Glass
2009
Clockwork Angel
2010
City of Fallen Angels
2011
Clockwork Prince
2011
City of Lost Souls
2012
Clockwork Princess
2013
City of Heavenly Fire
2014
The Bane Chronicles
2014
Lady Midnight
2016
Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy
2016
Lord of Shadows
2017
Queen of Air and Darkness
2018
The Red Scrolls of Magic
2019
Ghosts of the Shadow Market
2019
Chain of Gold
2020
The Lost Book of the White
2020
Chain of Iron
2021
To be published:
The Black Volume of the Dead
The Wicked Powers book 1
The Wicked Powers book 2
The Wicked Powers book 3
Chronological order:
The following list will not make the most sense as an introduction to the series, as it begins with several short stories that are not meant to be read as an introduction to the characters. This order is intended more for rereading, and in-depth looks into the characters and the interconnectedness of the series. For this reason, if a short story has two primary time periods it will be listed twice under each of those years. The year each short story or book is set in will be listed below the title. The collection each story was published in will follow the story title in parentheses.
What Really Happened in Peru (The Bane Chronicles)
Begins in 1791 ends in 1962
The Runaway Queen (The Bane Chronicles)
1791
Vampires, Scones, and Edmund Herondale (The Bane Chronicles)
1857
Clockwork Angel
1878
Clockwork Prince
1878
Clockwork Princess
1878
Epilogue set in 2008
The Whitechapel Fiend (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
October 1888 (also November 2008)
Nothing but Shadows (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
1899 (also 2008)
Cast Long Shadows (Ghosts of the Shadow Market)
January 1901
Every Exquisite Thing (Ghosts of the Shadow Market)
June 1901
The Midnight Heir (The Bane Chronicles)
1903
Chain of Gold
1903
Chain of Iron
1903
Chain of Thorns
Expected 1903
Not yet published
The Rise of the Hotel Dumort (The Bane Chronicles)
1929
Learn About Loss (Ghosts of the Shadow Market)
1936
A Deeper Love (Ghosts of the Shadow Market)
1940
Saving Raphael Santiago (The Bane Chronicles)
1953
The Fall of the Hotel Dumort (The Bane Chronicles)
1977
The Evil We Love (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
1984 (also May 2008)
The Last Stand of the New York Institute (The Bane Chronicles)
1989
The Wicked Ones (Ghosts of the Shadow Market)
August 1989
Son of the Dawn (Ghosts of the Shadow Market)
2000
City of Bones
August 2007
The Course of True Love (And First Dates) (The Bane Chronicles)
August 2007
What to Buy the Shadowhunter Who has Everything (And Who You’re Not Officially Dating Anyway) (The Bane Chronicles)
August 2oo7
City of Ashes
September 2007
City of Glass
September 2007
The Red Scrolls of Magic
September - October 2007
City of Fallen Angels
October 2007
City of Lost Souls
October - November 2007
The Voicemail of Magnus Bane (The Bane Chronicles)
December 2007
City of Heavenly Fire
December 2007
Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
September 2008
The Lost Herondale (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
October 2008
The Whitechapel Fiend (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
November 2008 (also October 1888)
Nothing but Shadows (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
2008 (also 1899)
The Evil We Love (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
2009 (also 1984)
Pale Kings and Princes (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
September 2009
Bitter of Tongue (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
October 2009
The Fiery Trial (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
December 2009
Born to Endless Night (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
Early Spring 2010
Angels Twice Descending (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
May 2010
The Lost Book of the White
September 2010
The Land I Lost (Ghosts of the Shadow Market)
April 2012
Through Blood, Through Fire (Ghosts of the Shadow Market)
August 2012
Lady Midnight
August 2012
Lord of Shadows
September 2012
Queen of Air and Darkness
September 2012
The Lost World (Ghosts of the Shadow Market)
March 2013
Expected continuation yet to be published:
The Black Volume of the Dead
Will likely be set between Queen of Air and Darkness and the first book of The Wicked Powers trilogy
The Wicked Powers book 1
The Wicked Powers book 2
The Wicked Powers book 3
Cover Characters
Featured character on each cover from the US standard editions:
The Mortal Instruments
City of Bones
Jace
City of Ashes
Clary
City of Glass
Paperback: Simon Lewis
Hardcover: Sebastian
City of Fallen Angels
Paperback: Isabelle Lightwood
Hardcover: Simon Lewis and Clary
City of Heavenly Fire
Paperback: Sebastian
Hardcover: Sebastian and Clary
The Infernal Devices
Clockwork Angel
Will Herondale
Clockwork Prince
Jem Carstairs
Clockwork Princess
Tessa Gray
The Dark Artifices
Lady Midnight
Emma Carstairs
Lord of Shadows
Julian Blackthorn
Queen of Air and Darkness
Annabel Blackthorn
The Last Hours
Chain of Gold
Cordelia Carstairs
Chain of Iron
Lucie Herondale
Chain of Thorns
Grace Blackthorn
Reversible dust jacket from first editions: James Herondale
The Eldest Curses:
The Red Scrolls of Magic
Paperback: Alec Lightwood
Hardcover: Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane
The Lost Book of the White
Magnus Bane
Reversible dust jacket from first editions: Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane
The Black Volume of the Dead
TBD
Other books:
The Bane Chronicles
Magnus Bane
Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy
Simon Lewis
Ghosts of the Shadow Market
Brother Zachariah
Some of the books in the Showhunter Chronicles series.Fan created diagram of several potential reading orders. (view larger to use)
The Shadowhunter Chronicles is a young adult urban fantasy book series written primarily by Cassandra Clare. The first book was published in 2007 and the series is ongoing.
The entirety of the The Shadowhunter Chronicles is made up of several trilogies, a hexalogy, and short story collections.
Reading Orders
Due to shifts in time period, there are several possible reading orders.
The "Recommended" order and the "Publication" order are the two best options for readers who are new to the series to avoid spoilers. As they both start with The Mortal Instruments, if a reader wanted to start with The Infernal Devices, "By series—B" would be the next best option.
Recommended order
This order is the recommended order as presented by the publisher, Simon Teen, as seen in one of their Instagram posts. It is built upon a previous recommended order from Cassandra Clare's website, but with updated information as books have since been released.
The Mortal Instruments, part 1
City of Bones
City of Ashes
City of Glass
The Infernal Devices
Clockwork Angel
Clockwork Prince
Clockwork Princess
The Red Scrolls of Magic
Note: In the order linked above, The Red Scrolls of Magic is listed as before The Infernal Devices trilogy, but it mentions some details about The Infernal Devices and therefore should be read after.
The Mortal Instruments, part 2
City of Fallen Angels
City of Lost Souls
City of Heavenly Fire
The Bane Chronicles
Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy
The Lost Book of the White
The Dark Artifices
Lady Midnight
Lord of Shadows
Queen of Air and Darkness
Ghosts of the Shadow Market
The Last Hours
Chain of Gold
Chain of Iron
By series—A
This order is chunked by series and focuses on publishing order of the first book in each series.
The Mortal Instruments
City of Bones
City of Ashes
City of Glass
City of Fallen Angels
City of Lost Souls
City of Heavenly Fire
The Infernal Devices
Clockwork Angel
Clockwork Prince
Clockwork Princess
The Bane Chronicles
Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy
The Dark Artifices
Lady Midnight
Lord of Shadows
Queen of Air and Darkness
The Eldest Curses
The Red Scrolls of Magic
The Lost Book of the White
The Black Volume of the Dead (not yet published)
Ghosts of the Shadow Market
The Last Hours
Chain of Gold
Chain of Iron
Chain of Thorns (not yet published)
The Wicked Powers (not yet published, titles to be announced)
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
By series—B
This order is chunked by series and focuses on the chronological placement of the first book in each series. Short story collections are listed last as they encompass many time periods. The Eldest Curses trilogy is split up as they interweave with the other books. This list does not include unpublished works. If a reader is using this order as their introduction to the series, a variation could be reading The Last Hours after The Dark Artifices as the third book in The Last Hours is not yet published.
The Infernal Devices
Clockwork Angel
Clockwork Prince
Clockwork Princess
The Last Hours
Chain of Gold
Chain of Iron
Chain of Thorns (not yet published)
The Mortal Instruments, part 1
City of Bones
City of Ashes
City of Glass
The Eldest Curses, book 1
The Red Scrolls of Magic
The Mortal Instruments, part 2
City of Fallen Angels
City of Lost Souls
City of Heavenly Fire
The Eldest Curses, book 2
The Lost Book of the White
The Dark Artifices
Lady Midnight
Lord of Shadows
Queen of Air and Darkness
The Bane Chronicles
Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy
Ghosts of the Shadow Market
Publication order
Read the series as it happened in the eyes of readers who have followed these books since 2007! This order is for those who want to see the story and connected details in the order they were revealed. While short stories were available as ebooks individually before their collections were published, this list only includes the physically published collections. Publication year will be listed below each title.
City of Bones
2007
City of Ashes
2008
City of Glass
2009
Clockwork Angel
2010
City of Fallen Angels
2011
Clockwork Prince
2011
City of Lost Souls
2012
Clockwork Princess
2013
City of Heavenly Fire
2014
The Bane Chronicles
2014
Lady Midnight
2016
Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy
2016
Lord of Shadows
2017
Queen of Air and Darkness
2018
The Red Scrolls of Magic
2019
Ghosts of the Shadow Market
2019
Chain of Gold
2020
The Lost Book of the White
2020
Chain of Iron
2021
To be published
The Black Volume of the Dead
The Wicked Powers book 1
The Wicked Powers book 2
The Wicked Powers book 3
Chronological order
The following list will not make the most sense as an introduction to the series, as it begins with several short stories that are not meant to be read as an introduction to the characters. This order is intended more for rereading, and in-depth looks into the characters and the interconnectedness of the series. For this reason, if a short story has two primary time periods it will be listed twice under each of those years. The year each short story or book is set in will be listed below the title. The collection each story was published in will follow the story title in parentheses.
What Really Happened in Peru (The Bane Chronicles)
Begins in 1791 ends in 1962
The Runaway Queen (The Bane Chronicles)
1791
Vampires, Scones, and Edmund Herondale (The Bane Chronicles)
1857
Clockwork Angel
1878
Clockwork Prince
1878
Clockwork Princess
1878
Epilogue set in 2008
The Whitechapel Fiend (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
October 1888 (also November 2008)
Nothing but Shadows (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
1899 (also 2008)
Cast Long Shadows (Ghosts of the Shadow Market)
January 1901
Every Exquisite Thing (Ghosts of the Shadow Market)
June 1901
The Midnight Heir (The Bane Chronicles)
1903
Chain of Gold
1903
Chain of Iron
1903
Chain of Thorns
Expected 1903
Not yet published
The Rise of the Hotel Dumort (The Bane Chronicles)
1929
Learn About Loss (Ghosts of the Shadow Market)
1936
A Deeper Love (Ghosts of the Shadow Market)
1940
Saving Raphael Santiago (The Bane Chronicles)
1953
The Fall of the Hotel Dumort (The Bane Chronicles)
1977
The Evil We Love (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
1984 (also May 2008)
The Last Stand of the New York Institute (The Bane Chronicles)
1989
The Wicked Ones (Ghosts of the Shadow Market)
August 1989
Son of the Dawn (Ghosts of the Shadow Market)
2000
City of Bones
August 2007
The Course of True Love (And First Dates) (The Bane Chronicles)
August 2007
What to Buy the Shadowhunter Who has Everything (And Who You’re Not Officially Dating Anyway) (The Bane Chronicles)
August 2oo7
City of Ashes
September 2007
City of Glass
September 2007
The Red Scrolls of Magic
September - October 2007
City of Fallen Angels
October 2007
City of Lost Souls
October - November 2007
The Voicemail of Magnus Bane (The Bane Chronicles)
December 2007
City of Heavenly Fire
December 2007
Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
September 2008
The Lost Herondale (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
October 2008
The Whitechapel Fiend (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
November 2008 (also October 1888)
Nothing but Shadows (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
2008 (also 1899)
The Evil We Love (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
2009 (also 1984)
Pale Kings and Princes (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
September 2009
Bitter of Tongue (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
October 2009
The Fiery Trial (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
December 2009
Born to Endless Night (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
Early Spring 2010
Angels Twice Descending (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy)
May 2010
The Lost Book of the White
September 2010
The Land I Lost (Ghosts of the Shadow Market)
April 2012
Through Blood, Through Fire (Ghosts of the Shadow Market)
August 2012
Lady Midnight
August 2012
Lord of Shadows
September 2012
Queen of Air and Darkness
September 2012
The Lost World (Ghosts of the Shadow Market)
March 2013
Expected continuation yet to be published
The Black Volume of the Dead
Will likely be set between Queen of Air and Darkness and the first book of The Wicked Powers trilogy
The Wicked Powers book 1
The Wicked Powers book 2
The Wicked Powers book 3
Cover Characters
Featured character on each cover from the US standard editions:
The Mortal Instruments
City of Bones
Jace
City of Ashes
Clary
City of Glass
Paperback: Simon Lewis
Hardcover: Sebastian
City of Fallen Angels
Paperback: Isabelle Lightwood
Hardcover: Simon Lewis and Clary
City of Heavenly Fire
Paperback: Sebastian
Hardcover: Sebastian and Clary
The Infernal Devices
Clockwork Angel
Will Herondale
Clockwork Prince
Jem Carstairs
Clockwork Princess
Tessa Gray
The Dark Artifices
Lady Midnight
Emma Carstairs
Lord of Shadows
Julian Blackthorn
Queen of Air and Darkness
Annabel Blackthorn
The Last Hours
Chain of Gold
Cordelia Carstairs
Chain of Iron
Lucie Herondale
Chain of Thorns
Grace Blackthorn
Reversible dust jacket from first editions: James Herondale
The Eldest Curses
The Red Scrolls of Magic
Paperback: Alec Lightwood
Hardcover: Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane
The Lost Book of the White
Magnus Bane
Reversible dust jacket from first editions: Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane
staysunny authored on Oct. 5, 2022, 12:31 p.m. 
