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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.

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
    • Chain of Thorns

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 
  • The Wicked Powers (not yet published)
    • The Last King of Faerie
    • The Last Prince of Hell
    • The Last Shadowhunter

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
  • 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
  • Chain of Thorns
    • 2023
  • To be published
    • The Black Volume of the Dead
    • The Last King of Faerie
    • The Last Prince of Hell
    • The Last Shadowhunter

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
    • 1903
  • 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 Last King of Faerie
    • The Last Prince of Hell
    • The Last Shadowhunter

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
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