The Mortal Instruments Books in Order

The Mortal Instruments is the series that built the Shadowhunter universe: City of Bones (2007) opens with Clary Fray seeing killers no one else can see in a Manhattan club, and by the end of the first book she has learned her mother hid a world - Nephilim demon-hunters, the runes they weaponize, a Valentine raising an army. Cassandra Clare ran it to six novels (2007-2014), then built three more series around it: The Infernal Devices (Victorian prequel), The Dark Artifices (sequel-era Los Angeles), and The Last Hours (Edwardian prequel, its own page here). The order question is really two questions - the six books, and the whole universe - and this page answers both (2007–2014).

Where to start

City of Bones (2007), book one - the one the 2013 film and the television series adapted first. It introduces Clary, Jace, Alec, Isabelle and Simon, whom every later series orbits.

Does the reading order matter?

The six, strict: City of Bones (2007), City of Ashes (2008), City of Glass (2009) - the original trilogy's close - then the second arc, City of Fallen Angels (2011), City of Lost Souls (2012), City of Heavenly Fire (2014), which was written after and because of the first three's success; the second trilogy assumes the first completely. The universe order: publication order is the fan standard - The Mortal Instruments (2007-14), The Infernal Devices (2010-13), The Dark Artifices (2016-18), The Last Hours (2020-23) - because the prequels were written to pay off things the main series establishes. Reading the Infernal Devices first also works and many prefer it, but its final reveal lands hardest if you know the main series. The Wicked Powers, the announced final era, opens with The Last King of Faerie (November 3, 2026). The 2013 film adapted City of Bones once; Shadowhunters (2016-2019) ran three seasons

Which one is the best?

City of Bones (2007), the door; City of Glass (2009), the first-arc close; City of Heavenly Fire (2014), the finale that hands off to Dark Artifices.

Related guides

Readers finishing this shelf usually want the map next door: Cassandra Clare books in order, The Last Hours books in order, Sarah J. Maas books in order. Every guide follows the same format — the shelf, the entry point, the honest answer about order.

Make it a project

Pick a session size and let the days accumulate — at the pace our reading speed test measures, most shelves above clear in a few weeks of half-hours. Every guide on the books in order shelf follows this same format, and when a book lands, its 8-question quiz is waiting on the original book quiz.