Do I need to read The Mortal Instruments before Lady Midnight?

Lady Midnight can be read on its own, but it's set five years after the events of City of Heavenly Fire, the final book of The Mortal Instruments, and features several returning characters and references to that story. Reading The Mortal Instruments first is recommended for the fullest experience, though it isn't strictly required to follow the central plot.

What order should I read The Dark Artifices trilogy in?

The Dark Artifices consists of three books, in order: Lady Midnight (2016), Lord of Shadows (2017), and Queen of Air and Darkness (2018). The trilogy is chronologically the fourth series in Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunter Chronicles, following The Mortal Instruments.

Lady Midnight

Reader reviews of Lady Midnight

Shelf Life (JC) · 2026-09-17T19:22:04.000000Z

I just couldn't get into it. It was so drawn out I was getting bored. I liked how at times it incorporated the characters from The Mortal Instruments but I struggled to stay interested in this book.

Fantasy Romantasy

Pages: 688
Published: 2016
Language: English

Five years after the Dark War killed her parents, Emma Carstairs has one goal: find their murderer. Alongside her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, she polices demonic activity from the Los Angeles Institute, where Shadowhunter Law forbids the two from ever falling in love. When a string of ritual murders begins targeting both faeries and mundanes in Los Angeles, echoing the killing that took Emma's parents, she and Julian take the case, working alongside Julian's older brother, Mark, who has just been returned to the family after five years as a captive of the faerie Wild Hunt. As the investigation deepens, Emma and Julian must decide how far they will go, and what they're willing to risk, to find the truth and keep the people they love safe.

Lady Midnight is the first novel in Cassandra Clare's The Dark Artifices, a sequel trilogy to The Mortal Instruments and the fourth series set in the Shadowhunter Chronicles.

Prose complexity: 4/10

Adventurous Romantic Tense Emotional

Forbidden Love Found Family Slow Burn Quest Multiple POVs

Cassandra Clare

Cassandra Clare is the pen name of Judith Lewis, born Judith Rumelt to American parents in Tehran, Iran. She spent her childhood travelling with her family, living in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten, and attended high school in Los Angeles. She worked in entertainment journalism — including a spell at The Hollywood Reporter — before turning to fiction full time in 2006. City of Bones (2007) opened The Mortal Instruments, the six-book series that established her Shadowhunters w...

Cristina RosalesSupporting

A Shadowhunter from Mexico City sent to the Los Angeles Institute; she becomes one of Emma's closest friends.

Ty BlackthornSupporting

One of Julian's younger siblings, twin to Livvy; helps investigate the murders alongside Emma and Julian.

Livvy BlackthornSupporting

One of Julian's younger siblings, twin to Ty; part of the Blackthorn household at the Los Angeles Institute.

All characters in Lady Midnight

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to read The Mortal Instruments before Lady Midnight?
Lady Midnight can be read on its own, but it's set five years after the events of City of Heavenly Fire, the final book of The Mortal Instruments, and features several returning characters and references to that story. Reading The Mortal Instruments first is recommended for the fullest experience, though it isn't strictly required to follow the central plot.
What order should I read The Dark Artifices trilogy in?
The Dark Artifices consists of three books, in order: Lady Midnight (2016), Lord of Shadows (2017), and Queen of Air and Darkness (2018). The trilogy is chronologically the fourth series in Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunter Chronicles, following The Mortal Instruments.