Cassandra Clare has been a well-known name in the YA sphere since her debut in 2007 with City of Bones, the first book in her widely-popular Shadowhunter Chronicles series. Since then, she’s published dozens of novels, co-published with authors such as Holly Black and Wesley Chu, and has even seen her franchise become a movie and a TV show.
However, while Clare’s writing and worldbuilding are impressive, what really sticks out about her career is the loyal, ride-or-die fanbase she has acquired in just under 20 years.
Between creating dynamic, fleshed-out characters, tactfully tackling difficult topics, and including representations of all kinds for her readers, Clare has penned a series that is both easy to love and timeless.
What’s more, Clare inspires her fans to interact through the unique interpersonal connection she builds with them online. From answering questions on Tumblr to sharing fan art and memes on Instagram, Clare is keeping the author-fan relationship alive as she begins to promote her final Shadowhunter Chronicles installment: The Wicked Powers trilogy, kicking off with The Last King of Faerie.
Light spoilers ahead. Read with caution.
A “cult” well-earned
Fans of the Shadowhunter Chronicles have never been shy to praise Clare for her devotion to representation. One of the main couples in The Mortal Instruments series features a gay couple of different (fantastical) races, who must navigate the stigmatization of their identities to find their happy ending. The couple, Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood, even ended up with their own series, The Eldest Curses, co-written with Wesley Chu.
Not only does Clare make an effort to uplift the LGBTQ+ community, but she also gives them important roles in the story. With the array of gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual, and polyamorous characters, countless fans have been able to find a home in the world of the Shadowhunters.
Clare takes great care to craft strong, well-rounded characters, and the fandom has taken a great liking to her female protagonists.
Clary Fairchild, Tessa Gray, and Emma Carstairs are among the toughest shadowhunters around, and Clare’s thoughtful depiction of these young women solidifies why the Shadowhunters Chronicles is a series that will remain in your heart long after you read them.
Clare has noted in prior interviews that her goal for writing stories was to follow the kind of characters she wished she had seen as a kid: strong, clever, independent women who can have a soft side and fall in love while exuding power.
Nearing a 20-year reign
What pulls fans into Clare’s unique, extensive world is that every series brings something fresh to the table, incorporating beloved characters with new stakes.
Humble beginnings
The first of Clare’s Shadowhunter Chronicles came out in 2007 with City of Bones. Readers follow Clary as she becomes immersed in the Shadowhunter world and unravels a dangerous, high-stakes plot threatening their entire world. In this series, we meet numerous side characters who end up becoming focal points of later series.
Tessa Gray, a seemingly minor character in the original series, was ultimately granted her own unique trilogy, set in the 1870s (nearly 150 years prior to The Mortal Instruments), starting in 2010. The Infernal Devices is widely renowned as Clare’s best series in the franchise, largely due to the painfully delicious love triangle and charming love interests, Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs.
After wrapping up The Mortal Instruments in 2014, Clare shifted her attention to companion novels (frequently co-written with other authors) to focus on beloved characters and further expand her world through a collection of short stories.
The Bane Chronicles, published in late 2014, follows the eccentric warlock Magnus Bane. Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy (2016) follows Simon Lewis, Clary’s best friend, as he learns how to be a Shadowhunter after the events of the main series. Finally, Ghosts of the Shadow Market (2018) follows Jem Carstairs, who must navigate his new role as a Silent Brother.
Expanding the franchise
Clare has since pumped out two more trilogies, The Dark Artifices (2016-2018) and The Last Hours (2020-2023), as well as two of the three novels in The Eldest Curses (2019-2020).
Clare claims that the Shadowhunters Chronicles will come to a head with one last installment: The Wicked Powers series, with the first book, The Last King of Faerie, being released on November 3rd, 2026.
Having been invested in this series since 2007, fans such as myself are nervous but excited to see how it comes to a close. And Clare’s teasers and interactions online have made the wait all the more exciting.
It’s not a phase, it’s a lifestyle
One of the hallmarks of Clare’s author personality is that she isn’t afraid to interact with her fans.
The Shadowhunter Chronicles have maintained their vivacious fandom not only because of the writing quality, but because Clare builds relationships with her fans beyond the page.
She has participated in an abundance of meet-and-greets, book signings, and author panels across the US and UK, fostering the unique, special experience of meeting her fans in person.
This is especially apparent in Clare’s promotion for The Last King of Faerie: answering questions, posting teasers, and promoting the special edition fan art made for various print editions of the novel online.
Clare’s social life
Clare can often be found reposting fan art on her social media stories and making her own appreciation posts for fans she meets at events. After attending Bookcon in New York City, she even posted about the tattoos inspired by her books.
She enjoys playing the game “Guess where I am?” in which she posts a selfie in a fun location, usually while doing research for her latest book, and promises to provide a sneak peek of her latest work if a fan guesses correctly (which they almost always do).
Clare is also present on Tumblr as an open source in her own fandom.
These quirks make Clare a unique figure in the online book communities, cultivating a fun and interactive relationship with her fans that makes them feel seen and appreciated.
Taking things into their own hands
While the creator is the source of any good fandom, it’s the actual fanbase that keeps the community alive and flourishing.
Fans have populated the online sphere with cosplays, fan art, edits, and memes from the Shadowhunter Chronicles, maintaining the story’s relevance even as we await the next release.
The Shadowhunters Wiki is a fan-made website that contains every last detail of the Shadowhunters world, from characters to plot details to timelines to recent news. This site is especially helpful considering how massive the franchise has become, since it helps new readers figure out where to start.
Clare also operates the official Shadowhunters website, which offers quick, simple tips for getting into the world.
Looking ahead
Much of Clare’s success can be attributed to her thoughtful, conscious efforts to make her fandom feel welcoming and personal for everyone.
Fandoms can be spaces for users all around the world to bond over a series that they love. Even as the Shadowhunter Chronicles continues to grow across series and media, Clare is still prioritizing her connections with fans.
Her fans don’t need to change the source material through “head-canon” or fanfiction to feel welcome among the Shadowhunters, because Clare has already made a place for them right in her novels.
The TV show adaptation of her works, simply called Shadowhunters, premiered in 2016. It featured one of the first focalized representations of a gay marriage on TV, and it hit home for myriad fans who didn’t feel like they could relate to past TV characters.
The show also starred a majority POC cast, an adjustment that many fans appreciated, as they recognized that the choice never once detracted from the story.
In the age of “fast” media, having long-running series serves to strengthen diverse, tight-knit communities of fans.
How do you feel about Cassandra Clare’s beloved series nearing its end? And do you think she made the right decision by participating in her own fandom? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
