New Cassandra Clare series to S&S

Simon & Schuster UK has acquired a series of novels from American YA author Cassandra Clare exploring the life and times of Magnus Bane, a character from her Shadowhunter series.

The series will be co-written by science fiction author Wesley Chu, who last year won the John W. Campbell Best New Writer Award. The first book will be published in hardback in November 2017, simultaneously with Saga Press (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) in the US.

Simon & Schuster UK will also publish exclusively A History of Notable Shadowhunters and Denizens of Downworld by Clare, illustrated by Cassandra Starkweather Jean, as a hardback gift book on 20th October 2016. Alexandra Maramenides, m.d. for Simon & Schuster Children’s, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Danny Baror and Heather Baror-Shapiro of Baror International Inc. 

Maramenides said: “Following the phenomenal launch of Lady Midnight we are thrilled to again be working with Cassandra Clare, side by side with our US counterparts, making this a global publishing venture. Magnus Bane is a character who has really struck a chord with Cassandra’s fanbase, and we are delighted to have acquired this series.”

Baror and Baror-Shapiro said: “We are so excited to continue our partnership with Simon & Schuster UK that began this year with the number one bestseller Lady Midnight and a sold-out tour. These next four books extend the Cassandra Clare readership in many new directions and we can’t wait to work together to reach new and existing fans across the UK and Commonwealth.” 

Clare added: “Over the years writing the Shadowhunter books, Magnus Bane has emerged as one of the most fun and fascinating characters for me to bring to life. He's always had a lot of secrets — there are so many things we don't know about Magnus, from the story of his first love, to the secrets of his parentage, to the beginning of his relationship with Alec. All those are things I was able to touch on in The Bane Chronicles, but I'm excited to dig in even more deeply in these three volumes devoted to Magnus, his past, his future, and his present.”

Clare appeared on the YA scene in 2007 with her debut, City of Bones (Walker Books). She is the author of the bestselling The Mortal Instruments series and The Infernal Devices trilogy, and the co-author of The Bane Chronicles with Sarah Rees Brennan and Maureen Johnson. She also wrote The Shadowhunter’s Codex with her husband, Joshua Lewis. Her books have been translated into thirty-five languages and there are more than thirty-six million copies in print worldwide. Her latest novel, Lady Midnight (the first in The Dark Artifices trilogy), was the first global publication of Cassandra by Simon & Schuster. Netflix aired the first season of "Shadowhunters" in January 2016. 

Clare was sued for copying fantasy author Sherrilyn Kenyon' Dark Hunter series earlier this year. Clare’s lawyer has hit back at the claims, saying the case is “filled with basic factual inaccuracies”, failing to identify “a single instance of actual copying or plagiarism”.

Chu, also an accomplished martial artist and stuntman, has published seven books. His book Time Salvager (Angry Robot Books) has been optioned to be a movie by Paramount with Michael Bay attached as director.