Mostly Spoiler Free! Titles only.
(Warning: timelines inherently have some spoilers)
All Cannon Shadowhunter Stories Dated and Listed In Chronological Order
*Author’s Note: I recommend knowing a bit about TSC before jumping into this. Check out my “Shadowhunter Books Guide & Reading Order” which is designed for beginners (spoiler free! AND includes notes on which books/stories/extras will which spoil others!) If you have read that, the first part here is mostly the same (and so is the end) so feel free to just skip down to the Timeline.
I’ve been obsessed with The Shadowhunter Chronicles lately, but they are quite… complicated. I had a very difficult time trying to figure it all out (when to read it, what’s cannon, how to avoid spoilers), and wasn’t able to find any reading orders that are more chronologically based but help you avoid spoilers, break up the short story collections, or help with the online extras. I decided to create a guide to help others like me (so you can avoid the mistakes I made!) and to present my personal recommendation for a reading order. You can find that here.
But I also realized that the official Shadowhunters Timeline didn’t include all the online extras, and even has a few mistakes. So I made my own more-inclusive shadowhunters timeline. I did not include absolutely everything (like unnamed snippets, deleted/reworked scenes, or comic-strip scenes) because most of those contradict what happens in the cannon (see “Shadowhunter Content I am choosing not to include” at the end). I’ve included everything that can be considered cannon (at least in my opinion – everything from my reading order); they are all written (or co-written) by Cassandra Clare.
I created it using the official timeline, but also using information from the stories and info CC has released. I even did a bunch of math (like Will was born December 30, 1860 according to the 10th Anniversary Edition of CA, and in “Why Will Hates Ducks” Will is six which he would be in 1867 – likely not 1866 because the new year would start a day after his birthday), which took a while so I hope you all appreciate it! However, it is possible that some of this is wrong since sometimes cannon has contradicted itself (like how Jem’s birthday was reveiled to be November 8, 1860 also in the Anniversary Edition of CA, making him only a month younger than Will instead of three months younger as it says in CP), so I did my best you guys!
I organized this similarly to my “Shadowhunter Books Reading Order“:
- The main books (part of one of the series) or parts of them (like prologues/epilogues) are in RED.
- Published short stories (part of one of the published collections) or parts of them (like flashbacks or stories told within them) are in BLUE.
- Online/special content (like things CC has posted on her blog or stories that have appeared in the backs of special editions) are in GREY.
- If it is listed in bullet points under a book, then that scene/story takes place during the book above it. If there are multiple then they are listed in the order they take place (within the main book above).
- In parenthesis () after the title, I have listed where to find it – for main books, the series it’s a part of; for short stories, the collection it’s from; and for the online/special content, a link/where it was released.
- If you don’t know the abbreviations to the book titles, check out the beginning of my “Shadowhunder Books Reading Order” (generally it’s just the first letter of each word in the title, and a “2” if it’s the second book with the same initials – CC stands for Cassandra Clare)
- Some stories appear twice – when that happens one will be a “told story” or a “flashback” from within that story, and the other is the when the story as a whole takes place (whoever is telling the story).
Timeline
Reading Order Note: I SERIOUSLY do NOT recommend reading TSC exactly in this order (listed below). IF YOU READ IN THIS ORDER YOU WILL HAVE SPOILERS! (And it also just doesn’t make sense because I have broken out chapters or stories told within books) Click here for my non-spoiler recommendation for reading TSC!
1791: What Really Happened in Peru, Part 1 (TBC)
1791: The Runaway Queen (TBC)
1828: The Lost Herondale (Told story – TftSA)
1847: CP2 Prologue (CP2 – TID)
1857: Vampires, Scones, and Edmund Herondale (TBC)
1867: Why Will Hates Ducks (Told story – here, removed from CC website) *See CC Website Extras Note
December 27, 1873: From the diary of Tatiana Lightwood. December 27, 1873(Flashback – Secrets of Blackthorn Hall)
Sometime 1876-1878: The Very Secret Diary of Miss Tatiana Lightwood (Flashback – Secrets of Blackthorn Hall) *During Gideon’s time in Spain
Sometime 1878: Hypatia to Julian and Emma (Flashback – Secrets of Blackthorn Hall) *Before CP
1878: On the Bridge (here, removed from CC website)
April 1878: CA Prologue (CA – TID)
May/June-July 1878: Clockwork Angel (TID)
- Chap 5: Burning Bright (here, removed from CC website)
- Chap 9: Why Will Hates Ducks (here, removed from CC website)
- Chap 12: Of Loss (here, removed from CC website)
July-August 1878: Clockwork Prince (TID)
- Chap 9: An Offering of Moonlight (here, removed from CC website)
October-December 1878: Clockwork Princess (TID)
- TBA: A Letter Will Wrote to his Parents (here, removed from CC website)
March 3, 1880: Fairy Tale of London (COG2 Extra or here or CC’s newsletter Extra)
1885: What Really Happened in Peru, Part 2 (TBC)
October 1888: The Whitechapel Fiend (Flashback – TftSA)
December 1889: A Lightwood Christmas Carol (CC website)
1890: What Really Happened in Peru, Part 3 (TBC)
1893-1896: Grace: 1893-1896 (COI, After Chap 2 – TLH)
1896: Grace: 1896 (COI, After Chap 6 – TLH)
1897: Grace: 1897 (COI, After Chap 10 – TLH)
1897: Lucie and Ghosts (CC website)
1897: Days Past: 1897 (COG2, Before Chap 1 – TLH)
June 1897: Days Past: Lucie and Cordelia (CC website)
1898: Days Past: Cirenworth Hall, 1898/Cirenworth Hall, Devonshire (COG2, After Chap 20 – TLH or CC website) Note: This story was originally released as an extra prior to the release of COG2 (and later part of The Penultimate Hours), but is also included within the text of COG2
Unknown-March 1899: The Anniversary Party (CC website) *Wedding Anniversary on March 3
Summer 1899 (over-lapping stories):
- Days Past: Idris, 1899 (COG2, After Chap 1 – TLH)
- Grace: 1899 (COI, After Chap 12 – TLH)
September-unknown 1899: Nothing but Shadows (Flashback – TftSA)
1899-1900: Grace: 1899-1900 (COI, After Chap 20 – TLH) *Ends right before “Days Past: Idris, 1900” from COG2 starts
Spring 1900 (overlapping stories):
- Days Past: Cirenworth Hall, 1900 (COG2, After Chap 3 – TLH)
- Fever (Waterstones Exclusive COG2 Extra)
Summer 1900: Days Past: Idris, 1900, Parts 1 & 2 (COG2 After Chap 5 & 6 – TLH)
- During Part 2: Grace: 1900 (COI, After Chap 27 – TLH)
Unknown 1900: Days Past: Cirenworth Hall, 1900 (COG2, After Chap 16 – TLH)
1900: The Devil Tavern (CC website)
1900: The City of Bones (CC website) *Not to be confused with the book COB
January 1901: Cast Long Shadows (GotSM)
- London, Grosvenor Place, 1901 (here)
January 22, 1901: Days Past: London, Grosvenor Square, 1901 (COG2, After Chap 17 – TLH)
1901: Days Past: Christopher (CC website)
June 1901: Every Exquisite Thing (GotSM)
1902: Days Past: Paris, 1902 (COG2, After Chap 9 – TLH)
Sometime 1897-1903: Letter from Lucie to Cordelia (here)
January 1903: The Midnight Heir (TBC) *If this seems to not fit when you start reading COG2, know that CC has said that it will be shown to fit later in TLH
August 1903: Chain of Gold (TLH)
- Grace: 1903 (COI, After Chap 22 – TLH)
- Somewhere Chap 10-16: Letter from Ragnor to Magnus (here)
- Chap 15: The Whispering Room (CC tumblr or CC’s newsletter Extra)
1903: The Letter Game (here)
December 1903: Chain of Iron (TLH)
- After Chap 12: One Must Always Be Careful of Books (COI Extra – unable to find online)
1903: Chain of Thorns (TLH) *unpublished Likely Coming March 2022
1929: The Rise of the Hotel Dumort (TBC)
1936: Learn about Loss (GotSM)
1940: A Deeper Love (GotSM)
1953: Saving Raphael Santiago (TBC)
1962: What Really Happened in Peru, Part 4 (TBC)
1977: The Fall of the Hotel Dumort (TBC)
1984: The Evil We Love (Flashback – TftSA)
1989: The Last Stand of the New York Institute (TBC)
1989: The Wicked Ones (GotSM)
Roughly 1980s-1990s: Pale Kings and Princes (Told story – TftSA) *Helen born 1989 and Mark 1991
1990: Stephen’s letter to Jace (here) *when it was written, before Jace’s birth on January 18, 1991
1990: Twenty-Seventh English Edition of The Shadowhunters Codex *When it was written (in-universe)
2000: Son of The Dawn (GotSM)
2002: First Revision of The Shadowhunters Codex *When officially revised (in-universe)
2007: Not for Humans (here)
August 2007: City of Bones (TMI)
August 2007: Kissed (here, taken off CC website)
August 2007: The Course of True Love (TBC)
September 12, 2007: What to Buy the Shadowhunter Who has Everything (TBC) *In the official shadowhunters timeline this is listed as August but it takes place on Alec Lightwood’s Birthday which is September 12
September 2007: City of Ashes (TMI)
- Chap 8: Because It Is Bitter (here, removed from CC website)
September 2007: Becoming Sebastian (here, removed from CC website) *Also known as “A Dark Transformation”
September 2007: City of Glass (TMI)
- TBA: LBW Prologue (LBW – TEC)
- Chap 9: Jace’s POV Manor Scene (here, removed from CC website)
- Chap 9: Extended Manor Scene (here) Note: See Extended Sex Scenes Note
- Chap 15: Jace’s letter to Clary (COG Extra or here, removed from CC website)
September-October 2007: The Red Scrolls of Magic (TEC)
October 2007: City of Fallen Angels (TMI)
- The Shadowhunter’s Codex – Marginal Notes and drawings *”Second Revision”, “Third Revision”, and “Forth Revision” done by Clary, Simon, and Jace respectively
- Chap 9: The Act of Falling (here, removed from CC website)
- Before Chap 12: A story told in post cards (completed version here – incomplete removed from CC’s website)
Late October 2007: CoLS Prologue (CoLS – TMI)
November 2007: City of Lost Souls (TMI)
- Somewhere Chap 4-Epilogue: A Question of Power (CC tumblr – removed from CC website)
- Chap 13: Extended Dirty Sexy Club Scene (here) Note: See Extended Sex Scenes Note
November-December 2007: The Voicemail of Magnus Bane (TBC)
December 2007: City of Heavenly Fire (TMI)
- Chap 20: Extended Cave Scene (CC tumblr) Note: See Extended Sex Scenes Note
- Chap 24: Magnus’s Letter to Alec (CC tumblr)
2008: CP2 epilogue (CP2 – TID) + After the Bridge (CC tumblr)
September 2008: Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy (TftSA)
October 2008: The Lost Herondale (TftSA)
November 2008: The Whitechapel Fiend (TftSA)
2008: Nothing but Shadows (TftSA)
May 2009: The Evil We Love (TftSA)
September 2009: Pale Kings and Princes (TftSA)
October 2009: Bitter of Tongue (TftSA)
December 2009: The Fiery Trial (TftSA)
Early Spring 2010: Born to Endless Night (TftSA)
May 2010: Angels Twice Descending (TftSA)
September 2010: The Lost Book of the White (TEC)
2010: In Dreams Begin, (LBW Extra – unable to find online)
April 2012: The Land I Lost (GotSM)
August 2012: Through Blood, Through Fire (GotSM)
Sometime 2007-2012: Letter to Author Blackthorn (CC tumblr)
Sometime 2007-2012: Stars to Burn (CC tumblr)
August 2012: Lady Midnight (TDA)
- Chap 18: Extended Beach Scene (CC tumblr) Note: See Extended Sex Scenes Note
- Chap 26: A Long Conversation (LM Extra or here)
September 2012: Lord of Shadows (TDA)
September 2012: Queen of Air and Darkness (TDA)
- Chap 34: A Love That Never Tires, (QoAaD Extra or here)
March 2013: The Lost World (GotSM)
2013: Forever Fallen (GotSM)
January-Unknown 2014: Secrets of Blackthorn Hall (tumblr)
Sometime 2012-2015 (TBA): The Black Volume of the Dead (TEC) *unpublished and release date unscheduled
2015: The Wicked Powers Series (TWP) *unpublished and release date unscheduled
Sources Note: This timeline was built with information from the actually stories, the official shadowhunters timeline, this CC post, shadowhunters fandom timeline, and other released information (ex. character’ birthdays) that I found through the shadowhunter wiki pages (I checked it was coming directly from CC as much as possible). If you think I made a mistake, please reach out to me (info below).
Updates Note: I still have to add some details (like where it says TBA), but I’m having a hard time finding some so bare with me (Please lmk if you are currently reading/recently read TID or TMI). I will continue to update this as new books/content is released. If you have any questions or think that there is something I left out (but check if it’s below in the content I’m choosing not to include first) please message me on insta (@lifeisjustablurblog) or email me (lifeisjustablurblog@gmail.com)!
Extended Sex Scenes Note: Not all of these scenes exactly follow what happens in the cannon, however, they are so much clearer and make so much more sense than the “clean version” that is in the books that I personally accept these as cannon. I’d say they are for about 16+ (not any worse than smutty fanfic).
CC Website Extras Note: Towards the end of March 2021, CC took the whole “Extras” section off her website (all the ones that we originally published there have “removed from CC website” written in their parenthesis). So far I have not been able to figure out why they were taken down or if they will return. I have provided new links to these stories.
We Jace You a Clary Christmas and The Penultimate Hours Note: These are collections of cannon short extras that were given free to anyone who signs up for CC’s newsletter (you can do so on her website, you can also get “A Fairy Tale of London” and “The Whispering Room” this way). They may not seem to appear in the timeline, however, all the stories that make up these do. We Jace You a Clary Christmas includes: Awake, When Midnight Comes, Because it is Bitter, Jace POV Manor Scene, The Act of Falling, Our Waking Souls, A Long Conversation, and A Love That Never Tires. The Penultimate Hours includes: Letter from Ragnor to Magnus, Lucie and Ghosts, Days Past: Lucie and Cordelia, Cirenworth Hall Devonshire, The Anniversary Party, The Devil Tavern, The City of Bones, London Grosvenor Place 1901, Days Past: Christopher, and Letter from Lucie to Cordelia. But if you would like to have the packages with the cover art, by all means go sign up (if you are a shadowhunters fan I say do it, it’s not that many emails and they are always so cute)! Just know you won’t be missing anything if you don’t.
Shadowhunter Content I am choosing not to include:
- An Illustrated History of Notable Shadowhunters and Denizens of Downward – information seems to be from prior to COG2
- also called “The Flower Book”
- Special Editions bonus stories I cannot find (If you know where to find any of these please reach out to me) Such as…
- “Simon’s Graduation Party” – After “Angels Twice Descending”
- Deleted/reworked scenes from any book
- Jocelyn’s Story – COG Chap 17 (taken off CC website – See CC website Extras Note)
- Magnus and Alec – CoLS Before Epilogue (taken off CC website)
- My favorite deleted scene (that I wish CC had kept in the book!) is the Jace/Alec kiss scene – COG p.137
- Here’s also a hard to find Lord of Shadows B&N Exclusive Deleted Scene – LOS Likely somewhere Chap 15-16
- See extras links below for more
- Comic strip scenes (I have found that they don’t always match up to cannon, usually CC gives the idea but Cassandra Jean actually writes them, but I have listed the ones I know of below)
- Images – Such as…
- Maps (Ones in paperback main books by Drew Willis)
- Family Tree Note: not accurate but can still spoil TLH
- Cassandra Jean Art
- Other small snippets/info CC has released (usually on her tumblr)
- Graphic Novels (adaptations of the main books)
- All The Stories Are True Book: Classics Reimagined in the World of the Shadowhunters (Fairy tales retold with TSC characters – originally a QoAaD promo, now in Limited Edition release)
- The Official Mortal Instruments Coloring Book (Includes quotes from TMI)
- Shadowhunters and Downworlders: A Mortal Instruments Reader (A book of essays by other authors about TSC)
- “Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments” TV Show – loosely follows TMI
- “City of Bones” Movie – Follows plot for COB
Here are some great sites I found for finding extras:
- CC Website Site Map (Hard to get to page)
- Check out TLH Interactive Map
- Bookstuff (Scroll down to TID or TMI section)
- CatReadsBooks Tumblr: TMI/TID/TDA/TEC/TLH Extras
- Shadowhunters Fandom Wiki
OVERALL: I hope you found this useful! TSC are an amazing world with fantastic characters, and I absolutely adore them. Head over to my insta (@lifeisjustablurblog) for shadowhunter reviews and discussions.
Life Is Just A Blur 
