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  • Queen of Air and Darkness

  • The Dark Artifices, Book 3
  • Written by: Cassandra Clare
  • Narrated by: James Marsters
  • Length: 30 hrs and 24 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (161 ratings)

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Queen of Air and Darkness

Written by: Cassandra Clare
Narrated by: James Marsters
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Publisher's Summary

Dark secrets and forbidden love threaten the very survival of the Shadowhunters in Cassandra Clare's Queen of Air and Darkness, the final novel in the number-one New York Times and USA Today best-selling the Dark Artifices trilogy. Queen of Air and Darkness is a Shadowhunters novel. 

What if damnation is the price of true love? 

Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. In the wake of the tragic death of Livia Blackthorn, the Clave teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the disease that is destroying the race of warlocks. 

Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find in the Courts is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark path into a future they could never have imagined. Caught in a race against time, Emma and Julian must save the world of Shadowhunters before the deadly power of the parabatai curse destroys them and everyone they love. 

©2018 Cassandra Clare (P)2018 Simon & Schuster

What listeners say about Queen of Air and Darkness

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Narrator is mediocre.Ending should have beenbetter

I had high expectations for this book i have been reading all of cassies books since i was 13 and am now 25 and i feel like shes falling short with the endings,specifcally the endings for the series, i feel it should have been more dramatic and explanatory than this and trult hope for redemption in the upcoming last hours books.
Also i feel James Marstars fell flat on this series as well im dissipointed he was used for the whole entirety of this Dark Artifices trilogy and i truly hope Cassie considers using Molly Quin or Sophie Turner.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

OMG.

OMG!! Amazing love it so much!! I can’t believe it was left on a cliff hanger!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A wonderful book

This is the third book in the Dark Artifices series and is filled with action, adventure, and romance. The characters are amazing, full of great characteristics and unique personalities. The number of paranormal characters adds so much to the creative nature of the storyline. The story explores good versus evil. The myriad of emotions and motivations that influence the characters actions are explored. The romance and the complicated situations and obstacles the characters face are really inspiring. The inclusion of individuals who have unique relationships, including same sex, transgender, three way relation and different species, helped to bring in the concepts of prejudice and acceptance. This book is an emotional rollercoaster as the various characters deal with their individual histories, past experiences and external obstacles. The storyline is fast paced filled with action, fighting, danger, grief and suspense. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more stories from this author.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

James Marsters

I believe this set of books is by far my favorite from Cassandra Clare.
James Marsters reads it wonderfully. worth a listen for sure 🙂

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Super

J'aime bien l'univers de shadowhunter. Mes livres préférés sont vraiment les 6 premiers mais j'ai bien aimé que dans celui là tous les personnages étaient réunis.
J'ai bien aimé que le narrateur est l'interprète de Spike dans Buffy contre les vampires. Ça me rappelle des souvenirs :)

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Fantastic, but too much....

Snogging. The editor could have taken out a few of the love scenes that did nothing to advance the story and in fact created a bit of a drag. Otherwise, it’s a fabulous book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful!!

I couldn't stop listening. Loved the characters and story through all the ups and downs of the series.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I loved this trilogy!!

I loved this trilogy so much!!! Queen of Air and Darkness surpassed every expectation I had for wrapping up this series. I got Lady Midnight as a gift in December of 2017. I got Lord of Shadows and Queen of Air and Darkness for Christmas in 2019. I re-read Lady Midnight so that I could read all the books one after the other! It took me 3 1/2 months to read, but it was worth every minute!! Such a fantastic series.
These were the first Cassandra Clare books I have read, and I have since procured the original Shadow Hunter Series books. I understand that there is a spin-off series to this one coming possibly in 2022. I really hope it is sooner!!

I actually followed the Audible versions for Lord of Shadow and Queen of Air and Darkness with the books because they were narrated by the exquisite James Marsters. It was phenomenal. I highly recommend experiencing the series in this way. Sadly, he did not narrate Lady Midnight.
I loved everything about this series!!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing

What an incredible trilogy! Such rich world-building! It's also really nice to hear Spike reading it to me.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • BMD
  • 2019-01-30

My favorite in the series so far!

I loved this book, and this story line in general. the author is playing with a lot of contemporary social themes, but beyond that it's an immersive, satisfying story. I couldn't stop listening! The narrator was great, too.

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  • Andrew
  • 2018-12-13

Finishes strong

If I'm being honest, the first half of this book was really difficult to get through. Nothing but teenage soap opera and softcore porn writing. The narration was breathy and in whispers and agonizingly slow. I listened to the entire book at 1.35x speed just so it sounded like a normal paced audiobook. The "bad guys" were so obviously inspired by current politics that even though I'm against the current political administration I thought I was going to get headaches from the amount of eye rolling that took place. That being said, around the halfway point Clare actually gets back to a plotline and finishes the book strong. If I could split this book in half I would easily give 1 star to the beginning and 5 stars to the end. If you want the actual shadowhunters book and not erotic fan fiction, then skip to chapter 15 or 16. Clare should let someone else write her books if all she wants to write about is her barely legal teen sex fantasies.

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28 people found this helpful

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2018-12-09

Want to stop

I came to the reviews to see if anyone else is having issues with the voice. Everything is read in a whisper, low tone, slow pace. Makes everything sound so boring. Sometimes I can't even tell when the narrator switches to another character's point of view. I'm thinking of returning this audiobook.

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14 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Samantha R
  • 2018-12-08

Phenomenal!!!

James freaking Marsters is a champion narrator!!!
He is by far my favorite.

This book was a rollercoaster and I enjoyed every twist and turn.

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14 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • angela hughes
  • 2018-12-08

too much

It's safe to say that I am no longer a Shadow Hunter fan. The books are getting longer, the plots are just all over the place. This book has the same themes and schemes as the original series just recycled and dragged out. The threesome was just too much. Her writing has gone from enchanting to pornagraphic and racie. She tackles a lot of real world issues, but we get enough of that on social media and the news. This book is no longer an escape from our mundane world.

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12 people found this helpful

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  • wil_a
  • 2019-10-15

...

Definitely a stronger liberal push than her previous books. Identity politics and rather racier scenarios made it harder to focus in on the story. I do like her ability to world build, but will probably not continue with the stories after this one because of these issues. Also, there are no people in CCs books who disagree with her characters' beliefs that are still good people. Only people who are willfully hateful toward others. The world of shadow hunters is intriguing, but the story line, sadly, digs a deeper trench in the "us" vs. "them" mentality that has become so pervasive in the American political climate.

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11 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Kamiel
  • 2018-12-10

Only because it’s a shadow Hunter book

This was a hard and at times agonizing read. The reader was well .....gosh it's hard to give him a bad review. I feel like I'm spitting on Buffy the Vampire. It sounded as if he was reading with his last dying breathe. To be fair throughout the whole book we were dealing with death and his voice was that constant reminder. It didn't help that at times the story dragged. On another note I've been waiting for a good fantasy\erotica. Something like a top quality Lord of the rings angels vs demon supernatral blend but I did not expect to find it in the Shadow Hunter series. A threesome? Really? Miss Clare was doing a lil too much in this one. Lil much. All in all I wasn't too happy with this book. One word bittersweet. I only finished it because it's a part of the Shadow Hunter series. I wouldn't suggest skipping it.

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8 people found this helpful

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  • Lauren
  • 2018-12-08

Just Amazing

This will go down as one of my favorite books of all time. It was sooo good I gasped cried and laughed throughout. James Marsters (Spike) can read all my book to me and I would be happy.

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Paul Alan Rohr
  • 2019-01-21

Once more the Shadow Hunters Are Their worst Enemy

This was this a disappointing and excruciating novel. Once again a large portion of the Shadow Hunter populace is as evil as the evil they fight. The story is packed with unrelenting action and tragedy so that I felt beat up and kept checking to see how much more there was to endure before the book was over. The various main characters were frequently unable to resist passionate make out sessions when they were supposed to be on watch. I grew up on a special forces military base and that kind of carelessness varies serious consequences. Their is no doubt we have a superb writer here but I feel this was not her best work. This is supposed to be young adult fiction and I certainly wouldn’t want this book in the younger spectrum of the reading world. The very long book does end with things sort of tied up but this time instead of choosing vengeance, a group that formally had imprisoned their people for small offenses, or stripped them of their runes lets murderers—their leader stabbed Emma in the back and stabbed her again when she was down, plus she was involved in the murder and torture of others. She and her cohorts are not punished but let free to stage a ridiculous take over of the whole Shadow Hunter Country. Thus creating new problems because suddenly all the powerful characters can’t figure out the difference between vegence and a system of justice against horrible crimes. As a final treat, the story ends with the appearance/ introduction of a new and horrible evil so we can expect more torturous reading to come. I won’t be picking up the next books. I read mostly for enjoyment and this book was sad, unrelenting problems with no breaks except unlikely make out scenes and plot events that left one gasping with indignation and incredulity. Pretty much hated it.

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4 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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  • A’Rhian
  • 2018-12-14

LGBTQ themes override the plot

Unfortunately this book was more about political correctness than Shadow Hunters. Sorry a zero star was not available.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Diverse listener
  • 2018-12-30

Disappointed

I was very disappointed in this last book of the series. I normally love the Shadowhunter books, but this was not up to par. The story was all over the place. The love stories of the characters was a little too much. Teenage ménage a trois was a little out of my comfort zone. Just not a great story.

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3 people found this helpful

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