It’s Official: Cassandra Clare has signed on to write ‘The Dark Artifices’ trilogy

Despite The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices set to come to a close in the next couple of years, bestselling author Cassandra Clare won’t be saying goodbye to her Shadowhunter world just yet.

Clare has signed a three-book deal with Simon & Schuster to write The Dark Artifices, a spinoff series set in 2013 Los Angeles.

The first book is slated for a 2015 release.

Clare has been teasing fans with the possibility of the spinoff series, but now there is confirmation, as Margaret K. McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, has announced the deal, according to The Washington Post.

“The series follows Emma Carstairs, the fiercest warrior and most skilled young Shadowhunter since Jace Wayland, and Emma’s sworn partner in arms, Julian Blackthorn,” the statement reads. “Despite Emma’s complicated feelings for Julian, the two must band together to investigate a demonic plot that stretches from the warlock-run nightclubs of the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica.”

Clare said in a statement that she was sure readers would love both her new and her established characters.

“I know readers will come to love Emma, Mark, Cristina and Julian just as they have loved Jace, Clary, Will, Tessa and Jem,” she said. “Readers have often asked what will happen in the Shadowhunter world after the events of the ‘Mortal Instruments’ and this series will give them a chance to find out.”

You can read more about The Dark Artifices here, which includes character names, setting, potential plots, etc.

I know I speak for everyone when I say I cannot wait to meet these new characters and welcome them into the Shadowhunter family!