Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare. Margaret K. McElderry Books via AP
Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare. Margaret K. McElderry Books via AP
Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare. Margaret K. McElderry Books via AP
Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare. Margaret K. McElderry Books via AP

Book review: Cassandra Clare’s imagination runs wild again in Lady Midnight

Lady Midnight, the first book in The Dark Artifices series, is all about political deviance, never-ending drama and unwavering love.

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Lady Midnight

Cassandra Clare

(Margaret K. McElderry Books)

Dh57

It has been six years since Cassandra Clare last introduced a new series set in the world of shadowhunting from her Mortal Instruments series.

Lady Midnight launches The Dark Artifices series, which focuses on Emma Carstairs, who was introduced in 2014's City of Heavenly Fire – and it does not disappoint.

Clare’s imagination once again fills the pages with a thrilling world that promises political deviance, never-ending drama and unwavering love.

When we last saw Emma, she was 12 years old and had valiantly fought beside her best friend Julian Blackthorn in a vicious war against Sebastian Morgenstern and his mind- controlled army that rocked the world of every shadowhunter.

The battle left Emma and Julian orphans, and they moved to Los Angeles to help raise Julian’s younger siblings.

Five years later, Emma has grown into an exceptional warrior. The force that drives her determined spirit is the hope that she will one day find the killer who murdered her parents.

Even though most in the shadowhunter world believe the Carstairs’ deaths were the result of Morgenstern’s wrath, Emma isn’t convinced – especially when people start turning up dead with the exact same marks that were found on her parents’ bodies.

Emma turns to Julian to help solve the mystery. As they investigate, the friends learn that the murders are the tip of the iceberg.

Because they are a tight-knit family, the younger Blackthorn kids insist on pitching in to help. Each uses his or her talents to figure out and locate missing pieces of a very big puzzle. The Blackthorns, Emma and various friends rally together, determined to bring justice to their city. Unfortunately, time is not on their side, and they must race against the clock to stop another war from tearing their world apart.

Clare’s ability to tell a fresh new story, while overlapping critical components from her previous series, is worthy of praise.

Readers can rest easy in the familiarity of her shadowhunter world, but also bask in the excitement of embracing a new roster of gritty characters.

Lady Midnight incorporates the importance of responsibility, the call of justice and the willingness to risk it all for those you love.

* Lincee Ray / Associated Press

Bharat

Director: Ali Abbas Zafar

Starring: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Drivers’ championship standings after Singapore:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 263
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - 235
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 212
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - 162
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari - 138
6. Sergio Perez, Force India - 68

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Golden Shoe top five (as of March 1):

Harry Kane, Tottenham, Premier League, 24 goals, 48 points
Edinson Cavani, PSG, Ligue 1, 24 goals, 48 points
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Lionel Messi, Barcelona, La Liga, 22 goals, 44 points

Lady MidnightArts & CultureBooksThe Dark Artifices