Synopsis:
In the vibrant city-state of Castellane, the richest of nobles and the most debauched of criminals have one thing in common: the constant search for wealth, power, and the next hedonistic thrill.
Kel is an orphan, stolen from the life he knew to become the Sword Catcher—the body double of a royal heir, Prince Conor Aurelian. He has been raised alongside the prince, trained in every aspect of combat and statecraft. He and Conor are as close as brothers, but Kel knows that his destiny is to die for Conor. No other future is possible.
Lin Caster is one of the Ashkar, a small community whose members still possess magical abilities. By law, they must live behind walls within the city, but Lin, a physician, ventures out to tend to the sick and dying of Castellane. Despite her skills, she cannot heal her best friend without access to forbidden knowledge.
After a failed assassination attempt brings Lin and Kel together, they are drawn into the web of the mysterious Ragpicker King, the criminal ruler of Castellane’s underworld. He offers them each what they want most; but as they descend into his world of intrigue and shadow, they discover a conspiracy of corruption that reaches from the darkest gutters of Castellane to the highest tower of its palaces.
As long-kept secrets begin to unravel, they must ask themselves: Is knowledge worth the price of betrayal? Can forbidden love bring down a kingdom? And will their discoveries plunge their nation into war—and the world into chaos?
Review:
I was sent a copy of Sword Catcher in exchange for an honest review.
I have a confession. This is my first ever Cassandra Clare book, despite being the perfect age when The Mortal Instruments came out they somehow never made it onto my radar. So this is a review from someone who is brand new to Cassandra Clare’s writing.
I really, really enjoyed Sword Catcher. The characters were all interesting and the world-building was solid & effortlessly woven into the main plot. It felt like all of the events of Sword Catcher were meant to happen & I’d argue there weren’t really any plot twists that took me by surprise, I could see where things were going but I was happy to be right about my theories!
I can’t pick a favourite between Lin, Kel and Conor. They all live in the same city but have such different lives, even Kel and Conor are totally different people despite having the exact same upbringing. Kel never quite forgets his orphan roots and it allows for Lin to easily become a part of the trio. Lin is an Ashkar physician, a group of people who are ostracised from everyone else because they’re seen as being responsible for the disappearance of magic. Clare weaves in this old story through book extracts woven in between chapters. I liked this as extra flavour text and it didn’t feel like an info-dump to me. Lin herself helps add extra context to this story and it all comes together eventually.
One of the favourite pastimes of Kel and Conor is visiting brothels. Early on in the book they visit a brothel and I’d argue that while it isn’t a distinctly unnecessary part of the story it definitely felt like this was Clare going ‘I’m writing adult books now’. The only reason I mention it is because there aren’t really any other explicit scenes in the rest of the book, so it stood out somewhat as it was so early on, and so different. That being said the book overall does feel like an adult fantasy, even if the characters do appear to be on the younger side (I’d argue they all come across as being in their early twenties). To me Clare doesn’t seem to be stuck writing YA and this is a great way to debut her adult novels.
There’s romance in Sword Catcher but don’t mistake this for a romantasy. At least in this book it’s distinctly more of attraction based romance that never quite comes to fruition, but I suspect book two will be a different story. I enjoyed trying to work out who would fall for who as there’s no insta-love here and everything is a very slow burn.
This is a great read with elements of classic fantasy that I grew up reading. An old story that has effects on the current world, small magics, sword fights and royalty. I was hooked from the start and it felt like it deserved the full 600+ pages.
I can’t wait to dive into The Ragpicker King and spend more time in this world!
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