Sword Catcher

Discover the magical Sunday Times bestseller from the author of The Shadowhunter Chronicles

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Sword Catcher

By: Cassandra Clare

Narrated by: Christian Coulson, Fiona Hardingham

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About this listen

‘Everything I look for in fantasy’ – George R. R. Martin

Two outcasts find themselves caught in a web of dangerous magic and dark secrets that could change the world forever . . .

From the author of the Shadowhunter Chronicles, Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare is start of a riveting epic fantasy series with expert worldbuilding, political intrigue and swordplay

***

One was raised to rule. One was trained to die . . .

In the vibrant city-state of Castellane, Kel is an orphan, stolen from his old impoverished life to become Prince Conor Aurelian’s body-double. As his ‘Sword Catcher’, he and Conor will become as close as brothers. Yet Kel lives for one purpose: to die for Conor.

Lin Caster is an Ashkar physician, part of a community ostracized for its rare magical abilities. After a failed assassination attempt pulls her and Kel together, they are drawn into the web of the mysterious Ragpicker King, who rules Castellane’s criminal underworld. But as long-kept secrets are uncovered and forbidden attractions blossom, will their discoveries plunge their land into war – and nations into chaos?

***

‘Spellbinding’ – Leigh Bardugo, Sunday Times bestselling author of Ninth House

‘A triumph of a book’ – Holly Black, No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Book of Night

‘Vivid and clever’ – Scott Lynch, bestselling author of the Gentleman Bastard sequence

Sword Catcher was a top ten Sunday Times bestseller w/c 5th October 2024.

Action & Adventure

Coming of Age

Epic

Epic Fantasy

Fantasy

Fiction

Genre Fiction

Magic

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Critic reviews

Sword Catcher gave me everything I look for in medieval fantasy: mystery and magic (not too much, not too little), expert worldbuilding, swordplay and politics, a colorful cast of interesting characters, and a story that kept me reading from the first page to the last, with enough twists and turns to keep me turning the pages. It's a big thick book, but it left me wanting more. When's the next one coming out? (No. 1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin)

A gorgeously built world of decadence, betrayal, and grand adventure. From the decadent and drunken parties of the nobles, to the dens of crime lords in the Warren and Maze, to the Sault, where the devotees of a lost goddess are penned, the city of Castellane makes the perfect backdrop for a delightful cast of characters to befriend, betray, and romance one another. This is Cassandra Clare at her cleverest, twistiest and most heart-stopping—a triumph of a book (Holly Black, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Night)

Clare plunges us into a thrilling world built with precision and brimming with enchantment. Her spellbinding cast of outlaws, healers, royals, and rogues will have you questioning your allegiances with every delicious turn of the plot. This is fantasy at its finest (Leigh Bardugo, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of Hell Bent)

A sumptuous feast of a book, vivid and delicious and heady. Cassandra Clare’s trademark skills are on full display here: epic worlds, wrenching romances, heart-slamming plot twists, Dickensian characters. I can’t wait to visit Castellane again (Kelly Link, bestselling author of White Cat, Black Dog)

Sweeping yet intimate, rich with romance and intrigue, Sword Catcher is Cassandra Clare at her magical best. In pages packed with sumptuous descriptions, Clare gives us a kingdom’s worth of characters—including Kel the ‘sword catcher,’ trained to protect his prince at all costs, and Lin, a young physician of an outcast people—forced to navigate a web of tangled loyalties between the loved ones they cherish and the powers they serve. This book will break your heart and leave you wanting more! (Helene Wecker, New York Times bestselling author of The Golem and the Jinni)

A charming return to the big fat fantasy novels of happy memory, with a modern character-driven narrative. Vivid and clever (Scott Lynch, bestselling author of the Gentleman Bastard sequence)

It's heady stuff, a novel with all the drama and yearning of Clare's Shadowhunter stories but set in a whole new world, and with the YA stabilisers taken off . . . readers risk becoming instantly addicted

Most relevant

I listened to the audible version of this and thought both readers did a really good job of making it engaging and fun to listen to.

The story was good when it got going and as usual for this author, the characters were well drawn and appealing. The world was intriguing and interesting and I will certainly look out for the next book.

That said, it did take a long time to get going and I really felt that it didn’t take off until the 50% mark. The issue with all the political scheming is that it’s a bit of a slow burn and isn’t as exciting as a fast paced adventure. My gut feeling is that the sequel might be better as it will need less time to set the world up. I also felt that although this is marked for adults, it feels very YA (although with slightly more gratuitous promiscuity) and some of the characters seem quite similar to the Shadowhunter series (Jace and Connor for example). The age of the main protagonists is relatively quite young.

However it was a good read.