Sword Catcher

(Paperback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Two outcasts find themselves at the centre of world-altering change in the start of a riveting epic fantasy series from the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of The Shadowhunter Chronicles. 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 close as brothers, but Kel knows he has one destiny: to die for Conor. No other future is possible. Lin Caster is one of the Ashkar, a small community who still possess magical abilities. By law, they must live behind walls in 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 Mariam 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 Lin and Kel's discoveries plunge their nation into war - and the world into chaos

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-stoppinga 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 Clares trademark skills are on full display here: epic worlds, wrenching romances, heart-slamming plot twists, Dickensian characters. I cant wait to visit Castellane again -- Kelly Link, bestselling author ofWhite 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 kingdoms worth of charactersincluding Kel the sword catcher, trained to protect his prince at all costs, and Lin, a young physician of an outcast peopleforced 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 * SFX *
Cassandra Clare is a legend in fantasy . . . be warned you will be obsessed . . . a propulsive, layered, phenomenally imagined start to what promises to be an epic journey -- Glamour Magazine

Author Bio

Cassandra Clare is the author of the No. 1 New York Times, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly bestselling Mortal Instruments series and the Infernal Devices trilogy, and co-author of the Bane Chronicles with Sarah Rees Brennan and Maureen Johnson. She also wrote The Shadowhunter's Codex with her husband, Joshua Lewis. Her books have more than 36 million copies in print worldwide and have been translated into more than thirty-five languages. Cassandra lives in western Massachusetts.