Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Sword Catcher

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Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare

22 reviews

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

I received a copy of this book as part of my FairyLoot subscription.
"Sword Catcher" is Cassandra Clare's debut into adult fantasy. Kel was an orphan and a child with a bleak future ahead of him, when he was taken to become a Sword Catcher, a body double for the prince, Conor. Kel and Conor grew up next to each other, and despite the difference in power, Kel thinks of Conor as a brother and would do anything for him. Lin is a member of the Ashkar, a small community that still have magical abilities. Lin has aspired to become a physician, so that she can hopefully find a suitable cure for her best friend's mysterious illness. After an unfortunate attack, Lin and Kel are brought together, and the pair each have their own run in with the Ragpicker King. Now Lin and Kel have to decide what knowledge is worth dying for, and who they can actually trust.
I was blown away with how much I was invested in this story, and I think it is my new favorite from Cassandra Clare. As much as I enjoyed the Shadowhunter world, I really appreciated seeing Cassandra expand her talents into a new world. This book is beautifully written, and it is very evident that the author is an experienced fantasy writer.
I really enjoyed the switching between Kel's and Lin's perspectives. Both characters were equally interesting to me, and I really appreciated getting both of their stories. I appreciated even more when their stories began to converge, and we got to see them come together.
Kel's story is devastating: an orphan who was taken in by royalty to act as the prince so that if there was an assassination attempt on the prince, the real prince would not die. Despite his humble beginnings, I loved seeing his loyalty towards Conor. He could have very easily grown resentful of Conor, but he really believed him to be a brother, and that relationship is so important to Kel. I also think he is a great influence on Conor, and I believe Conor really does care for Kel. Even when they were children, Conor asked if Kel wanted to be the Sword Catcher, because Conor wanted someone who wanted to be there.
Lin's story was incredible. She fought through so much adversity to become a physician, something women could only dream of. Not only did she get to practice medicine, but she was also really amazing at it. Lin's determination to become knowledgeable in the field of medicine was driven by such noble reasons, and it made her all the more relatable and likeable.
This book is rife with action. Just when you think the characters have a moment to breath, there is conflict, and someone's life is on the line. This really made the story progress quickly and helped to keep my attention throughout the entire novel.
The magic is really interesting in this world. I am very curious to learn more about it as the series progresses, because I do not think we got a full picture yet with just this first installment.
I am heavily invested in this story, and I cannot wait to pick up the next book!

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lawbooks600's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Representation: Asian characters
Score: Five out of ten.

What a massive disappointment.

I wanted to read Sword Catcher to give Cassandra Clare another chance after City of Bones underwhelmed me, and City of Ashes was slightly unnerving. I saw it at a library and decided to pick it up, but not before glancing at the blurb, making it seem intriguing. However, when I closed the final page, I didn't want to reread it.

It starts with the first person I see, Kel, plucked from his poor neighbourhood in Castellane to act as Prince Conor's body double, aka, Sword Catcher. Meanwhile, Lin lives in Ashkari as one of the Ashkar, one of the few remaining people who still use magic. It's a low form, but it's magic nonetheless because after a certain event, all forms of high magic are gone. I liked that before each chapter begins, there's a story within the story, but it felt like a forced info-dump that doesn't flow naturally into the central plot--it's more shoehorned in. The writing style didn't capture my attention since it waffles sometimes with filler words that the author could've removed during the editing process. The pacing is tedious, with the narrative spanning more than 600 pages, but it could easily be much shorter if there weren't any writing blunders. Even the characters failed to capture my attention as I couldn't connect or relate to any of them. The worldbuilding is overambitious but leaves behind plot holes as I couldn't keep up with all the intricacies. There were deities. Different countries. Magic systems. Backstories. Cultures. You get the idea. According to the map, Castellane is on a world different from this one, but some of the settings look like Asian countries like China, India and Korea. That may be a sign of cultural appropriation. Make up your mind, author! Do you want to set Sword Catcher in an alternate world based on this one or create a new one? Nothing happens for the first 550 pages, then some action occurs during the last 50, concluding Sword Catcher on a cliffhanger. I'm not interested in the next part, The Ragpicker King.

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calathean's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

This book made me realise how much I enjoy reading about characters who are deeply loyal to a person, even at their own expense. Both Kel and Lin are very loyal main characters - Lin in wanting to save her best friend's life and Kel in living to protect Conor at all cost even dying for him if necessary. Likeable characters, strong friendships, strong worldbuilding within Castellane. The toxicity of the friendship between Conor and Kel due to the power imbalance and Kel literally being Conor's shield despite the friendship itself being genuine and Conor not wanting Kel to die or treating him like a servant at all is delicious. The worldbuilidng was a bit difficult to follow when it comes to the world outside Castellane, I'm still not sure which country is which and what their deal is. And it was also difficult to remember all the nobles and not get Conor's friends mixed up.

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jmelauren's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No

2.0

I didn't like this one. It just didn't give me those exquisite angsty feelings that Cassandra Clare usually gives me.

I'm bumping this up a star because even though I didn't like it, something kept me coming back. Probably the main male character. Usually if there's only one character I like I would dnf, but I just really liked Kel.

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celery's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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sissizc's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

-1 star because the plot picked up at the 30% mark

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bethsreading's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Sword Catcher feels different to other high fantasy books I’ve read as its main focus is on the characters and the world’s precarious political situation. While it inevitably does have the shadow of a potential war lingering over the story - something I’m sure we will see more of in the coming books - I really enjoyed the less grandiose elements of the plot and I feel they make it stand apart from others in the genre. At many points, it felt like more of a mystery story than your typical fantasy, which for my tastes, worked really well.

The main issue I had with this book is that sadly, the first half of it is far too bogged down by world building. I do love how Cassandra Clare can create such vivid and fantasy worlds, and it is really important in a politically focused story to have its history be fully fleshed out, but the level of detail felt unnecessary at times and too dense for the first half of the book. I personally think that the first half of the book needed to be edited down about 80 ish pages as it was quite slow going at first. However, once I hit the 300 page mark, the pace really picked up and I absolutely flew through the rest of book.

While I did find Lin’s character annoying at times, overall the character’s were interesting, nuanced, and likeable. I really enjoyed my time reading it and I look forward to seeing how the story progresses in future books.

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