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A review by documentno_is
Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare
adventurous
lighthearted
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? No
4.0
I have to say I was in search of a good high fantasy novel, and this really scratched that itch.
I've been reading Cassandra Clare novels for the good part of a decade so when I saw a new one at the library I had never heard of I thought I would be in for another creative romance with compelling characters and good world building but what I got instead was a slightly elevated version of what she has previously put out that has begun to approach the realm of true fantasy.
I'll describe in pieces:
The world building: Contrived, but thorough. The extent of this world is documented in a entertaining a fashion as possible but Clare is clearly setting us up for a large scale epic and I'm excited to see where she takes it. It was somewhat reminiscent of Victoria Aveyard with more interesting storytelling cemented by our close first person narration, flipping equally between two characters who are not quite involved with each other but deeply involved in the facets of different aspects of the same city. I LOVED the narration techniques, the characterization, and especially the family/house allegiances work that Clare starts to nail down with House Aurelian and the entity that is the Ashkar, there are elements of prejudice and frustration that parallel reality without being anything close to satire. There are aspects that didn't quite work for me where Clare takes too much inspiration from certain cultural or religious elements irl but each one was a blip in the road and not damning in the scheme of the novel.
The pacing: This is the real issue with this novel, and why it took me so long to read it. It took me WEEKS to get through the first couple chapters and then the rest of the book I had finished in a few days. If you can get through the expository bits in the beginning it really is worth the ride, Clare has crafted a multi-layered tale involving many allegiances, betrayals, secrets, and alliances and I'm just as excited to uncover them as the characters in the story.
Characters: Like I covered previously, the relationships between certain characters are at the forefront of this novel and the payoff is huge. I will admit I went in expecting some romance given my knowledge of Clare's body of work but really didn't find myself missing it by the end of the novel.I think the most interesting prospective pairing is Kel + Antonetta although I could tell Clare wanted me to lean more towards Conor + Lin, I'm interested to see how Lin + Kel's friendship will develop knowing Conor isn't telling Kel the extent of his relationship with Lin and so on.
To finalize, really great first novel but should certainly be considered one of many in a series? I feel as if this story is only beginning to be told and given the longish length of this book I'm expecting at least a couple more. As long as Clare can nail down a better pacing for the rest of the series I'll certainly be continuing.
I've been reading Cassandra Clare novels for the good part of a decade so when I saw a new one at the library I had never heard of I thought I would be in for another creative romance with compelling characters and good world building but what I got instead was a slightly elevated version of what she has previously put out that has begun to approach the realm of true fantasy.
I'll describe in pieces:
The world building: Contrived, but thorough. The extent of this world is documented in a entertaining a fashion as possible but Clare is clearly setting us up for a large scale epic and I'm excited to see where she takes it. It was somewhat reminiscent of Victoria Aveyard with more interesting storytelling cemented by our close first person narration, flipping equally between two characters who are not quite involved with each other but deeply involved in the facets of different aspects of the same city. I LOVED the narration techniques, the characterization, and especially the family/house allegiances work that Clare starts to nail down with House Aurelian and the entity that is the Ashkar, there are elements of prejudice and frustration that parallel reality without being anything close to satire. There are aspects that didn't quite work for me where Clare takes too much inspiration from certain cultural or religious elements irl but each one was a blip in the road and not damning in the scheme of the novel.
The pacing: This is the real issue with this novel, and why it took me so long to read it. It took me WEEKS to get through the first couple chapters and then the rest of the book I had finished in a few days. If you can get through the expository bits in the beginning it really is worth the ride, Clare has crafted a multi-layered tale involving many allegiances, betrayals, secrets, and alliances and I'm just as excited to uncover them as the characters in the story.
Characters: Like I covered previously, the relationships between certain characters are at the forefront of this novel and the payoff is huge. I will admit I went in expecting some romance given my knowledge of Clare's body of work but really didn't find myself missing it by the end of the novel.
To finalize, really great first novel but should certainly be considered one of many in a series? I feel as if this story is only beginning to be told and given the longish length of this book I'm expecting at least a couple more. As long as Clare can nail down a better pacing for the rest of the series I'll certainly be continuing.