Cassandra Clare’s name is already YA fantasy royalty thanks to her incredible ‘Shadowhunters’ series. But Clare is dipping her toes into adult fantasy, and her first attempt absolutely hits the mark.
Selected from an orphanage at age 10, Kel becomes the Sword Catcher, a position which encompasses look-alike, bodyguard, and babysitter. Kel is enchanted to perfectly resemble Crown Prince Connor and trains to mimic him in every way. But after years of protecting the prince, Kel abruptly realises that his charge has made dangerous promises with the criminal underworld of Castellane and is being blackmailed. He joins forces with Lin Caster, an Ashkari physician searching for forbidden magical books, and together, they try to keep Connor’s world from crumbling.
This story is stuffed with recognisable tropes from a corrupt monarchy to a rebellious prince. The story doesn’t do anything earth-shatteringly new with the fantasy genre, but Clare’s writing pulled me into the story. Her descriptions of the Castellane Kingdom were gorgeously opulent, you could practically feel the luxury dripping off the pages.
Both Kel and Lin are engaging leads. Kel has to deal with the trauma of being indoctrinated into a dangerous bodyguard role as a kid, and Lin is full of anger at the sexist injustice within the Ashkari ranks. It takes a little while for the story to unfold and a villain arc to emerge, but it was enjoyable just sitting with Kel and Lin and learning more about Castellane and its rich history.
If you read for escapism, and you love experiencing new worlds, then Sword Catcher is another great contender in the adult fantasy genre.
Reviewed by Rachel Denham-White
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ABOUT THE AUTHORCassandra Clare was born to American parents in Teheran, Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father’s backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten years old.
Cassie’s first professional writing sale was a short story called “The Girl’s Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord” in a Baen anthology of humor fantasy. Cassie hates working at home alone because she always gets distracted by reality TV shows and the antics of her cats, so she usually sets out to write in local coffee shops and restaurants. She likes to work in the company of her friends, who see that she sticks to her deadlines.
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