Discover the instant Sunday Times bestseller from the author of the Shadowhunter Chronicles!
Two outcasts find themselves at the centre of world-altering change in Sword Catcher, the start of a riveting epic fantasy series by Cassandra Clare.
'Everything I look for in fantasy' - George R. R. Martin, New York Times bestselling author of Game of Thrones
One was raised to rule. One was trained to die . . .
In the vibrant city-state of Castellane, a young orphan named Kel is stolen from his old life to enter a new one of luxury and peril. He's to become Prince Conor Aurelian's body-double, shielding the Prince from all dangers. He and Conor become 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. But events pull her and Kel together and into the web of the mysterious Ragpicker King who rules Castellane's criminal underworld.
Together, they'll discover an extraordinary conspiracy. But can forbidden love bring down a kingdom? And will their discoveries plunge their nation into war and the world into chaos?
'Her spellbinding cast of outlaws, healers, royals, and rogues will have you questioning your allegiances with every delicious turn of the plot' - Leigh Bardugo, Sunday Times bestselling author of Ninth House
'This is Cassandra Clare at her cleverest, twistiest and most heart-stopping - a triumph of a book' - Holly Black, No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Book of Night
'A modern character-driven narrative. Vivid and clever' - Scott Lynch, bestselling author of the Gentleman Bastard sequence.
About the Author
Cassandra Clare is the author of the No. 1 New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestselling Shadowhunter Chronicles. She is also the co-author of the bestselling fantasy series Magisterium with Holly Black. The Shadowhunter Chronicles have been adapted as both a major motion picture and a television series. Her books have more than fifty million copies in print worldwide and have been translated into more than thirty-five languages. Cassandra lives in western Massachusetts with her husband and three fearsome cats.
Industry 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
