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A review by sleu
Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I went into reading this not knowing or having read anything by Cassandra Clare and also not knowing anything about this book beyond its title- I didn’t even read the dust jacket/back of the book. I liked it and will keep reading the series. But I would have loved a map of all of Dannemore and not just Castellane! Many reviews I read after reading the book and before writing this were negative because there was too much world building. I have never thought of myself as loving heavy world building but maybe I do because this didn’t seem like too much. I loved reading all the details of this world and why things are the way they are.
However, this book did feel slow until the second half/last third. And it left many things unanswered, but that doesn’t seem unusual to a first book in a series of at least four books. This book definitely felt largely like set up for whatever else is to come while also sowing the seeds of questions/mysteries still to be answered. The characters are also complex. I don’t fully love any of the characters- but that’s ok there are still parts of most characters that I do love. Everyone has flaws and no one is all good or all bad in real life anyway.
Although this is an adult fantasy book and has some mature themes, it felt YA sometimes. The story is a lot of fantasy (political intrigue and maneuvering) with a small amount of romance in the background, and the romance that exists is still in slow burn phase aka not a lot of pay off yet. I liked how (to me at least) I couldn’t tell where the romance was going. When I first started reading it I thought character A and B would be romantically linked but then that changed, and then changed again and honestly even though it is clear by the end what characters currently have feelings for each other- I would not be surprised if it changes again in future books. And I like that. It’s not set in stone yet who is supposed to be with whom- though I have no doubt that many readers have strong and varying opinions about this. The characters seem to have multiple potential romantic interests and I’m excited to see who ends up with whom. But again, the main part of the story is not the romance- it’s about what is going on in Castellane and issues that the characters are dealing with.
Unlike some readers who consider it a cop out to use elements of cultures that exist in our world (e.g. Italy, France, India, China, Korea) in fantasy world building, I liked it as it made the world building easier to grasp. I also really liked that the Ashkar have many similarities to Jewish traditions and history. You don’t often get that in fantasy books.
I could say more about this book but don’t want to make this much longer than it already is, so if you like more romance with a backdrop of fantasy this probably isn’t for you. At least not at this point in the series. If you like a lot of set up/world building and having lots of unsolved mysteries at the end, you will like it - and if you don’t then maybe wait until the second book comes out before deciding whether or not to read it.
Ancient texts, magic, political intrigue among noble families and between the various countries, class structure, criminal underworld, characters that struggle with prejudice and identity/belonging, secrets, and more are found in this story. This is not a fast paced story centered around a love story but it is a good first book in a traditional fantasy series that I think is a good set up for faster paced books to come.
However, this book did feel slow until the second half/last third. And it left many things unanswered, but that doesn’t seem unusual to a first book in a series of at least four books. This book definitely felt largely like set up for whatever else is to come while also sowing the seeds of questions/mysteries still to be answered. The characters are also complex. I don’t fully love any of the characters- but that’s ok there are still parts of most characters that I do love. Everyone has flaws and no one is all good or all bad in real life anyway.
Although this is an adult fantasy book and has some mature themes, it felt YA sometimes. The story is a lot of fantasy (political intrigue and maneuvering) with a small amount of romance in the background, and the romance that exists is still in slow burn phase aka not a lot of pay off yet. I liked how (to me at least) I couldn’t tell where the romance was going. When I first started reading it I thought character A and B would be romantically linked but then that changed, and then changed again and honestly even though it is clear by the end what characters currently have feelings for each other- I would not be surprised if it changes again in future books. And I like that. It’s not set in stone yet who is supposed to be with whom- though I have no doubt that many readers have strong and varying opinions about this. The characters seem to have multiple potential romantic interests and I’m excited to see who ends up with whom. But again, the main part of the story is not the romance- it’s about what is going on in Castellane and issues that the characters are dealing with.
Unlike some readers who consider it a cop out to use elements of cultures that exist in our world (e.g. Italy, France, India, China, Korea) in fantasy world building, I liked it as it made the world building easier to grasp. I also really liked that the Ashkar have many similarities to Jewish traditions and history. You don’t often get that in fantasy books.
I could say more about this book but don’t want to make this much longer than it already is, so if you like more romance with a backdrop of fantasy this probably isn’t for you. At least not at this point in the series. If you like a lot of set up/world building and having lots of unsolved mysteries at the end, you will like it - and if you don’t then maybe wait until the second book comes out before deciding whether or not to read it.
Ancient texts, magic, political intrigue among noble families and between the various countries, class structure, criminal underworld, characters that struggle with prejudice and identity/belonging, secrets, and more are found in this story. This is not a fast paced story centered around a love story but it is a good first book in a traditional fantasy series that I think is a good set up for faster paced books to come.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Child death, Rape, and Death of parent