[Book Review] Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare

SYNOPSIS:

In the vibrant city-state of Castellane, the richest of nobles and the most debauched of criminals have one thing in common: the constant search for wealth, power, and the next hedonistic thrill.

Kel is an orphan, stolen from the life he knew to become the Sword Catcher—the body double of a royal heir, Prince Conor Aurelian. He and Conor are as close as brothers, but his destiny is to die for Conor. No other future is possible.

Lin Caster is a physician from a small community whose members still possess magical abilities. But despite her skills, she cannot heal her best friend without access to forbidden knowledge.

After a failed assassination attempt brings Lin and Kel together, they are drawn into the web of the mysterious Ragpicker King, the ruler of Castellane’s criminal underworld. But as long-kept secrets begin to unravel and forbidden attractions arise, they must ask themselves: Is knowledge worth the price of betrayal? And will their discoveries plunge their nation into war—and the world into chaos?

GENRE: Dystopia / Science Fiction / Retelling

PUBLISHED: October 10, 2023

RECEPTION: Mixed-Positive (4.4 on Amazon and 3.84 on Goodreads)

PURCHASE: Available on amazon.ca, amazon.com, and in all major bookstores.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Cassandra Clare is an American writer and the author of the New York Times bestselling series, The Shadowhunter Chronicles. She turned to writing full-time in 2006 following the success of her debut YA novel, City of Bones (part of The Mortal Instruments series), but got her start writing fanfiction. You can learn more about Cassandra Clare on her website: https://cassandraclare.com/

Review:

DISCLAIMER: Before I begin this review, allow me to address the elephant in the room. Prior to reading Sword Catcher, I had not read any of Cassandra Clare's works. I had heard of the Shadowhunter/Mortal Instruments series, but had never read them and I did not connect the author (as I had never paid attention to who had written the series before) with Clare herself. All that is to say that my knowledge of who Cassandra Clare was, and the controversy surrounding plagiarism accusations levied against her, were not on my radar. I went into this book free from biases related to this subject matter, and learned more about the situation after finishing the book and discussing it with others who had also read it.

With that out of the way, allow me to share my views on this story.

THE REVIEW: Sword Catcher is the story of an orphan boy named Kel who is taken from his orphanage and raised alongside Prince Conor as his "sword catcher" (a decoy trained to take the Prince's place if there is potential danger), though to the public Kel is a cousin of the Prince's mother. Through magic and training, Kel is able to perfectly imitate Prince Conor when necessary, but only appears as a very close look-alike when the two are together or magic is not involved. There is an undercurrent of political plotlines, an absent King, the threat of marriage, and criminal activity in the story, and a second main character in Lin. Lin is a female physician who is part of the Ashkar; a group of people isolated within their own city and treated as second class citizens.

When I initially finished Sword Catcher, my primary emotion was confusion. The story fell into the annoying grey area of "I like this enough to not put it down, but I don't like it enough to read at my normal pace". It took around three weeks to complete the story (approximately seven times as long as a book of this length would typically take). I provided a review on the story immediately after I finished reading it, but since then my opinions have further developed.

The concept for Sword Catcher was an interesting one, and the plot had potential; if it had been done right, I have no doubt the story would have been more enjoyable than it was. The main characters (Kel and Lin), and their dynamic, were interesting. Unfortunately, there was so little interaction between the pair that it often felt as if I were simultaneously reading two stories set in the same world. There are seeds of plotlines strewn throughout the story that either resolve too quickly or do not resolve at all, characters either disappear with no resolution to their storyline or (sometimes and) don't feel important, and there are too many characters and plot threads to keep track of. Many of the characters are referred to by different names depending on who the point of view character is, which can be jarring, and more still have little purpose and would not affect the story if removed entirely.

In isolation, one or two of these issues might have been acceptable, but when combined they made the story feel messy, disconnected, and confusing.

The downfall of this story comes in two major points: the points of view and the major conflict. Clare switches points of view mid-chapter in Sword Catcher, which can be jarring to read; there is no clear break between when one character's scene ends and the next begins. In a similar vein (that also feels jarring and confusing), the major conflict of the story feels as if it comes out of nowhere in the last fifth of the book and resolves so quickly it might not have been there at all. It ends so abruptly that it is clear the story is going to have a sequel, but it does not leave a desire to read the sequel as the story itself is not satisfying. It feels as if the story is all world-building and no plot or substance.

Clare's portrayal of the Ashkar is also a problematic aspect to the story. The parallel to Jews in Nazi Germany (and, in some ways, African Americans during segregation) are obvious and not well explored. They are not blatant caricatures of these ethnic groups, but they toe that line in a manner that leaves one with a slightly bitter taste in their mouth.

RATING: 1 Star