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Sign up todaySword Catcher
The Chronicles of Castellane: Book #1
Length
23 hours 24 minutes
Language
English
Narrators
Christian Coulson & Fiona Hardingham
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreBookseller recommendation
“Wow... I am lost for words... I have shocked everyone I worked with, including myself, by picking up and reading a Cassandra Clare book... and I LOVED it. Her writing has matured since City of Bones. I found myself completely immersed in this epic fantasy. I wanted more of this intricate world after I turned that last page. The political and court intrigue kept me glued to the page and often blurred the lines between 'good' and 'evil'. I saw a video of Clare talking about this book and how, at the time of writing, she would have considered it a romantic fantasy - and this story is about as romantic as Game of Thrones. And I am here for it! This book was deliciously twisty and politically intense, with dynamic and complex characters. This is a great first installment of a new epic fantasy, and I can't wait to see where the story goes. ”
— Anna • The Well-Read Moose
Bookseller recommendation
“I loved this audio version of Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare. The male and female narrators brought the characters to life. Clare does a good job of world building and character development. Kel is a lowly urchin until he is brought to the palace of Castellane to be Prince Conor's body double or sword catcher. There is much intrigue and politics in this city at the highest and lowest levels. Lin is an Ashkar a physician. Magic has disappeared from the land except for within the walls of the Ashkar part of the city, but Lin begins a search to help heal her friend. The story keeps moving quickly and you will be left wanting more at the end. ”
— Ann • Dragon Tale Books
Bookseller recommendation
“I loved everything about this book (it was also my first audiobook!). Lin's sassiness and Conors' smirks...This is a great book for people wanting to get into fantasy, and I would say it's also okay for YA readers to delve into as well. I enjoyed the inner dialogue of Kel and Lin throughout the book, hearing their thoughts and decision making process brought these characters alive. Anyway, fantastic book, and I am excited for more.”
— Claire • Bright Side Bookshop
Summary
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Two outcasts find themselves caught in a web of dangerous magic and dark secrets that could change the world forever in the start of a riveting epic fantasy series from the author of The Shadowhunter Chronicles.
“Everything I look for in fantasy.”—George R. R. Martin
A POPSUGAR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
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?
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Reviews
“Expert worldbuilding, swordplay, and politics, a colorful cast of characters, and a story that kept me reading from the first page to the last.”—#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, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hell Bent
“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 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
“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 Expand reviews
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