The Sword Catcher: A Complex World Filled with Complex Characters

 This kind of review is one I rarely give, especially since I don't give official reviews like this often and haven't done so at all for at least a couple of decades. The reason this review is unusual is because I have yet to actually finish the book I'm reading.

As the title says, the book is called The Sword Catcher, by author by Cassandra Clare. 

I've been an avid fantasy reader since my freshman year of high school, when I read Terry Brooks's 1977 bestseller, the Sword of Shannara. Having come fresh off of a reading of The Hobbit for my English class that year, I noticed the similarities and thought I might find it fun to read. Ever since then, I've voraciously devoured every piece of sci-fi and fantasy literature and media that tickles my fancy, from Star Trek, to Battlestar Galactica, to Star Wars. Fast forward 30+ years and now I'm reading the above mentioned title.

The story of The Sword Catcher is one that, despite this 30+ years of reading fantasy and sci-fi, I have honestly never seen before. It has many of the usual fantasy staples: kings, magic, medieval-ish setting, but the uniqueness of the story comes from its perspective of the story's protagonist Kel, who is chosen at an early age to be plucked from the life of an orphan to that of bodyguard to the crown prince of the kingdom.

What follows is a tale of comaraderie and political intrigue that involves the seemingly simple stakes of the Crown Prince being thousands of gold pieces in debt, only to have things end up being far more complex than that, as these novels usually tend to be. Suffice to say, there's far more at stake here than a few thousand gold coins.

I hope to finish the book within the next week, and based on what I've read so far, I'll be starting the sequel, The Ragpicker King, as soon as I do.

Happy Reading!