Spoiler-Free Review

I say “should” because this book had all the indications of things I’d like: royal politics, fantasy worldbuilding, multi-POV, a little magic. But ultimately, Sword Catcher fell short, and I found myself mostly bored.

What’s Sword Catcher about?

Kel, an orphan, is raised to be the crown prince’s body double – to fill in for him in places where they suspect attempts on the prince’s life. Meanwhile, Lin, a physician, fights prejudice to access life-saving medical information denied her as a Jewish (I mean Ashkari) woman.

It’s the exposition.

I found the first few chapters and the last few chapters most interesting. Everything in between was a slog, and I had to skim to not lose my mind.

There was near constant exposition – or telling instead of showing. Every scene was interrupted to fill us in with information I neither wanted nor needed. There’s always a degree of this expected in fantasy, but this was so much of the story that I never stayed immersed for long. It was like the pages kept ejecting me from the reading experience.

It wasn’t all bad. The characters were interesting and so was the premise; the concept of a royal body double who is expected to lay down his life if it comes to that is a unique one.

That said, about two-thirds of this book lacked much plot movement. Things were happening, but nothing was really happening. Much could have been cut away, in my opinion, and it would have been a better reading experience for it.

Let’s also discuss the Ashkari parts of the story. The Ashkari were definitely inspired by Judaism – they live in a designated neighborhood, must wear specific colors to identify themselves, and experience extreme prejudice and even genocide in neighboring countries. Many of them live in this country after arriving as refugees. I liked this aspect of the story, but some things were a bit too much on the nose (like the name Judah Makabi – that made me chuckle).

But, I already own the sequel so I suppose I’ll read it. I’ve heard from a trusted source that the sequel is better.

Should you read Sword Catcher?

If you’re a big Cassandra Clare fan already, you may enjoy this one. Her skill at building ensemble casts definitely carries over from the Shadowhunter universe. If you have a pretty high tolerance for exposition, you may not mind that aspect of the story so much. And if you also would take interest in a fantasy religion inspired by Judaism, then you’ll probably like Sword Catcher.