This sampler is the first 11 chapters (around 270 pages) of Cassandra Clare’s first adult fantasy.

I am looking forward to reading the rest of this book/series as this is a lush fantasy world with complex characters, rules and morally grey issues. Cassandra’s writing has grown since her debut novel, City of Bones, and handles all these threads beautifully,

Yes, the world building at the start does slow the reading down as there’s so much to absorb, but it is worth it once you get your feet under its table.

I am very excited to read the rest of this book once it’s out later this year!

(In complete transparency, I was gifted a limited edition proof at a special book blogger event, hosted by PanMacmillan UK and Black Crow PR. I was gifted this for review in exchange for honest review/reaction and I am planning to read this slowly and savour it. I shall report back once I have finished the book)

As someone who loved reading the Mortal Instruments series I had high hopes for this novel and whilst I’ve only read an except, I was not disappointed.

As you would expect from Clare’s writing, this is an epic and complex high fantasy novel with incredibly intricate world building from the get-go. The prologue is stuffed with places, characters, history and enough plot to fully immerse you into this new world. Combine that with political intrigue, royal secrets and the beginnings of a rags to riches subplot and you have an intriguing start to what I hope is an excellent novel.

Thank you to Netgalley for this sample of Sword Catcher.
As a huge Cassandra Clare fan, I am eagerly anticipating the release of this book, her first adult fantasy series.
If the rest of the book/series is anything like this sample, I'm in for a treat!
I already feel like I know these characters really well and I can't wait to have adventures with them. The cover is stunning!

I enjoyed the sample, although it was a bit young for me personally. Would recommend to readers of the age 12 and up.

Wow, this is not my normal type of book, but I really liked it. Can’t wait for the book to be released so I can read the rest of it.
I hadn’t realised that this was a sampler, but was 4 hours of reading , so like reading a normal book.
I would recommend this book for book lovers, for some the strange names and vivid descriptions may be too much

After reading the mortal instruments series and really enjoying it. I was excited to pick this one up and I’m hooked. I can’t wait for this to be released so I can read the rest. Will 100% be buying the physical copy. Love it.

Finally finished the immortal instruments series and wanted to try something else from the same author…

I wasn’t disappointed really enjoyed it and will be buying a physical copy!!



4 ⭐️

OK I'm hooked, I need to know who the Rat King really is? Who is the spy within the walls? What will happen to Kas and Lin? Set in a world where magic has been removed, how will it be returned? The story revolves around 2 outcasts who find themselves at the centre of world altering change. I can't wait to see how the story evolves and feel very lucky to have read the sampler.

Things i enjoyed
The world building, although intense, was descriptive and imaginative.
The characters were memorable, loveable and i enjoyed their relationships.
The plot was interesting and well executed

Things i struggled with
There were a lot of characters and places and a lot of names to keep in mind
Sometimes the plot slowed down a few times throughout

Overall an enjoyable read, i would recommend to those who are a fan of adult fantasies, but maybe not if you're new to fantasy as it was very intricate and some may struggle to get their head around it all.

Thank you to NetGalley for this sampler.

All of the other samplers I've read have been a few chapters, so I was not expecting nearly 300 pages! It was difficut to invest so much time into half a book when I won't be able to read the rest for at least a few months..

The worldbuilding was great but I would have liked a little more action. I do realise that the pacing of 600-page fantasy novels can be slower than that of other genres, though, so that could just be me.

I was fortunate to receive an unreleased sampler from Net Galley.
My first thought whilst reading the prologue was this is loong. It was a bit of a slog to get through it but I'm glad that I did because I was engrossed.
The world building was fantastic, although a map and a list of important families would be a great addition to the published works.
I enjoyed the characters and I'm excited to see where this story will go, especially the dynamic between Lin, Kel and Conor.
I can guess a couple of things that might happen but I'm really hoping Cassandra Clare is giving us false clues and there's some big plot twists.
Super excited to read the full book!

Firstly, I want to preface this by saying the arc I got given was a sampler, so I haven’t read the whole thing.

With that being said, this book was filled with such rich world building. As any new fantasy novel, of course it’s going to be hard to understand at first but it was done beautifully, regardless.

The characters are also a mix of loveable and annoying which helps them to feel like real people. I hope i’m the later part of this book, they become even more 3 dimensional.

The only downside to this book so far has been the lack of action. Simply put, nothing has happened yet. There was a slight bit of action towards the end, but it was resolved and now, I’m back to wondering what the plot will be for the latter part of this book. I have a feeling, the purpose of this one is to set up for the rest of the series, which isn’t a bad thing, I was just expecting more.


Thanks NetGalley for the arc!

This is a fantastic introduction to Cassie Clare's new adult fantasy. Following Kell (the eponymous sword-catcher, a title bestowed upon those who exchange their life and future for the monarchy) and Lin (an Askhari physician), it introduces us to the vibrant, if sometimes seedy, city of Castellane as this pair become embroiled in a conspiracy against the crown. Clare's latest book is a feat of daring political intrigue and stuns with its attention to the nuances of fantasy politics. Its deftness when attending both to politics and romance is fantastic and I can't wait to read the rest of the book when it comes out this October!

Cassandra Clare was a staple on my teenage bookshelf and her books will forever hold their special place in my heart. I was super excited to be given the chance to read and review a sample of her new adult book!

The first few chapters of the book are very slow, but they are packed full of world building and fabulous detail - expected of CC! I really was able to envision everything in my mind. Once I finished the prologue I was swept away into the rich world of politics, high fantasy and towards the end of the sampler it really did start to get interesting!

I'm giving this book 3 stars, based on what I have read because of the slow start. I think a three star review is very fair and once the book is published I will definitely buy a copy and who knows, maybe my three will become four or five. Another interesting book from Cassandra Clare.

An absolute thrill to read. Just like all her other books, Cassandra Clare writes fantastical creative books for us to carry round in our head when normal life becomes a little bit boring.

I received a sampler ARC from Netgalley.
There were only 11 chapters in the sampler and it felt like they went on forever. It felt as though it were one large prologue.
I have read nearly every Clare book to date but this is a high fantasy that should not be compared to her previois works.

The world building and character development was well done but i wanted more action or intrigue.

Despite all of this I must say I love that despute her fantasy writing she is able to make social commentary calling out sexism, absurd gender roles and racism. I love even more the fact that despite being set in a form of middle aged world there is a clear inclusion and acceptance of queer people, even a reference to a gay king who simply ised a surrogate tk produce an heir.

I look forward to reading the rest of the story as it was seemed like the plot was startjng to pick up in pace and entertainment.

My expectations were high when I started reading this, even though I've only read Cassandra Clare's City of Bones until now. I know how popular she is and I know she's a great author, so a new adult fantasy series from her sounds so exciting!

First things first, I really hope the finished copy comes with at least one map, although two maps would be really useful: one for the whole world and one for the city. There are many places mentioned and I had such a hard time picturing and memorizing them. And since we're talking about memorizing...

There are too many character names. I wish there was a cheat sheet with all the families, their Charters and the connections between them because it was too much. By the time that I've reached the middle of the book, I couldn't even keep track of the secondary characters and I got them mixed up. But I think most of the name dropping was unnecessary at this point in the series.

When I started reading Sword Catcher, it felt like the prologue would never end. It was finally over at 13%, which is a lot for a prologue, in my opinion. I get that we need some context for what was going on and some of the information in there was really helpful, but it could've been shorter.

This actually applies to the whole book. There's a lot of description and don't get me wrong, Cassandra Clare's descriptions are so magical and vivid; I could feel Castellane coming to life around me as I was reading about it. It's such a rich world and I love that we're exploring it bit by bit, but there was too much description and too little action. At about 60% of the book, something finally happened and I was so excited! Shortly after, the book ended so abruptly that I thought my ARC was incomplete (I'm still not sure about this and I will need to check).

I love the main characters and everything about them, I love the political intrigue, I love the fact that it's an adult fantasy with no sex (so far), I love the writing and overall it's a good book; I want to know what happens next and I can't wait for the sequel! I just wish the first half of the book had more action and less info dump.

Thank you to NetGalley for the sampler..which I did not realise it was.

This review is therefore based on approximately the first half of the book. Kel is plucked from an orphanage as a child in order to be raised alongside the prince and become his guard, or sword catcher as it were. Trained to take his place whenever the situation calls for it, by wearing a magical talisman that makes anyone who doesn’t know his true identity believe that he is the prince. You’ll have to take the word of the character that is highly trained to defend the Prince, as there is zero evidence of it during the first half.

Whilst the world building is vivid and wonderfully high fantasy, the chapters I was able to read are lacking. Only towards the end of the sampler did any of the characters begin to be of any interest to me.

The chapters also read as very long, and I all seem to try too hard to be political, ending up a mess of names and places no one really cares about enough to remember.

I’d have happily carried on to read what seemed about to become a more captivating story in the second half, but given that this book isn’t released until October and I’d probably have to start over I don’t think I will. A shame really as I’m a huge Cassandra Clare fan.

This was an absolutely gripping begging to this highly anticipated release. It was so thrilling and exciting. Im so happy CC is branching out and writing adult fantasy!

The beginnings of an epic tale, with all the right ingredients…
A Prince, a couple of orphans, limited magic, noble houses, feuding countries, political intrigue, thieves and cutthroats. And that is all beautifully set out in the first 250ish pages!

I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this book so that I can dive back into this thrilling, can’t put down novel.

A big thanks to #PanMacmillan and #NetGallery for this advanced sampler of #SwordCatcher by Cassandra Clare.