• Fiction / Fantasy / Epic 
• Fiction / Fantasy / Action & Adventure
• Fiction / Coming Of Age

Two outcasts find themselves caught in a web of forbidden love, dangerous magic, and dark secrets that could change the world forever in the start of a riveting epic fantasy series from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Shadowhunter Chronicles.

“It began with a crime. The theft of a boy.”

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 has been raised alongside the prince, trained in every aspect of combat and statecraft. He and Conor are close as brothers, but Kel knows he has one destiny: to die for Conor. No other future is possible.

Lin Caster is one of the Ashkar, a small community who still possess magical abilities. By law, they must live behind walls in the city, but Lin, a physician, ventures out to tend to the sick and dying of Castellane. Despite her skills, she cannot heal her best friend Mariam 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 criminal ruler of Castellane’s underworld. He offers them each what they want most; but as they descend into his world of intrigue and shadow, they discover a conspiracy of corruption that reaches from the darkest gutters of Castellane to the highest tower of its palaces. As long-kept secrets begin to unravel, they must ask themselves: Is knowledge worth the price of betrayal? Can forbidden love bring down a kingdom? And will Lin and Kel’s discoveries plunge their nation into war—and the world into chaos?

Story Locale:Fantasy world

• GROWING FANBASE: 50M COPIES IN PRINT WORLDWIDE AND 2M+ COMBINED SOCIAL FOLLOWING: Working “like magic in both bookstores and Hollywood” (USA Today), her addictive books have been made into both a movie (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones) and TV series (Shadowhunters).

• ADULT AND YA-CROSSOVER APPEAL: While this book is the most adult that the author has produced, it will still appeal to the author's legion of YA fans looking for a crossover book, as well as being perfect for the readers who grew up with her YA and are now looking for a more adult read.
• FROM YA TO ADULT: Sword Catcher marks the beginning of a new page in Clare’s writing career, as she is currently leaving YA behind and embarking on a new path in adult fantasy.
• FROM THE AUTHOR: “THE BIG DIFFERENCE TO ME IS that in YA, your characters are working on problems of identity: What kind of person am I? What are my values? What does it mean to love someone new? But the characters in Sword Catcher are in their early twenties, and they’re facing a different question: What does it mean to take on the responsibilities of adulthood?”