Meet the Ragpicker King from Cassandra Clare’s ‘Sword Catcher’

Happy Monday! Cassandra Clare is on a well-deserved break after her Chain of Thorns tour so things are pretty slow. Subscribers to her newsletter did get a short update, though. We got a new snippet from Cassie’s upcoming novel Sword Catcher, a character portrait of the (probably) infamous Ragpicker King and more.

Let’s have a look:

Beside her was a very tall, very slender man dressed in black. Not Merren’s rusty student black; this man’s clothes were rich and expensive-looking, from his velvet frock coat to the blackthorn cane upon which he rested his left hand. A gold ring bearing the sigil of a bird —a magpie, Kel thought —gleamed on his finger. His eyes were the only thing about him that was neither black or white. They were a very dark green, and seemed to hold a strange light inside them. He said, “Do you know who I am?”

The Ragpicker King, also called the King of the City, introduced himself to Cassie’s readers:

Art by Sasha Lee Coleman (sashac_art on IG)

Well, hello there. I’m the Ragpicker King. What’s your real name, I hear you ask? Well, I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you. It’s not a joke by any means. I once invited three well known criminals to dinner, as I needed advice regarding a thorny problem (nothing you’d be interested in as it involved a shipload of stolen poppy powder and avoiding the ill-tempered tax officials at the customs house) – anyway, we had a jolly time, but at the end of the whole affair, just as the flaming custard tart was being served, I had them all executed. They knew far too much about my business for me to let them live. Hard to have friends in my line of work, you know.

And what is my line of work? Well, crime, obviously. You needn’t act as if I’m ashamed of it. I’m not some grubby Crawler, clambering up people’s walls and through their windows to steal their jewels while they sleep. I’m a businessman, as much as any merchant or trader. As important to the running of the city as the nobles living high up on the Hill. They call me the King in the City, just as Markus Aurelian is the King on the Hill. He comes to his place by blood, while I took mine with skill and cunning. But we are far more alike than we are different. We each have power. We are each feared in our city. And we each protect our people fiercely. The lowest pickpocket knows he walks beneath the protective shadow of my outstretched hand. Just as the King’s son, Conor, walks wrapped in the shielding armor of the Aurelian name.

Like I said. We are more alike than different. Markus knows it, though I shouldn’t say more about Markus. My job is not an easy one to get, but it is an even more difficult one to keep. And things have been uneasy in the city these days, what with young criminal upstarts like Prosper Beck thinking they can seize my place. Others have tried and failed, my boy. And this time I have a new weapon on my side, someone who knows everything there is to know about the secrets of the royals and the activities on the Hill. They call him the Sword Catcher….

The Ragpicker King definitely sounds like an interesting character. And how intriguing that there is someone who wants to replace him!
Before Castellane’s number one criminal, Cassie also introduced us to Lin Caster a while ago. Click here if you want to meet her.

If you are also (im)patiently waiting for Sword Catcher to be published and want it to be a success, you can pre-order it now, or add it to your TBR on Goodreads. According to Cassie “it’s a number publishers look at closely when they’re promoting a book – and every bit really helps!”

Pre-orders/purchases of Chain of Thorns certainly made the book a success:

Then I was blown away to find out that The Last Hours was #1 on the New York Times Childrens Series List! The series list is a very big deal, and that achievement is all on you, so thank you for being the best fans in the world!

(Yes, it’s considered a “Children’s Series” as the NYT mashes everything not “adult” onto one list. Which is why it’s such a tough list to get onto!)

Congratulations once again, Cassie! ♥

She also said that although she is on a break, we’d still be getting updates on social media and in her newsletters. Furthermore, Cassie is “working toward the Publishing Secrets of Blackthorn Hall project – which has definitely grown!”

That’s the news for now. Have a great week and don’t forget that Sword Catcher is published on October 10!