I just finished reading Rules of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo and now it is time to do another all-encompassing review of a popular YA series. I am also just in time for the Shadow and Bone series that starts streaming on Netflix tomorrow, which is based on the Grishaverse novels. I am really looking forward to watching the series, even if the original Shadow and Bone trilogy is not my favourite of Bardugo’s novels. The Six of Crows duology, on the other hand, are two of my favourite YA novels and really got me invested in the Grishaverse. I also really enjoyed the King of Scars duology, which includes Rules of Wolves.

The Grishaverse takes its name from the Grisha, who are like magicians, but they call magic the Small Science because they cannot conjure things out of thin air, instead they manipulate matter. There are different classifications of Grisha depending on the type of matter they can manipulate, which I am not going to get into in this review. The thing about the Grisha is that even though they are powerful, they are second class citizens in their world. They are feared by ordinary people, they are hunted and tortured, and they are enslaved by others for nefarious purposes.

The Shadow and Bone trilogy are the original novels in the Grishaverse and they focus on the fictional country of Ravka which is based on Imperial Russia. Although still feared and despised by ordinary people in Ravka, the Grisha have been accepted by the Kings of Ravka and form what is called the Second Army (the First Army is made up of ordinary humans, of course).

Ravka is constantly at war with its neighbouring countries, especially with the country to the north, Fjerda (which gives off major Nazi Germany vibes. They really hate the Grisha), but in the Shadow and Bone trilogy, Ravka descends into civil war when the Darkling (a very powerful and immortal, but evil, Grisha) thinks he has finally found what he needs to finally elevate the Grisha from being second class citizens and to wipe out their enemies: Alina Starkov. Alina is the central protagonist of the Shadow and Bone trilogy. She is an orphan working as a cartographer’s assistant in the First Army who discovers that not only is she a Grisha, but she is also a rare form of Grisha that was thought to no longer exist: A Sun Summoner. Her ability to summon light is the only thing that can save Ravka from the Shadow Fold, which is a swath of darkness that cuts Ravka in two and separates the main part of the country from its western coast. The Shadow Fold grows larger every year and it is not easy to traverse as there are deadly creatures called volcra living in it.

I was not blown away by the Shadow and Bone trilogy, I think because I was not really invested in the characters (I really hope the Netflix series improves upon the novels); however, that did not stop me from reading the next two Grishaverse novels, Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. I think that Bardugo really hit her stride with Six of Crows. She expands upon the world that she started creating in Shadow and Bone and the characters are both more diverse and more interesting. These novels are set after the events of Shadow and Bone mostly take place in the island nation of Kerch, which is the centre of international trade and the centre of crime in the Grishaverse. Six of Crows feels almost like an adult novel with its depiction of crime, gambling, prostitution, and slavery. The main character is a criminal mastermind named Kaz Brekker who will do anything for money. He is offered what is thought to be an impossible job: to break into the Ice Court of Fjerda to rescue a scientist named Bo-Yul-Bayur (who created a drug called jurda parem that is highly addictive to Grisha and weakens them), and if he is successful, he will receive a whole lot of cheddar. Now this is what I love the most about Six of Crows, it is essentially a heist novel that will have you on the edge of your seat. I know Kaz sounds like he might be a total wanker, but there is more to him that meets the eye, and besides, the gang he recruits to help him with the heist is full of fantastic, compelling characters that you will root for (they are even going to be in the Netflix series even though they do not appear in Shadow and Bone. The series’ writers have created a “prequel” story for them).

King of Scars and Rule of Wolves are the culmination of the Grishaverse so far (Bardugo has said that Rule of Wolves will be the last Grishaverse book for a while. I hope that means the sequel to Ninth House is coming soon). Both novels bring back characters from the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology. The central characters are King Nikolai Lantsov and his Grisha general, Zoya Nazyalensky (both from Shadow and Bone), and Nina Zenik, a Grisha that was part of Kaz’s gang in Six of Crows. The King of Scars duology is set after Six of Crows; Nikolai is trying to rebuild Ravka after the events of Shadow and Bone and he is trying to be a better ruler than the previous Lantsov Kings. One of many problems he has, though, is the demon that lives inside of him and keeps transforming him into a monster that escapes from his palace looking for something to eat. Zoya is one of the few people that knows about Nikolai’s demon and tries to help him find a way to get rid of it. Nikolai and Zoya also have feelings for each other but cannot act of them because 1) Nikolai needs to make a politically advantageous match and 2) they do not think the ordinary people of Ravka would be happy with a Grisha Queen.

Another problem is that Fjerda, the Grisha-hating nation that uses jurda parem to subdue and control Grisha, is chomping at the bit to go to war and thinks that it is the perfect time to occupy Ravka while it is weak and mass genocide the Grisha. What Fjerda does not know is that Nikolai has an undercover spy in Fjerda, Nina, who is trying to sabotage Fjerda’s war plans from within while at the same time encouraging some Fjerdans’ newfound faith in the Grisha saints.

King of Scars and Rule of Wolves are both political novels with Nikolai and his cohorts trying to either negotiate help with the war from potential allies or trying to negotiate peace, and I know that politics can be boring, but I actually found these novels to be interesting and compelling enough that I hard time putting them down. Bardugo expands even further on her world building by introducing us to Shu Han, a nation to the South of Ravka and based on Mongolia and China, and telling the story from multiple points of view, not just from Nikolai, Zoya and Nina’s perspective. My only criticism is that Bardugo brings back a villain from the earlier Grishaverse novels, a plot device that I am really starting to hate. I feel like it diminishes the protagonists’ accomplishments in defeating the villain, in good triumphing over evil, etc. etc. And it feels like lazy writing to recycle a villain.

In conclusion, I highly recommend the Grishaverse, especially the Six of Crows duology and the King of Scars duology. I do not think you need to read the Shadow and Bone trilogy in order to enjoy Six of Crows, but you will need to read the trilogy to understand that is going on in King of Scars, and I think the trilogy is still worth reading even if it is not as good as the other novels.