Hi again! As promised, in this post we are going to continue exploring the grishaverse and the world of Six Of Crows.

Now that we’ve already met the characters, I think it’s only right that we establish where all of this is taking place. Author Leigh Bardugo often explains she was heavily inspired by Russian history and geography so a lot of the locations we see in the books are based on real Russian places; Kerch is both a city in Crimea and in the grishaverse.

The world of Shadow and Bone is quite extensive so for today we will only focus on the setting for Six of Crows; Kerch and Fjerda.

In the books, Kerch is an island nation located in what is known as the True Sea. It’s best described as a sort of archipelago; it’s made up of one main island, three smaller islands, and multiple even smaller islands. Its capital city is Ketterdam, located on the main island. Some of the other islands are Imperjum (Known for its shipyards), Zierfoort, Terrenjel (Where Hellgate is located, a.k.a, where Matthias is imprisoned), Eli Komedie, Lij, and Vellgeluk. Because Kerch is in the middle of the main ocean, it’s connected to all the other fictional nations of Shadow and Bone; Novyi Zem, Fjerda, Ravka, and Shu Han.

The country is extremely wealthy (Considered the financial capital of this world) thanks to its access to the sea and trading capabilities. Because of this, they are able to be neutral and maintain political power as they act as lenders to poorer nations, like Ravka (We’ll talk about them in later posts). Kerch is understood to be an oligarchy as it is ruled by the ‘Merchant Council’, a group comprised of the thirteen most powerful Kerch families. Befittingly, Kerch religion focuses on the god of industry and commerce (Ghezen).

Even though it’s a rich nation, Kerch has the biggest criminal underworld of the Grishaverse; there are multiple gangs of thieves and smugglers, one of them being the Dregs (Who are main characters are a part of).

The second place Six of Crows takes place in is Fjerda. This country is a monarchy located to the north of Ravka with the True Sea to the west. It’s characterized by its cold weather and mountain range; Sikurzoi (Known as ‘the elbows’). The capital city is Djerholm which contains the greatest military stronghold in this universe, the Ice Court. It also has many smaller cities and towns; Engelsberg, Avfalle, Elling, Felsted, Gäfvalle, Gjela, Kejerut, Hjar, Halmhend, Overüt, and Kjerek.

The Ice Court contains two vital elements of Fjerda; Fjerdan nobility (Most importantly, the Grimjer Royal Family) and the drüskelle. The drüskelle are a group of ‘holy’ soldiers trained to capture and kill Grisha all over the continent. Fjerdans regard Grisha as dangerous and unnatural, which is why they are at war with Ravka, a country that has an army of trained Grisha. The drüskelle are said to be appointed by the will of Djel, one of the gods worshipped in Fjerda, he is believed to be the first Grisha hunter.

Well, I hope this brought a little bit of clarity to the geographical magnitude of the grishaverse. Now that we have the basic foundation, we’ll begin discussing the plot of Six of Crows in future blog posts.

Good morning! Continuing with my new year’s goals, in this post we are going to explore yet another fantasy series. This book can best be described as what would happen if you mixed teenagers, trauma, and magical powers (I know that this description can apply to a vast range of literature); today’s book is ‘Six of Crows’, by Leigh Bardugo.

Leigh Bardugo is an Israeli-American author, famous for her fantasy and paranormal fantasy novels. This book is actually part of her ‘Shadow and Bone’ saga. There are three previous books exploring the universe in which this book is set but with different characters and plotlines, it also has a sequel where some of the earlier characters make appearances, and some of its own characters appear in the last books of the saga. There is a lot of material to explore so we will keep talking about this saga for a few more blog posts to come.

There are six main characters in this story; Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, Jesper Fahey, Nina Zenik, Matthias Helvar, and Wylan Van Eck.

Kaz, nicknamed ‘Dirtyhands’, is the leader of a gang called the ‘Dregs’ and is known for his violent and ruthless character. When he was young, he and his brother Jordie were scammed by a man named Pekka Rollins which caused them to live on the streets so Jordie got sick and died. Kaz has the desire to get revenge on Rollins.

Inej, ‘the wraith’, is part of the ‘Dregs’ as a spy. As a child, her family were travelers and operated a circus so she is trained in acrobatics; she uses this for spying as Inej can easily climb buildings and maneuver through tight and unstable places. She was kidnapped by a woman named Tanta Heleen at fourteen. Heleen forces her to work in her brothel ‘indebted’ until Kaz pays off her debt and trains her to join his gang.

Jesper ‘sharpshooter’ Fahey. He was originally a university student in Ketterdam (The fictional city where ‘Six of Crows is set) but through his gambling addiction, he loses everything and goes into debt. After being unable to pay a lender, Jesper almost beat to death until Kaz saves him. Brekker realizes Jesper is a very talented marksman and invites him to join the ‘Dregs’.

Nina Zenik is what’s known as a Grisha, more specifically, a Corporalki. These are people who have the ability to manipulate the human body, there are other Grisha orders like the Etherealki who control natural elements such as fire, wind, water, etc and the Materialki which have the ability to control composite materials. Nina was originally part of the Grisha army until she is kidnapped by the drüskelle (Grisha hunters from a country called Fjerda) and sailed away to Fjerda. During the travel, the ship sinks. Nina and one drüskelle are the only survivors but as they return to Ketterdam, the drüskelle is arrested and Nina is contacted by Kaz as he wants to use her power for his gang.

Matthias Helvar is a Fjerdan soldier, more specifically, a drüskelle. He is the only survivor of the shipwreck along with Nina and is imprisoned in a place named Hellgate (You know a prison is awful if it’s literally called Hellgate). After years of harsh imprisonment, he is rescued by the ‘Dregs’ at the request of Nina.

Wylan Van Eck is the son of a Ketterdam merchant, Jan Van Eck. His father was extremely abusive with him as Wylan could never learn how to read or write. When his mother ‘died’ (We later discover his father hid her away to get rid of her) his father remarries a woman named Alys and once she gets pregnant, Jan attempts to have Wylan killed. He survives and begins working for the ‘Dregs’ creating bombs to be protected from his father.

The ‘Grishaverse’ is really one of the most vast and complex fantasy series I’ve ever read. The worldbuilding of Leigh Bardugo is truly insane; there is religious lore, intricate geographical composition, political and social conflicts, etc. In my next blog post, we will begin exploring the actual plot of ‘Six of Crows’ and how it ties in with the previous storylines and worldbuilding of the ‘Shadow and Bone’ saga.