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.