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Where to start with The Grishaverse

The Grishaverse is Leigh Bardugo's fantasy world centered on the kingdom of Ravka, and its books can be entered from more than one place. This guide picks three books, one to open each of three of its series.

Where to start

Readers split on where to begin. Shadow and Bone is the first book published and opens the trilogy that introduced Ravka, while Six of Crows follows a crew of young criminals in a heist story and is a popular place to start.

King of Scars follows characters from the first trilogy years later, so it is best saved for after the others. The books are young adult fantasy with violence and some dark themes, so check them before handing them to a younger reader.

Three places to start

These three books are starting points, listed by year of publication, and not the whole world. The rest of each series is left out, along with The Language of Thorns, a collection of fairy tales set in the same world.

  1. Shadow and Bone

    Leigh Bardugo

    An orphaned mapmaker in the army of a kingdom at war discovers a rare power and is taken to a court of magical soldiers. It opens the Shadow and Bone trilogy.

    Starting point 1 of 3, published 2012.

  2. Six of Crows

    Leigh Bardugo

    A criminal mastermind in a city of thieves assembles a crew of outcasts for a nearly impossible heist. It opens the Six of Crows duology.

    Starting point 2 of 3, published 2015.

  3. King of Scars

    Leigh Bardugo

    A young ruler of Ravka faces a country in trouble and a dangerous secret of his own, in a duology set years after the first trilogy.

    Starting point 3 of 3, published 2019.

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