King of Scars

by Leigh Bardugo

Nikolai Lantsov, King of Ravka, is trying to hold his country together in the wake of the war that ended the Shadow and Bone trilogy, while carrying private wounds that he can confide in almost no one. A duology following the political aftermath of the original trilogy, with Nikolai and his general Zoya Nazyalensky navigating a kingdom still fractured by war, a new religious movement, and threats from within the court and without. More explicitly political than its predecessors, and more interested in what it means to lead than in the discovery of power.

Part of Grishaverse

A fantasy world divided between the Ravkan Empire and its neighbours, where certain people are born with the ability to manipulate matter at its most fundamental level. These people are called Grisha, and their powers - over elements, living tissue, or the fabrication of materials - have made them both essential and feared. The world is politically unstable, riven by nationalism, religious suspicion of Grisha power, and the ambitions of several competing empires. At its edges sit stranger things: a fold of impenetrable darkness teeming with monsters, a city of canals and mercenary gangs, and the remnants of a civilisation that understood more about Grisha power than anyone alive. The series spans three interconnected storylines: a war epic about a girl who discovers a rare power that could change the world, a heist story following a crew of extraordinary criminals in a corrupt city-state, and a political thriller about two rulers trying to hold a fragile kingdom together, all set in the same world at roughly the same time.

Publication Order

1
King of Scars
2019
2
Rule of Wolves
2021