Six of Crows (2015)

Let’s go! I enjoyed the Shadow and Bone trilogy more than I necessarily expected I would, but this book was sitting there the whole time, waiting for me to get through Alina’s story. As soon as I finished Ruin and Rising, I was like, “Yes, let’s get into all the complex heists and gang rivalries and tragic backstories! I am here for it!” Six of Crows does not disappoint on that score.

Kaz, a ruthless young lieutenant in the gang the Dregs, makes waves in the crime-and-pleasure-filled city of Ketterdam. When one of the wealthy merchant class offers Kaz an incredible payout for a nearly-unthinkable heist, Kaz assembles his best people for the job: Inej the acrobatic indentured spy, Jesper the sharpshooting gambler, Nina the vivacious Grisha Heartrender, Matthias the zealous convict with vital intel, and Wylas the aristocratic fledgling explosives expert. Everyone has their part to play in scoring one of the biggest prizes Ketterdam’s ever seen, but there are countless opportunities for everything to go sideways.

Personally, I think following the Shadow and Bone trilogy with the Six of Crows duology was a smart move. There’s one more duology in the series that’s more closely tied to the events and characters of the original trilogy, but this is a completely new story with all new characters set in a different locale. While there are plenty of references to Ravka and other countries we’re familiar with from the first three books, along with allusions to Alina and some of the things she did, this book greatly expands the storytelling possibilities within the initial world Leigh Bardugo created. Even with things we’re already very familiar with, like Grisha power or the militantly anti-Grisha Fjerdans, Six of Crows gives us new insights and developments to explore.

It’s also just an entirely different sensibility. The Shadow and Bone trilogy is an old-fashioned Chosen One narrative, an epic in which the literal fate of the world rests on one teenage girl who’s only recently discovered how super-special she is. By contrast, Six of Crows is 100% a heist adventure, full of likable crooks, moral complexity, and meticulous strategies that require improvisation at the last minute when things go pear-shaped. The best analogy I can think of here is Star Wars: Shadow and Bone is the original trilogy, the epic hero’s tale, while Six of Crows is The Mandalorian, a story set within the same world but different in tone and tenor, less plugged in to the grander mythology.

A well-done heist story always makes for a good time, and this one is fun and exciting. We’ve got good suspense, both in terms of whether all our heroes will survive and just how far they’ll go to achieve their aims, and Kaz’s scheming is just the right mix of watertight and adapting-on-the-fly. Everyone’s unique skills are called on at various points in the story, everyone proves a liability at least once, and some of the characters have evolving feelings over whether it’s right to do the heist at all.

And then there are the characters. After watching Shadow and Bone, I was a little surprised to have a sextet instead of a trio, but given that the book is called Six of Crows, it obviously fits. Kaz, Inej, and Jesper remain my favorites, and they’re definitely the core three of the group, the ones with the most-established relationships and the longest tenure in the Dregs. It’s a genuine pleasure to watch them scheme together, argue, and lean on one another. But Nina and Matthias, whose backstory is shared in season one of the TV show, add an interesting dynamic to the group too. In particular, Matthias comes from a deeply-formative and disciplined religious/military background that puts him at odds with the slippery and flexible morality of his criminal acquaintances. And Wylus is the only one not yet introduced on the show, but after some initial, “Who’s this guy and why should I care?” reactions in the earlier chapters, I came to enjoy him well enough. (Still, Kaz, Inej, and Jesper for life.) The characters and the relationships between them fuel the snappy comedic dialogue and the tragic personal histories in organic ways, bringing both humor and pathos effectively.

I’ll end on a quick PSA: if you read Six of Crows, I would highly recommend having its sequel, The Crooked Kingdom, on hand before you finish it. While Bardugo doesn’t quite end on a Suzanne Collins-level cliffhanger, it’s definitely an ending that leaves you wanting to find out what happens next!

Warnings

Violence (including references to sexual abuse,) sexual references, language, drinking, disturbing imagery, and strong thematic elements (including slavery and prostitution.)