Rule of Wolves (2021)

*Premise spoilers.*

I had to go back and double check, because I thought I’d finished reviewing the last of the Grishaverse books, but I see now that I didn’t get this one in before I pivoted to Oscar movie reviews. So let’s swing back around and wrap up this final book with Nikolai, Zoya, Nina, and company!

Nikolai’s attempt to rid himself of the Darkling’s shadow demon in King of Scars not only failed to achieve what he wanted, it had unintended consequences that opened up a whole new calamity to try and protect Ravka from. As suspicion continues to swirl around him, he tries to clamp down on this new complication while also facing open war from Fjerda and malicious plots from the Shu queen. Meanwhile, in Fjerda, Nina and her new companion Hanne work together to spy on a Fjerdan general and members of the royal family.

For this duology, I think King of Scars is probably the stronger book. It’s tighter and feels a little more purposeful, whereas I think this one gets a bit lost at times. In the main plot, there are moments where the story feels spread too thin, like there’s too much to accomplish in wrapping up both this duology and the Grishaverse series as a whole. There are characters from earlier books brought in here, and not all of them feel as well-integrated as, say, the Shadow and Bone trilogy characters do in their cameos in The Crooked Kingdom.

But for all of that, I do still enjoy the book. Even if it feels a little busy at different points, it takes the characters in some interesting directions and manages to pull things together for a mostly-satisfying conclusion. I really like what this book does with Zoya’s journey, and the whole Nina plot is well done. We get conclusions for a wide array of characters, not just the protagonists of this duology, and I came away with an overall-better feeling than I did at the end of Ruin and Rising.

I also like that this book takes the most expansive view in the series of the Grishaverse world. In addition to the major plots set in Ravka and Fjerda, which intersect but also have plenty of separate elements, there are scenes set in Ketterdam and we see more of the Shu Han than we ever have before. Even though Ravka is still the country the series revolves around, there’s neat stuff to explore across this world, and I’m glad we have an opportunity to do that here.

Warnings

Violence, language, drinking, dark imagery, and strong thematic elements.