Book Review :: King of Scars, by Leigh Bardugo

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
ISBN: 1510105662
Series: King of Scars #1, Grishaverse #6
Also in this series: Rule of Wolves, Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, Six of Crows, Demon in the Wood
Published by Hachette NZ
on 2019-01-29
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 514
Source: Hachette Publishing NZ
Find at Hachette NZ
Goodreads

Nikolai Lantsov has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war—and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, the young king must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army.

Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha Squaller, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried—and some wounds aren’t meant to heal.

Last updated on 14 October 2023

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King of Scars is another fantastic addition to the Grishaverse

By now you’ll probably know how much I enjoy Leigh Bardugo‘s books. I started off reading the Shadow and Bone series back in 2016, when it had already been out for while. I really enjoyed all three books in that series, but then I read the Six of Crows duology and my like turned into love. The Shadow and Bone books are good, they are (and I think you need to start with them if you haven’t read any of Bardugo’s books yet), but Six of Crows was better. But what about King of Scars, the first in a new duology?

I can confirm that this was a great book. I was so looking forward to getting my hands on a new Grishaverse book, and the lovely people at Hachette NZ sent me a copy.

What is King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo about?

King of Scars follows one of the characters we first meet back in Siege and Storm, the second book in the Shadow and Bone series. When we met him in those ‘early days’ he was immediately one of my favourite characters. I’m super stoked that Bardugo pulled him from that story and gave him his own duology.

Nikolai Lanstov is King of Ravka, but a King with a secret. When fighting the Darkling (the antagonist in the Shadow and Bone series) he was essentially infected with a piece of the Darkling, this dark power that now sits inside him in the form of a beast. Precautions are taken to ensure that the beast doesn’t take control of Nikolai and get out and wreck havoc, but those precautions don’t always work. As a potential cure for Nikolai is discovered, he and one of his Commanders, Zoya Nazyalensky, head out to search for it, along with Yuri, a priest who worships the Darkling (yeah, it’s complicated).

“There had been a time when words had been the only place he could find solace. No book ever lost patience with him or told him to sit still. When his tutors had thrown up their hands in frustration, it was the library that had taught Nikolai military history, strategy, chemistry, astronomy. Each spine had been an open door away whispering, ‘Come in, come in. Here is the land you’ve never seen before. Here is a place to hide when you’re frightened, to play when you’re bored, to rest when the world seems unkind.’”

Meanwhile, Nina Zenik (who you will recall from Six of Crows if you’ve read that) is up in the Fjerda with a team, sent there by Nikolai to find Grisha and protect them. As well as finding more than they bargained for, Nina is dealing with the loss of someone she loved, and trying to figure out what these new powers she posses are and how they work.

My thoughts on King of Scars

In case you couldn’t tell, I really enjoyed this book. Like I said, Nikolai was one of my favourite characters in the Shadow and Bone series, and Nina was a favourite in Six of Crows. As well as having two story lines following these faves, there were so many characters that were pulled from the other stories which was a joy to read.

The plot was a great combination of Nikolai and Zoya looking for a way to rid the King of the Darkling’s grip on him, as well as political alliances with the other countries near Ravka, the need for Nikolai to find himself a wife and produce an heir for Ravka, the mystery of the Apparat who is still up to no good, and then a of sneaky science and engineering happening under-the-radar.

My one little gripe with the book (and this is the only reason it didn’t quite make it to 5-stars) was that I felt like Nina needed her own book. While I get that the events that Nina is dealing with up in Fjerda and Nikolai’s story line will likely collide and it’ll wrap up nicely in the next book, I would have rather the two stories be separate, I think. We got less of Nikolai due to Nina’s chapters, and less of Nina’s due to Nikolai’s…and I just want them to have their own books. Which is silly, but there we have it. I am, however, looking forward to that presumable collision as the story continues in book two (which is currently still untitled).

Earlier in the year I re-read Shadow and Bone and Siege and Storm via audiobook (didn’t quite get to Ruin and Rising yet), and while I did really enjoy those books, I kept thinking while reading this book that Bardugo has really found her groove in the world she’s created. The Shadow and Bone series introduced us to this stunning land, and Six of Crows allowed us to adventure around it a bit more, but I really felt that in King of Scars she knows exactly how her world works, exactly how every country is different, how the characters relate to each other within it, and it just seems better, deeper, and more detailed than in the past series.

Can I read this before the other Grisha books?

You could…but I wouldn’t. The story takes place several years after the Shadow and Bone series (Six of Crows falls between them somewhere), so there is a lot of mentions of the events that occur in the other books. I definitely think you should read the books in the order they came out in, just because of references such as these, but it’s not necessary. You could get away with reading it ‘out of order’. Just be aware there might be comments and references that you don’t fully understand.

If you’ve read the other books in Barudgo’s Grishaverse then King of Scars is probably already on your TBR list or you’ve already read. If it’s the latter, what did you think? Let me know (without spoilers, if you can!) what you thought of the book! If you haven’t read any in this world, and you enjoy Young Adult fantasy books, then go and pick up Shadow and Bone.

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Thank you to Hachette Publishing NZ for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.