Six of Crows

Written by Leigh Bardugo

I was introduced to the Grishaverse through the Netflix Series—Shadow and Bone. I was mesmerised by Ravka and the world that Leigh had built. From the intricate concept of the Small Science wielded by the Grisha to the charismatic performance of the Darkling by Ben Barnes. But amongst the many fantastic concept of the Grishaverse and the world that Leigh had built, I felt that the crows—Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa and Jesper Fahey—stole the entire show.

My interest in the Grishaverse brought me into Leigh’s books. I started with the original trilogy—Shadow and Bone—and later continued with Six of Crows. Coming into Six of Crows, I felt quite neutral (even disappointed) on the story that I have read in the original trilogy. The original trilogy felt like a collection of fanfiction filled with a rather cringe interactions and a storyline that I had deemed full of plot holes. I started reading Six of Crows with a low expectation while looking forward to once again meet the crows who had became my center of attention when I watched the show. What comes next was something I had never expected.

Six of Crows somehow felt like it was written by a different author. Leigh adopted a third-person point of view through a cast of viewpoint characters—the crows. This was a contrast to the first-person point of view that she had adopted in the original trilogy. Already, I have felt that she managed to cover more grounds that was absolutely necessary but had been missing in her storytelling. Six of Crows highlighted the intricacies of Ketterdam, something that had been missing in her telling of Ravka. But most importantly, Six of Crows managed to tell a coherent and immersive story about six important characters. And it does so brilliantly.

The premise of the book is rather simple. It had been adopted by many others in other forms of media—Ocean 11, Money Heist, and Army of the Dead to name a few. It is a story about a group of different individuals who needed to settle their differences in order to overcome a huge challenge. With such a premise, the story needed to have a strong cast of character in order for the plot to work and Six of Crows delivered exceptionally.

Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, Jesper Fahey, Wylan van Eck, Nina Zenik, and Matthias Helvar. These are the crows. The book revolved around these characters and they have each been given an incredible backstory. I wouldn’t want to go into much details because that would ruin the experience of reading the book. However it is incredible knowing how each of these characters were united over a common goal despite their uncommon “true goal”.

Leigh highlighted each of the character’s past and how their past make them who they are. All of them became a cast that each have distinct personalities, keeping every interactions fresh and fun for the readers. Despite their differences—and even until the very end they still have their differences—they sucked it all up and accomplished their goal. But the main strength of Six of Crows was not exactly how the characters drove the plot but rather the characters themselves.

Being critical about the book, Six of Crows does not exactly have a strong plot. It follows a generic trope that have been used over and over again. However, it is the best decision Leigh could ever made. Six of Crows have a simple plot that is easy to follow, hell even if you don’t pay attention much to the story, you could very much predict what is going to happen in the overarching narrative. But I believe that this is intended.

Six of Crows wanted the reader to focus on the characters. How they were before the heist, how they interacted during the heist, and most importantly how they essentially became a family throughout the process. It forced the reader to give a lot of damn about the crows. It made you care about them so much, it created tension and suspense even in the most simplest of scenario. There will be many instances where the readers would cry in their heart wishing that none of these cast were taken away from them. Through that, the book exemplify its story. Making a relatively basic thriller much more thrilling.

Six of Crows taught me the importance of character. It highlighted Leigh’s strength as a writer—that is her care and detail she would give in her characters. The book had made me looked through the character descriptions that I have made for my own book over and over again. I grew to idolise Leigh’s character building and would even consider myself envious of her ability to create such an amazing cast. On top of that, it made me realise how much Leigh had grown as a writer. It gave me hope—believing that there is always a room for improvement.

At the time of writing this, I am reading the second entry to Six of Crows. Crooked Kingdom. I am thrilled to see how Leigh would utilise her well-built characters into a climatic end to her duology. And from what I have read so far, I believe that Leigh Bardugo—with her Six of Crows Duology—might have just actually created one of the best fantasy worlds with one of the best cast of characters ever.

No Mourners, No Funerals.

The Dregs