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Series · fantasy

Six of Crows

by Leigh Bardugo

The Six of Crows series by Leigh Bardugo has 2 books and is best read in publication order, starting with Six of Crows (2015).

Books
2 books
First published
2015
Status
completed
Last checked

Start here: Six of Crows (2015) — then read straight through in publication order.

Cover of Six of Crows, the first book in Six of Crows

Reading order

The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.

  1. Six of Crows

    Novel

    View book

  2. Crooked Kingdom

    Novel

    View book

About the Six of Crows series

Kaz Brekker is the most feared criminal in Ketterdam's Barrel district, and when he's offered a fortune to pull off an impossible heist -- breaking into an impenetrable ice fortress to steal a prisoner who could tip the balance of world power -- he assembles a crew of six outcasts to do it: a sharpshooter, a Heartrender, a runaway convict, a spy who can talk her way into anything, and a rich boy in over his head.

Set in the same Grishaverse world as the Shadow and Bone trilogy but following entirely different characters, this duology trades sweeping chosen-one fantasy for a tight, twisty heist plot: double-crosses, impossible odds, and a crew whose loyalty to each other is the real engine of the story. Two slow-burn romances (Kaz and Inej, Nina and Matthias) thread through the plotting without ever overtaking it, and each character's damage and backstory gets real weight rather than being decoration.

It's frequently cited as the stronger entry point into the Grishaverse: darker, funnier, and more morally complicated than the trilogy that came before it, with an ensemble cast readers tend to love harder than almost anything else Bardugo has written.

How to read this series

Two books, read in publication order: Six of Crows, then Crooked Kingdom, which continues directly from the first book's cliffhanger.

You do not need to read the Shadow and Bone trilogy first -- Six of Crows follows a completely different cast in a different city, and many readers and critics recommend starting the Grishaverse here instead. Familiarity with the trilogy adds some background on the wider magic system and world politics, but nothing in this duology depends on it.

Frequently asked questions

How many books are in the Six of Crows series?

Two: Six of Crows (2015) and Crooked Kingdom (2016), a complete duology.

What order should I read Six of Crows in?

Six of Crows, then Crooked Kingdom -- the second book continues directly from the first.

Do I need to read Shadow and Bone before Six of Crows?

No. It's set in the same Grishaverse but follows different characters in a different city, and can be read first or entirely on its own.

Is the Six of Crows duology finished?

Yes, it's a complete two-book story.

Is Six of Crows the basis for the Netflix show?

Its characters appeared in Netflix's Shadow and Bone series (seasons 1-2), which blended the two book series, but Netflix cancelled the show before a planned Six of Crows spin-off could be produced.

Reading order last verified .