The prisoner is a chemist who has created a drug called jurda parem that turns Grisha into powerful weapons. In Six of Crows, the first novel in the duology, a merchant named Jan Van Eck hires teenage criminal mastermind Kaz Brekker to break a prisoner out of the Ice Court, the most heavily guarded stronghold in the nation of Fjerda. Relationships between the various countries are complicated and often intersect with attitudes towards Grisha Fjerda, for example, views Grisha with suspicion and even trains people called drüskelle to hunt them, whereas Ravka employs Grisha as soldiers.

Other important regions include Fjerda (based on Scandinavia), Ravka (based on Russia), Shu Han (based on China), and Novyi Zem (less analogous to any particular place but loosely based on Australia and the Americas). Though slavery is technically illegal in Kerch, indentured servitude is common and often coerced one of the novel’s main characters, Inej, is a survivor of this system.

Citations in this study guide refer to the first edition hardcover volume published by Henry Holt and Co.Ĭontent Warning: The source material contains depictions of human trafficking, sexual abuse, physical abuse, substance abuse, and ableism.Ĭrooked Kingdom takes place in the city of Ketterdam in Kerch, a merchant-controlled country in Bardugo’s Grishaverse that is based on the Netherlands. The adaptation, which draws from both Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone Trilogy and the Six of Crows Duology, premiered in 2021. The Dregs and the rest of the Grishaverse inspired the Netflix drama series entitled Shadow and Bone. The novel takes inspiration from heist fiction and alternates between the viewpoints of various Dregs, a crew of teenage criminals who enact daring schemes and fight for revenge and redemption in a gritty, fictionalized version of 19th-century Europe. Crooked Kingdom earned a starred review from Kirkus Reviews and was nominated for a 2016 Goodreads Choice Award in the category of Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction. The fantasy world takes its name from the Grisha, individuals with the power to control the elements of nature, the workings of the human body, and inorganic matter. Published in 2016, Leigh Bardugo’s young adult novel Crooked Kingdom is the sequel to Six of Crows the two form a duology set in Bardugo’s broader Grishaverse.

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