King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo (King of Scars Duology, #1)
King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo (King of Scars Duology, #1)
King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo begins the King of Scars duology, a Grishaverse fantasy following Nikolai Lantsov as he fights to save Ravka while confronting the dark magic growing within him.
Face your demons…or feed them.
Nikolai has always had a gift for the impossible. With enemies gathering at his weakened borders, the young king must refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the Grisha Army. What he endured during his country’s bloody civil war is a secret he intends to keep.
But the darkness inside him grows stronger each day, threatening everything he has built. With a young monk and a legendary Grisha general, Nikolai journeys to the places where Ravka’s deepest magic survives. He will risk everything to save his country and himself, but some secrets are not meant to stay buried.
Book details
- Author: Leigh Bardugo
- Series: King of Scars Duology, Book 1
- Set in the Grishaverse, the world brought to the screen in Netflix’s Shadow and Bone
- Locus Award finalist
Reading order
Start the duology with King of Scars, then continue with Rule of Wolves.
Praise
“[Bardugo] touches on religion, class, family, love — all organically, all effortlessly, all cloaked in the weight of a post-war reckoning with the cost (literal and figurative) of surviving the events that shape both people and nations.” — NPR
“The story exists at an intersection of past and future selves, and in the dawning understanding that what you most fear may be what you most need.” — Washington Post
