Six of Crows

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This fantasy epic from the No. 1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of the Shadow & Bone trilogy and international Netflix sensation is perfect for fans of George R. R. Martin, Sarah J. Maas and Laini Taylor.

Praise for the Grishaverse:
"This is what fantasy is for." The New York Times Book Review

Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams - but he can't pull it off alone.

A convict with a thirst for revenge.
A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.
A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist.

Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction - if they don't kill each other first.

An epic exploration of the Grishaverse from the writer of SHADOW AND BONE, SIEGE AND STORM and RUIN AND RISING, nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal.

Read all the books in the Grishaverse:

The Shadow and Bone Trilogy
Shadow and Bone
Siege and Storm
Ruin and Rising

The Six of Crows Duology
Six of Crows
Crooked Kingdom

The King of Scars Duology
King of Scars
Rule of Wolves

Demon in the Wood (a Darkling prequel story)

The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic
The Lives of Saints

Praise for the Grishaverse

"A master of fantasy." - The Huffington Post
"Utterly, extremely bewitching." - Guardian
"The best magic universe since Harry Potter." - Bustle
"This is what fantasy is for." - The New York Times Book Review
"[A] world that feels real enough to have its own passport stamp." -NPR
"The darker it gets for the good guys, the better." - Entertainment Weekly
"Sultry, sweeping and picturesque. . . . Impossible to put down." - USA Today
"There's a level of emotional and historical sophistication within Bardugo's original epic fantasy that sets it apart." - Vanity Fair
"Unlike anything I've ever read." -Veronica Roth, bestselling author of Divergent
"Bardugo crafts a first-rate adventure, a poignant romance, and an intriguing mystery!" -Rick Riordan, bestselling author of the Percy Jackson series

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

When the score of a lifetime presents itself, criminal mastermind Kaz Brekker assembles a crack team of talented outcasts. Their mission: to rescue a prisoner from the most secure prison in the world, so that the secrets he holds can be exploited by the right people. As Kaz and his compatriots put together a daring plan, they contend with old grudges, mistrust, lingering secrets, and deadly rivalries. Naturally, things go wrong once they start their mission, and now they must escape the very prison they sneaked into. Bardugo expands on the world of her Grisha trilogy with this series opener, which marries heist and action conventions with magic and mystery. Her characters are damaged, complex, and relatable, and her worldbuilding is ambitiously detailed. As various characters' backstories unfold, Bardugo reveals intriguing new depths and surprises. This has all the right elements to keep readers enthralled: a cunning leader with a plan for every occasion, nigh-impossible odds, an entertainingly combative team of skilled misfits, a twisty plot, and a nerve-wracking cliffhanger. Ages 12-up. Agent: Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary & Media. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

School Library Journal Review

Gr 7 Up-Bardugo has created a wildly imaginative story of six young people who have been commissioned to pull off the greatest heist of all time. They are to nab the creator of jurda parem, a highly addictive product that enhances the innate paranormal powers of the Grisha peoples, in the hopes of creating weapons of war that will upset the balance of power and destroy the economies of rival governments. Kaz, the hero of the story and mastermind of the plot, recruits five others to aid in his quest for revenge for the loss of his brother and the promise of vast wealth. Taking what could have been stock characters of young adult fiction-the loner, the rebel, the outcast, and the con artist, the author has fashioned fully fleshed out, dynamic protagonists who will engage and enchant readers. What a thrill it is to return to the world she created with her popular "Grisha Trilogy" (Holt). While the unresolved ending may frustrate some teens, the promise of a sequel will give them hope that this unsettling, captivating, magical journey will continue.-Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage Public Library, AK © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Bardugo returns to the gritty Grishaverse, the setting for her popular Shadow and Bone series, with a thrilling tale of double-crosses, buried secrets, and one fantastic heist. Kaz Brekker runs a tight ship as lieutenant of his street gang, and when a high-class merchant offers him a dangerous job breaking a scientist out of a notoriously secure prison he initially balks, but 30 million kruge is tough to turn down. It's an incredibly risky gambit, but with a highly skilled, if ragtag, team behind him and his own boundless daring driving them headlong toward their goal, Kaz is sure they can pull it off. Bardugo drops readers right into the midst of her richly layered fantasy world and the lives of Kaz's dynamic team, artfully weaving details and backstories throughout the speedy plot. Though the story gets off to a relatively slow start, once Kaz's team embarks on their quest, the twists and turns are dizzying. The whirlwind pace, along with some witty banter, burgeoning romance, and high-stakes action, makes this series opener a surefire crowd-pleaser. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Banking on the success of Bardugo's Shadow and Bone trilogy, this new Grishaverse series will have fans lined up around the block.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2015 Booklist

Horn Book Review

In Ketterdam, a port city in the same fantasy universe as Bardugos Grisha trilogy (starting with Shadow and Bone, rev. 7/12), thief lord Kaz Brekker is made a lucrative offer: if he can infiltrate the impregnable Fjerdan citadel and retrieve the scientist Bo Yul-Bayur, who faces a death sentence for inventing a drug that illegally intensifies magical abilities, the merchant council of Ketterdam will pay him thirty million kruge. Kaz assembles his team: Inej, an acrobatic thief; Jesper, a sharpshooter who likes to gamble; Wylan, an explosives expert; Nina, a Grisha who can render others unconscious by magically slowing their hearts; and Matthias, a Fjerdan witch-hunter familiar with the citadel. Each one with his or her own agendabut once the heist starts, nothing goes according to plan. Beginning with a robust plot structure, Bardugo kicks up the action with dilemmas tailor-made for each of her characters, not least Kaz, who hides the trauma of his brothers death beneath an eminently self-confident exterior. Romance, tentative and fragile, makes an appearance between several characters and is slapped down by fate; magic saves the day thanks to the strength of the outlaw drug, but at a terrible cost. From her ne plus ultra climax, Bardugo sweeps on to snatch away the happy ending (and set up the plot arc for a possible sequel)an exciting beginning to a new sequence from a fantasy author swiftly becoming a talent to watch. anita l. burkam (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

Adolescent criminals seek the haul of a lifetime in a fantasyland at the beginning of its industrial age. The dangerous city of Ketterdam is governed by the Merchant Council, but in reality, large sectors of the city are given over to gangs who run the gambling dens and brothels. The underworld's rising star is 17-year-old Kaz Brekker, known as Dirtyhands for his brutal amorality. Kaz walks with chronic pain from an old injury, but that doesn't stop him from utterly destroying any rivals. When a councilman offers him an unimaginable reward to rescue a kidnapped foreign chemist30 million kruge!Kaz knows just the team he needs to assemble. There's Inej, an itinerant acrobat captured by slavers and sold to a brothel, now a spy for Kaz; the Grisha Nina, with the magical ability to calm and heal; Matthias the zealot, hunter of Grishas and caught in a hopeless spiral of love and vengeance with Nina; Wylan, the privileged boy with an engineer's skills; and Jesper, a sharpshooter who keeps flirting with Wylan. Bardugo broadens the universe she created in the Grisha Trilogy, sending her protagonists around countries that resemble post-Renaissance northern Europe, where technology develops in concert with the magic that's both coveted and despised. It's a highly successful venture, leaving enough open questions to cause readers to eagerly await Volume 2. Cracking page-turner with a multiethnic band of misfits with differing sexual orientations who satisfyingly, believably jell into a family. (Fantasy. 14 up) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.