How far would you go to save the country you love? Would you rule over it, kill for it, spy for it? And what about the people within the country, good and bad? These are the central questions at the heart of Leigh Bardugo's newest novel, King of Scars. Readers enter the beloved Grishaverse with three familiar characters surrounded by whole new controversies. With claims to the throne, hidden Grisha, and new leaders, Ravka's future looks as uncertain as ever. But these three leaders won't give up easily, as they each grapple with that question: how far will they go?Leigh Bardugo is a #1 New York Times Bestselling author of fantasy novels, her most notable being those involved with the Grishaverse. Those include the Shadow and Bone Trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, The Language of Thorns, and The Lives of Saints. She's also received critical acclaim for her novel, Ninth House, which, along with some of the Grishaverse books, will be soon coming to TV! If you're interested in more of my reviews of Leigh Bardugo's work, you can find them all here.
Ravka's king. Ravka's general. Ravka's spy. Three of Bardugo's famed Grishaverse characters come together in this novel to save the country they loved, the country that saved them. King Nikolai Lantsov still has some of the Darkling's magic curled inside him, which only grows stronger with each passing day, threatening to destroy all Nikolai has built. Zoya Nazyalensky, the Squaller rebuilding the Grisha army, knows that her people need a strong country for safety, which needs to be headed by a strong king. Zoya will do anything for Nikolai, if it means helping her people. In Fjerda, Nina Zenik saves Grisha from certain death as part of Ravka's efforts to provide sanctuary for the Grisha, but she has her own demons and past to contend with. These three, all damaged by their own pasts and present, will risk everything to save their broken country, even though some broken things will remain broken.
Nikolai Lantsov, the charming boy king, begins the novel in a position of considerable weakness. For those familiar with Nikolai's past journeys with the Darkling from the Shadow and Bone trilogy, Nikolai loves control. The Darkling punished Nikolai by transforming him into a monster that causes Nikolai to lose control of himself during the night. Nikolai is uncomfortable and frightened by himself and this power, so when he learns of the opportunity to cure himself, he jumps at the chance of a cure. Nikolai's character development interests me, because he's someone who's confident and then becomes someone who's less so. Confidence ebbs and flows with situations, and Bardugo recognizes that concept with Nikolai and his experiences. Nikolai's development is also fascinating because he models all kinds of people: he's a leader, but also just a boy, he's confident but also insecure, he's funny but also scared. I think a lot of people can find themselves in Nikolai, which means everyone can benefit from seeing his arc within this story. So even though Nikolai's business is unfinished by the end of King of Scars, his character has already made tremendous progress.
Nina Zenik, part of Kaz Brekker's infamous Six of Crows crew, has her own unfinished business to attend to. While helping a network of Ravkan spies send Grisha to safety, Nina is also concerned with burying her dead lover, Matthais, in Fjerda. But her story soon diverges from that of Nikolai's and Zoya's, as she becomes invested in the dead girls that haunt her on her mission in the North. Nina has also been a strong-willed and independent character, and the fact that her storyline separates from the goals of the other two characters halfway through King of Scars proves it. But Nina has a lot to learn from the strong-willed and prejudiced people of Fjerda, even though she doesn't like them. At first, Nina doesn't seem to overcome any great character developments, but that's because her story runs a bit deeper than surface level. Nina is overcome by grief at Matthais's death, but by the end of the novel, she finds purpose again. For anyone who has dealt with loss, this is a transformation that can take anywhere from weeks to years to make. Nina undergoes it in the course of a novel she splits time with two other characters with. That is no small feat. Her purpose also combines something she loves (her people) with something she hates (the Fjerdans). But, with time, she might also begin to understand them, too. I'm curious to see how much farther her character and her journey will take her with the sequel to King of Scars.
Zoya's journey is certainly the most compelling. In the Shadow and Bone trilogy, Alina disliked her, and she seemed like your typical mean-girl archetype. But by Ruin and Rising, Bardugo admitted that writing Zoya's character was fun, and even some readers enjoyed Zoya's moments. Now, Zoya has room to shine. We finally learn her backstory and understand why she stood out to us as just the mean-girl, and Zoya becomes a force to reckon with. At the beginning, she might have been Nikolai's most trusted advisor and Commander of the Second Army. By the end, she's Nikolai's best friend and the most powerful and versatile Grisha in Ravka. Many have already commented on the tension between Nikolai and Zoya: they obviously want to be together, but don't think that's the best for their country, or what the other wants. By the end of King of Scars, my heart hurts most for Zoya, who has come into herself completely, but who has lost so much. All I can say on the subject without spoiling anything is that my big hope for Zoya is only one thing: that she stand up for what she wants without compromising for what Ravka needs. All three of these characters are selfless in multiple ways, and I think it would be good (realistic, really) to inject some of the greed back. I also think it would add more complexities to this novel: so far, these characters have fought, killed, spied, and ruled for Ravka -- but what will they do for themselves?
Something I have yet to comment on is how much I adore Bardugo's dialogue writing. Her characters are always either witty, or funny, or clever, which is true across the series she writes. It's difficult not to smile when Nikolai makes a charming remark or grimace when Zoya says something biting. But there's something more to these quippy comments back and forth between characters: the dialogue is a simple way to make the characters relatable. Zoya, Nikolai, and Nina have all been through trauma and tragedy I bet lots of readers can only begin to imagine. Their dialogue reminds us that they're real, that their pain is true, and that readers can still relate to them regardless (or because of) their pasts. I also feel like, because of the dialogue, I understood the characters and their pains better. Without their so-human interactions, they would fall flat. Luckily, Bardugo's dialogue helps them soar.
I can't quite understand how people could dock stars from this novel because of its ending! The ending was shocking and such a good cliff-hanger, and it reminds me of something Kaz Brekker often says: always hit where the mark isn't looking. No one could have guessed this is how these journeys would have panned out, and that is what makes it such a good ending. The ending shines in its unpredictability.
It is at this contested ending where the stories of these three characters come to a shocking close, for now. Only the next novel in the Nikolai Duology, releasing sometime in 2021, will give readers the answers they're dying for. Stay tuned for my review!
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