Shadow and Bone / Grishaverse book guide
“Shadow and Bone” series on Netflix is based on the books by Leigh Bardugo, the Grishaverse, and since I’ve seen some confusion, here’s a small guide to clear some things up and possibly answer the most frequent questions.
the Grisha trilogy
This is the story of Alina, the Darkling (”General Kirigan”) and Mal, and everything regarding the Fold in Ravka. Chronologically the begining. No Crows in sight.
t. 1 Shadow and Bone - adapted in the first season of the show
t. 2 Siege and Storm - (this is where Nikolai comes to play)
t. 3 Ruin and Rising
the Six of Crows duology
This is the story of the Crows (Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Nina, Matthias, Wylan) and their incredible heists in Ketterdam and Fjerda. Chronologically, takes place two years after the Grisha trilogy events, but can be read separately or before the trilogy. Slight spoilers for the post-trilogy situation in Ravka, but no exact spoilers of how things came to be that way. No Alina, Darkling, or Mal.
t. 1 Six of Crows
t. 2 Crooked Kingdom - (cameo appearance of some of the Grisha trilogy characters)
the Nikolai’s duology
This is the Ravkan story with Nikolai, Zoya, and Nina, as the main characters. Chronologically, half a year after the Six of Crows events. Contains major spoilers for both the Grisha trilogy and the Six of Crows duology, and cannot be read separately without the previous read of the other two series.
t. 1 King of Scars
t. 2. Rule of Wolves - (everyone makes a cameo appearance in some form)
Other books in the Grishaverse
The Language of Thorns. Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic - collection of folktales from Ravka, including Too Clever Fox.
The Lives of Saints - collection of the stories about Ravkan saints (featured as a prop in the Netflix show)
The Netflix “Shadow and Bone” Season 1 covers the events of the first Grisha trilogy book (”Shadow and Bone”). They added the characters from the Six of Crows duology (Kaz, Inej, Jesper), but their storyline is a new original material written for the show, and functions as some sort of prequel for their books. Nina and Matthias are also from the Six of Crows, but their storyline is lifted straight from the flashbacks in the books. Also the characters have been aged up, in the books they’re all teenagers and they are not running the Crow Club on their own.
*Milo the Goat is an original character and is not featured in any of the books.
UPDATE: Season 2 of the Netflix show covers main events from both "Siege and Storm" and "Ruin and Rising", the following two volumes of the Grisha trilogy. The Crows storyline up to episode 4 is based on some plot points in "Six of Crows" (like Kaz backstory) and "Crooked Kingdom", but mixes it up in an original way. After episode 4 it's an original storyline inspired by one of the short stories in "the Lives of Saints", and again the book is featured as a prop in the show. The final episode deviates heavily from book!canon. The Crows final scene hooks up for the plot of the "Six of Crows", meanwhile, the Bee foreshadows the "King of Scars".
*Dominik Vertov is a character from the "King of Scars" where he's been included in Nikolai's backstory.
