Leigh Bardugo

Leigh Bardugo is an American fantasy author whose Grishaverse novels — including Six of Crows and Shadow and Bone — built one of the most popular and elaborately imagined worlds in contemporary YA fantasy.

Leigh Bardugo built the Grishaverse across multiple series set in a world of Russian-inspired kingdoms, elemental magic called the Small Science, and baroque political intrigue. Shadow and Bone introduced the world and its system of magic, but it was Six of Crows, published in 2015, that cemented her reputation. The heist novel centered on a morally grey crew of thieves planning an impossible break-in to a fortified city, and its ensemble cast — each character carrying a specific wound and a specific skill — earned devoted fans who would follow them anywhere.

Six of Crows and its sequel Crooked Kingdom are Bardugo at her best: tightly plotted, emotionally generous, and genuinely funny in ways that heightened fantasy rarely manages. The relationship dynamics between the six protagonists, particularly the slow-burn romance between Kaz and Inej, are handled with care that rewards readers who invest in the emotional architecture as well as the heist mechanics. King of Scars and Rule of Wolves, which follow the Nikolai Lantsov storyline, are competent continuations if less electrifying.

Bardugo’s worldbuilding has attracted some criticism for its loose analogues to real-world cultures — the Grishaverse’s ethnic and political geography borrows heavily from Slavic and East Asian references without always engaging deeply with what those references carry. Her plotting can also become convoluted in later volumes. But she is one of the most readable and emotionally intelligent voices in current fantasy, and Six of Crows in particular is as well-executed as the genre gets.