On the Six of Crows

I am a book lover, and I’ve lived in lots of worlds. From Hercule Poirot to Percy Jackson to Harry Potter, and Aragorn to Eragon, I’ve befriended many fictional characters.

I read so much that my family bought me books for my birthday and for Christmas, but they often found themselves wondering if I already have that book or this.

In Christmas of 2015 I got a beautiful-looking book from my mom. A crow’s wing extended down the cover, and the edges of the pages were black. I immediately read the inner part of the book jacket, as it was a new novel and thus a hard cover. It described a heist and six dangerous characters. My interest was piqued, and it was the first book I read from the pile. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo soon lead to a fresh new fandom to consume my soul.

The first character we meet is Joost, the guard who only wanted the attention of a girl and a mustache. Although Joost’s role is short lived, he will live on forever as one of my favorite book beginnings. I mean, aside from the first chapter of The Hobbit, no first chapter has ever sunk its teeth in me so hard that I can remember the very first words: “Joost had two problems: the moon and his mustache.”

Soon after Joost, we meet our six main characters, the Crows, who are a part of a gang called the Dregs. Every single character, no matter how major or minor a role they played, was well-written. They all had their own unique motivations and world views, and they drove the plot. One character was very devout, and her motivation was freedom from her indenture. Another character believed in nothing but himself and in greed, and his motivation came from getting revenge from a man who ruined his life. Every character has their own failings, and they were imperfect, just like real people. One character had a gambling addiction, and another was raised to hate an entire race. Bardugo is a master of writing characters who they never fail to capture my attention. Most young adult books have characters that have little in the way of personality so that readers can insert themselves and feel like a part of the story. Bardugo’s characters have strong personalities and opinions, allowing readers to connect with them on a deeper level. It was less of projecting my own opinions and feelings onto characters, but rather that the characters were helping me to understand myself and build my own personality.

My favorite character is Inej Ghafa. She is a strong female character who trusts in her saints and her own abilities. She has her morals, and she never loses her sense of herself. Her romantic interest is a man who pretends that she is nothing more than an investment and an asset, but instead of bending to his needs, like many female characters seem to do, she forces him to do better and be better. Inej never loses sight of her ultimate goal for freedom, and she doesn’t give that up for anyone, not even her romantic interest. She is a character type that I have not seen very often in literature. I, along with so many other people, aspire to be like her and to be strong like her.

Putting aside the fantastic characters, Bardugo’s world is beautifully thought out and executed. There are normal people, and there are the Grisha. The Grisha do not study magic, and in fact they do not like being called magicians. They study the Small Science, which focuses on the nature of the world and its manipulation. There are different orders of Grisha: the Materialki, who can manipulate physical things such as metal and rock, the Etherealki, who can manipulate the elements such as water and air and fire, and the Corparalki, who can manipulate living things such as people. There is a lot of tension between the Grisha and normal people, and Ravka is the only country that accepts them as equal citizens.

The Grishaverse world has many countries. The Six of Crows duology only takes place in a couple of those countries, but Bardugo has written and is still writing more stories set in this world. Six of Crows is set in Ketterdam, a city in the country of Kerch. The city is similar to Amsterdam if Amsterdam were a criminal outpost. Kerch is led by a Council of Merchants, and Greed is the only god they pray to. They are a society that only cares about how much money they can make and as a result has become a home for thieves and merchants and all kinds of unsavory types.

The Crows travel to a country called Fjerda which is in the northernmost part of the world. The country is covered in ice and snow, and the people there are hard and cold. Fjerdans are a militaristic country, and they believe women are not fit for fighting or battle. They are prejudiced against the Grisha and view them as witches and as perversions of nature. Fjerdans hunt Grisha, put them on trials and burn them. The Crows were hired to break into the Ice Court, which is a fortress on an ice cliff that is the military headquarters of Fjerda. It was built to be impenetrable, but the Fjerdans had something dangerous that the characters needed to steal.

The world is rather small compared to ours, but it is believable. There is a clearly defined set of physics for the world, and Bardugo never surpasses them in ways that are nonsensical or absurd. Every country has their own problems and their own opinion of everyone else. Although Six of Crows does not focus on politics, Bardugo’s newest duology, King of Scars, does. She writes the realities and the impossible loops of the world politics extremely well because the politics are based on each country's own desires and beliefs. Bardugo writes her countries like she writes her characters, creating a fictional experience that submerges and consumes you. She puts in the time and effort to ensure that she stays true to every person and country's background and motivations.

The plot to the Six of Crows was entertaining and action-packed, however the plot was not as important as the characters. The plot was a continuous flow that had no strange holes or inconsistencies but was driven by what the characters wanted and what they did to get that. Bardugo’s characters are so realistic that the plot was about their choices and their lives. They were not chosen to save the world because they were “the chosen ones,” as is a common trope, but rather they decided to go on this job because they wanted money and freedom and a step towards the future they wanted for themselves.

The Crows had a saying, “No mourners, no funerals.” It meant that as thieves and scoundrels, no one would miss them if they died. They knew the risks of their work, but they did it anyway. They would die disgraced and overlooked, just another body on the Reaper’s Barge, but they could spend what life they had clawing their way to the top or living in misery. There are so many quotes from the duology that hit hard, and some force you to analyze your relationship standards and make them even higher.

Six of Crows is a fast read because of the characters and how they interact with each other and the world around them. Their lives are some of the most realistic I have read in a fantasy setting such as this one. I would highly recommend everyone to read it, and I have gotten my best friend obsessed with the world. The Netflix show Shadow and Bone, which is based on the first series set in this world, is where many people have fallen in love with the world, but the characters are more full and beautiful on paper.