King of Scars
core novel 2019 The Grishaverse
Record
| First published | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.15 (239,566 ratings, collected 2026-09-14) |
| Page count | 527 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9781250142283 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
King of Scars finds King Nikolai Lantsov trying to rebuild a Ravka left exhausted by civil war, all while secretly struggling to control a monstrous affliction left behind by the Darkling, who infected him with a piece of his own dark power. His close friend and general Zoya works alongside him as he turns to Ravka's Saints and the shadowy Cult of the Starless Saint in a bid to find a way to rid himself of the threat within. In a parallel thread, the spy Nina Zenik operates in the hostile nation of Fjerda, where she works to rescue Grisha women and children who are being hunted, drugged, and exploited by the authorities there.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Grishaverse
- Series: King of Scars Duology core; position 1 of 2 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Leigh Bardugo
Awards (verified)
- Readers' Choice Award (Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction), 2019: finalist; Corrected from an assumed win: the award body's own announcement post shows the winner was The Wicked King by Holly Black.
- Locus Award (Best Young Adult Book), 2020: finalist; 9th of 10 finalists (Locus poll/juried-shortlist convention, no cutoff threshold); winner was Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee.
Notes
- From the series record (King of Scars Duology): A closed 2-book sequence following King Nikolai Lantsov (a Shadow and Bone trilogy supporting character), set after both the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology, drawing characters from each into one plot -- the clearest textual evidence that this project treats the whole Grishaverse as one continuous multi-generational-scale Core saga (the same precedent already applied to Kushiel's Legacy, Sevenwaters and Tortall) rather than three unrelated universes.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series King of Scars Duology: position 1 of 2: next Rule of Wolves (2021)
- Internal chronology, within The Grishaverse: position 3 of 7: previous Six of Crows (2015) · next Siege and Storm (2013)
Sources
- leighbardugo.com - Reading Order
- Wikipedia - King of Scars
- Announcing the Winners of the 2019 Readers' Choice Awards
- sfadb - Locus Awards 2020
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