A return to the Grisaverse

 

King of Scars

Leigh Bardugo

Welcome to the Grisaverse! these days we are exposed to the monsterverse, DC Universe, Marvel universe . I think you get the picture. Now if you are familiar with the Netflix series "Shadow and Bone" you will find yourself very famiiar with this extension. Taking place after Sancta Alina defets the Darkling or the Starless one, King Nicolai is running the kingdom of Ravka. The kingdom is still beset by war, Fjerda eants to attack, Shu wants to attack and in different kingdoms the Grisha are being huntered down by Druxel . Grisha are witches and Druxell are witch hunters. The story starts off with a beast about to attack a young boy. Fortunately for the boy Zoya a general in the Ravkan army is there to save him. Yet, she does not kill the beast but rather leads him away. In the country of Fjerda they are rounding up Grisha. Nina has the job of getting them to Ravka safely. As Nina explores Fjerda she become aware that certain areas are contaminated with poison. The water is undrinkable.  Nina also gets communication from the dead. The dead are urging her to investigate the source of contamination.

The beast is in fact King Nicholai . When the Darkling was defeated he infected the king with part of his shadow. So every night the king must be chained up kind of like a werewolf to keep him from harming others and to keep his curse a secret. Ravka has no heir. He has got to get married. In Fjerda Nina investigates a factory where Grisha are being held like labrats forced to endure inhumane experiments. A drug that effects Grisha has been released out into the world. Parem is the name of the drug. It increases Grisha power manifold but it also wastes them away and kills them. Nina was hooked on that once before and beat the addiction. Not many cn beat the addiction. While spying on Fjerda they hole up in a nuns convent. They stay there and teach the language of Zemeni in exchange for food and lodging. The dead are calling out to Nina.

Back in the kingdom more statecraft ensues. Deals for new wr machines . Spies watching enemy countries trying to get wind of new miliatry machines. For king Nicholai the beast within is getting harder to control. The Apparat much like the clergy in Medievil Europe wileds great power and sometimes goes against royalty. A new monk arrives on the scene with other monks following. They wish to magnify the Darkling into a saint. The idea is appalling everyone wants this moink dead except for king Nicholai. He has a plan, a plan to help rid him of the beast and make use of Yuri the monk. So they take a journey to the Fold inn order to do a ritual to rid him o this beast. In Fjerda after securing lodging , Nina and her company investigate the factory that is dumping water into Fjerda's rivers. Inside the factory they are experimenting on Grisha with a synthetic version of Parem. They are weponizing magical workers.

Once in the fold both Zoya and Nicholai face sets of challenges and recieve some training as well. They will not leave the fold the same as when they went in there. Nina an company investigate the factory and attempt to rescue the imprisoned Grisha. A fine story to abn awesome series.