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Six of Crows #2.5
A Darker Shore: Letters from Ketterdam
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Leigh Bardugo comes a new Grishaverse short story: a mystery told through found documents and set after the events of Crooked Kingdom.
In the years since the violent upheaval caused by the auction of Kuwei Yul-Bo, the merchants of Ketterdam have been under attack. Secret businesses exposed. Ships sunk. Slavers hunted as they once hunted their victims. All the work of a mysterious sea captain and her ship, the Wraith.
Now, two investigators meet to uncover the truth behind the latest disaster: a massacre on an island off the shores of Ketterdam. Among the evidence collected is private correspondence between notorious crime boss Kaz Brekker and an anonymous sailor aboard the Wraith known only as “I.”
Follow along with the lead investigator as he tries to piece together how such a disaster transpired, and explore the Grishaverse like never before with new illustrations by E.K. Belsher and in-world collectible items.
In the years since the violent upheaval caused by the auction of Kuwei Yul-Bo, the merchants of Ketterdam have been under attack. Secret businesses exposed. Ships sunk. Slavers hunted as they once hunted their victims. All the work of a mysterious sea captain and her ship, the Wraith.
Now, two investigators meet to uncover the truth behind the latest disaster: a massacre on an island off the shores of Ketterdam. Among the evidence collected is private correspondence between notorious crime boss Kaz Brekker and an anonymous sailor aboard the Wraith known only as “I.”
Follow along with the lead investigator as he tries to piece together how such a disaster transpired, and explore the Grishaverse like never before with new illustrations by E.K. Belsher and in-world collectible items.
64 pages, Hardcover
First published June 30, 2026
About the author
Leigh Bardugo
87 books188k followersLeigh Bardugo is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Ninth House and the creator of the Grishaverse (now a Netflix original series) which spans the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, the King of Scars duology—and much more. Her short fiction has appeared in multiple anthologies including The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy. She lives in Los Angeles and is an associate fellow of Pauli Murray College at Yale University. For information on new releases and appearances, sign up for her newsletter.
She would be delighted if you visited her at LeighBardugo.com and fairly giddy if you liked her selfies on Instagram.
She would be delighted if you visited her at LeighBardugo.com and fairly giddy if you liked her selfies on Instagram.
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April 27, 2026Hello! I'm very excited for this to be on shelves in June, but I'm getting a lot of questions about the new "novella," so I want to be very clear: this is not a novella.
This is a short story told through found documents including letters (and music! and art!). It's a quick trip back to Ketterdam but an immersive one and I hope you'll feel like you're really part of the story. It's also a little puzzle that was so tricky to build and that I hope will be fun to solve.
Also, there is no digital edition (and honestly I don't know how we'd make audio work either but maybe some genius will figure it out). It had to be a physical object and that will all make sense when you dig into the story.
If you'd like to preorder, the link is here.
Signed and personalized editions are available for preorder here.
B&N special edition here.
If you're in the US or Canada, please don't forget to submit your receipts here to get the beautiful new poster by the incomparable Kevin Wada (while supplies last).
If you're located in another country and you'd like the preorder poster (while supplies last) and/or you'd like a signed edition, preorder here.
I hope you enjoy and thank you for celebrating ten years of the Crows with me.
No mourners and much love,
Leigh
This is a short story told through found documents including letters (and music! and art!). It's a quick trip back to Ketterdam but an immersive one and I hope you'll feel like you're really part of the story. It's also a little puzzle that was so tricky to build and that I hope will be fun to solve.
Also, there is no digital edition (and honestly I don't know how we'd make audio work either but maybe some genius will figure it out). It had to be a physical object and that will all make sense when you dig into the story.
If you'd like to preorder, the link is here.
Signed and personalized editions are available for preorder here.
B&N special edition here.
If you're in the US or Canada, please don't forget to submit your receipts here to get the beautiful new poster by the incomparable Kevin Wada (while supplies last).
If you're located in another country and you'd like the preorder poster (while supplies last) and/or you'd like a signed edition, preorder here.
I hope you enjoy and thank you for celebrating ten years of the Crows with me.
No mourners and much love,
Leigh
anticipated-releases
June 19, 2026And suddenly my life has meaning again
edit:
MY BOOK ARRIVED 11 DAYS EARLY WTF
edit:
MY BOOK ARRIVED 11 DAYS EARLY WTF
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October 12, 2025prepare to be sick of me because it’s safe to say i’m going absolutely feral over this release.
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June 22, 2026dot dot dot dot dot
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October 25, 2025Had to check the calender + pinch and slap myself. 😭🙏🏻 I've been deprived SM of one crow forever 😔✋🏻 but I neeeeeeeed this 🫴🏻
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January 4, 2026i will read whatever scraps of six of crows i can get
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October 1, 2025🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 NEW SIX OF CROWS BOOK THIS IS NOT A DRILL 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨
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October 2, 2025i sincerely apologise in advance for the person i will become once i get my hands on this 😌
WE ARE SO BACK
WE ARE SO BACK
July 10, 2026
Mama always told me to be careful who I love, and daddy always told me make sure he's right / I always had my eyes on this one particular guy, I was too shy, so I decided to write (4 Page Letter – Aaliyah).
Hey, this was an absolute treat! And I mean that in the strictest sense considering A Darker Shore doesn’t really add anything in the grander scheme of this Grishaverse but rather opts to give us more of Kaz’s classic shenanigans. In that regard, I don’t think anybody could call this short story required reading as it’s simply more of The Crow’s as we last saw them during Crooked Kingdom’s happily-ever-after epilogue. Kaz is still running scams in Ketterdam even though he’s a millionaire now, Inej is out at sea doing her whole The Punisher shtick by killing slavers, and Wylan and Jesper are gay and live in a mansion. See? It’s all as we left it! Now, the fanboy in me is just happy that the perfect ending these characters were given wasn’t trampled on for simple fanservice, but the more annoying, critical part of my brain can’t help but wonder… where is this going? Is A Darker Shore a prelude to a third Six of Crows book, or is this just a anniversary celebration of a beloved series that’s remained in our hearts and minds for about a decade now? A Darker Shore is a short story told from an in-universe perspective in which it stylistically represents a collection of letters sent between Inej and The Crows back home in Ketterdam. The framing device has us reading between the lines as a new hotshot “do-gooder” detective is following a paper trail in order to hopefully capture the notorious Kaz Brekker and get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the pirate captain of The Wraith; a ship that indulges in vigilante justice. What follows is a short, yet satisfying expansion of everything we’ve already learned in the duology and it’s fun because for once we exist on “the outside” of one of Kaz’s schemes, which only helps to remind us that the dirty bastard hasn’t lost a step in the intervening years. Which I guess is to say, Leigh Bardugo hasn’t lost a step since the release of Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, because even though the King of Scars duology was as entertaining as you can always expect with this series, I can’t lie that I was a little baffled at certain plot contrivances and the fact that so much of the focus seemed to be on world-building at the cost of character development. I’m just saying, I’d argue that Six of Crows is the best this fantasy universe has to offer, so it’s pretty wild that the King of Scars books turned it all back around and leaned so heavily on the Shadow and Bone mythos rather than venturning outward and featuring new characters.
It’s just that whenever there’s a narrower focus and a heavier emphasis on the importance of a few select characters, it can feel a little like Star Wars, you know? Where’s there’s only one family of plot important folks and the world-building can ironically feel lessened by the fact that we never get to see anybody with differing opinions or differing goals outside of rebuilding Ravka or fighting and/or joining forces with a reborn Darkling or whatever was going on in Rule of Wolves. Also, what kind of name is The Darkling anyway? Shit sounds like the third boss you’d fight as Mario on the way to Bowser. Anyway, one of the reasons why Six of Crows was so great was because it took on an entirely different tone from the Shadow and Bone trilogy and purposefully featured people on the ground who didn’t care about higher prospects or ideals like patriotism or saving the world, but rather their religion was greed and ruthlessness. And why wouldn’t it be their god when they’ve all chosen a wretched hive of scum and villainy like Ketterdam as their home? So yeah, I’d definitely like to see more from this universe, but I’d also like to follow different and new characters that aren’t constantly referencing things that happened in the past. Hey, it’s called the Grishaverse, right? So let’s make it actually feel like an entire universe, please. Let’s show some restraint and not have every story center around little boy Darkling or King Nikolai! Anyway, I realize this is an odd ask considering I’m literally in the middle of reviewing a short story that shows us more of the characters we love like Kaz and Inej, but… I don’t know, I guess I’m a hypocrite. Because damn, I could read a million tiny morsels of story that’s given to us featuring The Crows and I’d be happy forever. “'Cause, baby, I'd be satisfied forever with a couple years of this” and all that. Seriously, I’m still living off the high of a good ending, and I still think it’s the coolest thing how Inej became a pirate queen like Isabela from Dragon Age but goes around the world and hunts slavers like Zevran from Dragon Age. Maybe this is just an example of declining quality in popular literature, but it feels like it’s harder and harder to find an author willing to draw a hard line in the sand about objective truths like “slavery is bad.” I’m not saying that there are writers out there actually saying that they like slavery, but it feels like everybody tries to add nuance and depth to evil characters and evil actions in narrative fiction when the opposite should be an easy point to make.
“In those moments, I don’t know if I’m happy, but I know I’m free.”
In other words, slavery is bad and we should continue to say as much because we all know it. Well, except for maybe Lin-Manuel Miranda, who thought it was important to write an entire play humanizing slavers. Maybe he needs a bit of a reminder. But yeah, that’s why we always get the American X, Walking Dead, Slasher season three, “terribly racist guy with a hidden heart of gold” archetype more often than not. It’s because nobody wants to write a one note character, but in the constant need to add layers to people who would genuinely be terrible in real life, it can come across like making excuses. Something something "decline in reading comprehension" something something. It’s a little like how there’s a weird subsection of Star Wars fans who unironically believe that Luke’s blowing up the Death Star was some kind of morally ambiguous action. As if it's a deed that needs to be re-contextualized, and I'm sorry but… huh!? You mean the space station titled The Death Star that's controlled by a fascist emperor (who, by the way, is an evil wizard that shoots lightning out of his hands) of which its sole purpose is to commit mass genocide by blowing up planets is something that reevaluation? Because I don’t think there was much moral ambiguity in Luke’s decision there. And no, there weren't any innocent civilians who worked at a place called the Death Star. Don't worry, I can talk shit about Star Wars fans here because Star Wars fans are illiterate like Lea Michele. Anyway, I guess my point here is that it’s fun how Inej hunts and kills slavers and it’s fun how Kaz scams a bunch of blundering rich folks. Cool and good and morally just and cool and good. That’s all I have to say on the matter. Otherwise, and this will be a little embarrassing to admit, but I've never learned how to write in cursive (“school systems have failed us,” yada yada yada), and because of this, I felt like Davos Seaworth the way I was sounding words out, all reading at a slower pace. But yeah, outside of my own hiccups, I enjoyed the framing device because even though we didn’t get any exposition telling us exactly what was on these character’s minds, there’s still enough to go off of, even if for some reason you went into this without having read Six of Crows. For one, Inej’s handwriting is flows easily and beautifully while Kaz’s is rushed and blunt, which again, informs who these two are without the need to literally put it in writing.
But seeing as most people will read this with a wealth of knowledge concerning The Crows, I thought it would have been funny if a few of the coded letters were “Adam Levine sexting” levels of out of character. “Your body is absurd” and all that. Sure, I’m well aware that this wouldn’t actually be a good idea, but anything for a joke, right? No but really, speaking of coded messages, there’s also a little puzzle with an encrypted message within the sheet music for us to decipher… and yeah, I’m not about to do any of that. Sorry, but my Where’s Waldo days are long over and I’m just going to do the same thing I do whenever a new Resident Evil game comes out; let somebody else do the hard work and I’ll watch the walkthrough. Oh, I also appreciated the little swag bag full of stuff that because it was like Loot Crate all over again, #gamer! I was happy enough with a book full of words, but now I have a book with a cool sticker™! From the Crows Club playing card to The Wraith's pirate flag that I won't be putting up on my wall, I feel more like a super fan of Six of Crows than I’ve ever felt before. I'm a real Comic-con boy now! Really though, I've been doing some thinking, considering this book is full of material that’s meant to also exist in universe, does that mean with the calling card that I’ve actually been invited to join the crew? Because I think I'll have to pass on that one. Kaz isn't exactly a trustworthy boss, that's for sure. In fact, I’d probably end up like that one dude who gets left bleeding out on the floor after a botched deal like what happens in the first couple chapters of Six of Crows. With that in mind, I’m more than happy to remain a happy bystander to the schemes. Okay then, I think that’s all I have to say! I know I generally like to come across as flippant and unbothered, but I can’t lie about the sheer excitement I had in the weeks leading up to A Darker Shore (to the point where I reread both Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom). I completely and wholly love these books! All that's left to say is that Leigh Badugo has done it again. What’s “it,” you ask? Well, read this short story and find out, then you’ll know all about the wonders of “it!” And while I had hoped A Darker Shore would have hinted at potential plot points concerning the future of these characters, I’m more than happy to see whatever comes next first-hand in a potential third Six of Crows book. You know, should that ever actually happen or not. I’m happy regardless!
I'm sending him a four page letter, and I enclosed it with a kiss / And when I write him, he better… get it on time.
Hey, this was an absolute treat! And I mean that in the strictest sense considering A Darker Shore doesn’t really add anything in the grander scheme of this Grishaverse but rather opts to give us more of Kaz’s classic shenanigans. In that regard, I don’t think anybody could call this short story required reading as it’s simply more of The Crow’s as we last saw them during Crooked Kingdom’s happily-ever-after epilogue. Kaz is still running scams in Ketterdam even though he’s a millionaire now, Inej is out at sea doing her whole The Punisher shtick by killing slavers, and Wylan and Jesper are gay and live in a mansion. See? It’s all as we left it! Now, the fanboy in me is just happy that the perfect ending these characters were given wasn’t trampled on for simple fanservice, but the more annoying, critical part of my brain can’t help but wonder… where is this going? Is A Darker Shore a prelude to a third Six of Crows book, or is this just a anniversary celebration of a beloved series that’s remained in our hearts and minds for about a decade now? A Darker Shore is a short story told from an in-universe perspective in which it stylistically represents a collection of letters sent between Inej and The Crows back home in Ketterdam. The framing device has us reading between the lines as a new hotshot “do-gooder” detective is following a paper trail in order to hopefully capture the notorious Kaz Brekker and get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the pirate captain of The Wraith; a ship that indulges in vigilante justice. What follows is a short, yet satisfying expansion of everything we’ve already learned in the duology and it’s fun because for once we exist on “the outside” of one of Kaz’s schemes, which only helps to remind us that the dirty bastard hasn’t lost a step in the intervening years. Which I guess is to say, Leigh Bardugo hasn’t lost a step since the release of Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, because even though the King of Scars duology was as entertaining as you can always expect with this series, I can’t lie that I was a little baffled at certain plot contrivances and the fact that so much of the focus seemed to be on world-building at the cost of character development. I’m just saying, I’d argue that Six of Crows is the best this fantasy universe has to offer, so it’s pretty wild that the King of Scars books turned it all back around and leaned so heavily on the Shadow and Bone mythos rather than venturning outward and featuring new characters.
It’s just that whenever there’s a narrower focus and a heavier emphasis on the importance of a few select characters, it can feel a little like Star Wars, you know? Where’s there’s only one family of plot important folks and the world-building can ironically feel lessened by the fact that we never get to see anybody with differing opinions or differing goals outside of rebuilding Ravka or fighting and/or joining forces with a reborn Darkling or whatever was going on in Rule of Wolves. Also, what kind of name is The Darkling anyway? Shit sounds like the third boss you’d fight as Mario on the way to Bowser. Anyway, one of the reasons why Six of Crows was so great was because it took on an entirely different tone from the Shadow and Bone trilogy and purposefully featured people on the ground who didn’t care about higher prospects or ideals like patriotism or saving the world, but rather their religion was greed and ruthlessness. And why wouldn’t it be their god when they’ve all chosen a wretched hive of scum and villainy like Ketterdam as their home? So yeah, I’d definitely like to see more from this universe, but I’d also like to follow different and new characters that aren’t constantly referencing things that happened in the past. Hey, it’s called the Grishaverse, right? So let’s make it actually feel like an entire universe, please. Let’s show some restraint and not have every story center around little boy Darkling or King Nikolai! Anyway, I realize this is an odd ask considering I’m literally in the middle of reviewing a short story that shows us more of the characters we love like Kaz and Inej, but… I don’t know, I guess I’m a hypocrite. Because damn, I could read a million tiny morsels of story that’s given to us featuring The Crows and I’d be happy forever. “'Cause, baby, I'd be satisfied forever with a couple years of this” and all that. Seriously, I’m still living off the high of a good ending, and I still think it’s the coolest thing how Inej became a pirate queen like Isabela from Dragon Age but goes around the world and hunts slavers like Zevran from Dragon Age. Maybe this is just an example of declining quality in popular literature, but it feels like it’s harder and harder to find an author willing to draw a hard line in the sand about objective truths like “slavery is bad.” I’m not saying that there are writers out there actually saying that they like slavery, but it feels like everybody tries to add nuance and depth to evil characters and evil actions in narrative fiction when the opposite should be an easy point to make.
“In those moments, I don’t know if I’m happy, but I know I’m free.”
In other words, slavery is bad and we should continue to say as much because we all know it. Well, except for maybe Lin-Manuel Miranda, who thought it was important to write an entire play humanizing slavers. Maybe he needs a bit of a reminder. But yeah, that’s why we always get the American X, Walking Dead, Slasher season three, “terribly racist guy with a hidden heart of gold” archetype more often than not. It’s because nobody wants to write a one note character, but in the constant need to add layers to people who would genuinely be terrible in real life, it can come across like making excuses. Something something "decline in reading comprehension" something something. It’s a little like how there’s a weird subsection of Star Wars fans who unironically believe that Luke’s blowing up the Death Star was some kind of morally ambiguous action. As if it's a deed that needs to be re-contextualized, and I'm sorry but… huh!? You mean the space station titled The Death Star that's controlled by a fascist emperor (who, by the way, is an evil wizard that shoots lightning out of his hands) of which its sole purpose is to commit mass genocide by blowing up planets is something that reevaluation? Because I don’t think there was much moral ambiguity in Luke’s decision there. And no, there weren't any innocent civilians who worked at a place called the Death Star. Don't worry, I can talk shit about Star Wars fans here because Star Wars fans are illiterate like Lea Michele. Anyway, I guess my point here is that it’s fun how Inej hunts and kills slavers and it’s fun how Kaz scams a bunch of blundering rich folks. Cool and good and morally just and cool and good. That’s all I have to say on the matter. Otherwise, and this will be a little embarrassing to admit, but I've never learned how to write in cursive (“school systems have failed us,” yada yada yada), and because of this, I felt like Davos Seaworth the way I was sounding words out, all reading at a slower pace. But yeah, outside of my own hiccups, I enjoyed the framing device because even though we didn’t get any exposition telling us exactly what was on these character’s minds, there’s still enough to go off of, even if for some reason you went into this without having read Six of Crows. For one, Inej’s handwriting is flows easily and beautifully while Kaz’s is rushed and blunt, which again, informs who these two are without the need to literally put it in writing.
But seeing as most people will read this with a wealth of knowledge concerning The Crows, I thought it would have been funny if a few of the coded letters were “Adam Levine sexting” levels of out of character. “Your body is absurd” and all that. Sure, I’m well aware that this wouldn’t actually be a good idea, but anything for a joke, right? No but really, speaking of coded messages, there’s also a little puzzle with an encrypted message within the sheet music for us to decipher… and yeah, I’m not about to do any of that. Sorry, but my Where’s Waldo days are long over and I’m just going to do the same thing I do whenever a new Resident Evil game comes out; let somebody else do the hard work and I’ll watch the walkthrough. Oh, I also appreciated the little swag bag full of stuff that because it was like Loot Crate all over again, #gamer! I was happy enough with a book full of words, but now I have a book with a cool sticker™! From the Crows Club playing card to The Wraith's pirate flag that I won't be putting up on my wall, I feel more like a super fan of Six of Crows than I’ve ever felt before. I'm a real Comic-con boy now! Really though, I've been doing some thinking, considering this book is full of material that’s meant to also exist in universe, does that mean with the calling card that I’ve actually been invited to join the crew? Because I think I'll have to pass on that one. Kaz isn't exactly a trustworthy boss, that's for sure. In fact, I’d probably end up like that one dude who gets left bleeding out on the floor after a botched deal like what happens in the first couple chapters of Six of Crows. With that in mind, I’m more than happy to remain a happy bystander to the schemes. Okay then, I think that’s all I have to say! I know I generally like to come across as flippant and unbothered, but I can’t lie about the sheer excitement I had in the weeks leading up to A Darker Shore (to the point where I reread both Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom). I completely and wholly love these books! All that's left to say is that Leigh Badugo has done it again. What’s “it,” you ask? Well, read this short story and find out, then you’ll know all about the wonders of “it!” And while I had hoped A Darker Shore would have hinted at potential plot points concerning the future of these characters, I’m more than happy to see whatever comes next first-hand in a potential third Six of Crows book. You know, should that ever actually happen or not. I’m happy regardless!
I'm sending him a four page letter, and I enclosed it with a kiss / And when I write him, he better… get it on time.
Want to Read
June 30, 2026HAPPY RELEASE DAY
Want to Read
October 1, 2025SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP CELEBRATING EXPLODING SOBBING
Want to Read
October 1, 2025waterstones employees are scared and asking me to leave but i am sat.
Want to Read
February 20, 2026OMG THE COVER ASDFGJHLK
will we actually get to see kaz and inej exchanging love letters? 🤭
will we actually get to see kaz and inej exchanging love letters? 🤭
Want to Read
October 1, 2025OMG??!! is this my sign to re-read soc for the millionth time??
not-released-yet
November 1, 2025i need a blunt
Want to Read
October 1, 2025I Don't even care that this is only like 60 pages, it's Six of Crows content, and I must have it. I mean, I would love a full novel, but we cannot sacrifice another Crow. But this doesn't count... right? I am so sat.
July 1, 2026
5 stars. This is entirely biased of me, but A Darker Shore: Letters from Ketterdam was an absolute treat of a short story and reminded me of just how much I love the Crows, even ten years later.
Want to Read
October 3, 2025i will literally sell my soul for kaz and inej content
Want to Read
October 2, 2025AHHHHHHHHH HOLD ME BACK HOLD ME BACK
July 1, 2026
The fact that I got to hear Leigh Bardugo announce this live 😭
i love these characters too much to give this anything less than five stars
i love these characters too much to give this anything less than five stars
Want to Read
October 2, 2025I WANT TO SCREAM BUT I'M AT WORK
Want to Read
October 26, 2025im sick to my stomach im sick to my stomach "six of crows #2.5" oh my god i never thought i'd see the day oh my god im ILL
July 5, 2026
Deciphering Kanej's hidden messages in the letters was the cutest thing about this ("I'll return to Ketterdam and to you" LITERALLY SOBBING), and the last illustration of the two of them together... Apart from this, this little book of letters has no real substance, like Leigh, I respect you for this, but we need another FULL NOVEL of these two. Please and thank you.
Want to Read
October 1, 2025if you expect me to be calm about this you expect wrong
Want to Read
October 1, 2025Feral is not strong enough to describe how I’m about to be acting
Want to Read
February 20, 2026oh my god ive found a reason to live again
Want to Read
October 1, 2025THE SCREAM HEARD ROUND THE WORLD ARE YOU KIDDING MEEEEE
Want to Read
October 2, 202564 pages??????? Are you sure it's not supposed to be 640???? 😭😭😭😭
October 1, 2025
anything with the crows deserves a million stars
physical-tbr
October 2, 2025yesssss I've been waiting for this to be announced I don't even care how short it is 😆
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,120 reviews