Leigh Bardugo is one of the best female authors in the world, known for her young adult fantasy books, and now she’s even forayed into the adult category with some of her new books!
So, if you’ve been meaning to start reading her novels but didn’t know exactly where to start or in what order to read them, this article is for you. In it, I’ve featured all Leigh Bardugo books in order so that you can start reading them and thoroughly enjoy her writing style.
Although the author is very popular in the fantasy category of the literary world, some of you might have discovered her through Netflix’s Shadow and Bone TV series, which was adapted from her books.
But it doesn’t matter how you discovered her as long as you choose to read her books. Whether you just found her books or have had her novels on your TBR for a long time, it’s never too late to start reading her extensive work, which has been well-received by readers worldwide.
So, let’s not waste any more time and check out the best order to read Leigh Bardugo’s books this year!
Best Leigh Bardugo Reading Order:
Leigh Bardugo has written multiple books across different series, but her Grishaverse novels are some of her most popular works. But she’s also written other novels; below, you’ll find them all!
Grishaverse Books:
- Shadow & Bone Trilogy:
- Six of Crows Duology:
- King of Scars Duology:
- Companion Books (Novellas & Short Stories):
Alex Stern Series:
- Ninth House (2019)
- Hell Bent (2023)
- Untitled 3rd Book (TBA)
Standalone Novels:
In addition to these books, Leigh Bardugo has written short stories for several anthologies. She also wrote Wonder Woman: Warbringer, which was published in 2017 as part of the DC Icons lineup of novels!
How to Read Leigh Bardugo Books in Order of Publication?
If you haven’t read any books by Leigh Bardugo, you should start with her Grishaverse novels because they are excellent.
If YA fantasy isn’t your thing and you’d like to start with something a bit more mature, then you can start her Alex Stern series or read The Familiar, which is a standalone novel.
However, you can also read Leigh Bardugo’s books in the order of their release date. This publication order is not that different from the chronological order.
Follow the below list if you want to read all Leigh Bardugo books in order of their release:
- Demon in the Wood (2022) – Grishaverse Series
- The Witch of Duva (2012) (in The Language of Thorns) – Grishaverse Series
- Shadow and Bone (2012) – Grishaverse Series
- Siege and Storm (2013) – Grishaverse Series
- The Too-Clever Fox (2013) (in The Language of Thorns) – Grishaverse Series
- Little Knife (2014) (in The Language of Thorns) – Grishaverse Series
- Ruin and Rising (2014) – Grishaverse Series
- Six of Crows (2015) – Grishaverse Series
- Crooked Kingdom (2016) – Grishaverse Series
- King of Scars (2019) – Grishaverse Series
- Rule of Wolves (2021) – Grishaverse Series
- The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic (2017) – Grishaverse Series
- Ninth House (2019) – Alex Stern Series
- The Lives of Saints (2020) – Grishaverse Series
- Hell Bent (2023) – Alex Stern Series
- The Familiar (2024) – Standalone Novel
If I had to recommend the best Leigh Bardugo reading order, I’d tell you to read the books according to their series. Pick one book series, preferably the Shadow and Bone trilogy, then work your way through the other Grishaverse novels and novellas. Once you are done with that, read her other books!
Whatever you decide, I have already mentioned the reading orders that you should follow. So, with that out of the way, let’s talk a little about all the books by Leigh Bardugo!
Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse Books in Order:
1. Shadow and Bone (2012)
Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near-impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free.
Soon, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha!
2. Siege and Storm (2013)
Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. But she can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.
The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world.
With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic.
She must choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her—or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.
3. Ruin and Rising (2014)
The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne, and the nation’s fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.
Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.
Alina must forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova’s amplifiers. But as she unravels the Darkling’s secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of their bond and the power she wields.
4. Six of Crows (2015)
Ketterdam is a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker.
Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he must assemble a crew, as he can’t pull it off alone…
A convict with a thirst for revenge.
A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager.
A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender who uses her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.
Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first!
5. Crooked Kingdom (2016)
Kaz Brekker and his crew of deadly outcasts have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re right back to fighting for their lives.
Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team’s fragile loyalties.
A war will be waged on the city’s dark and twisting streets – a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.
6. King of Scars (2019)
The dashing young king, Nikolai Lantsov, has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war—and he intends to keep it that way.
Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, Nikolai must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army.
Yet every day, a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha general, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him.
He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried—and some wounds aren’t meant to heal.
7. Rule of Wolves (2021)
The Demon King. As Fjerda’s massive army prepares to invade, Nikolai Lantsov will summon every bit of his ingenuity and charm—and even the monster within—to win this fight. But a dark threat looms that cannot be defeated by a young king’s gift for the impossible.
The Stormwitch. Zoya Nazyalensky has lost too much to war. She saw her mentor die and her worst enemy resurrected, and she refuses to bury another friend. Now, duty demands she embrace her powers to become the weapon her country needs. No matter the cost.
The Queen of Mourning. Deep undercover, Nina Zenik risks discovery and death as she wages war on Fjerda from inside its capital. However, her desire for revenge may cost her country its chance at freedom and Nina the opportunity to heal her grieving heart.
Leigh Bardugo’s Alex Stern Series in Order:
1. Ninth House (2019)
Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse.
By age twenty, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?
Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players.
But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive!
2. Hell Bent (2023)
Find a gateway to the underworld. Steal a soul out of hell. It is a simple plan, except people who make this journey rarely return. But Galaxy “Alex” Stern is determined to break Darlington out of purgatory―even if it costs her a future at Lethe and at Yale.
Forbidden from attempting a rescue, Alex and Dawes can’t call on the Ninth House for help, so they assemble a team of dubious allies to save the gentleman of Lethe.
Together, they will have to navigate a maze of arcane texts and bizarre artifacts to uncover the societies’ most closely guarded secrets and break every rule doing it.
But when faculty members begin to die off, Alex knows these aren’t just accidents. Something deadly is at work in New Haven, and if she is going to survive, she’ll have to reckon with the monsters of her past and a darkness built into the university’s very walls.
Leigh Bardugo’s Standalone Novel:
1. The Familiar (2024)
In a shabby house on a shabby street in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers her talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to better the family’s social position.
What begins as simple amusement for the bored nobility takes a perilous turn when Luzia garners the notice of Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain’s king. Still reeling from the defeat of his armada, the king is desperate for any advantage in the war against England’s heretic queen—and Pérez will stop at nothing to regain the king’s favor.
Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men, and hucksters, where the line between magic, science, and fraud is never certain.
But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition’s wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive—even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santangel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.
Conclusion
Reading Leigh Bardugo’s books is a must if you are a fantasy nerd, and if you haven’t done so already, now is a good time!
If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed about reading all of Leigh Bardugo books in order, and didn’t know where to begin the Grishaverse novels, I hope this article provided you with the necessary guidance and helped you decide exactly where to start!
Related Reads: