Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo science fiction and fantasy book and audiobook reviewsRule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo science fiction and fantasy book and audiobook reviewsRule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

Rule of Wolves, the second half of Leigh Bardugo’s NIKOLAI DUOLOGY, picks up right where King of Scars left off and flings the reader headlong into the story. In other words, if it’s been a while since you read King of Scars, you’d be well advised to refamiliarize yourself at least a little with its plot; if you haven’t yet read that book, don’t start with this one.

The Russia-inspired country of Ravka and its king, Nikolai Lantsov, are beset by threats from both without and within. To the north, the wintry country of Fjerda, which rejects the magical Grisha as evil, is making preparations to invade, and Fjerda has a substantial edge in war technology over Ravka. Nina Zenik is an undercover spy in Fjerda, now in a position of trust in the household of Fjerda’s chief military commander, Jarl Brum, but Nina’s growing attraction to Jarl’s daughter Hanne is a distraction and a danger to them both, with Hanne intended for a strategic marriage, perhaps even to Fjerda’s ailing prince. To the south, Queen Makhi of Shu Han has already tried to assassinate Nikolai, and her mutated khergud warriors have magical powers and unmatched strength.

Add to that:

  • Nikolai’s possession by a bloodthirsty flying demon, which still sometimes takes over his body;
  • the threat posed by the Darkling, who (as it developed in King of Scars) isn’t as dead and gone as everyone had assumed;
  • a magical blight that appears randomly and destroys everything and everyone it touches;
  • a competing contender for the throne of Ravka, a Lantsov relative whose followers assert that Nikolai isn’t the rightful ruler because the prior king isn’t his actual father; and
  • Nikolai’s unspoken (and politically impossible) growing attraction to his beautiful and iron-willed Grisha general, Zoya.

King of Scars Duology (2 book series) Hardcover Edition by Leigh Bardugo (Author)All in all, Nikolai and Ravka … and the readers of this series … truly have their hands full. Bardugo juggles all of these plot lines fairly deftly, with each chapter jumping to a different viewpoint character and connections between the different plotlines becoming apparent as the story develops. The geographic scope of Bardugo’s Grisha universe has expanded greatly over the years, and in this seventh book she takes full advantage of her prior worldbuilding. The Grishaverse novels have become increasingly adult-oriented and intricately plotted with each book, and Rule of Wolves is the most epic in scale yet. It’s a complex story with many moving parts, not to mention a few crowd-pleasing cameos from characters from prior Grishaverse books.

The military threats to the north and south of Ravka drive most of the plot of Rule of Wolves, with warfare strategizing, spy adventures, and actual battles taking the forefront. However, romantic tension in the Nikolai-Zoya and Nina-Hanne relationships provide a bit of a break from the focus on war. Nina, who is still recovering from the loss of her Fjerdan lover Matthias, finds healing with Hanne and transitions to a bisexual (or perhaps a gay-for-you) character. At the same time, Hanne has a trans identity that she is gradually coming to terms with, against vast societal and family pressure, and Zoya has a secret mixed racial heritage that may upend her life plans.

The resolution of all of these romantic, personal identity, and military issues struck me as a bit too pat in the end, and the broad scope of the novel, like King of Scars, doesn’t completely gel into a cohesive whole. It’s still an absorbing, enjoyable story, though, and I recommend it to fans of Bardugo’s Grisha works.

The very ending of Rule of Wolves leaves the door wide open for future adventures in the Grisha world, but Bardugo, whose earlier books are the basis for the recent Shadow and Bone Netflix series, says that she’s saying goodbye to this world for now. She comments in an interview with the Orange County Register that “there are other universes and worlds I want to explore.” It will be fun to see where Bardugo’s imagination takes us next.

Published in March 2021. 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. 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. Deep undercover, Nina Zenik risks discovery and death as she wages war on Fjerda from inside its capital. But her desire for revenge may cost her country its chance at freedom and Nina the chance to heal her grieving heart. Together they must find a way to forge a future in the darkness. Or watch a nation fall.

Author

  • Tadiana Jones

    TADIANA JONES, on our staff since July 2015, is an intellectual property lawyer with a BA in English. She inherited her love of classic and hard SF from her father and her love of fantasy and fairy tales from her mother. She lives with her husband and four children in a small town near the mountains in Utah. Tadiana juggles her career, her family, and her love for reading, travel and art, only occasionally dropping balls. She likes complex and layered stories and characters with hidden depths. Favorite authors include Lois McMaster Bujold, Brandon Sanderson, Robin McKinley, Connie Willis, Isaac Asimov, Larry Niven, Megan Whalen Turner, Patricia McKillip, Mary Stewart, Ilona Andrews, and Susanna Clarke.