Leigh Bardugo Books in Order

Leigh Bardugo runs two big universes at once: the Grishaverse, the Russian-inflected fantasy world of Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows that Netflix adapted in 2021, and the Alex Stern series, her adult occult-noir line set at Yale, which concluded in September 2026 with Dead Beat. Around them sit a Golden-Age-Spain standalone (The Familiar, 2024), a Wonder Woman novel, and a stream of companions. This page maps the whole shelf and keeps the two universes from bleeding into each other (2012–present).

Where to start

Shadow and Bone (2012) for the fantasy world; Ninth House (2019) for the adult line. Six of Crows (2015) is the fan favorite once the door is open.

Does the reading order matter?

Two universes, each in publication order. Grishaverse: the Shadow and Bone trilogy (2012-2014), the Six of Crows duology (2015-2016), the King of Scars duology (2019-2021), companions anywhere after - the dedicated page on this site maps that line in full. Alex Stern: Ninth House (2019), Hell Bent (2023), Dead Beat (2026) - a strict trilogy, now concluded, so it can be read straight through. The standalones sit outside both: Wonder Woman: Warbringer (2017) is the DC Icons entry, The Familiar (2024) is the Spain-of-1490 standalone people call her most beautiful book, and the illustrated projects - The Invisible Parade (2025), Better Pets (2026) - are the shelf's picture-book end. Nothing outside the Grishaverse spoils the Grishaverse and vice versa

Which one is the best?

Six of Crows (2015), the fan favorite; Ninth House (2019), the adult breakthrough; The Familiar (2024), the standalone.

Covered in depth here

An 8-question quiz, reading time, club questions and verified quotes for Six of Crows.

Related guides

Readers finishing this shelf usually want the map next door: Grishaverse books in order, Sarah J. Maas books in order, Neil Gaiman books in order. Every guide follows the same format — the shelf, the entry point, the honest answer about order.

Make it a project

Pick a session size and let the days accumulate — at the pace our reading speed test measures, most shelves above clear in a few weeks of half-hours. Every guide on the books in order shelf follows this same format, and when a book lands, its 8-question quiz is waiting on the original book quiz.