Crooked Kingdom (2016)
Crooked Kingdom is a 2016 young adult book written by Leigh Bardugo.
The job went sideways, and now Kaz Brekker owes everyone. Picking up in the streets of Ketterdam days after the first book, this second half of the duology puts the same crew of thieves and misfits back to work, this time to settle debts and outmaneuver the merchants and gangs closing in. Leigh Bardugo keeps the rotating viewpoints and the low, tense scheming, deepening each character's history as the cons stack up. A city of canals, casinos, and betrayals, where trust is the rarest currency of all.
Quick answers
What is Crooked Kingdom about?
The job went sideways, and now Kaz Brekker owes everyone. Picking up in the streets of Ketterdam days after the first book, this second half of the duology puts the same crew of thieves and misfits back to work, this time to settle debts and outmaneuver the merchants and gangs closing in. Leigh Bardugo keeps the rotating viewpoints and the low, tense scheming, deepening each character's history as the cons stack up. A city of canals, casinos, and betrayals, where trust is the rarest currency of all.
When was Crooked Kingdom published?
Crooked Kingdom was published in 2016.
Who made Crooked Kingdom?
Crooked Kingdom was written by Leigh Bardugo.
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Explore Crooked Kingdom guides
Crooked Kingdom in our writing
- Companion guide: The Thieves' Guild: Rogues, Heists and the Fantasy Underworld
- Companion guide: YA Fantasy & Science Fiction: The Complete Guide
A few thoughts on Crooked Kingdom
Kaz and company still scratch the same itch as Assassin's Creed II, all rooftop chases and elaborate revenge in a Renaissance city. The game Dishonored matches the grimy, plague-touched port aesthetic, and the Netflix series Shadow and Bone brings the Grishaverse and its Crows to life for anyone who wants to watch Ketterdam move.
Games about master thieves working a city that's rigged against them
Kaz Brekker's crew survives Ketterdam by knowing every canal, guard rotation, and rigged game in the city, exactly the skill set these games hand the player. Assassin's Creed II, Dishonored, and the Uncharted duo all drop you inside a heist or a con where knowing the city cold matters more than brute force.
More of the Grishaverse beyond Kaz's crew
Crooked Kingdom shares its city, its magic system, and its cast's history with Leigh Bardugo's Grisha trilogy and the King of Scars duology. Reading forward or back through this world adds the war and politics the Crows exploit from the margins, seen instead from inside the palace and the army.
Prestige fantasy shows built on factions and moral compromise
Crooked Kingdom never gives its cast a clean side to stand on, every faction in Ketterdam is bargaining, betraying, or both at once. These shows run on the same fuel, sprawling political fantasy worlds where alliances shift scene to scene and nobody stays purely good for long.