The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic

The GrishaVerse that began with the Shadow and Bone trilogy and continued with the Six of Crows duology continues with this lavishly illustrated collection of stories. There’s the girl who sought to save her town only to be entranced by a beast. There’s the fox who thought he was oh, so clever and could outsmart the hunter and then followed the girl who was sent into the woods so her new stepmother could be rid of her, only to find the truth too late. A story of the untamed spirit of nature and the greedy nature of man is next. A wooden nutcracker stars in the fifth story, and the last is a tale of the sildroher, mermaids with beguiling voices.

Some of the stories may sound familiar, but Bardugo has molded them to fit into her GrishaVerse, with references to favorite places from her books and with darker Grisha-inspired themes. As her books go, the characters are a mix of race and status, a more accurate reflection of the American melting pot and the world she created. The illustrations grow as each story builds, culminating in an awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping mural. This is an excellent pause while we wait for the next installment in this world of the Grisha.