Feature Book of the Week #6 Shadow and Bones by Leigh Bardugo

FEATURE BOOK OF THE WEEK

Shadow and Bones

by

Leigh Bardugo

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. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

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. Wrenched from everything she knows, 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 . . . and the secrets of her heart.

Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy.

Author Post From Leigh Bardugo 

What if darkness was a place? What if the creatures you imagined lurking in the dark were real and even more frightening than you'd thought? What if you had to fight them on their own territory?

No matter how old I get or how wise I thought I was, my fear of the dark never quite went away. It's the woods at night, lit by nothing but the beam from a flashlight. It's the monster lurking under the bed or in the closet just waiting for you to switch off the lamp. That fear was the inspiration for the Shadow Fold, a place where darkness takes physical form.

Of course, as soon as I'd invented a dark territory, I had to make the monsters inhabiting it as terrifying as possible. Though they're blind from years evolving in the Shadow Fold, the volcra can smell blood from miles away and I had to give them wings so they could come at their prey from any angle. Once I'd done all that, I had to come up with a pretty compelling reason for people to venture into the Fold. After all, if you know there's a swath of darkness crawling with monsters that feast on human flesh, um,  you stay away from it. But the leaders of Ravka don't have that choice. If they want to trade with the outside world, they have to send people across the Shadow Fold—and the people they usually choose are young, conscripted soldiers like Alina Starkov.

Still, the Grisha Trilogy isn't just about darkness. I wanted to take readers someplace scary, but I also wanted to give them a magical world to get lost in. Though ravaged by war and plagued by enemies, Ravka is also a country of glittering palaces, mystical creatures, and adventure. I'm thrilled Shadow and Bone has been chosen for this year's Book Battle and I hope you'll join Alina on her journey.

About the Author

Leigh Bardugo is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Grisha Trilogy: Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, and Ruin and Rising. She was born in Jerusalem, grew up in Los Angeles, and graduated from Yale University, and has worked in advertising, journalism, and most recently, makeup and special effects. These days, she’s lives and writes in Hollywood where she can occasionally be heard singing with her band. Her new book,The Dregs, arrives fall 2015.

Find out more about Leigh Bardugo at her website.