Crooked Kingdom: Collector's Edition

Los entornos violentos y hostiles crean personas violentas y hostiles. En esos lugares de miseria y marginación, convertirse en un delincuente nunca es una decisión activa: es mera supervivencia. Y Leigh Bardugo ha confeccionado un personaje que encarna muy bien esta subjetividad obsesionada con salir adelante. Kaz Brekker no vive, él pelea, y en las peleas a muerte no hay hueco para la empatía o la humanidad. Por eso es un ser despreciable. Yo, personalmente, le he despreciado durante toda la lectura. Aún ahora lo hago. Pero también sé que en ningún caso hay que cargarle con la responsabilidad de haberse convertido en alguien sin más principios que salvar su propio pellejo y satisfacer sus intereses. Creo que 'Seis de cuervos' encamina hacia esa lectura: no podemos culpar a las personas por aferrarse a la única vía de supervivencia a la que las hemos condenado. Invito a extrapolar la empatía que despiertan algunos pasajes que hablan de los orígenes de Brekker con esas personas, niños y niñas que hoy nos dicen que encarnan todos los males y que llevan el crimen en su propia naturaleza. Quizá la responsabilidad de sus actos está más en nuestro lado de lo que pensamos.

Me ha gustado especialmente que Bardugo haga una conexión tan explícita entre la mercantilización de la vida y la violencia estructural que ha convertido a Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Nina y, en general, la comunidad lumpen de El Barril. Se dibuja Ketterdam como un lugar gobernado de forma totalitaria por los intereses económicos. Su dios es el del dinero y el mercado. Y así les (nos) va.

En cuanto a la forma, tengo que destacar cómo cambia la narración en función del punto de vista desde el que se está contando. Cada capítulo está escrito desde la voz de un personaje, así que la narración cambia porque las perspectivas de lo que está ocurriendo son diferentes. Los capítulos de Jesper subliman este modo de narrar, porque -por motivos en los que no entraré para no hacer spoiler- la mayoría de los planes se urden a sus espaldas, así que cuando habla él, nosotres, como lectores, tampoco nos enteramos de cuáles son las artimañas hasta que nos explotan en las narices. La sorpresa de Jesper es también la nuestra, y eso genera una sensación que engancha mucho a la lectura.

Por poner una pega, creo que hay algunos giros de guion nada justificados y que Bardugo termina abusando del recurso del deus ex machina.

Crooked Kingdom is the second book in the Six of Crows duology, and continues to follow the adventures of the characters we've grown so familiar with from the first book, essentially picking up where the first book left off and giving us the aftermath of the heist. A whole host of unanswered questions remain as to the fate of the crew, and Crooked Kingdom does not disappoint in giving us what we want from a sequel.

My love for this book and the duology as a collective can't be understated. It's so incredibly well written and rich in world building and character depth, which only seems to deepen and unravel with each chapter. The book, although a fairly long read, didn't fail to keep my attention and always kept me eager and excited for my next reading session when I could delve deeper into the world and learn more about the crew's adventure.

It's seriously impressive to me just how well written Kaz and all of the other members of the crew were. The author does an amazing job of pouring such depth into each of her characters. You can tell she really put her heart and soul into the backstories of each one and their identities, and this effort rewards the reader as you savor each interaction between them and are able to understand and appreciate why certain characters are the way they are as a result of their backstories and history.

The plot itself was another strong point of this novel. The author really keeps you on your toes when reading through as the plot twists and turns delightfully, keeping things exciting and unpredictable throughout. Trying to second-guess Kaz Brekker's schemes went about as well for me as it does for most others in Kerch!

Fair warning: this book will certainly make you feel things! Ultimately each of the crew have fairly complex and traumatic pasts that make up who they are, and throughout the story these characters have to wrestle with their own individual traumas and challenges, manifesting for some in physical limitations and pretty much for all in their mental states. There's a lot of heavy and heart-wrenching stuff here as a result of that, and I certainly felt it as a reader. It was also rewarding as a reader to experience some of the characters taking steps to heal from these experiences, or finding other ways to overcome their limitations.

Another part of this whole series that I enjoyed was the diversity of the crew, and how the plot-lines explored bigotry in various ways. Not only bigotry, but in some cases perpetrators of such being able to heal from their indoctrinated views when allowed to make their own discoveries in life outside of their echo chambers and views they once held as sacred. Some of the budding romances here were adorable, and also a major heartstrings-puller as things fully unfolded. Matthias and Nina's arc is certainly very memorable.

I think my only criticism here would actually be the age the characters are portrayed as. I think when reading through this story, I had mentally aged the characters up by 10 years from the stated ages in the book as I found it to be more fitting. Ultimately I feel the author/publishers wanted the characters portrayed as younger to capitalize on the YA marketing hype, but it feels more right from a story perspective if you imagine them to be a little older, in my opinion.

Ultimately if you love epic quests undertaken by groups of flawed, but lovable, rogues, some fantasy elements and a tale of learning to adapt and overcome your fears and shortcomings, or turning those perceived shortcomings into advantages, this is a series you'll love. It's not understated when I saw this is one of my favorite fantasy series. I shall be moving on to watching the Netflix series set in the same universe and featuring some of the same characters from the Six of Crows duology called Shadow and Bone.

"No mourners."