Books Like Six of Crows
Missing Kaz, Inej and the rest of the crew? These fantasy novels share Six of Crows' heists, morally gray schemers, rotating narrators and slow-burn romance.
Jim's Picks
The Lies of Locke Lamora
by Scott Lynch
The Cruel Prince
by Holly Black
An Ember in the Ashes
by Sabaa Tahir
Children of Blood and Bone
by Tomi Adeyemi
Throne of Glass
by Sarah J. Maas
Red Queen
by Victoria Aveyard
Legend
by Marie Lu
The Name of the Wind
by Patrick Rothfuss
Why Each Pick
- The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
- The closest match on this list: a gang of thieves in a canal city, an orphan genius who plans every con, and a crew that is really a family. Locke and his Gentleman Bastards swindle the nobles of a fantasy Venice, much as Kaz works the streets of Ketterdam. It is an adult novel, more violent and far more profane, and it opens the Gentleman Bastard series.
- The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
- For readers who loved Kaz's scheming. Jude, a mortal girl raised in the deadly High Court of Faerie, decides that if she can't be powerful she will be cunning, and she becomes a spy and a player in court politics. Like Six of Crows, it has a morally gray heroine and a prickly romance. It is a court-intrigue story rather than a heist, and opens a trilogy.
- An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
- Shares Six of Crows' dark, brutal world and its alternating narrators. Laia goes undercover as a slave at a ruthless military academy to save her brother, and Elias, one of the academy's best soldiers, wants out of the empire he serves. The setting is inspired by ancient Rome, and the violence is harsher than Bardugo's. It opens a four-book series.
- Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
- A team of reluctant allies with conflicting loyalties, told from several viewpoints, like Kaz's crew. Zelie sets out to bring magic back to her people with a runaway princess and her own brother, pursued by a prince with secrets. The world draws on West African mythology, and the story is a quest rather than a heist. It is 544 pages and opens a trilogy.
- Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
- For readers who liked Inej's lethal skill. Celaena is a teenage assassin freed from a prison mine to compete in a deadly contest to become the king's champion. It shares Six of Crows' morally complicated heroine and dangerous romance, but it centers on Celaena rather than a crew and grows into a large epic fantasy over eight books.
- Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
- Shares Six of Crows' constant double-crossing, where no alliance can be trusted for long. Mare, a commoner in a world ruled by people with superhuman powers, discovers she has a power of her own and is forced into the royal court as a fake princess. Like Bardugo's crew, she has to play every side to survive. It is a single-narrator story and opens a four-book series.
- Legend by Marie Lu
- A street criminal and a rising star of the establishment, told in alternating chapters. Day is the most wanted outlaw in a dystopian Republic, and June is the military prodigy sent to catch him. Like Kaz, Day survives on the streets through cleverness and loyalty to his own people. It is science fiction rather than fantasy, faster and shorter, at 305 pages.
- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
- For older readers drawn to Kaz's backstory. Kvothe survives for years as an orphan on the streets of a crime-ridden city before talking his way into a school of magic, and he solves problems with nerve and cleverness. It is adult epic fantasy told by one narrator looking back, much slower and longer, at 662 pages, and the trilogy is unfinished.
What to Read After Six of Crows
If the heist and the crew were the hook, The Lies of Locke Lamora is the essential next read, with the same mix of clever cons, banter and found family, written for adults. If you loved the scheming more than the stealing, The Cruel Prince and Red Queen both center on characters playing dangerous political games in which no one can be trusted.
If it was the ensemble and the rotating narrators, An Ember in the Ashes and Children of Blood and Bone switch between several viewpoints in a dark, dangerous world. If it was a specific character, Throne of Glass suits Inej fans who loved a deadly heroine, Legend suits readers who loved a street-smart outlaw, and The Name of the Wind is for fans of Kaz's hard childhood and sharp mind.
Young Adult or Adult?
Six of Crows is a young adult novel, and most of the picks here are too: The Cruel Prince, An Ember in the Ashes, Children of Blood and Bone, Throne of Glass, Red Queen and Legend. An Ember in the Ashes is the most brutal of them, with violence and the threat of sexual assault. The Lies of Locke Lamora and The Name of the Wind are adult fantasy, longer and denser, and Locke Lamora is the most violent and profane book on the list.
Six of Crows is complete in two books. Most picks here open longer series: The Cruel Prince is a trilogy, Red Queen and An Ember in the Ashes run four books, and Throne of Glass runs eight. Readers who want to try Bardugo's world further can go to Shadow and Bone, the trilogy set in the same world before Six of Crows.