Leigh Bardugo - Ruin and Rising

TEAM FAMILY

Christine, Sam, Ryan, Emily—I love you guys. Shem, you are an amazing artist and the best possible person to see New York with. And finally, all the love and thanks to my adorable, wonderful mumsy, who cried at the right scenes and has learned to speak fluent narwhal.

Dear Marvelous Readers,

Thank you for traveling to Ravka with me and for all the support you’ve shown this trilogy. I was surprised at how emotional I felt saying good-bye to some of these characters, and as you may have guessed, I’m not quite ready to leave the world of the Grisha behind.

Though Ruin and Rising is very much Alina’s journey, the story also belongs to the people who fight by her side. I’ve always loved narratives about crews of misfits facing impossible odds—from Robin Hood’s Merry Men to Oceans 11 to The Dirty Dozen to Inglourious Basterds —and that’s exactly the kind of story I’ll be telling in my next book .

If you look at the map in Ruin and Rising, you’ll see a little country called Kerch, an island nation with tremendous economic power. While other countries have squabbled, Kerch has remained neutral and prospered. Its capital, Ketterdam, is a jewel of art, culture, and wealth, home to the world stock exchange, a famous university, and the hub of all international trade.

But there is another side to Ketterdam: a criminal underworld ruled by constantly warring gangs and fed by the illegal trade in guns, drugs, and slaves that all flow through the city’s ports—not to mention fat profits from the brothels and gambling palaces of Ketterdam’s pleasure district, the Barrel. For a price, you can have anything you want in Ketterdam. Just don’t be surprised if you don’t get quite what you paid for.

And the Barrel is where Kaz Brekker is most at home. No crime is too low, no task too dangerous for Kaz, the thief and gang leader often called Dirtyhands. He clawed his way out of the city’s worst slums; now he’s just a heist away from taking his rightful place among Ketterdam’s most dangerous criminal players and exacting revenge on the man who destroyed his life. But to do it, he’ll have to assemble a team of assassins, thugs, convicts, and outcast Grisha to help him infiltrate Fjerda’s famous Ice Court. It’s a dangerous job, probably a suicide mission, but they are the Dregs: low on cash, flexible on ethics, and the one crew who just might pull off the impossible—if they don’t kill each other first.

I’m looking forward to introducing you to Kaz and all of his outlaw crew. Until then, if you’re walking the streets of the Barrel, keep an eye on your wallet and your wits about you!

Leigh Bardugois the author of the New York Times bestsellers Shadow and Bone and Siege and Storm . She was born in Jerusalem, grew up in Los Angeles, graduated from Yale University, and has worked in advertising, journalism, and most recently makeup and special effects. These days, she lives and writes in Hollywood, where she can occasionally be heard singing with her band.

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Copyright © 2014 by Leigh Bardugo

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The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Bardugo, Leigh.

Ruin and rising / Leigh Bardugo.

pages cm.— (Grisha trilogy; book 3)

Summary: “The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne. Alina forges new alliances as she and Mal search for Morozova’s last amplifier. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling’s secrets, she reveals a past that alters her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields.” —Provided by publisher

ISBN 978-0-8050-9461-9 (hardback)

ISBN 978-0-8050-9712-2 (e-book)

[1. Fantasy. 2. Love—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.B25024Ru 2014 [Fic]—dc23 2013049306

eISBN 9780805097122

First hardcover edition 2014

eBook edition June 2014