This novel is the start of Bardugo's Nikolai duology and it picks up three years after Ruin and Rising. Ravka is intact, mostly. Nikolai wants to move forward, let the past stay in the past, and begin a new era but age-old hate and fear are hard to overcome. Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha general, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But…
