Review by Ian Keogh
‘The Grishaverse’ is an all-encompassing title for the young adult fantasy novels of Leigh Bardugo, an enormously successful series beginning with Shadow and Bone, now also adapted for TV. Demon in the Wood is set earlier, and can be read with no knowledge of who the characters became.
For Bardugo’s avid readers, though, it’s the chance to learn more about the world’s Darth Vader figure, someone who began with good intentions, but gradually became corrupted and feared as the Darkling.
Like so many fantasy worlds, the Grishaverse is a medieval society in which magic is also very real. Those with powers are referred to as Grisha, yet they’re hunted and band together in small isolated and unobtrusive groups for protection. We’re introduced to ‘Eryk’ and his mother, who adopt aliases as they travel from community to community arriving at an encampment in the woods outside a small town. They’re recognised as Grisha and admitted, yet there’s resentment at a woman being relatively powerful.
Bardugo writes Demon in the Wood herself, ensuring it’s faithful to her vision, yet it’s less magical fantasy than a coming of age story. Eryk is the focus, befriended by Annika, a young girl who needs to prove herself. So, to a lesser extent, does Eryk. He’s at that awkward teenage stage where he doesn’t yet realise his strengths, and that’s well brought out by Bardugo.
It’s important that artist Dani Pendergast’s pages reflect the subtle emotional content, and there’s a nuanced simplicity to her people, who’re embedded in attractive, natural surroundings. Pendergast uses a limited selection of colours very effectively, and the thoughtful layouts reflect a relatively serene life punctuated by moments of danger.
These can be sudden and via unexpected sources. Annika looks after her younger sister, through whom Bardugo creates tension via Sylvi being unable to understand the perils of an innocent comment. She’s not the true danger, though, and what for a long while seems just a gentle stroll through the past of a signature character offers considerable insight into who Eryk is by the end. It reinterprets the Demon in the Wood’s title, and instead of making the story an optional add-on to the main series, fans really should investigate. New readers will also pick up on the well plotted twists and surprises of a story that stands without the background.
