Everyone loves a good origin story. They give us a glimpse into who a character is and how they became who they are. That’s why we really enjoyed Demon in the Wood which is a prequel to Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone trilogy. Demon in the Wood is a more than a prequel though. It is in fact an origin story and it’s one for a character we know all too well, The Darkling. The book which was published in 2014 is being revamped as a graphic novel and we’re a little excited about that.
Leigh Bardugo made the announcement and revealed the cover on GMA and you can take a look below.
In case you’re not familiar with this book, here’s the synopsis:
Before he led Ravka’s Second Army, before he created the Fold, and long before he became the Darkling, he was just a lonely boy burdened by an extraordinary power.
Eryk and his mother, Lena, have spent their lives on the run. But they will never find a safe haven. They are not only Grisha—they are the deadliest and rarest of their kind. Feared by those who wish to destroy them and hunted by those who would exploit their gifts, they must hide their true abilities wherever they go. But sometimes deadly secrets have a way of revealing themselves…
Discover the start of a grand and sinister destiny in this must-have graphic novel prequel to the bestselling series and international Netflix sensation Shadow and Bone from spectacular new talent Dani Pendergast and #1 New York Times bestseller Leigh Bardugo.
Now I know The Darkling is not everyone’s favorite person because he has definitely made some questionable choices but reading his story is an eye-opener. Does reading the prequel mean that we are excusing his behavior? Absolutely not but, like we said, it will give you a better understanding of who he is and how he got the way that he is. We’ve read Demon in the Wood and though it’s a fairly short story it will make you feel differently about The Darkling. We can’t wait to see what artist Dani Pendergast has done with the story and we know you all want to see the cover so scroll down to take a look.
Stunning right? The detail is EVERYTHING and that’s just the cover. We know the artwork inside of the graphic novel is going to be beautiful. Dani Pendergast is a very talented artist and we highly recommend you check out her page to see the rest of her incredible work.
Graphic novels seem to be the way a lot of authors are going with republishing some of their work and we think that’s pretty cool. Because we know some people prefer graphic novels to regular books, they will probably love this graphic novel. And by reading this, they could end up discovering a new book. I wonder if Leigh Bardugo has plans to republish her entire Shadow and Bone book series in graphic novel form because we’d be down with that too.
Demon in the Wood releases on September 27, 2022 and is available for pre-order now.
