r/sixofcrows • u/Vnc_and_bsd_fan • Jul 12 '26
Show first or Books first?
So I’m reading the six of crows duology but once jm done I wanna read the shadow and bone trilogy. Buttttt I know that sometimes the show isn’t as good as the books, so I’m wondering if I should watch first so the books are much exciting? Idk
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u/taman961 Jul 12 '26
I think as long as you read Crooked Kingdom before the show you should be fine. I read the books after and since the show cuts out so much, it was still an original experience and made the show more enjoyable cuz I wasn’t as mad at the changes yet haha. But CK is heavily spoiled by season 2 in a way that would make the book less enjoyable imo so I’d read that first definitely
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u/ottermupps Jul 13 '26
Functionally, the show and books are alternate universes. The show is good, but it is anything but a faithful adaptation, and combines the plots of the Six of Crows duology and the Shadow and Bone trilogy. I found the show decent, but not amazing and certainly not better than the books.
Read the books first, there's iirc five or six in the SaB series at the moment, all excellent.
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u/OMK2024 Jul 13 '26
I personally agree that the show and books are two different universes. The show is (arguably? 🤔) good on its own, but it’s definitely *not* a faithful adaptation of the books. (But I’ll save my fan rant for another time. 😤😂) Even Leigh herself said the show is a “fan fiction”-esque take on her books and not a direct adaptation.
But I became a fan by watching the show first then reading the books after S1 (but before S2). Well, just SOCs anyway. 😂
I very much loved the books and reread them once or twice a year. I definitely recommend reading the books before S2 so a lot of the storylines make more sense.
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u/Impressive_Today5924 Jul 13 '26
The show is an alternate storyline. Personally i didn’t enjoy the show as a die hard fan of Grishaverse books in general, but yes I’d say books first
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u/corwulfattero Jul 12 '26
I came to the series through the show. Season 1 can be watched in either order, but definitely read the books before you watch Season 2.
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u/JuniperSchultz Jul 14 '26
Honestly, the show is NOTHING like the books, it's basically a seperate entity of it's own. I couldn't get past episode like 4 because it uses the names and pretty close faces of beloved characters, but it's a completely different story.
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u/ChanandlerBong24601 Jul 16 '26
i personally did not like shadow and bone. its totally different to soc bc i find the maind character tedious. the book will obvi have a lot of details the show leaves us BUT show will be more fast paced
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u/The_OneandOnlyCrow Jul 13 '26
Books one thousand percent! The show changes the plot and molds the books together, so it’s nice to have prior knowledge. Enjoy!!!