Kaz is a smart man, but not smart enough to reconsider snarking the most powerful man in the world when dragged out of Ketterdam and across the fold to work for him. Kaz isn’t worried. He’s got plot armor. The Darkling showed his hand much too early with all of that ‘together we’ll change the world’ bullshit.
Still, when the shadows begin to close in on him he can’t help but consider the possibility he may have miscalculated.
…………….
Thanks to his black kefta, that’s the only thing anyone seems to care about. Stares and whispers. Is he really the only person to ever wear the Darkling’s colors? The man managed a whole monopoly on the color black. Fucked up.
First published in May 2021. 84,182 words. Thirty-seven chapters.
Summary: Kaz is the Sun Summoner, and boy is he pissed about it.
Spoilers for Shadow and Bone ahead.
This fic follows the first book in the Shadow & Bone trilogy, and the first season of the Netflix show, nearly scene for scene. But instead of naive, sweet, impressionable Alina Starkov, we get lifetime criminal Kaz Brekker as the sankt. The legend. The Sun Summoner.
Basically, as soon as it is discovered that Kaz is the Sun Summoner, he is whisked away to the little palace to train as a grisha. He befriends and is betrayed by Genya. He trains with Bhagra. Jesper and Inej follow him there to watch and wait as he executes more and more elaborate schemes. He also plays a very dangerous game with the Darkling, who has no issues sharing his plan to take control of Ravka. With Kaz’s support, of course.
And yes, this includes all of the yearning and sexual tension between the Darkling and the Sun Summoner.
We get the whole plot with the stag. Instead of Mal, we get Inej. At each turn, Kaz’s need for power and money is tested as the Darkling teases him with the chance to rule the world. Kaz doesn’t trust the Darkling, but he knows that this is the best opportunity he’s ever going to get. The trickiest part is convincing himself that the ends justify the means, even when he learns of the Darkling’s plan to expand the fold.
The good: This fic is so damn funny. If you can imagine every scene with Alina, and then replace her with deadly, petty, and grumpy Kaz lashing out at everyone around him, then you’re going to have a good time.
The bad: At times, it’s tough to keep up with all of Kaz’s intricate plans. It’s even more difficult to keep up with all of the lies he tells himself to continue to go along with the Darkling’s plan.