Leigh Bardugo Shares Her Favorite Fantasy Books and What She’s Writing Next (EXCLUSIVE)

It’s safe to say Leigh Bardugo has worn many hats. Years before she was a literary sensation, Bardugo had a career in advertising, then she was a Hollywood makeup artist. She describes herself as a lifelong lover of books and storytelling, but Bardugo didn’t necessarily plan on being a full-time writer—let alone a million-selling author with a blockbuster publishing deal under her belt. With all the BookTok and Bookstagram crazes, many authors talk about the shock of overnight success and stardom, but Bardugo’s literary rise was much more gradual. “I think I’m lucky because it didn’t all happen at once. I was 37 when I first published and then 40 when Six of Crows hit #1 on the NYT bestseller list,” she tells Woman’s World. “I was never the shiny new thing, so I never had to worry about what would happen when I stopped being shiny and new.” 

Bardugo is best known for her Grishaverse fantasy novels including the fan-favorite Shadow and Bone series, which was made into a hit Netflix TV show starring Ben Barnes, and Six of Crows. Most recently, Bardugo stepped into a slightly different subgenre: historical fantasy. Her latest novel, The Familiar, transports readers to the Spanish Golden Age and tells a story of magic, ambition and eternal love. 

Here, we caught up with the bestselling author to talk about her writing inspiration, what it was like being on set in Budapest for Shadow and Bone filming, her pivot to historical fantasy, what she’s working on next and some of her favorite fantasy books of all-time. Keep reading to find out all the answers. 

Woman’s World: Leigh, thank you for taking the time to talk with Woman’s World! We’d love to hear a little backstory on your experience as an author. What initially drew you to storytelling?

Leigh Bardugo: I was an only child so I lived in my head a lot and I was lucky to grow up in a family of readers. After my mom finished work, we’d go to Waldenbooks or Crown and she’d just tuck me away in an aisle and I’d read for hours. We didn’t have to buy a thing. And I was a ham! I loved attention—and I learned early that the way to keep myself and other people entertained was to tell good stories. 

WW: What first drew you to the fantasy genre? Why do you think people find it so appealing? 

LB: It’s interesting you say that because I think some readers are pretty wary of fantasy, but this genre is so far-reaching and goes so deep in our literary traditions—Beowulf, The Tempest, Frankenstein, The Mask of the Red Death, The Haunting of Hill House. Through fantasy we can ask questions that poke at the political and social fabric of our real world. The Familiar takes place during the Spanish Golden Age when there were no dividing lines between alchemy and chemistry or astrology and astronomy. So where is the line between miracle and magic and what might the Church do when confronted by the latter? Those are questions I can’t explore if I keep the boundaries of reality too rigid.  

WW: Was there one specific inspiration that sparked your idea for the Shadow and Bone series? 

LB: It was another question that sparked my inspiration: What if darkness was a place and the monsters you imagined there were real? Everything—Alina’s story, the princes and schemers she encounters, the Tsarist-inspired setting— sprang from that first question. But I always say that writing a novel is like a relationship! It’s not about falling in love; it’s about staying in love. Sure, that big idea is sexy and exciting, but the trick of writing a book is to stick with it, to nurture it and to find new ways to stay inspired when the thrill starts to fade. 

WW: What was your experience like seeing the Shadow and Bone series, Six of Crows and then the Alex Stern series rise to such success? 

LB: I think I’m lucky because it didn’t all happen at once. And I was 37 when I first published, 40 when Six of Crows hit #1 on the NYT bestseller list. I was never the shiny new thing, so I never had to worry about what would happen when I stopped being shiny and new. With Ninth House, I stepped way out of my comfort zone and that was terrifying. Here was a book set in the real world, at Yale University. It was dark and strange and Alex Stern is very much an antiheroine. So watching people embrace her and that story was something special. 

WW: How involved were you in the Shadow and Bone Netflix adaptation? What was that process like for you? I imagine it would be exciting seeing your story come to life on the big screen! 

LB: When we arrived on set in Budapest, I was so jetlagged. I hadn’t been sleeping anyway because I was too excited. Then I get out of the car and there are extras everywhere in full costume—these gorgeous embroidered robes and Ravkan military uniforms—but they’re all drinking coffee from the cart or talking on their cell phones. It was the weirdest, most wonderful moment. I was lucky to be involved early and often. I got to visit the writers room and hear pitches, give notes on scripts, consult on casting. We had absolutely wonderful department heads, so I would give them my thoughts and then just get out of their way. Poor Joe Trapanese had to listen to me sing a folk song at him over coffee in a public cafe. But when season 2 came around, I had to take a step back. I just couldn’t write novels and maintain that level of involvement, and my dream was always the books. 

WW: Your recent release, The Familiar, is a historical fantasy set during the Spanish Golden Age. What do you like most about the historical fantasy genre?

LB: When I was researching this novel, I took fantasy completely off the table. I wanted the world to feel real and grounded, and I wanted to focus on the ambition of one young woman—a servant who has no right to expect a better life but who demands one anyway. The magic in it is almost incidental, and something the characters greet with skepticism. Luzia can perform milagritos, “little miracles”—she can unburn the bread or make two eggs into four. But it’s small, domestic magic, not world-changing power, especially when you pit her gift against the might of the Spanish Inquisition.

WW:  Are you working on or writing anything exciting right now? Anything you are able to share with us? 

LB: I’m about to dive into the third and final Alex Stern book, so I’ll be headed back to New Haven to do some research on campus. I also have a picture book in the works with my ridiculously talented friend John Picacio. We’re describing it as “the Wizard of Oz set in a graveyard” and it’s certainly fantastical, but it’s also a story we hope will help kids talk about grief and loss in a new way. 

Leigh’s 5 Favorite Fantasy Novels and Why She Loves Them

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

“I think of this book every time I see the last lonely pepper or biscuit on a plate that everyone is too polite to take. This book is all about longing and desire and what happiness we’re willing to grasp for ourselves.”

Tracks by Louise Erdrich

“Honestly you could start with any of Erdrich’s novels, but this is the first of her books I read after falling in love with her short story “Fleur.” Her prose is deft, specific and deeply emotional in this story of an estranged mother and daughter and generational wounds both political and personal.”

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

“Deborah Harkness’ saga of a scholarly witch and a dangerous vampire gives us secret texts, glorious manor houses and time travel that is equally smart and satisfying. Her scholarship is on full display throughout this series but so is her gift for compelling romance.”

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

“This story spans centuries and oceans and you will feel thoroughly transported as two very different immortal beings struggle to claim independence and somehow find their way to each other.”

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

“While this was marketed as horror, I think of it as a literary ghost story. A painful, powerful read inspired by the very real, very brutal history of the Dozier School for Boys in Florida.”

Pick up a copy of Bardugo’s latest novel The Familiar and follow the author on Instagram @lbardugo