How long does it take to read the Six of Crows duology?
Leigh Bardugo · 2 books
At an average reading speed of 250 words a minute, all 2 books of Six of Crows take about 20 hours to read. The unabridged audiobooks run 33 hours at 1x, or 22 hours at 1.5x.
Leigh Bardugo's heist duology is two long novels: Six of Crows is about 9 hours 20 minutes at an average pace, and Crooked Kingdom about 11. Both are told from several of the crew's points of view in turn.
Average is about 250 WPM. Measure yours in two minutes and every time on this page recalculates.
Every book, timed
| Book | Words | Read | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Six of Crows | ~140,120 | 9h 20m | 15h 4m |
| Crooked Kingdom | ~167,090 | 11h 8m | 17h 58m |
How much to read a day
At 250 words a minute, to finish the whole series:
Have a deadline in mind? The pages-per-day calculator works it out for any date.
How we measured it
Method: audiobook estimate. Estimated from the unabridged full-cast audiobooks at 155 words a minute. Six of Crows (15:04) is confirmed by Audible and Blackstone Library, Crooked Kingdom (17:58) by Audible and Apple Books.
Part of our study of the 100 most popular books, last checked November 2026. Reading times assume steady reading; editions, translations and your own pace all move them.
See how long it really takes you
Log each book in Parch as you read. It tracks your pages, sessions and streak, so you'll know your real pace, and how long the next one will take.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to read the Six of Crows duology?
About 20 hours at an average reading speed of 250 words a minute: 26 hours at 200 and 17 hours at 300. That covers all 2 books, from Six of Crows to Crooked Kingdom.
How many words are in the Six of Crows duology?
About 307,210 words across 2 books. The longest is Crooked Kingdom (167,090); the shortest is Six of Crows (140,120). That's estimated from the unabridged audiobook at a narration pace of 155 words a minute, so treat it as close, not exact.
How long are the audiobooks?
About 33 hours unabridged at 1x for the whole series: 22h 1m at 1.5x and 16h 31m at 2x.
How many pages a day to finish the Six of Crows duology in a month?
About 38 pages a day, or 41m of reading a day at an average pace. That assumes about 1,117 pages at 275 words a page; real page counts vary by edition.
Do I need to read Shadow and Bone first?
No. Six of Crows is set in the same world as the Shadow and Bone trilogy but is written to stand on its own.
Which book is longer?
Crooked Kingdom, at about 167,000 words against Six of Crows's 140,000: roughly 1 hour 48 minutes more reading.