Why you should catch up with Shadow and Bone
Review Overview
Wondrous world-building
8Loveable rogues
9Longing looks
7Charlotte Harrison | On 16, Mar 2023
Season 2 premieres on Thursday 16th March. This review is based on Season 1.
We’re living in a golden age of fantasy book adaptations, where beloved worlds are being brought to both the big and small screen with the faithful rendering they deserve. Netflix’s Shadow & Bone, based on Leigh Bardugo’s trilogy of the same name – which is followed by two duologies, Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom and King Of Scars/Rule of Wolves, in case you’re really keen because, trust me, you really are missing out if you haven’t read them yet – is a prime example of a TV adaptation that works as well as the book, interestingly by blending the original trilogy with at least one duology. And yet so many of you are yet to watch it. This is why you need to get on board and pay a visit to the Grishaverse:
Grisha are humans who practice the Small Science (think magic) and are split into three orders – Corporalki (powers linked to the human body), Etherealki (linked to natural elements) and Materialki (linked to composite materials). Once considered witches, they are now a crucial part of national defence in the nation of Ravka. Not just in the defence against enemy counties, but also against The Shadow Fold – a swathe of impenetrable darkness, filled with monsters that consume human flesh, that is growing at an increasing rate, consuming the once-great now-ravaged nation.
Orphans Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) and Malyen “Mal” Oretsev (Archie Renaux) are part of the First Army, working with the Grisha to defend the land – which includes the treacherous journey of travelling through the Fold itself. During a near-fatal encounter, Alina discovers she is the Sun Summoner – a rare Grisha with the ability to control light. General Aleksander Kirigan (Ben Barnes) is adamant that, with the right training, Alina may just be the greatest threat to the Fold that has ever been encountered.
While all that is going on, to the West, in a nation called Ketterdam, a group of misfits are about to band together for a heist like no other. They’re competing with a mob boss for a job that pays one million kruge. The Crows – Kaz (Freddy Carter), Inej (Amita Suman) and Jesper (Kit Young) – could do so much with that money. The job in question? Capturing Alina.
At only 8 episodes long, Season 1 has a whole lot to cover. It’s got to build a world and introduce you to the characters that fill it – a challenge they made doubly difficult for themselves as it’s essentially a merging of two different character arcs, that of Alina and Mal and The Crows. That means even more characters to introduce and juggle developing. Despite all doubt, it actually works really well. It’s pacy, often funny and occasionally very, very dark – which you would hope and expect from a show which features flesh-eating monsters, really.
The casting team really nail it, with actors who embody their characters to the extent it’s near impossible to pick a favourite (#TeamJesper). As the press tour seemed to show, they’re also a cast who really seem to like each other and have fun while making the series – which shows in the easy rapport they share on screen.
With the return of both The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and House of the Dragon being a minimum of a year away at the time of writing, Shadow and Bone is a romp that will scratch that itch for fantastical escapism.