Friday, 23rd April 2021 at 8:00 am
Book to screen adaptations are always tricky to pull off, more so when they involve packing two hefty series, a sprawling cast and a complex fantasy universe into eight episodes.
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But that’s precisely what Netflix’s Shadow and Bone – which also incorporates Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows duology – attempts.
The fantasy series lands on Netflix on 23rd April, with Jessie Mei Li starring as orphan turned Sun Summoner Alina Starkov, alongside Ben Barnes as General Kirigan, aka the Darkling (though only the Fjerdans call him that these days). Other Shadow and Bone cast members include Archie Renaux as Mal Oretsev, and Freddy Carter, Amita Suman and Kit Young as three of the Six of Crows.
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Shadow and Bone trilogy to the small screen. After months of anticipation, the wait is almost over: the series is about to premiere on Netflix, and the reviews are in.
What should viewers expect from
Shadow and Bone? The series tells the story of Alina Starkov (played by Jessie Mei Li), an orphan who discovers she may hold the key to saving Ravka, her Soviet-inspired home country. It will also weave in storylines from Bardugoâs other works, including
Six of Crows, which takes place in the same universe.
According to Variety, this intertwining of tales is a success. Caroline Framke wrote about the
The
Shadow and Bone Netflix series is so close we can almost touch Ben Barnes’ scruffy 5 o’clock shadow he’s been effortlessly maintaining.
With a rich fantasy world that author Leigh Bardugo has styled ‘Tsarpunk’, the Shadow and Bone series is full of engaging characters, elemental magic, and, of course, a hell of a lot of darkness. As Netflix adapts the first five books of the Grishaverse into a show, we’ve only gotten hints about what the content’s going to be like, and where it will differ or align with the books. We know the (approximate) cast, the episode titles, and… that’s about it.
Published on April 16, 2021 at 2:08pm
Ben Barnes as The Darkling/General Kirigan and Jessie Mei Li as Alina Starkov in Shadow and Bone (Photo credit: Netflix)
“The more I travel, the more I learn that where you are doesn’t matter nearly as much as who you’re with,” says sharpshooter Jesper Fahey (Kit Young), one of the major characters in Netflix’s
Shadow and Bone, as he flirts with a teen stablehand at the Little Palace. The show, adapted from Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse series of young-adult fantasy novels, takes place primarily in parts of Ravka and Ketterdam. Jesper is from Novyi Zem, a fictional world modeled after Australia and the United States; Jesper is both Indigenous/aboriginal and proudly queer, making time for a hook-up with the stablehand in the middle of a planned heist. The series’ characters are pulled from both the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology, and its first season course-corrects a shortcoming of the trilogy that Bardug
The One Netflix: Sophia and Kate have their differences (Image: NETFLIX)
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She was involved in an accident and spent a lot of the series in a coma in hospital.
Despite this, Kate sat by her side and supported her, even when Sophia s wife Valeria (Paula Muñoz) showed up.
Another spanner was thrown in the works when Sophia s brother Sebastian came to see her and confessed his love for Kate.
The way he spoke about her seemed to indicate she was his match, but Kate had already been matched with Sophia.
Kate could not deny there was some kind of spark between herself and Sebastian, and she was left questioning her relationship.