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.
Glen Weldon
Let s get the cheap joke out of the way right at the top, just so we don t have it hanging over our heads for the entire review:
Do not be misled by its title.
Shadow and Bone does not, in this instance, refer to the two things James Bond does in every movie.
Ok, good, that s out of our systems, lets move on.
Shadow and Bone is a new 8-episode fantasy series based on a successful book trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. It s stuffed with characters, locations, plot twists and it must be said very,
very familiar fantasy elements including, but not limited to: characters who possess the ability to control various elements (wind, water, fire, sure, but also: machines, and even bodies); a Big Dark Thing (in this case, a monster-haunted wall of shadow known as The Fold) that is Prophesied to be Be Defeated by A Chosen One (a Sun-Summoner, who controls light); the fact that the aforementioned Chosen One is not noble-born, but a Reluctant Commoner Who Must Be Trained by Stern
Shadow and Bone
Shadow and Bone is Netflix’s new fantasy series, developed by accomplished screen writer Eric Heisserer and based on a series of bestselling young adult books by Leigh Bardugo.
It’s a coming-of-age empowerment story about a young heroine, a cartographer named Alina Starkov, who’s discovered to possess unique powers that could destroy The Fold – a mysterious wall of darkness that has devastated and divided a warring, industrialising world.
The political turmoil of this culturally complex world has been fundamentally influenced by Grisha – elite military mages, but with the advent of projectile weapons technology, magic is perceived as slowly becoming obsolete.
Shadow and Bone.
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Let’s get the cheap joke out of the way right at the top, just so we don’t have it hanging over our heads for the entire review:
Do not be misled by its title.
Shadow and Bone does not, in this instance, refer to the two things James Bond does in every movie.
Ok, good, that’s out of our systems, lets move on.
David Appleby/Netflix
Arguably the best change in the series, making Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) half Shu Han adds a wonderful dimension to the character and presents a much more realistic reflection of the world. In the books, Alina has always felt like an outsider. By making her look like an enemy of Ravka, the series reframes her ostracization and allows the show to directly explore the racism in this universe. This choice also provides a rich depth to her relationship with Mal (Archie Renaux), who, as another biracial orphan, is one of the few people who can intimately understand Alina’s experiences.