Bringing a beloved book series to the screen is the biggest thing in television right now, especially with genre fiction. But it can be challenging to walk the line of pleasing both longtime fans and brand new viewers, to bring the best of the source material to life in a new format while also allowing it to be fresh and new.
Shadow and Bone, based on Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Trilogy as well as the other stories set in the universe of a fantasy alt-Russia, manages to do this quite well, and to be visually beautiful to boot, although it makes a few missteps along the way.
Shadow and Bone opens beautifully, dropping us into a new world by literally showing us a map, which being drawn by our protagonist, Alina Starkov. Alina (Jessie Mei Li) is a mapmaker with the first army of Ravka, and the map she is drawing shows a swath of darkness cutting her country in two. When Alina and her best friend Malyen Oretsev (Archie Renaux) are later attacked by the monsters that dwell in this dark place, called the Fold, Alina discovers that she possesses a power that until now has only been a myth—the ability to summon light. Summarily whisked off to the capital, Alina has to struggle to find her place among the Grisha, people with the ability to control elements, bodies, or material, and beside the darkly enigmatic General Kirigan (Ben Barnes) who summons darkness. The war-ravaged country of Ravka has long dreamed that a Sun Summoner would come to tear down the Fold and save the country… as long as assassins and kidnappers don’t get to her first.
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It’s an exciting, if familiar, opening, which is unfortunately edited into short bursts interspersed with a second plot line featuring a set of roguish characters (from the Six of Crows Duology) who are scheming to get a job sneaking across the Fold to kidnap the new Sun Summoner. Although the characters—ruthless and brooding Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter), the strong and spiritual Inej Ghafa (Amita Suman) and the all-too-charming sharp shooter Jesper Fahey (Kit Young)—are fantastic and very well acted, the quick cut editing for the first two or three episodes makes it hard for the audience to settle into either plotline, and the number of names and places dropped by Kaz and Inej in their early conversations are impossible to follow even if you have read the books.
But the show begins to find its feet, and its pacing, somewhere near the end of episode three, and in the meantime, viewers can enjoy the incredible set dressing and lovely costumes. Then the plotlines begin to coalesce and the stakes become clearer, allowing the audience to finally connect with the characters and understand the world much better.
Jessie Mei Li has the hardest job in Shadow and Bone; Alina is young and inexperienced, and in most of her scenes she is either panicked, frustrated, or lost. But she is also the lynch-pin around whom the entire story turns, and Li does an excellent job maintaining a sense of solidity and strength within Alina regardless of how out of her depth the character may be feeling. Alina’s romantic interest in Kirigan comes off as innocent without seeming childish, and whenever the script gets a chance to give Alina the chance to be sarcastic or snarky, Li nails it every time. Watching her performance, you can see that there is a lot to Alina just under the surface, waiting to blossom out of her like the light she can summon at command.
Alina is also biracial, and looks like her mother who was from the country that borders Ravka to the south. Racism towards these people, the Shu Han, is something Alina faces regularly; she’s kicked out of the army chow line by someone who doesn’t want to serve a Shu Han, people question her identity as a Ravkan, and she even witnesses as performance in which a blond white actress portrays the Sun Summoner fighting off monsters in the fold. This narrative (which didn’t exist in the books) adds a new theme of loneliness and otherness to Alina’s journey, and enriches her connection to the other outsiders she meets. Despite her being elevated to a position of status, and potentially even great power, we never lose our sense of Alina as belonging to the common people of Ravka, and that through line also serves to anchor her eventual connection with Kaz, Jesper, and Inej, even though the only have a few scenes together.
Li has great chemistry both with Barnes and with Renaux, whose Mal walks the line between childish exuberance and courageous stoicism in a way that is utterly charming. And there is a wonderful balance between them where they take turns being the serious one and the silly one, the wounded one and the protector. It’s easy to see why they are drawn to each other.
The plotline with Kaz, Jesper, and Inej has more levity to it than Alina’s, with schemes and heists, disguises, and excellent fight scenes. Jesper is a particular joy, and Kit Young plays his tenderhearted rogue to perfection. Those who are unfamiliar with the trio might find Kaz a bit hard to connect to, but the deep relationships between the three give you a reason to care about him all the same.
The biggest flaw of Shadow and Bone is that it is too busy. The interplay of the different plotlines is interesting, but in only eight episodes there isn’t nearly enough time to give either side its due, and the third plotline of Nina and Matthais seems an entirely pointless diversion from the regular action. Most of the scenes between Alina and the other Grisha, Alina and her trainers, and even Alina and General Kirigan feel almost perfunctory; we don’t really get to watch her build these relationships, or spend much time with her learning to use her powers. Fans of the books will recognize some of the most important conversations in Shadow and Bone reduced to a few soundbites that fail to capture any depth or nuance.
But when the show does slow down for Alina, when it gives her a moment to breathe, it works very well. The voiceovers of her letters to Mal, and his to her, capture more of who she is as a character, and the flashbacks allow us to spend time with her as a little girl (both actors portraying young Alina and Mal are fantastic in the roles) and to come to love her. And most exciting of all is the way we are left in the last episode, with the promise not only of more story, but more growth and depth from the characters, nuance to the themes, and of greater adventures to come.
Sylas K Barrett is a fantasy enthusiast, currently writing Reading the Wheel of Time here on Tor.com. You can also find his reread of the Grisha Trilogy here.
Please note that many Asian and biracial people have spoken about the pain inflicted by hearing racial slurs and racist micro aggressions constantly levied against Alina, from the beginning of the first episode and continuing in circumstances when neither the plot nor consistent characterization would call for it. Alina consistently denies any connection to the Shu side of her identity; it’s used against her only as a tool to other her; and we see only one other Shu character in a three-second stereotypical role as a martial arts master, while propaganda posters lean heavily into “Yellow Peril” tropes. In today’s environment of increasing anti-Asian racism, that’s brought a lot of pain. The show does good work on several other counts, but this needs to be recognized & the show and its producers need to do better.
I have never read these books, but I binge-watched the show this weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked Alina, Mal, Aleksander, and Jesper very, very much, and grew quite fond of Kaz and Inez as well. As I watched it as a clean slate story-wise, I could not draw comparisons with what should be there or shouldn’t and found the two main storylines intertwining quite seamlessly. The third one with Nina and Matthias was a bit on the side, but I could see the connections and how it laid groundwork for more in the future.
I am eagerly looking forward for the second season.
I liked this very much but the Nina subplot is pointless and should’ve cut out altogether.
@1 I am curious: what exactly needs to be done? The show shows us the blatant racism that Alina faced. I’m an Asian living in a part of Asia where I’m a minority. I liked that Alina’s reality was unflinchingly presented. Hell, I would argue most people were too accepting, especially the elites (which goes against my experience).
It feels as though if they continue with this build for future seasons (Alina’s books running alongside the Six of Crows books), that it will continue to feel stuffed and rushed.
I find myself wishing that they had stuck to one series or the other. In the books they take place along a similar timeline, but that’s no reason to jam it all together for the show. Nina and Matthias are a couple of my favorite characters from the books, and this showing of all the backstory felt distracting more than anything else.
I really enjoyed the casting – Kaz is perfect, and the rest of them are very pretty. :)
I really love the Grishaverse despite all its flaws and the simplicity of the writing within the first trilogy. I understand what they attempted here. They wanted to merge both stories, I suspect because the Six of Crow crew is far more popular than the Shadow and Bone (arguably the weakest series in the universe, also the author’s first).
In the books, Six of Crows happens after Shadow and Bones. Nina isn’t in Shadow and Bones, still being too young to play a role. Hence, by merging both stories together, they had to make a few adjustments. Unlike others, I really enjoy what they came up with and I didn’t think the three arcs were too disconnected. Nina is mentioned often enough within the first arc and wraps around with Kaz and Kirigan. She isn’t kidnapped while pouting away angry at Zoya for giving her high enough responsibilities as in the books, she gets rated out. I have wondered how this would play within Zoya’s future arc since having lost Nina is an important aspect of her character.
I like the casting. I think all actors have done a good job, some an excellent job (Jesper is fantastic). Nina and Mattias have been two of my favorites, so I loved every scene though I would agree it could have been less rushed. In the books, their backstory is told in flashbacks. It is cute. Mattias’s role is to humanize the druskelles in showing they are not all bad people, often just boys having been raised with lies.
Hence, good job so far. I hope this gets a lot of traction. It’s got a lot of potential and the second season can help to merge the two cast more smoothly.
I read was really impressed at how the primary plot of Six of Crows was entirely ejected, while the heart and soul of it, with its ensemble characters doing heists, was very skillfully woven into the other plotline.
I also agree with the review that Nina’s plotline did wander pretty far away from the rest of the event. But it was so fun and delightful! I enjoyed that story line so much, and I enjoyed the scenes where Nina and Mattias were on screen so much, that I think they improved the series, even if they loosened the plotting. Maybe if it had been entirely removed, as felix77 suggests, there would have been more time to build up character development in Alina’s plotline, and for sure that would have enriched Alina’s plotline. But would it have enriched it enough to overcome the impoverishment caused by losing Nina and Mattias? Because, to be honest, I found Alina’s rivalry with Zoya and friendship with–those other two young women whose names I’ve forgotten–much less interesting than Nina and Mattias gloriously revelling in all the romance tropes in the book. Only one bed! Enemies to lovers! Bawd and Prude! What’s not to like?
I don’t think the director got the best out of the actors. I have seen some of these actors in other things and they were good. Also why do Kaz, Jasper and Inej all have similar accents when they grew up in different places. It’s those things which stopped me watching.
Isn’t there being a lot of racism directed toward Alina just taking that issue seriously? Obviously, the Ravkans mostly dislike the Shu because of their long history of conflict. Alina being disparaged for her Shu heritage by characters who are clearly terrible people is important.
I agree that the martial arts instructor being Shu was pretty stereotypical, and a missed opportunity. The series as a whole felt too rushed. We didn’t get to see Alina training enough, and at least one scene exploring the instructor and Alina’s shared Shu heritage would have been very welcome.
That might also solve some of the problems with the C plot. I just couldn’t care about the Grisha and witchhunter off on their totally separate adventure. That seems like the sort of thing that could have just as easily been incorporated later with flashbacks, or alternatively greatly expanded and more carefully connected to the main plot. Maybe the Grisha could have been one protecting Alina during the attack and could have been captured then? Then they run into the Crows on the way to the coast in some way? I don’t know.
I would note that the show runner for this series is Eric Heisserer (screen writer for Arrival),
Honestly, while I certainly would have welcomed a 10- or 12-episode first season, I think that some of the things that certain reviewers see as weaknesses (significant time spent following characters other than Alina) really strengthened the show and made it more enjoyable.
I enjoyed the original Grisha trilogy, but parts of it were a slog — Alina spends a LOT of time being mopey and miserable and beaten-down. The Six of Crows duology was fantastic, and bringing those characters into the show (including Nina and Matthias’ meet-murderous and growing relationship) brought necessary action, movement, and charisma to the series, as well as moments of levity.
I appreciate that Leigh Bardugo was directly and deeply involved in the production, and giving her the opportunity to tighten up her original novels and add to the plot really enriched the series.
I loved the casting, too — I am usually yelling at the screen about characters from beloved books not matching my headcanon, but I was genuinely pleased with both the appearance and performances of the various characters (Alina, Kaz, Jesper, Inej, and Nina were particular standouts, but I really had no complaints.)
And the costuming and overall atmosphere were fantastic, the visuals were a continual treat.
Here’s hoping for future seasons, I can’t wait to see how this reimagining of the Grishaverse evolves!!
I enjoyed Six of Crows very much, but was sadly disappointed by Bardugo’s other books.
I like some of Shadow and Bone, having only watched the first episode, but did not care for the very dark shooting of much of the first part. I found it so dark that it was difficult to make out the people or the scene. Lest you think my 4k TV is improperly adjusted, every other show I watch either in Netflix or elsewhere, looks just fine. I can imagine that the murky low lighting was done on purpose, but, nevertheless I think it was done poorly. Other moody, atmospheric films have done it far better. Some of the dialog was also, in my opinion, poorly done.
While there is no comparison to Game of Thrones, despite my critical comments, I still feel this show has a lot of promise, and I’m willing to believe the reviewer that by the third episode the story finds it’s legs.
Unfortunately, unlike GoT, the story is unlikely to hold the interest of those who are not hard boiled SF fans, and who have perhaps not read some of Bardugo’s books and find things too confusing.
I’m patiently waiting for a version of Monster Blood Tattoo Trilogy by D M Cornish to come to the screen. This trilogy which has received far less popularity or notice is a far more amazing example of incredible world building than Six of Crows, and just about any other SF book other than GoT. Of course, GoT is, to large extent built on a modified version of European history plus a good dose of SF, whereas Monster Blood Tattoo had little if any history to build on. It is totally unique and extraordinary. If you have not read it run out and do so.
I have not read the books so this was a clean slate for me as well. I found the story lines easy to follow.
And I did not at all wish we spend more time with Alina. She is an interesting character, but to me, it was the ensemble that made me love the show. More time with Alina would have taken away from everybody else – to me, that would have been a big loss. I don’t want more Alina. But I definitely want more Inej, Jesper, and may be Kaz. Nina’s subplot may have added little to the overall story development, but Nina is amazing, she stole every second she was on screen. Without her, this show would been duller and less memorable.
For the sake of this show, I hope there are more people like me out there, a larger audience who loved this instalment as it is and who is eagerly hoping for next season.
Also, as a first-generation Russian immigrant, I found it to be a surreal experience. It was both familiar enough and foreign enough, in costumes, set designs, casting, names, and language. I loved that the casting created space both for so many BIPOC actors and actors who had a Slavic feel to their appearance.
Only… “Grisha”? That was the weirdest part of all. I googled it, I know it’s from the books, and seemed like a nod to Gregory Rasputin’s reputation for witchcraft. But as a Native Russian speaker, I could not get over how weird it sounded to my ears. Imagine watching a show where all people with power are referred to as “Steves”. And it’s never explained, it just is. And you google it later, and learn that Steve is a short form of Stephen, potentially related to Dr Stephen Strange. I don’t know an equivalent historical character from Western history, so I grabbed an otherwise well-known name.
My wife and I also came to this cold and had exactly the same reaction: the first few episodes were very confusing, but we saw promise. Then the whole thing started to come together by the third episode. And we did ask each other, in the middle of the last episode what the whole point of the third subplot was. Then it was finally tied together in that last scene, which set up a nice intro to the next season. It definitely helped that we binged watched the whole thing over three evenings, both with keeping everyone straight and keeping the momentum going for each of the subplots. And I agree completely with the comments about the casting and acting; that is what makes the show.