The Netflix show makes a sharp departure when it comes to Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) and Mal (Archie Renaux) and how the season ends. Here’s how the Grishaverse books differed from season 2 of Shadow and Bone.
Grade: 4.0/5.0
The long awaited fantasy realm of the Grishaverse has finally made it to the screen. Based off of author Leigh Bardugo’s successful book trilogy of the same name and duology “Six of Crows,” “Shadow and Bone” is Netflix’s newest addition to the streaming service’s growing collection of beloved novel-to-television adaptations.
With a slew of main characters each developed considerably well in the series’s short length of eight episodes “Shadow and Bone” weaves the compelling story of the Grisha people who can wield the elements, the enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies dynamic between Sun Summoner Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) and the Darkling General Kirigan (Ben Barnes) and an abominable wall of shadow teeming with bloodthirsty creatures that is known as the Fold, crafted with impeccable special effects and CGI.
If you binge-watched Netflix’s
Shadow and Bone this weekend and you’ve never read the Leigh Bardugo books it was based on, you might be thinking about trying the main trilogy the show adapts.
Here’s some unsolicited advice: Don’t start with the first novel,
Shadow and Bone.
But wait, you might ask yourself, is that not the book that the show is based on? Isn’t it the first book of the series? The one that sets the stage for everything else? The one that introduces the Grisha, Sun Summoner Alina Starkov, and the swath of sentient darkness that tears Ravka in half?
Shadow and Bone.]
Photo: Netflix
Their character types and their specific relationship dramatic foils attracted to each other, yet with a deeply imbalanced power dynamic seem designed to invite fandom discourse. General Kirigan (or the Darkling, as he’s known in Leigh Bardugo’s books) is the villain of the series, who wishes to control Alina and her power and harness it for himself. But he’s also a brooding, handsome, mysterious figure, and at the beginning of the story, his interest in Alina doesn’t appear to have any malevolent intent attached. That dynamic is compelling, even if it is questionable.
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