![]() ![]() ![]() A subplot set in Ravka’s shadowy underworld is visually and narratively murky, initially removed from the central story, but eventually evolves into a romp-y storyline, following a ragtag crew of criminal antiheroes hot on Alina’s trail. If the world of Ravka reads as dense fantasy, Alina and Mal’s will-they-won’t-they chemistry (complicated further by Ben Barnes’ dashing General Kirigan) reads more YA, but they’re engaging company - especially thanks to a spirited, stubborn performance from Li (soon to be seen in Edgar Wright’s Last Night In Soho). ![]() When he’s dispatched into the Fold, she ensures she’s sent on the same doomed expedition - upon which she reveals herself as the mythical Grisha ‘Sun Summoner’, able to bring the rift down. Its central thread is, thankfully, its easiest to follow: Alina is a cartographer (ironically enough, since the show could do with a map to follow - it’s worth looking one up online), clearly in love with her best friend and fellow orphan Mal (Archie Renaux). The Netflix series combines two of Bardugo’s book series, the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology which takes place two years after the events of Shadow and Bone. It’s a lot to take in, and though initially confusing, Shadow And Bone remains compelling while tasking viewers with grasping the Grisha terminology for themselves, showing rather than telling. ![]() Shadow And Bone has plenty of familiar echoes. ![]()
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