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Netflix’s Shadow and Bone is your next epic fantasy obsession
Streamer: Netflix
Length: 8 x episodes (45-58 minutes each)
Score: 3.5/5
Game of Thrones left a full-grown-dragon-sized hole in the realm of televisual fantasy when it concluded in 2019. And while many were left unsatisfied by the rather rushed conclusion of that boobs and blood-infused epic, we haven’t really had anything to take its place.
That’s about to change in a big way.
Amazon’s adaptations of The Wheel of Time and Lord of the Rings are both on their way, but it’s Netflix who are first cab off the rank, with Shadow and Bone, an intriguing fantasy yarn that gets a lot of things right.
Shadow and Bone tells the story of Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li), a humble army cartographer and orphan who has little in this world except her artistic skills and childhood friend/sexy bestie Mal Oretsev (Archie Renaux).
During an ill-fated journey into the Shadow Fold - an ever-growing monster-filled stygian abyss, a bit like Twitter - Alina realises she has extraordinary powers and is in fact a sun-summoner, a type of Grisha (powered person) thought to no longer exist.
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This is both good and bad news for Alina, as it means an end to a life making do with scraps, but also introduces a whole host of problems, including all manner of factions who want to kill her.
Happily, handsome General Kirigan (Ben Barnes) sweeps in to the rescue, ready to take young Alina under his wing. And surely, as a shadow summoner, his motivations couldn’t be suspect. Right?
Based on the hugely popular books by Leigh Bardugo, Shadow and Bone eschews the default fantasy setting of “medieval but with dragons and that” in favour of an alternate reality Russia, where classism and prejudice extend to the supernatural.
It’s a lot to take in at first blush, but if you can just relax and let the story unfold there really are a wealth of treasures to enjoy. After all, Game of Thrones season one was pretty bloody confusing at first too.
Jessie Mei Li is fantastic as the naive but honourable Alina and is supported capably by the absurdly good looking Archie Renaux.
The will they/won’t they romance between the pair doesn’t always work - they had years to act on their feelings, just neck some Passion Pop and let nature take its course, guys - but perhaps that’s a hangover from the fact the literary basis is Young Adult.
Much less square, and much more entertaining, are the Dregs, a gang lead by Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter) that includes acrobatic assassin Inej Ghafa (Amita Suman) and scene-stealing sharpshooter, gambling addict and root rat, Jesper Fahey (Kit Young).
We won’t spoil how the Dregs intersect with Alina’s story, but needless to say when they do, things really kick off.
Here’s the thing about Shadow and Bone: it’s a lot of fun. It’s not always subtle, and initially feels a little stiff, but once the story gets going you’ll find yourself really rather invested in this occasionally dizzying world.
Performances are uniformly good, the aesthetic is striking and beautifully realised - Netflix must have dropped a lot of dosh on this puppy - and if you’re craving an epic fantasy yarn, starring ridiculously hot people doing weird, treacherous and/or magical nonsense to one another, then Shadow and Bone is well worth your bingeing time.
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