PAGE A18, KEIZERTIMES, JUNE 11, 2021
Shadow and Bone fills tall order of high fantasy
Review
By JORDAN REID
For the Keizertimes
For a genre that is bound only by
what can be dreamt up in limitless imag-
ination, there are a surprising amount
of commonalities and suspiciously sim-
ilar themes that often crop up in fantasy
literature.
Why is it that so many fantasy sto-
ries, for instance, seem to be set in eras
akin to the real world’s Medieval period?
How many of them involve elves, orcs,
or a comparable species living in tan-
dem with humans? Many creators are
undoubtedly inspired to jump on the
bandwagons fashioned by virtuosos
and trend setters such as the Brothers
Grimm, Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis, but in
today’s heavily saturated market the sto-
ries that tend to stand out the most are
ones that take risks and move away from
the usual Middle Earth and Narnia-esque
worlds of established canon. Shadow and
Bone, a new Netflix series based on the
works of Leigh Bardugo, sets itself apart
from the pack admirably with its impres-
sive world-building, style, and intriguing
characters, but also stumbles a bit thanks
to a few decidedly cliché story beats
and a certain side plot that seems oddly
detached from the rest of the action.
The thing that struck me the most
while watching Shadow and Bone was the
unique setting. Breaking free of the usual
sword-and-shield era, the characters in
this world have access to commodities
such as guns, trains, and all the tall hats
they could ever desire. This alone gives
the world character, and the show has an
admirable show-don’t-tell policy when it
Jessie Mei Li plays Anna Starkov, a character whose mysterious powers could destroy the world or remake it. Our reviewer says the show's
visuals and story set the series apart from recent entries in the high fantasy genre. Submitted photo
comes to explaining how the inner work-
ings of the society functions. That policy
also means that conversations can occa-
sionally be hard to follow, however, as the
script seems to feel comfortable throwing,
left and right, silly words that are typical
of this type of story with the assumption
that those who didn’t read the books (like
me) will catch on eventually. And catch
on I did, for the most part, even though
I felt hesitant to learn yet another set of
made-up phrases at first (come on, guys…
don’t we have enough words as it is?) The
costumes are impressive, the cast effer-
vescent and refreshingly diverse, and the
story is plenty interesting if not terribly
original.
What do I mean by that? Well, the
story starts when an average orphan
girl finds out that she is special and des-
tined to save the world. There is a clan
of wizard people who are born with
innate abilities and are persecuted for
unclear reasons (I guess they are more
akin to the X-Men/mutants of the Marvel
universe now that I think about it), and
there is a love triangle between the girl,
the childhood friend, and the dark new-
comer. These are just some of some very
familiar beats that flew in the face of an
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otherwise unique world and story, and
the show suffers slightly from them. As a
result of combining multiple books, there
is also a story thread that makes the pac-
ing suffer a bit, as it is only tangentially
related to the main plot. You’ll know it
when you see it.
And see it you should, because Shadow
and Bone is, overall, an exceptional piece
of television that will please even the
most diehard fantasy fan. Look it up if
you get the chance.
Shadow and Bone season one is now
available on Netflix.
By STEVE BREEN
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