The phenomenon that was Game of Thrones has only become stranger since it ended – after eight pile-driving, epically drawn, epically expensive, incest- and direwolves-filled seasons – two years ago. It was a cultural landmark, the hit of hits, the high fantasy show of high fantasy shows. And then it all just … went away. There have been efforts to follow it, but they have all seemed half-hearted at best. It’s as if George RR Martin, DB Weiss and David Benioff stripped the larder bare to create their endlessly rich, meaty, winter-is-coming stew of battles, betrayals and bloodshed of more kinds than a single or entirely sane mind could invent. Those who would like to have crack at following up are still labouring to restock the empty shelves.
The latest effort is Shadow and Bone, an adaptation and amalgamation of Leigh Bardugo’s bestselling Grisha trilogy, which provides the main storyline of the Netflix series, and her Six of Crows follow-up, which gives us the second plot strand. The most obvious change from the original material is that the central character Alina Starkov (played by Jessie Mei Li) has been made mixed-race; half-Shu and half-Ravkan. She belongs to the latter’s army but looks like the former – the Ravkans’ enemy. Her friendship since childhood with fellow soldier Malyen (Archie Renaux) helps her endure the petty and not-so-petty bullying that results from Ravkan racism. This is what is known as a Parallel or Analogy. It is like a Metaphor but more on the nose.
They end up together on a supply run, captained by an elite band of magical humans known as the Grisha, across the Fold. This is no one’s idea of a good time, as the Fold is a strip of dark mist that divides the country in two, plagued by monsters known as volcra who can, will and frequently do tear voyagers apart and scatter them over a large, lightless area. Darkness is a Metaphor, here standing for All Sorts.
When one of the lesser crewmen loses his nerve and lights a lantern in the darkness, the winged monsters duly descend and start shredding the ship and everyone therein. Until – wait, did I mention? There have long been rumours throughout the Grishaverse that a rare being known as a Sun Summoner would have the power to destroy the Fold, were one ever to be born or found. But none ever has. Until – get this! – now. As Mal is mauled by a volcra (volcrum?) and, in her grief, Alina unleashes a mighty burst of energy and light that repels the monsters and gives them safe passage to their destination. Consider your Sun Summoner located and activated!
In later episodes she will be taken under the wing of General Kirigan (Ben Barnes), a Shadow Summoner and leader of Ravka’s army for rigorous training and honing of her powers. But if you think he’s doing that out of the goodness of a heart unstuffed with ulterior motives, then you, my friend, have never met a Shadow Summoner, a fantasy trilogy or indeed any narrative fiction and are going to need to hold on to your hat.
Meanwhile, a survivor of the attack drops the dime on Alina to a very nasty man who reckons he could make quite some use of a Sun Summoner himself on the island of Kerch and promises the Dregs gang, led by Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter, who has the most naturally satanic face since Jack Nicholson), a million kruger to face the Fold themselves and bring her back to him. Off they jolly well go.
And it’s all fine. Perfectly competent, enjoyable stuff. But, like The Witcher and the other contenders for the Thrones’ crown that there have been since, it doesn’t – or can’t, whether for merely budgetary or more creative constraints – build on what has gone before. We sup still on thin gruel.
