If you are a fan of all fantasy books that come with a map – like Lord of the Rings, Throne of Glass, Narnia, A Song of Ice and Fire, or An Ember in the Ashes – you have most likely already read Shadow and Bone or Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Coming to Netflix April 23, Shadow and Bone draws from the trilogy and duology that make up Bardugo’s Grishaverse. Grisha are practitioners of the ‘small science’: able to summon elements, master metal, or help heal the wounded – like magic. Ravka is the setting of Alina Starkov’s story. She grew up in an orphanage, and the show starts as she is a cartographer headed to cross the Unsea, otherwise known as the Shadow Fold, with the rest of her military unit. Across the sea, in Ketterdam, is where Kaz Brekker heads a gang known as the Dregs in a city of theft, drugs and gambling. The Dregs’s journey in Six of Crows doesn’t take place at the same time as Shadow and Bone, so fans of the books are excited to see what narrative Leigh and the writers at Netflix have chosen, and many hope to see the characters’ backstories and first meetings. Season One will be made up of eight episodes, starring Jessie Mei Li as Alina, Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian) as General Kiragan, and Archie Reneaux as Mal – another orphan and Alina’s friend since childhood. The cast of the Dregs consists of Freddy Carter as Kaz, Amita Suman as Ineg, a thief and ‘the wraith’ for the Dregs, and Kit Young as Jesper, a sharpshooter in the Dregs. The show is set to be one of Netflix’s top new shows of 2021. If you enjoy any shows in fantasy worlds, with magic, power-hungry villains, court intrigue, criminal masterminds and dark monsters, this show is perfect for you.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Tufts chapter.