On March 16th, Netflix released the latest installment of their show, Shadow and Bone. The show is based on multiple series of novels, known as “the Grishaverse,” from author Leigh Bardugo. Within a week the show had made it to #1 worldwide on the streaming platform. Book to television and film adaptations are quite common but not all of them please their fans while drawing in new ones the way Shadow and Bone has done for two successful seasons. Why is that?

I think the success of the show relies upon the producers’ ability to combine all three separate series of the Grishaverse. The title of the show comes from the first released series of novels, Shadow and Bone, while more beloved characters and plotlines are present in the two other duologies, Six of Crows and King of Scars. 

What’s strong about Shadow and Bone as a series is its ability to vividly depict a world and describe not only the physical setting but the political nuances between each country. The Six of Crows series builds on top of that by adding more complex characters, ones that don’t clearly fill the roles of hero or villain, like Alina and the Darkling, the protagonist and antagonist of the Shadow and Bone trilogy, so clearly do. The writers took the more popular characters and established them directly into the background that any viewer needs to understand the Crows’ soon- to-come plot. 

Seasons 1 and 2 follow the plot of the Shadow and Bone Trilogy, with books 2 and 3 being combined in the second season of the show. While the plot of the Six of Crows novels takes place a few years after the events of the last Shadow and Bone novel, the writers of the show brought the characters in early, despite not actually using their novels’ plot (although it's clear that storyline is to come in future seasons). Thus, the writers found the perfect loophole to give viewers and fans of the novels their favorite characters. 

A new way of approaching adaptations doesn’t just apply to the Grishaverse or to Netflix. For example, the movies based on the Percy Jackson novels are well known to be hated by fans. They have been criticized for their complete ignorance of the central plot and lack of faith to the characters’ personalities, which came off as completely different than in the books. However, fans were incredibly excited to hear about the new Disney+ production of the show. One clear difference is the casting - the actors hired are the same ages as the characters - and the involvement of the books’ author, Rick Riordan. I think what we have seen in the Shadow and Bone series paired with upcoming projects, such as the Percy Jackson show, is a new trend of giving fan service to the previous readers rather than focusing on trying to gain more audienceship. There’s a reason that there are so many fans of certain books and producers are learning to let that speak for itself. 

While it hasn’t officially been renewed for season 3 yet, fans are hopeful for an announcement soon, especially for rumors regarding a spin off that would feature the Six of Crows characters predominantly. Regardless of what comes next for Shadow and Bone, it’s clear that fans are reveling in anticipation. 

April 2023