I didn’t want to get my hopes up for this, but Netflix has officially greenlighted the project, bought together the creative team, and signed them on. It’s happening. I couldn’t be more excited to see Six of Crows and Shadow and Bone finally hit the screen. In case you didn’t know, Six of Crows follows a group of thieves taking on the biggest heist of their lives. Shadow and Bone is about Alina Starkov. A regular girl who discovers she possesses immense power that can unite her country Ravka. A heavily Russian inspired universe.
For me, Shadow and Bone was okay but it didn’t get me motivated enough to finish the series. Six of Crows, on the other hand, is my baby. Kaz is one of my favorite antiheroes of all time. The rest of the crew, Wylan, Jesper, Nina, Inej, and Matthias are interesting and complex. There are my favorite ensemble characters I’ve come across in a YA series. So, I’m more anxious to see how their story and world will developed. Let’s go onto what’s been revealed about the series so far.
It is going to be eight episodes long and will weave Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows together. No ideas yet on how they will manage this. I have faith the team behind this might be able to pull it off. We have Eric Heisserer, writer of the runaway Netflix hit BirdBox on the project. Leigh Bardugo will be an executive producer alongside Shawn Levy. He is also an executive producer for Stranger Things. The rest of the roundtable is Pouya Shahbazian (Love, Simon), Dan Cohen, Dan Levine (Arrival), Josh Berry, and Christina Strain (The Magicians). This is all that is known at the moment according to Deadline article (link below). It goes without saying that this is a promising team. I wait with anticipation for who will be starring in the cast. Fresh faces would be wonderful. It would be a great opportunity for some breakout stars because Shadow and Bone, and Six of Crows, each have a strong fanbase.
I’m concerned about who they will pick to be the Darkling. Like I said, I only read the first book. (However, I will try to finish the rest of the series now that this is actually happening). Out of the whole book, the Darkling was the most compelling. He stole the show. Not as a love interest for Alina but as a villain. The Darkling is charming, charismatic, magnetic, with a dark undertone. You don’t want to believe he is capable of what he does in the book.
Yet at the same time, once it is revealed he’s the villain, it makes sense for his character. Whoever is cast as him will have some big shoes to fill. As for the rest of Shadow and Bone, a lot of it could be condensed. After the initial attack at the beginning, Alina is bought to live with the Grisha (group of people who possess special powers). From there you have the standard training montage, flirting with the Darkling, feeling sorry for herself, and learning about her powers.
Six of Crows takes place a few years after the events of Shadow and Bone. Some characters in Shadow and bone do make an appearance in Six of Crows. So maybe this is how they will weave the two stories together. The heist takes place in an entirely different setting. In an Amsterdam inspired city called Ketterdam. There are many different gangs houses with their own rules. The backstories for each of the characters are rich and fully explored in the books. It plays a major role in their choices of what they plan to do after the team disbands.
So, it is very important their backstories are fully touched upon. Hopefully, they won’t chop off too much that their actions makes no sense. Eight episodes just doesn’t seem like enough for two series. But we’ll just have to wait and see. Overall, I am very happy for Leigh Bardugo, and all of us fans, who will soon see our favorite characters bought to life on the small screen. Here are the links to the articles to read more about it: Netflix Orders ‘Shadow And Bone’ Series Based On Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse Novels From Eric Heisserer & Shawn Levy
‘Shadow and Bone’ Series Ordered by Netflix from Eric Heiserrer and Shawn Levy
The Melo Bookworm 