Yes, there are a few occasions when two or more characters exchange information about this world's history in exactly the way no one ever does in real life, but they pass quickly and efficiently, without bogging things down. (You may still want to look up the books' map of this realm online as you watch, as the series neglects to inform us whether a location we're visiting is situated east of the Fold or west of it knowing this would be useful.) Making Alina a military cartographer gives Shadow and Bone a chance to orient ourselves in this world simply by looking over her shoulder as she works - we see the Fold, the great roiling sea of shadow that bisects the kingdom of Ravka, and many of the cities we will visit over the course of the series. Instead, we open on Alina, drawing a map. The series opens not with an endless scroll of grandiloquent expository text that dumps millennia of this world's history in our laps. Their ignorant, reflexive disdain is just another obstacle in her path - one that is all too familiarly real, and devoid of any mystical high-fantasy provenance.īut what really distinguishes the series is its smart storytelling choices, which prioritize a crisp, propulsive narrative over the kind of stately, ruminative world-building for world-building's sake that bogs down so many would-be epic fantasy series. ![]() (The Shu, in the series, are the people of Shu Han, an alt-China realm far to the south.) It doesn't matter to them that Alina was born in Ravka, and is indeed serving as a cartographer in its army as the series begins. Instead, citizens of the alt-Russia kingdom of Ravka resent and distrust our main character Alina (Jessie Mei Li) because her features reflect her "half-Shu" status. This means that when the series chooses to address the subject of racial tension, it's not couched in the usual high-fantasy coding (elves hate dwarves, humans hate orcs, etc.). PG-13: Risky Reads Reading 'Dune,' My Junior-High Survival GuideĪnother novelty: The realm in which Shadow and Bone is set is peopled entirely by humans. It's stuffed with characters, locations, plot twists and - it must be said - very, very familiar fantasy elements including, but not limited to: characters who possess the ability to control various elements (wind, water, fire, sure, but also: machines, and even bodies) a Big Dark Thing (in this case, a monster-haunted wall of shadow known as The Fold) that is Prophesied to be Be Defeated by A Chosen One (a Sun-Summoner, who controls light) the fact that the aforementioned Chosen One is not noble-born, but a Reluctant Commoner Who Must Be Trained by Stern Teachers Until She Accepts And Masters Her Gift, etc., etc., etc. Shadow and Bone is a new 8-episode fantasy series based on a successful book trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. Ok, good, that's out of our systems, lets move on. Shadow and Bone does not, in this instance, refer to the two things James Bond does in every movie. Let's get the cheap joke out of the way right at the top, just so we don't have it hanging over our heads for the entire review:ĭo not be misled by its title. ![]() ![]() Based on the book series of the same name, and the Grishaverse as a whole, Skogman embodies the fan-favourite Fjerdan Matthias perfectly.Cartographer Alina (Jessie Mei Li) maps her own fate in Netflix's fantasy series, Shadow and Bone. Jose and the role of Matthias Helvar in the acclaimed Netflix adaptation of Shadow and Bone. More recently, his screen credits include G.I. His credits include stage productions of Children of the Sun, Catch Me if you Can, Julius Caesar, and Eurydice. Studying history and playing NCAA Division II basketball and football at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Skogman soon earned a letter in both sports, leading him to transfer to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.īeginning his studies in broadcasting, (whilst also hosting a radio show on campus), it wasn’t long until Skogman changed his college major to theatre performance, a decision made clear after securing a main role in a production of the Metal Heart. He is recognised best for the portrayal of Matthias Helvar in the Netflix series, Shadow and Bone. Calahan Skogman is an American actor and screenwriter known for a variety of roles across stage, film and television.
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