For the past couple of months, readers have been battling against time to read the Grishaverse books before the upcoming show, “Shadow and Bone.” As of April 23, Netflix has officially released the full eight episodes, and fans are dying to compare the beloved series to the adaptation. Now, for those who know nothing about the world of the Grishaverse, here is some information that can help the show make a little more sense and explain why there’s such high expectations for it. 

To start off, a familiar face in the movie industry is Eric Heisserer, an American screenwriter and comic book writer. He was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay for the movie “Arrival” at the 89th Academy Awards in 2016. “Arrival” was an adaptation from a book as well, which gave fans confidence in his work with adapting “Shadow and Bone.” He is now the creator of “Shadow and Bone” and has taken on the role as executive producer and writer. Shawn Levy, executive producer and director of the highly rated series, “Stranger Things” also works on the show, as well as the author herself, Leigh Bardugo. 

In the show, there will be three plot lines, two which intertwine with one another. The “Shadow and Bone” plot line takes place in Ravka and the accompanying book series plot line of “Six of Crows” takes place in Ketterdam. The third storyline takes place in Fjerda, however it is said to be very minor at least for the first season. The world of “Shadow and Bone” was originally inspired by Tsarist Russia of the early 1800s. The country of Ravka has been torn in two by a swath of darkness called the Shadow Fold. To the northern border, there is Fjerda and to the south, there’s the Shu Han. However, these borders constantly shift depending on who is winning or losing the war. The country has two armies, the First Army and the Second Army. 

What has really kept the Ravkans safe is the Second Army which consists of people called the Grisha. There are three principal orders when it comes to identifying the Grisha: The Etherialki, who are summoners that can manipulate the elements such as air, fire and water, the Materialki who are Fabrikators that can manipulate any physical material and chemicals and the Corporalki who manipulate the human body. Then we have General Kirigan (also known as The Darkling in the books)  played by Ben Barnes, who previously portrayed Billy Russo in “The Punisher” and Prince Caspian in “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.” General Kirigan is the commander of the Second Army and is the only person who can control shadow and darkness. 

The Shadow Fold is a very dangerous strip of darkness that has creatures called the Volcra swarming inside it making it difficult for anyone who goes in to make it out alive. The only way it can be destroyed is by a Sun Summoner that has the possession of pure sunlight. Alina Starkov, played by Jessie Mei Li, reveals herself to be the last hope for Ravka’s survival and is dragged into this world of the royals and powerful Grisha who practice the Small Science of manipulation. 

Going into the second plot line in Ketterdam, where the audience will be introduced to The Crows. Now in the book, everything that happens in “Six of Crows” happens two years after the events of “Ruin and Rising” (the third and final book to the “Shadow and Bone” trilogy). However, the show has created a new and refreshing way to bring these two groups of characters together in a way where both fans of the books and new viewers will very much enjoy it. 

In Ketterdam, Kaz Brekker, leader of the Dregs, is introduced. He is the rising star in the world of criminals and gangs. In his gang, there is Inej, who is also known as the Wrath, and Jesper, who is his sharpshooter. These different gangs want to make money wherever they can get it, which is what makes them so dangerous. 

Due to the time gap in the books, there was never an encounter between the Dregs, Alina and the other Grisha. In the show, The Crows will go after Alina Starkov after finding out that she exists and this is how they will be brought together. How the story will go from here is unknown although there have been some theories that have come about how this encounter could alter the ending for season one which is only representing book one of “Shadow and Bone.” There have been mixed responses to this discovery. While some feel that this is a really great way to clash with them, others feel that this may be too much of a stretch from the original storyline. 

However, it is expected that adaptations must go off a little bit to make it new and exciting instead of it being very obvious. This one in particular is based on a storyline that was originally written for young adults. For it to be successful, the team has to go out of the box to make it comparable to these highly rated shows previously released. Netflix has been successful with fantasy hits such as “The Witcher” and “Cursed,” which are both televised adaptations from books. 

What has made “Shadow and Bone” stand out to other viewers is the familiarity of people involved in the production such as Heisserer, Levy and David J. Peterson, who constructed the languages for “Thor: The Dark World,” “Doctor Strange” and “Game of Thrones,” in addition to Barnes. On top of that, there are also a lot of new faces of actors and actresses never seen before on screen, and the cast is very much diversified. People’s trailer reactions via Youtube have shown much excitement for the show and their love for the effects. So, who is ready to enter the Shadow Fold? 

Image from Netflix via YouTube