Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone is the first novel of the fantasy-adventure Grisha trilogy, written by American author Leigh Bardugo. Published on June 5, 2012, the novel is narrated by Alina Starkov, a teenage orphan who grows up in the land of Ravka before her entire life changes after unexpectedly harnessing a power she never knew she had to save her best friend. The novel was critically acclaimed and debuted on The New York Times bestseller list, as well as being the winner of several awards. In late September 2012, Harry Potter producer, David Heyman, secured film rights to Shadow and Bone. Though it is not definite yet, a movie may be scheduled to release in 2014 or 2015.

Synopsis

Plot

In the land of Ravka, Alina Starkov, a young child, is a survivor of the Border Wars in which her town was destroyed and her family was killed. She is brought to the Duke Keramzin’s estate-turned-orphanage to be educated. She meets Malyen Oretsev, another orphaned survivor, and two form a brother-sister bond. When summer approaches, three Grisha Examiners arrive. The Grisha Examiners are adults who visit every town, searching for children with hidden powers to take them to a special school and be trained. A child with a power is called a Grisha. Alina and Mal are tested, but the Examiners find nothing.

When Alina and Mal grow older, they are both taken to fight in a military regiment called the First Army. Alina is a mapmaker, and she is terrified because her army is entering the Shadow Fold, a strip of darkness filled with monsters called Volcras who eat human flesh. Mal, an extremely talented Tracker, reassures her and reminds her that he is with her so no harm will come to her. It is evident that Alina secretly has feelings for him, yet Mal, much to her displeasure, has always treated her as his little sister. When the regiment enters the Shadow Fold, they are attacked by the Volcras, which kill nearly half of the entire army. When a Volcra prepares to attack Mal, Alina tries to protect him and faints after seeing bright light.

When she regains consciousness, the army officers have heard of what she has done, and she is brought to see the Darkling, the leader of the Grisha. He questions the survivors of the army, who say they saw bright light and then the Volcras disappeared. Realizing it was Alina who harnessed this light, the Darkling decides to bring her to the Little Palace, the castle where the Grisha train and live. He realizes she is a Sun Summoner; she can summon sunlight and ward off Volcras with it because they prefer to attack in darkness.

Alina refuses to leave Mal, but she is forced into a carriage. During their journey, they are attacked by a group of Fjerdans, a group of enemies who have heard of Alina’s power and want to kill her. The Darkling rescues Alina just in time. Their journey ends in Os Alta, the capital of Ravka and home to the Palaces, the homes to the royal family and the Second Army, consisting of the Grisha, who are led by the Darkling.

Alina learns the different kinds of Grisha: Heartrenders, Healers, Squallers, Inferni, Tidemakers, Durasts, Alkemi, and they all wear differently colored keftas, or coats, depending on who they are. Alina first meets Genya, a who, as a Tailor, has the power to enhance people’s appearances. Genya is an outcast among the Grisha for unknown reasons. Alina shows off her power to the King.

Alina spends the next several months at the palace, training. A woman named Baghra is her trainer. Alina is sulky and miserable, constantly thinking about Mal and having strange feelings for the mysterious Darkling who is continually disappearing and then reappearing. She feels frightened of the Apparat, the King’s priest.

One afternoon, the Darkling meets with her and asks her if she has ever heard of Morozova’s herd. He claims it is a magical herd of white deer which they are attempting to track down Morozova’s stag, so that its antlers can be made into an amplifier — a collar for Alina to wear that would enable him to control her. He wants to destroy the Shadow Fold and all the Volcras, and by controlling Alina, he could give her orders to summon her power at the right moments. Alina agrees and promises to keep it a secret, for the Darkling does not want rumors to spread.

Alina continues to be miserable until one training session at Baghra’s cottage in which they have a fight. Alina gives up her training and storms outside; Baghra shouts after her that there is no point going anywhere because there is nothing out there waiting for her. Her words then lead Alina to realize that it is Mal who has been keeping her back from doing well during Baghra’s lessons. She realizes that when she was young and she was tested for powers by the Grisha examiners, she did not harness her power because she knew that would mean leaving to train and she could not leave Mal. Her love for Mal is what has been causing her to hide her power for so long. It is why she was always so skinny and considered ugly by everyone else, because she used every bit of her strength to hide her power. However, she forced herself to release it to save Mal’s life. Finally understanding the truth leads Alina to let go of her misery. Her days at the palace are much happier and her lessons with Baghra are much better. One afternoon, the Darkling finds Alina. The two talk for some time about Morozova’s herd before the Darkling abruptly kisses her, then quickly leaves. Alina is stunned and realizes the Darkling has feelings for her.

As winter ends, the King and Queen hold a large ball at the palace. When Alina’s kefta is sent to her, she sees it is black and a small golden charm hangs from the neckline: the sun in eclipse, which is the Darkling’s symbol, so that she will stand out from the crowd and show she is the Sun Summoner. Like all the Grisha, she is required to demonstrate her power to the guests at he ball. Impressing everyone, Alina enjoys the rest of the evening until the Darkling pulls her into a room and declares his love for her as he kisses her. Alina attempts to pull away from him, but he refuses to release her. Alina returns to the party, stunned, and then sees a group of soldiers entering the palace to meet the Darkling. To her delight, Mal is in the group, and she runs to him and hugs him. He angrily tells her that for months, he and the rest of the army had been worried she was being tortured or had been killed by the Darkling, and this whole time she was happily having an affair with him. Alina is shocked and denies his words, but Mal insists the Darkling has taken control of her. He then leaves and Alina flees to her room, sobbing.

Late that night, Baghra reveals that she is the Darkling’s mother, and that the Darkling is secretly going to use the Shadow Fold as a weapon. Alina is shocked and refuses to believe her, but Baghra insists he has been using her. Once he finds the collar from the stag, the Darkling will force her to get rid of everything that stands in his path, then control the Fold. Alina flees the palace.

The Darkling, after realizing she has run away, sends the group of soldiers, including Mal, to capture her. She is almost caught by them, but is rescued by Mal who leaves the soldiers and leads her away. He leads her away from the palace while covering their tracks. Mal informs her he wants to find the stag before the Darkling. Alina tells Mal he must kill her if the Darkling catches them, so that it would be impossible for the Darkling to capture the Shadow Fold. Mal eventually agrees.

Mal and Alina travel to a glade where Mal thinks the stag will appear. When it does not, Mal reveals that he loves Alina. They kiss, and the stag appears. Alina refuses to let him kill it because she has heard that sparing the stag’s life will reward her. The Darkling appears and captures Mal, and then kills the stag and forces Alina to wear the antler collar. They then journey to the Shadow Fold. During camp one day, Genya arrives and informs her the King is ill. Alina realizes it is the result of an affair with Genya.

The Darkling tells Alina he will kill Mal after they enter the Shadow Fold. She is allowed to spend one last night with Mal in which she recalls a memory of when she was younger and had been mending pottery while waiting for him to return from one of his hunting trips; upon seeing him, she rushed to him and he picked her up and spun her in circle. The whole time, a piece of the cup she had been mending was digging in her palm, yet she did not want to let go so that she could enjoy her moment with Mal.

The next day they all enter Shadow Fold on a ship. The Darkling uses the collar to force Alina to unleash her power. As they make their journey through the Fold, the Darkling expands the Fold and murders fellow Ravkans and the village of Novokirbirsk. When the Darkling throws Mal off the ship, Alina recalls the memory of the stag, and that she had spared its life and would therefore be rewarded. The Darkling’s power slowly leaves her and her own power comes back. She explodes light, forcing the Volcras to fly away, and then jumps off the ship before letting the light go out. She finds Mal and the two escape from the Fold. Alina is shocked and feels terrible that she left so many people to die. Mal wants to destroy her collar, but Alina insists they will need it although she cannot explain why.

In the epilogue, it is revealed that Mal and Alina are sailing on the True Sea, hoping for a new life.

Characters

Alina Starkov is the main character who Bardugo described to be “pragmatic, prickly, and [with] a modern sensibility. She is strong , but does not knows how to use the gifts she’s been given. Her hunger to belong guides a lot of her decision making.” ^[1] Apart from the prologue, the novel is narrated from Alina’s point of view. She is an orphan who survived the Border Wars and was brought to the Duke’s estate to be educated. She later becomes a member of a military regiment called the First Army and becomes a Cartographer due to her talent for drawing. There is no solid physical description of her, but from a very young age, she is described as “skinny, pale, and sour faced with brown hair.” Alina is tomboyish and independent, and she is unafraid to talk back to people, yet she often acts stronger than she truly is. She does not like admitting whenever she is frightened or upset, although she always confides her feelings in Mal. When Mal declares his love for her and she kisses him, it is evident she always had feelings for him. She manages to escape with Mal at the end of the story, now more mature and stronger than she had been before.

The Darkling is the antagonist of the novel. He is the leader of the Grisha and lives in the Little Palace in Os Alta. Bardugo envisioned him to be “gorgeous and mysterious and dangerous.”^[2] Despite his mysterious attitude, he is kind to Alina and defends her when Baghra screams at her for being too lazy. At the grand ball in the palace, he takes her into a room and kisses her, revealing his feelings for her. The Darkling, however, was only attempting to seduce her to win her good favor as part of his plan. However, it is not clear whether or not he truly did have feelings for her. . He manages to capture Alina and Mal when they run away, and nearly kills Mal before they both escape. It is not known whether he escaped the battle incident, but it is addressed in Siege and Storm.

Malyen Oretsev is Alina’s best friend whom she had loved since they were little . He is an orphaned refugee, also a survivor of the Border Wars, who is raised in the Duke’s estate with Alina. He is an easygoing and peaceful character, and is also shown to be kindhearted, and very handsome . He does not expose his feelings often, preferring to hide them. Alina becomes his best friend and he is never aware of her feelings for him, because he has always viewed her as his little sister. Although he never says so, his actions prove he is extremely protective of her. He has a talent for tracking, and his talent is noticed because when he joins the Second Army, he becomes known as the leading Tracker. A physical description is never provided of him, yet he is viewed as being extremely handsome. Mal is the reason as to why Alina never discovered her power, and when she rescues him in the Shadow Fold, her power is harnessed. Mal later reveals that when Alina was brought to the palace, he missed her terribly and found himself constantly looking for her even though he knew she was gone. When he finally sees her again, he is angry because he is jealous of her and the Darkling’s interaction with each other. However, he rescues her when she runs away from the palace. He eventually declares his love for her and apologizes for having taken so long to return her feelings, implying that he knows Alina loved him. Mal is imprisoned by the Darkling and is nearly killed, but Alina rescues him and the two of them flee.

Genya is a Tailor Grisha who works and lives at the Grand Palace and befriends Alina almost immediately after her arrival. Genya was a gift from the Darkling to the queen, who she works for. She helps Alina during difficult situations. She is said to be extremely beautiful. She has the power to enhance people’s appearances. When Alina has to meet the King, Genya uses her power on her. Bardugo imagined her to be “a combination of a make-up artist, a plastic surgeon, and a sorceress—and on the surface she’s the classic fairy godmother, a sassy best friend character, but there’s a lot more to her than that. She’s been kicked around and looked down on a lot throughout her life, yet she’s always managed to keep her chin up and stay fabulous.”^[3] Despite being an outcast among the Grisha, Genya is kind to Alina and tells her the first time they meet that she is not ugly despite what other people have said about her. Genya has a crush on a Fabrikator named David, and is suspected to have had a forced affair with the King, resulting in his illness.

Baghra is the Darkling’s mother who risks her own life to rescue Alina. At first, she is shown as a grouchy old woman who is responsible for training Alina at the Little Palace; often screaming at her and calling her lazy, Alina learns later on that she was only cruel in order to push her and make her stronger. Baghra helps Alina realize that the only reason she could never harness her power and was always weak is because of Mal, and she helps her fight against this. Towards the end of the novel, Baghra convinces Alina to run away, revealing that she is the Darkling’s mother. She tells Alina of her son’s evil plans. Bahgra also has the same power as the Darkling (darkness). Baghra has her eyes removed during Shadow and Bone but it isn't revealed till Siege and Storm.

Botkin Yul-Erdene is a former Shu Han mercenary who had fought in wars and now is the physical trainer at the Little Palace. He has several features that stand out, including a grisly scar on his throat from when someone tried to cut him in battle. He is depicted as short-tempered. When training Alina, he often shouts at her and taunts her in his efforts to push her. Alina is not physically built and fails every one of his drills. It is only when she finally lets go of Mal and harnesses her power that she begins to train better and win over Botkin’s approval.

Marie and Nadia are two Grisha girls who work and live at the Little Palace. They befriend Alina on her first day and are kind to her, but they never become as close to her as Genya. They both despise a Grisha girl named Zoya who they claim is snobbish and self-centered. Often talking about Zoya behind her back, but are friendly to her face. Alina wonders if the two do the same about her.

Zoya is a Squaller who is simultaneously desired and hated by many. She is first introduced in when she flirts with Mal in Kribirsk, much to Alina’s anger. When Marie describes her, she says she is a powerful Squaller as well as a good fighter, and extremely gorgeous. Alina grows jealous of her beauty, but realizes Zoya is extremely rude and egocentric. The two become rivals, especially when Zoya begins to envy Alina’s growing closeness to the Darkling. She becomes so jealous and angry that she injuries Alina during a fighting drill. Botkin and the Darkling furiously punish her.

Mikhael and Dubrov are two cheerful and humorous soldiers in the Second Army. They are good friends with Mal, and the three of them often forget about Alina and leave her behind on marches. Mal reveals to Alina towards the end of the novel that they were both killed in Fjerda while trying to cross Ravka’s border.

Alexei is a Mapmaker who is Alina’s good friend in the Second Army. In the beginning of the novel, he is killed by a Volcra in the Shadow Fold.

Ivan is a Heartrender who works for the Darkling. He is portrayed as rude and vulgar, and he treats Alina coldly. He helps the Darkling capture Alina and Mal when they run away. He later is killed in Siege and Storm.

The King and Queen are the rulers of Ravka and live in the Little Palace in Os Alta. The King is one of the first people Alina meets at the palace because she must demonstrate her power. When they meet, he remarks on how plain she looks, indicating his penchant for good-looking Grisha girls. The Darkling calls the King a child because of his simple desires and disinterest in the affairs of Ravka. Towards the end of the novel, he becomes ill; it is implied that Genya poisoned him after being sexually used by him largely against her will. The Queen is not as kind or warm as her husband, and despite treating Alina with formality, she indirectly insults her by calling her friends in the army corrupt. Genya is frequently required by the Queen to improve her appearance.

Vasily is the first son of the king of Ravka and rightful heir of the throne when his father dies. Vasily is obnoxious and self-righteous to almost everybody he meets. According to his brother, Nikolai, he knows nothing about running a country right or maintaining an army and simply spends his free time collecting prize-winning ponies. Vasily is killed at the end of Siege and Storm when he lets the Fjerdan army, Ravka's enemy, past a roadblock that leads directly to Os Alta, the capital of Ravka and where the royal family resides, unknown to the fact that the Fjerdans have join sides with the Darkling.

Nikolai is the second son to the throne of Ravka. He befriends Alina when they met in Siege and Storm after revealing to her that, under the once privateer Sturmhond, he was a prince. At the end of Siege and Storm, the palace is attacked by the Darkling's forces and whilst escaping herself, Alina is unsure whether or not he lives.

The Apparat is the King’s priest. An old, bearded man, he frightens Alina by the way he seems to be constantly staring at her. When she is in the library one night, he approaches her and tells her that some people in border villages are making altars for her, which shocks her. He claims she is too dangerous and begins mumbling under his breath. Alina is convinced the Apparat is a madman. When she discovers the Darkling is evil and runs away, she wonders if the Apparat had been trying to warn her of this by telling her she was becoming too dangerous to the point that the Darkling could use her to his own benefit.

Ana Kuya is the housekeeper of the Duke’s estate. She takes care of Mal and Alina when they are orphans, but she does not like either one of them and especially disapproves of Alina. When Alina and Mal spy on her one day, they hear her telling other people how ugly and pale Alina is, and how she resembles a glass of sour milk. When the Grisha examiners come to the Duke’s estate, she tells them that Mal and Alina are undisciplined and too attached to each other.

Setting

Bardugo was inspired to model her fantasy world, Ravka, after Tsarist Russia of the early 1800s. When asked why she chose such a peculiar setting, Bardugo explained, “Many high fantasy worlds resemble medieval Europe; I wanted my world to have a different feel. I also did that because I tried really hard to make the book accessible to people who might not ordinarily pick up high fantasy.”^[4] She spent two months researching Russian history and culture, and particularly enjoyed Natasha’s Dance by Orlando Figes. “It’s a thoughtful, richly detailed cultural history of Russia and also just a really good read,” Bardugo said.^[5] She bought old atlases and art books, as well as a book of Russian slang. When naming towns, she came up with words and then added a Russian suffix. Occasionally, she used real Russian words, such as the name for the Darkling’s personal guard—oprichniki.

Development, publication, and reception

Development

Shadow and Bone is Leigh Bardugo’s first novel. Bardugo had a career as a makeup artist in Hollywood, as well as occasionally singing with her band, Captain Automatic. When questioned what led her to becoming a writer, she explained, “After my dad died, I went a little crazy. I’d been working as a copywriter and the days along in front of the computer were just too much. I’d always loved makeup and costuming, so I took a leap and switched careers. That turned out to be a very good thing for me and for my writing. I met new people pretty much every day. I was thrown out of my comfort zone, and I found that when I came home, even after long hours on set, I had a new determination and focus when I sat down to write.”^[6] Bardugo explained that the writing really began one night when, "after a rather scary experience stumbling down a darkened hall, I found myself wondering what it might be like if darkness was a place. What monsters might inhabit it? What kind of power might create it? I couldn’t sleep, so I got up and started writing." ^[7] She managed to get an agent and a book deal in thirty-seven days in January 2011.^[8] She then joined the Apocalypsies, a group of authors in which she received support for her writing. In an interview, she claimed it took her about a year to complete the entire draft of the story, and admits she had nearly given up over a hundred times. One reason why she took her time writing the novel was that in her first draft, she only had the key elements of order in place; afraid of “slowing my momentum, I didn’t worry about the naming of things or what my characters were eating or wearing until I got into the second draft.”^[9]

Publication

Bardugo admitted she felt “baffled and overwhelmed” when she completed Shadow and Bone because she was unsure of how to market her book.^[10] Some questions she asked herself were, “Should I make bookmarks? A trailer? Do I need a website or a blog? How much do I need to be tweeting? Which conferences should I attend?”^[11] She hired a designer named Denise Biondo to create a website for her, and focused on creating content there. Then, she worked with some of her friends to promote the novel. She designed buttons inspired by the book with her friend Gamynne, and wrote a song with another friend named Aaron. “If you can have fun with it, promotion doesn’t feel quite so burdensome,” she advised.^[12] After publishing her novel, Bardugo said, “After I started querying, things moved quickly. Joanna Stampfel-Volpe of New Leaf offered me representation, we went on submission just a week after I’d signed, and a few weeks later we were at an auction. I got very, very lucky. It’s not that I didn’t believe in my book, but the timing also happened to be right for me.”^[13]

Reception and Awards

After Shadow and Bone‘s release in the United States, it became one of the most critically acclaimed novels of the year. Debuting on The New York Times’ bestseller list, the New York Times described the novel as “mesmerizing…Bardugo’s set up is shiver-inducing, of the delicious variety.”^[14] The School Library Journal rated it as “fast-paced and unpredictable…this debut novel will be a hit with readers who love dark fantasy.”^[15] Justine Magazine praised the novel’s romance and magic, and RT Book Reviews defined it as, “A well-drawn world, full of deceit and mythology, populated by entirely believable characters. Full of truly surprising twists and turns, beautiful imagery and a protagonist it’s impossible not to root for, this is a great choice for teenage fans of George R.R. Martin and J.R.R. Tolkien.”.^[16] Cinda Williams Chima, New York Times bestselling author of the award-winning Heir trilogy and The Seven Realms series, wrote, “I loved Shadow and Bone! This is just my kind of fantasy—rich, satisfying, and gorgeous, laced with heart-pounding action and pitch-perfect romance. The characters—protagonists and antagonists—are layered and complex. I’ll be thinking about it for a good long time.”.^[17] In a review for The New York Times, Veronica Roth, author of the Divergent trilogy, wrote that the novel is “set in a fascinating, unique world rich with detail” and “is unlike anything I’ve ever read. Alina is a clever, sympathetic character I will gladly follow into the next installment—which can’t come soon enough!” ^[18] Shadow and Bone won many awards and honors. The year after its publication, it was chosen as one of ABA’s Best New Voices.^[19] That same year, it became one of Amazon Editors’ Top Ten Picks for Teen Summer Reading, and then was chosen to be Amazon’s “Book of the Month” pick for both the children’s and adult categories.^[20] The summer of 2012, it was listed as one of the top ten books on the Indie Next List Selection.^[21]

Sequels

At first, Bardugo had planned on writing only one novel. However, when she was halfway through Shadow and Bone, she discovered the story was “bigger than just one book.” Realizing she needed to write a sequel as well, she felt hesitant, as she had no way of knowing if anyone would want more. After strong reception, however, Bardugo decided to make it a trilogy.^[22] The second novel, Siege and Storm, was released on June 6, 2013. The novel centers on Alina and Mal, who are attempting to make a new life in an unfamiliar land. Alina desperately tries to keep her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret, but soon learns that the Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a dangerous plan. With help from a privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the Darkling and save Ravka. However, as her power grows, she slips deeper into the Darkling’s realm of magic and farther away from Mal. Ultimately, Alina will have to choose between her country and her power, or risk losing everything. The third and last novel in the trilogy, titled Ruin and Rising, will be released about June 3rd 2014.^[23] The novel’s summary is currently not available.

Film version

In September of 2012, Holly Bario, president of DreamWorks’ production, announced that he had picked up the movie rights to Shadow and Bone.^[24] David Heyman, who in the late 1990s had secured the film rights to J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter, will produce Shadow and Bone. Jeffrey Clifford, president of his Heymaker Films, will also produce the film. The film’s release has not been announced yet.

About the author

Leigh Bardugo was born in Jerusalem, Israel as an only child, and was raised in Los Angeles. As a child, Bardugo was constantly bored without any siblings, so she often made up stories to keep herself entertained. Sometimes she wrote them down, but she admits, “most of the time I just walked around muttering to myself. I think it’s an only child thing.”^[25] When she reached her teen years, “things got really rough for me at school and at home, and that’s when I discovered science fiction and fantasy.”^[26] Admitting she did not enjoy junior high school, she claims writing was her “survival mechanism.” Bardugo studied at Yale University in New York, certain she wanted to be a writer, but then changed her mind after her first year. Changing her major twenty times, she worked as a journalist and a copywriter, occasionally writing scripts for movie trailers.^[27] After graduating, Bardugo discovered her love for makeup and costumes, and became a makeup artist under the name L.B. Benson for TV shows, films, and commercials. After publishing Shadow and Bone, Bardugo is currently working on the second novel in the trilogy, titled Siege and Storm, which will be released on June 4, 2013.

References