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. In late September 2012 David Heyman purchased film rights to Shadow and Bone.

Development, publication, and reception

Development

Shadow and Bone is Leigh Bardugo’s first novel. When Entertainment Weekly questioned Bardugo about her inspiration for the series, she explained, "In most fantasy, darkness is metaphorical; it’s just a way of talking about evil (darkness falls across the land, a dark age is coming, etc.). I wanted to take something figurative and make it literal. So the question became, 'What if darkness was a place?' What if the monsters lurking there were real and more horrible than anything you’d ever imagined beneath your bed or behind the closet door? What if you had to fight them on their own territory, blind and helpless in the dark? These ideas eventually became the Shadow Fold." ^[1]

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, "I think there’s tremendous power in the images we associate with Russian culture and history, these extremes of beauty and brutality that lend themselves to fantasy. And honestly, as much as I love broadswords and flagons of ale—and believe me, I do—I wanted to take readers someplace a little different. Tsarist Russia gave me a different point of departure."^[1]

Publication

Bardugo progressed through the steps of querying agents to accepting representation to being offered a three book deal in an unusually quick 37 days. The Grisha series went to auction on December 1, 2010 and was sold to Henry Holt and Co./Macmillan on December 3, 2010. '^[2] Shadow and Bone, the first book in the trilogy, was published in June 2012.^[3]

Sequels

Book 2 in the trilogy, Siege and Storm, was released in June 2013.^[4] The final book in the trilogy, Ruin and Rising, was released in June 2014.^[5]

Six of Crows, a new story set in the same world as the Grisha trilogy, was released in 2015. According to The Hollywood Reporter, "The project, described as a blend of Ocean’s 11 and Game of Thrones, is set in Kerch, a small island nation in the "Grishaverse" (meaning the same universe as her Shadow and Bone books) with tremendous economic power, the hub of all international trade and a country rich in art and culture, but also home to a teeming criminal underworld. A crew of dangerous misfits face impossible odds when they are pulled together to break into one of the most guarded places in the world."^[6]

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.^[7] 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.^[8]

References