★★★★☆ Shadow and Bone, by Leigh Bardugo
Strong world and characters, predictable plot
Shadow and Bone
Leigh Bardugo
Strong world and characters, predictable plot
The first thing to mention about Shadow and Bone is that the novel Shadow and Bone is only 58% of the book entitled Shadow and Bone (at least for the kindle edition). The other 42% is an excerpt of Siege and Storm followed by an excerpt of Six of Crows. Yesterday afternoon when I sat down to resume reading, I thought to myself, "I guess I'm not going to finish this evening after all." But I did, easily. So, take heart! When your kindle says that you're 29% done, you've actually read half the novel.
Shadow and Bone is clearly situated in time and space, and indeed the time is not very distant. Most of the action takes place in Ravka. Ravka is clearly Russia. It has enemies to the south, Shu Han (China), and north, Fjerda (Scandinavia). To the west is an ocean, the True Sea (Atlantic Ocean), and on the other side of the True Sea lies Novyi Zem (the New World). It is mentioned in passing that Fjerdan soldiers have a breech-loading rifle. Mass-produced breech-loaders were not a thing until the 19th century. Characters in the Ravkan court understand two languages, Russian and another language rendered as English. For instance, one of the princes is nicknamed "Sobachka". That is Russian "собачка", a diminutive (like "doggy") of Russian "собака", "dog". Alina, on hearing this, responds '"'You can’t call a royal prince ‘puppy,’” I laughed.' That response doesn't make sense unless Alina is speaking a language other than Russian. This recalls Tolstoy's Russia, where the upper crust spoke French to each other. (Or indeed, imperial Rome, where the common folk spoke Latin and the court Koine Greek.)
I don't think these details are incidental. I believe Leigh Bardugo knows exactly what's she's doing when she throws in a casual mention of breech-loading rifles. It is not all modern, however. In her Acknowledgments Bardugo mentions Russian folklore books. Unfortunately, my knowledge of Russian folklore is too thin to catch most of that. However, Baba Yaga does show up -- an old witch living alone in a hut in the woods. (The hut is not described as standing on chicken legs, but I choose to believe that they are just not visible underneath it.) I need not name her, because you will recognize her immediately.
The result is a novel that feels almost like Urban Fantasy -- magic that is both rooted in folklore and placed firmly in (almost) our world.
The story begins with two orphan children, Malyen (Mal) Oretsev and Alina Starkov, living in Duke Keramsov's estate orphanage. All Ravkan children are tested for magical abilities. No such are detected when Mal and Alina are tested, so they enter Ravka's non-magical army, Mal as a tracker and Alina as a map-maker. Alina comes to the attention of the Darkling, the head magician (in Ravka they are called Grisha) in a way that I will not spoil and is taken to the King's court, where lots of exciting stuff happens to her.
Key plot points were predictable. Of course, Alina and Mal turn out to have powerful magic. In this book only Alina's magic is discovered, but I am completely confident that before the trilogy ends we will also learn of Mal's magic. Also, Alina established a link with Morozova’s stag that allows her to wrest control of the staghorn collar away from the Darkling. And yes, Alina, of course Mal is in love with you.
So, a good (if a bit obvious) story with strong characters in an unconventional fantasy world. I look forward to the remaining books.