The second book in the “Grishaverse” series, as well as the second in the Alina trilogy. Since season 1 of the TV show goes up through the end of the first book, I’m now following the characters into uncharted narrative territory, and it’s exciting to see where the story goes (book premise spoilers.)
After the events of Shadow and Bone, Alina and Mal flee Ravka, but Alina feels the pull of her troubled homeland. Her last encounter with the Darkling spurred him to acquire a devastating new power, and he uses it as a weapon against any who would cross him. Realizing that she’s the only one with a hope of stopping him, Alina contemplates going back. But it’s going to take more power than she has now – like the Darkling before her, she sets her sights on ancient, mythic animals able to amplify Grisha abilities.
After reading Shadow and Bone, it was fun to go into this book not knowing what was going to happen. The story takes us in plenty of unexpected places, offering up some gripping surprises as well as some “wait – really?” moments. I wasn’t expecting to follow the amplifier thread from the first book, but that seems to be emerging as a major driving force of the entire trilogy.
We’re able to glimpse some of the lands beyond Ravka and meet some new characters. For my money, the BIPOC-coded foreign lands/cultures are rather thinly-sketched so far, which is disappointing. However, I really like some of the new characters, especially as concerns the privateer Sturmhond and two of his crew members, the loyal/lethal twins Tolya and Tamar. Sturmhond is a really engaging character, hard to pin down, and he adds a great new dynamic to the characters. I love waiting to see what he’s going to do next.
The book takes Alina to some neat places. I appreciate the darkness of it – as Alina gains strength and confidence in her abilities, she also feels a sharper tug of desire for more power. I like her worries over whether or not she’s going down the same path as the Darkling, playing with forces she shouldn’t mess with, and it’s interesting to see her wrestle with what her power might be turning her into. I also like the way that, while Alina is the prophesied savior who might be Ravka’s only hope to destroy the Fold, she’s also a powerful symbol for the people, and numerous factions want to co-opt that symbol for their own advancement. In that way, I’m reminded a little of how Katniss is both a revolutionary leader and a propaganda tool in The Hunger Games.
The romance stuff is hit-or-miss, if only because I prefer Alina’s interactions with the guys who pretty obviously aren’t her endgame over the one who is. There’s a definite air of “Alina’s a little busy trying to figure out if she can stop a dangerous megalomaniac, so can you not get in your feelings right now over her not being able to spend as much time with you as you’d like?” Then meanwhile, she has really enjoyable, unpredictable interactions with another guy who may or may not be into her to an indeterminate level. And as for Alina and the Darkling, while it certainly gets a little The Last Jedi-era Reylo at times, the book never loses sight of how messed-up their dynamic is, which I appreciate.
All in all, it’s a strong second installment. There’s plenty that I’m excited to see onscreen in the adaptation, and the ending has a big enough bang that I’m glad the whole series has already been published; I wouldn’t have waited to wait for the next book to come out!
Warnings
Violence, light sexual content, drinking, and strong thematic elements.
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Another new Shang-Chi featurette, featuring more behind-the-scenes clips, interviews, and a handful of new shots we haven’t seen before. I love that, during shooting, Simu Liu’s parents mostly just wanted to know about him working with Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Michelle Yeoh.
There’s also an article that reveals a little more about what was involved in bringing Leung into the film, a subject that I still find endlessly fascinating (even now, after more than two years of hype, it’s still a little hard to believe he’s actually in it.) Destin Daniel Cretton talks about the casting process for getting Leung on board (sounds like it almost didn’t happen,) and both he and Kevin Feige have all kinds of praise for Leung’s work in the movie. You love to see it!
Cretton says, “He’s a legend, and there’s a reason he’s a legend and a big reason is that he’s the hardest working actor on set. He is the most dedicated actor I’ve ever worked with. The most focused actor I’ve ever worked with.”
And Feige adds, “Meeting him in person, which I only did very briefly on set was incredible, and just watching him work, and watching all of the other cast around him, learn from him and take that craft within themselves.”
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