‘Shadow and Bone’ Author Reacts to Netflix Cancellation & Reveals ‘Six of Crows’ Spinoff Not Happening
Following a report that Shadow and Bone is one of five series that has been canceled at Netflix (along with Glamorous, Agent Elvis, Farzar, and Captain Fall, via Deadline), the author of the books on which it was based, Leigh Bardugo, went on social media to address the news and express her gratitude for what she did see onscreen and the fans.
“By now you’ve probably heard that there will be no Season 3 for Shadow and Bone and no Six of Crows spinoff. The news hit me hard. I’m heartbroken and deeply disappointed, but I’m also trying to hold onto my very real gratitude,” Bardugo wrote in a message she posted on Instagram with a broken heart emoji and “Love you” in the caption.
“Most authors never get to see their work adapted. Many who do end up regretting the experience. I’m one of the lucky few who can look at an adaptation with pride and tremendous joy,” she continued. She went on to note how grateful she is for the show’s writers, crew, and cast, whom she called “not just wildly talented, but genuinely good people.”
Bardugo added, “Most of all I want to say how grateful I am to the folks reading this — whether you found your way to the books first or discovered them through the show. The Grishaverse is a better place because of you … We’re book people and that means we never stop imagining that magic can be made real. You are proof of that. Now, I’m going to go have a cry, and maybe a drink, and then see where the story takes us next.”
The Grishaverse includes the Shadow and Bone trilogy (Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, and Ruin and Rising), the Six of Crows duology (Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom), and the King of Scars duology (King of Scars and Rule of Wolves).
Shadow and Bone premiered in 2021. It follows, in a war-torn world, lowly soldier and orphan Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li), who has just unleashed an extraordinary power that could be the key to setting her country free. With the monstrous threat of the Shadow Fold looming, Alina is torn from everything she knows to train as part of an elite army of magical soldiers known as Grisha. But as she struggles to hone her power, she finds that allies and enemies can be one and the same and that nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. There are dangerous forces at play, including a crew of charismatic criminals, and it will take more than magic to survive.
“Leigh Bardugo has been intimately involved in the adaptation as my fellow executive producer, so any changes have the Bardugo stamp of approval,” executive producer Shawn Levy told TV Insider in 2021 ahead of the series launch. “But there are definitely some new Easter eggs in there for fans of the book to enjoy.”
