Science vs. Magic
A major theme at work in this novel which is then further expanded upon through the series which follows is the concept of what distinguishes magic from science. Early in the proceedings, one character asks semi-rhetorically, “When leaves change color, do you call it magic?” Of course, for most of human civilization this would qualify as magic if one defines magic as something which occurs which cannot be explained. And therein lies the exploration of the theme through the practice of what the Grisha term the “Small Science” which essentially boils down to the specific mastery of manipulating things on a cellular level. The Grisha wholeheartedly reject the term witchcraft for this power which is simply a knowledge not yet widely known. Or, as in this case, widely shared.
The Darkness
What really makes Shadow and Bone a fascinating read is that it takes what has become the dominant metaphor of our age—darkness—and returns it to the literal. Try an experiment with your virtual reading device: do a search for how many of your books specifically reference “darkness” as a metaphorical condition. Don’t be surprised if it turns out nearly all of them do so. Darkness began to take off at the end of the 1800’s, ramped up in the first part of the last century and really kicked into high gear following the atrocities of the Nazi regime. Darkness—metaphorically speaking—is everywhere. But in Shadow and Bone it becomes literalized so that the fight between the forces of good and evil—the metaphorical darkness—are pitched within a world of literal darkness.
Greed
The question is posed and then immediately answered in the book: “What is infinite? The universe and greed of men.” That the universe is infinite is, apparently, a fact of science. That the greed of men is infinite, however, is more complicated. This is opinion and surely one that is shared by many. The word greed in one form or another recurs nearly as often as “darkness” and more often than references to magic. It is an essential element of construction of the pursuit of both those themes and is bound inextricably in the mythology of the story. As one character explains, an ancestor who existed ago was “the Black Heretic, the Darkling who created the Shadow Fold. It was a mistake, an experiment born of his greed…every Darkling since then has tried to undo the damage.” Though the inhabitants which populate this mythology may be strange and foreign, the exploration of this theme of the infinite capacity of greed is hardly alien.
