Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone | Official Trailer | Netflix
Netflix

Pretty good mix of steam punk and magical forces. The setting is like 1900 Russia. We've got soldiers dressed in cold weather gear and carrying long bolt action rifles. No motor vehicles, but we do have one secret, steam-powered train. We have the Grisha who are people with magical powers, each one has a particular talent. We have healers, fireball throwers, big pushers, heartrenders, tailors, etc. Kids are tested when they are young to see if they have any secret talents and those that do are carted off to be trained at the 'little palace'. We've got a chaste young couple in the army who managed to evade the testing when they were kids because they didn't want to be separated, but now the girl is found to have the greatest superpower of them all. The guy is still an unknown quantity, but I suspect his hidden talent is going to be unmasked very soon.

We have battles between the Grisha with their magical forces and the bad guys with their guns and they are pretty brutal, neither side has an overwhelming advantage. Production values are pretty great, though the sailing ship in the storm and some of outdoor winter scenes are a little weak. As with many of the dramas we've seen recently, the heroes often suffer wounds and injuries that appear to be fatal but somehow they manage to recover with a bit of stitching and a little mud plaster.

8 episodes about 50 minutes each. Thoroughly entertaining.

P.S. I use the word 'pretty' entirely too often. I need to find a better way of expressing myself. Nah, pretty is good enough.