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Shadow and Bone poster

Shows that feel likeShadow and Bone (2021–2023)

In a world cleaved in two by a massive barrier of perpetual darkness, a young soldier uncovers a power that might finally unite her country. But as she struggles to hone her power, dangerous forces plot against her. Thugs, thieves, assassins and saints are at war now, and it will take more than magic to survive.

If you loved Shadow and Bone, the closest series we have are Fate: The Winx Saga (2021), The Wheel of Time (2021) and The Peripheral (2022). All three share Shadow and Bone's contemplative and cerebral feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Dark Matter (2024).

★ 7.5 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗2 seasons · Netflixcreated by Eric Heisserercontemplativecerebraldreamlike
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video
Stream it:Netflix ↗

If Shadow and Bone hit the spot, these will too

Fate: The Winx Saga poster
Fate: The Winx Saga
2021–2022 · 2 seasons · Netflix
★ 6.8sci-fi & fantasy · dramaNetflix

Two things both keep coming back to: magic and power

The coming-of-age journey of five fairies attending Alfea, a magical boarding school in the Otherworld where they must learn to master their powers while navigating love, rivalries, and the monsters that threaten their very existence.

The Wheel of Time poster
The Wheel of Time
2021–2025 · 3 seasons · Prime Video
★ 7.2sci-fi & fantasy · dramaPrime Video

One thread runs through both: magic

The lives of five young villagers change forever when a strange and powerful woman arrives, claiming one of them is the child of an ancient prophecy with the power to tip the balance between Light and Dark forever. They must choose whether to trust this stranger – and each other – with the fate of the world before the Dark One breaks out of His prison, and the Last Battle begins.

The Peripheral poster
The Peripheral
2022 · 1 season · Prime Video
★ 7.5sci-fi & fantasy · dramaPrime Video

Both are built on the same subject: young woman

Stuck in a small Appalachian town, a young woman’s only escape from the daily grind is playing advanced video games. She is such a good player that a company sends her a new video game system to test…but it has a surprise in store. It unlocks all of her dreams of finding a purpose, romance, and glamour in what seems like a game…but it also puts her and her family in real danger.

Locke & Key poster
Locke & Key
2020–2022 · 3 seasons · Netflix
★ 7.3sci-fi & fantasy · drama · mysteryNetflix

Both keep coming back to the same thing: power

The difference: Leans harder into mystery than Shadow and Bone does

After their dad's murder, three siblings move with their mom to his ancestral estate, where they discover magical keys that unlock powers — and secrets.

The Magicians poster
The Magicians
2015–2020 · 5 seasons · Syfy
★ 7.6drama · sci-fi & fantasy

The same mix in both: stillness, then ideas

Brakebills University is a secret institution specializing in magic. There, amidst an unorthodox education of spellcasting, a group of twenty-something friends soon discover that a magical fantasy world they read about as children is all too real— and poses grave danger to humanity.

Dark Matter poster
Dark Matter
2024– · 2 seasons · Apple TV
★ 7.6sci-fi & fantasy · dramaApple TV+

Drama built on dream logic, twice over

Jason Dessen is abducted into an alternate version of his life. To get back to his real family, he embarks on a harrowing journey to save them from the most terrifying foe imaginable: himself.

Doom Patrol poster
Doom Patrol
2019–2023 · 4 seasons · DC Universe
★ 7.7sci-fi & fantasy · dramaMax

Sci-fi & fantasy with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

The Doom Patrol’s members each suffered horrible accidents that gave them superhuman abilities — but also left them scarred and disfigured. Traumatized and downtrodden, the team found purpose through The Chief, who brought them together to investigate the weirdest phenomena in existence — and to protect Earth from what they find.

The Society poster
The Society
2019 · 1 season · Netflix
★ 7.1drama · sci-fi & fantasyNetflix

The same preoccupation in both: teenager

When everyone else mysteriously vanishes from their wealthy town, the teen residents of West Ham must forge their own society to survive.

Once Upon a Time poster
Once Upon a Time
2011–2018 · 7 seasons · ABC
★ 7.6drama · sci-fi & fantasyHuluDisney+

Both lean on ideas more than on drama

There is a town in Maine where every story book character you've ever known is trapped between two worlds, victims of a powerful curse. Only one knows the truth and only one can break the spell.

Invasion poster
Invasion
2021– · 3 seasons · Apple TV
★ 6.2sci-fi & fantasy · dramaApple TV+

Dreamlike sci-fi & fantasy in both cases

Earth is visited by an alien species that threatens humanity's existence. Events unfold in real time through the eyes of five ordinary people across the globe as they struggle to make sense of the chaos unraveling around them.

Travelers poster
Travelers
2016–2018 · 3 seasons · Showcase
★ 8drama · sci-fi & fantasyNetflix

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

Hundreds of years from now, the last surviving humans discover the means of sending consciousness back through time, directly into people in the 21st century. These "travelers" assume the lives of seemingly random people, while secretly working as teams to perform missions in order to save humanity from a terrible future.

Merlin poster
Merlin
2008–2012 · 5 seasons · BBC One
★ 7.9action & adventure · drama · sci-fi & fantasyPrime Video

Cerebral sci-fi & fantasy in both cases

The difference: Sits closer to action & adventure than Shadow and Bone does

The unlikely friendship between Merlin, a young man gifted with extraordinary magical powers, and Prince Arthur, heir to the crown of Camelot.

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The best-reviewed series that share Shadow and Bone’s defining feeling.