A Discovery of Witches
Blurb from Amazon.com
When historian Diana Bishop opens a bewitched alchemical manuscript in Oxford’s Bodleian Library it represents an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordinary life. Though descended from a long line of witches, she is determined to remain untouched by her family’s legacy. She banishes the manuscript to the stacks, but Diana finds it impossible to hold the world of magic at bay any longer.
For witches are not the only otherworldly creatures living alongside humans. There are also creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires who become interested in the witch’s discovery. They believe that the manuscript contains important clues about the past and the future, and want to know how Diana Bishop has been able to get her hands on the elusive volume.
Chief among the creatures who gather around Diana is vampire Matthew Clairmont, a geneticist with a passion for Darwin. Together, Diana and Matthew embark on a journey to understand the manuscript’s secrets. But the relationship that develops between the ages-old vampire and the spellbound witch threatens to unravel the fragile peace that has long existed between creatures and humans—and will certainly transform Diana’s world as well.
For witches are not the only otherworldly creatures living alongside humans. There are also creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires who become interested in the witch’s discovery. They believe that the manuscript contains important clues about the past and the future, and want to know how Diana Bishop has been able to get her hands on the elusive volume.
Chief among the creatures who gather around Diana is vampire Matthew Clairmont, a geneticist with a passion for Darwin. Together, Diana and Matthew embark on a journey to understand the manuscript’s secrets. But the relationship that develops between the ages-old vampire and the spellbound witch threatens to unravel the fragile peace that has long existed between creatures and humans—and will certainly transform Diana’s world as well.
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A Discovery of Witches: A Novel (All Souls Trilogy)
This is a huge novel! According to amazon.com it's 592 pages but it seems a bit longer. This is the first of a trilogy of books and the debut novel of author Deborah Harkness.
I had heard a lot about this book while I was at the 2012 Comic Con. It was toted as an adult version of Twilight meets Harry Potter (interesting, yes?) but before I embarked on it, I wanted to read some reviews and boy do they vary. Usually when I read reviews, you can get a good idea usually that people either love it or hate it. Sometimes 9 times out of 10 people will love a book (street team aside) and you'll have a few that will hate it for one reason or another. The flip side can be people hate it except for a few. Anywho, If I'm unsure about a book, I do look at the reviews to get a good idea what I'm in for. This book however, is one of the first that I've run into where you can't make heads or tails of it from the reviews. People either absolutely love it or the absolutely loathe it for again, one reason or another and it seems to be split right down the middle. So to add to all the confusion, here's my review:
I WAS ABSOLUTELY BORED OUT OF MY MIND......In the beginning. Now I never try to give you spoilers or take you step by step through a book because I don't want to spoil things for you. I'll give you the blurb and the link but usually that's it, then I give my review. In this case, I'll walk you through a bit because the book is so long and I can't possibly not explain parts of it. With that being said, the books starts out with Diana (main character) coming across a book. She then reads parts of the book then puts it back. Oh and by the way,she's a witch with untold power but she refuses to acknowledge her power or use it in any way. She tries to fit in among us lowly humans and becomes a scholar. She's doing research and comes across the enchanted book. Supposedly the book releases a large amount of power upon being found. The power draws other "creatures" to Diana and the book even though she's put the book back and now it's been lost once again, shocking! One of the main creatures to find her is a vampire named Matthew who becomes the other main character. Diana and Matthew eventually fall in love but you're never quiet sure what Matthew is up to. He's a very complicated character but you almost get the feeling that he's almost too complicated. He has tons of secrets (who wouldn't after thousands of years). When we meet him in the beginning we know he's after the book and also a fellow scholar but as the book goes on, we find out that's only the surface.
The first book "Discovery Of Witches" is basically romance and world building for the trilogy. It's showing the relationship between Diana and Matthew as well as what the following two books in the trilogy will entail. Unfortunately the author seems to think that you need to follow the characters through every single movement of the day. By the time you finish the book, you feel like you were with the characters every step of the day. And the whole book really takes place only over a few weeks. Now with that being said, if you realize what the author is doing and let yourself be totally immersed in this world, it can be quite interesting but if you have no patience for this type of writing and want the whole story wrapped up as quickly as possible, this is not the book for you. I, like you, like a quick tale but this is not it. The author wants you sucked into the world, to identify with either of the two main characters and probably become one. She shares feelings, textures, scents, sounds, emotions, etc. When I say the author goes over every detail, I am not kidding. The story really probably could have been told in 200+ pages with a good editor but it's close to 600 pages and most of that is fill or fluff. Oh and as a word to the wise or to my romance fans, there is no sex scenes in this book. Matthew is totally "old fashion" in every sense of the word. Even after they declare their love for each other and Diana basically throws herself at him, he turns her down to where you think he might even be gay. With that being said, you do however eventually come to see why he's so scared about that level of intimacy. What this book boils down to is almost a classic forbidden romance because of race, yep you heard me, race. In Harkness's world, vampires, witches, demons and humans are the four races that inhabit the world and there is no way they should ever, ever mix. They totally loathe each other and the latter of the 4 do everything in their power to keep the lowly humans from finding out the others exist which includes not mingling with each other and never ever do they have relations but Diana and Matthew will not deny their love. So you can see where this is going......Diana and Matthew do the classic Romeo and Juliet thing and defy all others with a forbidden love. This book takes on politics, romance, paranormal, history, race relations, family and so on. It is so far a classic rebellion story....Viva La France!......oh whoops wrong story.
So what's my verdict on this book, well.....if you like forbidden romance, history, immersing yourself in a world totally, world building and are prepared to be in it for the long haul, I think you'll like the books. Remember, the first half of this book is supper slow and pretty much you're in Diana's head although you do meet Matthew early on. Just remember a few key things while reading it, the book (Ashmole) is important. So her early encounter of it, keep in the back of your mind. Characters are important but there's so many it's hard to keep them all straight but as you meet them, remember what you can. And the history and lore are important, so as they spout it out, keep it in the back of your mind as well. Other then that, have fun with it and remember you must have patience for these books.
Oh and just as an FYI - There is a movie in the works for this trilogy. Here's the blurb from the authors website: Warner Brothers Pictures has secured the film rights to the All Souls Trilogy. Work is currently underway to adapt the first book, A Discovery of Witches, for the screen. Denise DiNovi and Alison Greenspan are producing the film. Playwright David Auburn, who has received both a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, has been hired to write the screenplay.
4 out of 5 books
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