Friday, December 4, 2015

Shadow of Night - Deborah Harkness

Title: Shadow of Night (All Souls Trilogy #2)
Author: Deborah Harkness
Pages: 584
Published: 2012
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description: Historian Diana Bishop, descended from a line of powerful witches, and long-lived vampire Matthew Clairmont have broken the laws dividing creatures. When Diana discovered a significant alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, she sparked a struggle in which she became bound to Matthew. Now the fragile coexistence of witches, daemons, vampires and humans is dangerously threatened.

Seeking safety, Diana and Matthew travel back in time to London, 1590. But they soon realize that the past may not provide a haven. Reclaiming his former identity as poet and spy for Queen Elizabeth, the vampire falls back in with a group of radicals known as the School of Night. Many are unruly daemons, the creative minds of the age, including playwright Christopher Marlowe and mathematician Thomas Harriot.

Together Matthew and Diana scour Tudor London for the elusive manuscript Ashmole 782, and search for the witch who will teach Diana how to control her remarkable powers... (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: I quite enjoyed the book, as I managed to fly through the book, albeit with the aid of an audiobook.  One of the aspects that I like was the time travel aspect, especially the Elizabethan era, as well as the introduction of new characters that added to the overall flavour and tenor to the book.

But I did feel that the middle of the book seemed to drag a bit and that if I wasn't listening to the audiobook while reading the book, I may have not completed the book as quickly as I was able to.

Bottom line: As the book is a continuation of A Discovery of Witches, I would probably recommend that you read that book before reading this one.  But if you have read the first book in the series and enjoyed that one, you probably will enjoy this book as well.  Highly Recommended.

Rating: 4/5

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