Review: Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

       

600 pages later, I completed Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness. Applause is appropriate here at the completion of this history tome of witch/vampire lore.


IT BEGAN WITH A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES. 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 realise 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...(GoodReads).

I will be the first to admit that 1- this book is nutso, like 100% crazy, but also 100% impossible to put down.  I can't decide if the writing was good, but the continuation of the story kept the reader going and then just like last book- left us waiting for resolutions.

• Originality: 9.  For a sequel this may shock you but if you thought Discovery of Witches was nutty, GET READY.  Still, if you have not read the first book you are doomed to follow the plot in this one.
• Absurdity: 10.  We travel back in time to Michael's European escapades so Diana can learn to tame her magic.  Sounds simple enough but there is a wild range of vampires, court etiquette, ripped bodices, food, fashion, and famous personalities. NEVER MIND the millions of friends and secrets of Michael's that he keeps getting caught in.  Also, there is not enough discussion of their impacts on the future, lord knows they are creating a mess in history.
• Level of Paranormal Romance: 8.  Maybe I had just forgotten, but is there a lot of smoldering vampire/witch moments in here ( see previous mention of  ripped corsets).
• Level of Harry Potterness: 6. Ok, truth, I couldn't stop turning pages, but Diana, seriously, pull yourself together- you and Michael have the same fight over and over about keeping secrets, trusting each other, accepting each other's nature... blah blah blah.  Also, you are a foreigner in the past -stop being saucy to the royalty.  Editorial note: I can't even imagine the details that didn't make the editors cut.. sheesh.

NPR and YAF & WS: We are all excited for "Shadow of Night" Deborah Harkness

Referred to as ""Harry Potter for intellectuals", we here at YAF & WS loved Deborah Harkness's A Discovery of Witches (review here)  and have waited for the sequel, Shadow of Night to come out.

And that time has come.  NPR's article "'Witches' Sequal Casts a Complex Spell' further excites us AND includes a link to read a section of the book, Chapter 1!

Everyone: Go forth and read!

Waiting on Wednesday: Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

It is a short week this week. Huzzah! It is already time for Waiting on Wednesday, a feature hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases. Encore Huzzah!

This week my WoW is Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness, the sequel to the epic/crazy A Discovery of Witches. (Check out Crazy Camper's review here.) This is not YA, but let me tell you, Harkness packs in the usual suspects--magical powers, insta-love, and cursed lovers,  PLUS a healthy dose of French chateaus, yoga, and red wine. What is not to like?

Diana Bishop,Oxford scholar and reluctant witch, and handsome geneticist and vampire Matthew Clairmont discovered a magical manuscript known as Ashmole 782 and found themselves in a battle to unlock it's secrets in book one. In Shadow of Night the two love birds travel back in time to Elizabethan London. Diana looks to learn more about her magic and Matthew is forced to confront his past  while the mystery of Ashmole 782 deepens.

This book is part of a trend: shadows and night and blood (oh my!). My brain keeps trying to mix it up with Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo and The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman. Do you sense a trend, too? The good part is, they all look great. What are you "Waitin' on"?

Review: Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

It begins with absence and desire.

It begins with blood and fear.
It begins with a discovery of witches.

In reality it begins as a normal book about witches that dissolves into a whirlwind love affair to end all love affairs. This book covers quite a bit of ground ( See Absurdity). And I could not put it down. As a reader of MANY YA books, the hints at and blatant surges of lust really shocked me ( but were a teeny bit welcome. I mean, didn’t we just always want Edward to just make out with Bella??) A Discovery of Witches moves fast, dumps us into a world magic, science, DNA tests, creature feuds, more magic, and time travel. What more does a girl want? O yes an extremely hunky vampire protector lover. Check Check Check.

1. Originality – 6. Daemons, witches, vampires, o my. It turns out that behind the everyday lives of humans, there is a whole world of Creatures. Diana is a witch/historian of alchemy who has denied her power. The magic exploding in blue light from under finger tips, witch water (never mind witchwind and witchfire)

2. Absurdity – 5. Pretty absurd. Moving quickly from historical thriller, to budding romance, vampire protectiveness, lessons of celibacy, uncontrolled passion, witch covens, to war strategizing this book covers it all again, all in a period of 40 days ( now that we now that Diana can time walk, who knows what other shenanigans the sequel will include)

3. Level of Paranormal Romance – 10, overwhelming ten. Over the course of 40 days (the length of time over which the events unfold), the Vampire and the Witch fall desperately in love/lust with each other while breaking a century old rule that forbids their love while knowingly starting a war to change the lives of all the Creatures. Destiny is involved, instantaneous love and devotion. At one point they become husband and wife because she tells him she loves him. And everyone is totally ok with them calling each other husband and wife. I mean, whhhhaaaat?

4. Level of Harry Potter-ness – 2. Very low. Expect for the spells and inate predisposition for magic, the only Harry Potter aspects are that sadly, her parents died protecting her as a child. Sad but true.

In a Nutshell: Diana, inadvertently attracts the attention of the Handsome Vampire Michael, as well as all the creatures in the Cambridge area by recalling a book from the library that hasn’t been seen in hundreds of years. All the creatures believe that the book contains important clues about the past and the future, and want to know how Diana was able to get her hands on it. Michael is one of those people, but falls crazily in love with Diana and decides is not the book he wants, but to love and protect her and discover whatever the secret is together. There is running and hiding and protecting, trying to discover what is it that everyone wants from the book, from Diana, etc. The bad guys keep getting closer, in England, in France, in upstate New York, Diana continues to battle them with her wacky emerging most-powerful-of-all-the-witches magic. And then, the book ends, with the lovers skipping back in time, to buy time, for Diana to learn how to really use her magic so she can fight the bad guys and win.