Deborah Harkness | The Worn Bookmark

Shelf Control is a weekly feature hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies. Consider this a variation of a Wishing & Waiting post… but looking at books already available. Take a look at your shelves and/or Kindle and post about a book you own but haven’t read yet.

Title: Shadow of Night
Author: Deborah Harkness
Published: Published May 28th 2013 by Penguin Books (first published July 10th 2012)
Length: 583 Pages

Goodreads Summary: 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 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…

How I Got It: I bought it.

When I Got It: Last year.

Why I Want To Read It: I read the first book, A Discovery of Witches, and really enjoyed it so I was really excited to finish the series and immediately bought books 2&3. But then things happened and it got pushed to the side so it’s been almost a year since I read book 1. I’m really hoping to make some time for it in the next two months before I hit the year mark of reading book 1.

Have any of you read this book? What did you think of it?

11468955 A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Published December 27th 2011 by Penguin Books (first published January 1st 2011)

579 Pages

Goodreads Summary: Deep in the stacks of Oxford’s Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.

Review: I am so glad that I finally got around to reading this book. I have always had a big interest in witches and witchcraft. And to combine that all with vampires and other supernatural creatures just made it that much better. If you read the summary I included in this review and you’re not a fan of Twilight… don’t let that little mention scare you away because this is really nothing like Twilight. The book was a little slow moving at first but it was still enough to keep me interested. I’m so glad I kept on reading because I really did enjoy this book. I loved all of the characters, especially Matthew. I loved his and Diana’s relationship. This story could have been your typical witch coming into her power type but it was so much more than that. I really love how history was incorporated into the story and can’t wait to get even more history in the second book.

4/5 Stars