Review: Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

Title: Shadow of Night
Author: Deborah Harkness
Series: All Souls Trilogy #2
Publication: July 10th 2012 by Viking Adult
Genre: Fantasy ~ Historical Fiction
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Play | Kobo
Rating: 5/5

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...

I was surprised by how much I loved Shadow of Night. Of course I thought the first book, A Discovery of Witches was really good but I've always felt something was missing and I guess I found it in the sequel. I didn't even care that this was a pretty big book with 709 pages, I just couldn't get enough of reading it.

Because Diana and Matthew travel to the past, this book mostly takes place in 1590 and 1591. So it's no surprise that I devoured this book since I'm such a history nerd. I thought the author really did great writing about this hectic era in history. 

I actually think fans of Outlander will love this book as much as I did because Shadow of Night reminded me so much of it, what with the time travelling and everyone. In this book Diana meets a lot of historical figures like Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Harriot and Queen Elizabeth to name a few. Which made my historical fangirl heart so happy.

The writing was flawless, but I'm not surprised by it since it was like that also with the first book. And I still love Diana and Matthew so much. In fact, I think I'm even a bigger fan of them as a couple. And they went through so much together in this book.

I am a bit worried though that I won't enjoy the next and final book as much since it doesn't take place in the past anymore. But still I'm gonna hope for the best because I'm dying to find out how it will all end.

Overall, Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness was even better than I had thought it would be. The history, the writing, the characters — it all made this into one hell of a book. It's absolutely one of my top favorites!

       About the Author:

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Deborah Harkness is a professor of history at the University of Southern California. She has received Fullbright, Guggenheim, and National Humanities Center fellowships, and her most recent scholarly work is The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution. She also writes an award-winning wine blog.