A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness is the first book in the All Souls Trilogy. It weaves fantasy, history, and magic into a fascinating tale of forbidden love between a vampire and a witch. Harkness's interpretation of history with sprinkles of magic creates a story that is believable and well researched. Her detailed descriptions of events and setting adds depth to the story. Often times her descriptions of Oxford made me think I was still there. If you are a writer looking for examples of good scene and setting descriptions, this book is full of them.

There were times when I thought the characterization was flat. At first, I did not like her characters, especially Diana Bishop but, as the novel progressed, so did the characters. Their actions began to make sense, but it takes almost 500 pages into the story for that to happen. There were also times when the vocabulary used was redundant (the vampire purrs too much). Harkness spends so much time and thought on background information but does not give the same attention to the foreground. The storyline is brilliant but the story itself is slow in its pursuit of the plot.

If you love history and fantasy with a lot of time on your hands, then this book is for you.

View all my reviews