A Discovery of Witches
A Novel
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4.5 • 8.1K Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Book one of the New York Times bestselling All Souls series—“a wonderfully imaginative grown-up fantasy with all the magic of Harry Potter and Twilight” (People).
Look for the hit series “A Discovery of Witches,” now streaming on AMC+, Sundance Now, and Shudder!
Deborah Harkness’s sparkling debut, A Discovery of Witches, has brought her into the spotlight and galvanized fans around the world. In this tale of passion and obsession, Diana Bishop, a young scholar and a descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript, Ashmole 782, deep in Oxford's Bodleian Library. Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she navigates with her leading man, vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont.
Harkness has created a universe to rival those of Anne Rice, Diana Gabaldon, and Elizabeth Kostova, and she adds a scholar's depth to this riveting tale of magic and suspense. The story continues in book two, Shadow of Night, book three, The Book of Life, and the fourth in the series, Time’s Convert.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Historian Deborah Harkness takes the familiar setting of Oxford University and infuses it with magic, intrigue, and a dash of romance. The first book in her All Souls trilogy follows scholar and witch Diana Bishop as she accidentally unleashes a curse during her research and embarks on a journey to lift it. Harkness has studied the history of science, medicine, alchemy, and magic, and her knowledge of arcane details enriches the story. A Discovery of Witches will delight not only fantasy lovers, but also readers who enjoy epic dramas rich in historical detail.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Harkness's lively debut, witches, vampires, and demons outnumber humans at Oxford's Bodleian Library, where witch and Yale historian Diana Bishop discovers an enchanted manuscript, attracting the attention of 1,500-year-old vampire Matthew Clairmont. The orphaned daughter of two powerful witches, Bishop prefers intellect, but relies on magic when her discovery of a palimpsest documenting the origin of supernatural species releases an assortment of undead who threaten, stalk, and harass her. Against all occult social propriety, Bishop turns for protection to tall, dark, bloodsucking man-about-town Clairmont. Their research raises questions of evolution and extinction among the living dead, and their romance awakens centuries-old enmities. Harkness imagines a crowded universe where normal and paranormal creatures observe a tenuous peace. "Magic is desire made real," Bishop says after both her desire and magical prowess exceed her expectations. Harkness brings this world to vibrant life and makes the most of the growing popularity of gothic adventure with an ending that keeps the Old Lodge door wide open.
Customer Reviews
A discovery of witches
This was a awesome book couldn't put it down though I didn't like how it left me hanging I want a sequel .
Great beginning, no end.
I enjoyed the world and characters created, and I enjoyed the conflicts presented. However, the book runs out if words but has no ending. Now I have to wait awhile for a sequel to be written and I'll probably forget about it by then.
How did this get to rated so highly?!?!?
The story goes in every direction, and then leaves you hanging with nothing to show for the time spent reading. The action was weak but the characters were great, but it is sad they did very little other than talk. The adversaries did not make me feel that any of the characters were in danger, because they never did anything, and when they did the heroine was saved with out any conflict. The characters that were supposed to be feared never showed why they should be feared, and the two that did were never spoken of until they made their appearance in the story. Good angles, good characters, bad action, too much talking between the characters with nothing getting accomplished, and an awful conclusion.