Diana and Matthew - the forbidden love at the heart of it. A manuscript which holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future. A world of witches, daemons and vampires. Shadow of Night, while not as enthralling as A Discovery of Witches, is still an enjoyable read.All Souls Trilogy Deborah Harkness Collection - 3 Books Setįall under the spell of Diana and Matthew once more in the stunning climax to their epic tale, following A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night. They come to fully trust and depend upon one another. I love their relationship even more in this book, for it transforms from a romance into a true partnership. Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not mention the Diana-Matthew relationship.
Also, as much as I find the historical detail to be at times tedious, one must praise Harkness for the extensive research that she must have undertaken in order to include such a level of detail. Through her incorporation of historical figures and events, she is able to create a believable alternate reality. Character building is truly one of Harkness’ strong suits.Īnother forte of hers is her ability to seamlessly weave the imagined into the factual. All of the characters, while not as memorable as Philippe, are well written and boast lifelike dialogue. I especially enjoyed watching the evolution of his relationship with Diana.
He is a complex individual, who beneath his shrewd, no-nonsense exterior conceals a sense of compassion and loyalty. In this book, we meet Matthew’s father, Philippe, and he is easily my favorite supporting character of the entire series. It has its redeeming qualities, chief among which being its characters. The goodĪs I noted earlier, Shadow of Night is by no means a terrible book. By the book’s end, you are more than ready to see the characters leave Tudor England and return to the present day. Compared to A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night is neither as engaging nor quick of a read.
This overattention to detail and tendency to focus on minor plot points causes the book’s pace to be a tad slow at times. I could have done with fewer scenes of Diana doing alchemical experiments with Mary Sidney and more scenes of her doing magic lessons with Goody Alsop. Diana and Matthew come to the past to learn more about Diana’s powers, as well as Ashmole 782, yet they seem to spend most of their time playing house and gallivanting around Europe. The story frequently becomes bogged down in historical detail, particularly during the parts set in London. The book’s greatest fault is that it at times reads like an exposé on Elizabethan England. It is by no means an unreadable book, but it is certainly the weakest of the trilogy. Shadow of Night suffers from middle book syndrome.
TLDR: Overall, an enjoyable book but could benefit from less of a focus on the historical facts of 1590s England.
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