Why didn’t I read Shadow of Night before? I don’t know why I stopped at A Discovery of Witches the first time I read it because Deborah Harkness’s Shadow of Night is incredible. Not only do we get a continuation of a truly astounding series, but the historical setting gives everything and more. I couldn’t be more blown away by the power of Deborah Harkness’s writing.

It can be tricky writing a historically accurate fantasy book. Not only do you need to know about the language of the time, the attire, the practices, the lives of all the people in a space, etc. but you also need to be able to place your characters in there and have them react in realistic and believable ways to their situations. Tackling this challenge with Diana specifically would have been incredibly difficult. She’s a historian, an alchemist scholar, and an American jumping into late 16th-century England. Undoubtedly, there will be aspects of her as a character that clash with the setting, such as her voice, features, stature, and mannerisms. Deborah deals with this spectacularly and the conflicts and tension surrounding Diana with her being a 21st century woman in the 16th century create an immersive problem to follow.

The historical characters introduced feel not only alive but human, which is something that can be hard to capture when bringing up historical figures in any book. Humanising legends and icons in a way that not only reduces them from god-like beings but also paints them in a slightly unfavourable light gives them such distinct features and presence in this gritty, dirty, and dark setting. At times, some of the more passive characters may have blended into one another, but for the most part, they stood out as their own characters and contributed to the story. Similarly, the witches Diana is introduced to may have lost some individualism, but overall they were notably seperate from the collective of witches.

Diana and Matthew’s relationship takes an interesting turn and the “redevelopment”, for lack of a better term, is comical and intriguing to watch. It shows a lot of vulnerability and depth in both their characters, and in the new characters we are introduced to, but it does feel a little repetitive in terms of romance plot line progression. I’m glad there have been more revelations between each other and in who Matthew is and has been, especially considering the drastic difference between 16th-century Matthew and 21st-century Matthew. I did miss my boy Marcus, I won’t lie. Gallowglass was a great addition to the narrative and I’m excited to see more of him.

I also love the additions of short, real-time chapters at the end of each part incorporating the important details into the 21st century dilemma, but also the reminder of the characters from A Discovery of Witches. Some of those chapters had me gasping and I couldn’t not read fast enough to find out more. The Book of Life is quaking in its boots on my bookshelf as of writing this. I cannot wait to read the conclusion to this stunning trilogy.