Possibly my favourite historical fiction fantasy series ever, the All Souls Trilogy had me hooked from A Discovery of Witches and refused to let me go until I closed the back cover of The Book of Life. Deborah Harkness has created a magnificent. richly detailed, layered story world with incredible characters and conflicts that feel as tense and monumental as they should. This series is full of exceptional writing and amazing fantasy elements while also ticking the boxes for academia, historical fiction, supernatural and paranormal. I will try and keep this brief, but I will warn you this trilogy will make me yap on.
A Discovery of Witches starts us off, giving us an incredibly enticing academia setting and supernatural elements that spark character interactions and an aesthetic that is as beautiful as it is deadly. Our characters, Diana and Matthew, meet rather quickly, moving us into the thick of supernatural tensions and political intrigue within the hidden world of vampires, witches, and daemons. The more Diana learns about the manuscript and the more she learns about herself, the deeper into the histories we go. It is a fantastic novel, a wonderful introduction to this riveting fantasy world, and a jam-packed read at that. I loved so many aspect and elements of this book as a writer and a reader and I will continue to uphold A Discovery of Witches as an adult fantasy to aspire towards.
Shadow of Night brings the historical elements to the forefront, largely due to its setting as we are taken back in time, but partly through the characters – Matthew’s close group of friends (who are key figures of the time), the witches (who are more powerful than most current day witches), and the appearance of a more modern character linked to Diana. The tension certainly builds with this one, sparking jealousy and longing which brings with it some dangerous acts. I will say I like this one a lot, but not as much as A Discovery of Witches. Parts of Diana and Matthew’s relationship and dialogue felt repetitive and overly combative with the traditional vs. modern thinking.
The Book of Life returns us to modern day, and with it come the changes that have occurred due to their meddling in the past and events while they were gone. It is a tearful beginning, but moves into the final conflicts with a force and purpose that sets the mood of the novel. Big events unfold, some positive and others negative, but for my tastes the ending felt a little underwhelming. There are two big issues or events to get resolved, and they both seem be lesser blows than previous events Diana and Matthew (and the family as a whole) have endured. I don’t dislike the ending, but I was expecting a little more loss, or maybe more of a challenge.
Overall though, as you may have already guessed, I love this series and highly recommend it to everyone. It has a bit of everything in there, giving you the opportunity to see if it is an element or story genre you are interested in reading more. It also is an incredible feat of writing with so much that happens, so many characters of significance, and a magic system that needs to be explained in its entirety because Diana embodies it all. That is just the witchy side of things, so don’t go thinking the vampire customs are any less rigorous or important. Deborah Harkness is a genius, a massive inspiration, and an author I will gladly continue to read – she has already come out with more stories within the All Souls world, Time’s Convert and The Black Bird Oracle which I am eagerly awaiting from the library. Pick up this trilogy when you have the time and I promise you will not regret it.
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