Review: Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

Published: July 2012

Pages: 584

Synopsis: “IT BEGAN WITH A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES.

Historian Diana Bishop, descended from a line of powerful witches, and long-lived vampire Matthew Clairmont have broken the laws dividing creatures. When Diana discovered a significant alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, she sparked a struggle in which she became bound to Matthew. Now the fragile coexistence of witches, daemons, vampires and humans is dangerously threatened.

Seeking safety, Diana and Matthew travel back in time to London, 1590. But they soon realize that the past may not provide a haven. Reclaiming his former identity as poet and spy for Queen Elizabeth, the vampire falls back in with a group of radicals known as the School of Night. Many are unruly daemons, the creative minds of the age, including playwright Christopher Marlowe and mathematician Thomas Harriot.

Together Matthew and Diana scour Tudor London for the elusive manuscript Ashmole 782, and search for the witch who will teach Diana how to control her remarkable powers...”

Rating: **

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After finished A Discovery of Witches, I was very excited to read Shadow of Night and was pleased when it picked up right where A Discovery of Witches left off. I quickly felt however, that there was a lot of unnecessary detail and padding. For example, the majority of the first 80 pages was waffle, yes it introduced the reader to the array of historical characters such as Kit Marlowe, but didn't add anything to the plot. Unfortunately, I felt this was repeated throughout the novel, which was full of unnecessary detail and chapters. On reflection once I had finished, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the book could have been considerably shorter and the plot wouldn’t really have been affected.

There were the odd chapter which was set in the present, which I found very confusing as these happened without indication or logic and it usually took me a good page to realise the era had changed.

Shadow of Night was most definitely readable, but longwinded and nowhere near as good as A Discovery of Witches. I don’t think it unfair to say that I am going to read the third book in the series, but it is entirely on the merit of book 1 and not book 2.