Shadow of Night

This is book two of Deborah Harkness' All Souls Trilogy, the first book being A Discovery of Witches. Having just finished it I now can't wait for the final book! This book started just where the first book ended, with Diana and Matthew jumping back in time, and I was drawn in from the very beginning and loved every bit of it.

In case you've forgotten, Diana is a reluctant witch and Matthew is the vampire who loves her. They aren't supposed to be together, and there are creatures who want to tear them apart, so they go back in time to see if they can figure out what to do. That they go back to Elizabethan England, and that Matthew turns out to be Matthew Roydon, an actual historical personage, is awfully cool in my opinion. And since Matthew was an historical figure, it made sense that he hung out with other historical figures, right? So we also meet Christopher Marlowe (a daemon, by the way), Walter Raleigh, and others, collectively known as the School of Night. We also meet Queen Elizabeth herself.

I love that the people of the 16th century know that creatures exist, and while they don't love that they're around, they acknowledge their existence and for the most part tolerate them (although persecution of witches is heating up). But really, what's NOT to like about a novel about witches, vampires, daemons, time travel, Elizabethan England, mysteries, and love??? Absolutely nothing.


Shadow of Night