A Discovery of Witches

All Souls, Book 1

By: Deborah Harkness

Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda

Length: 23 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Now a major Sky original production.

The number on international and Sunday Times best seller.

A Discovery of Witches is the first in the must-have, must-listen All Souls trilogy.

It begins with absence and desire. It begins with blood and fear. It begins with a discovery of witches.

Diana Bishop, a young scholar and descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript deep in Oxford's Bodleian Library. Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she must navigate with a vampire, Matthew Clairmont.

This manuscript, Ashmole 782, holds the secrets of their past...and the key to their future.

©2011 Deborah Harkness (P)2011 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Rich, thrilling...captivating." (E. L. James)

"Intelligent and off-the-wall." (The Sunday Times)

"A bubbling cauldron of illicit desire." (Daily Mail)

Captivating!!

Vivid, excellent narration and very enjoyable. it is worth the listen. Can't wait to listen the next books in the series.

Loved it

I watched the show, and although I loved it, the book was better. It made the morning traffic bearable.

Vampires and witches

I love this story and the narrator is amazing! There is so much detail and the characters are so detailed, they become alive.

Interesting but not captivating

I love a good vampire story, and although this was an original take, it did not live up to my expectations! Jennifer Ikeda's voice could have been more expressive. I got the impression of straight faces and serious expressions even when they were supposed to be happy! I loved the idea of the book, Ashmore 783 but the love story got priority. It got a little more interesting toward the end but I doubt I will bother with the next book.

So much promise, so disappointing.

With such and intriguing set up, I can't believe I sat through over 20 hours of Twilight-esque waffling and no resolution.
The narrator did a very nice job of all the accents and characters but this book was way too fey.

I didn't like it

What disappointed you about A Discovery of Witches?

I could only sit through a little bit

Has A Discovery of Witches turned you off from other books in this genre?

no

How could the performance have been better?

a different person

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from A Discovery of Witches?

I didnt listen to all of it so I couldnt choose

expected better

I must have missed something. I expected an awesome book on account of the reviews, but it was just meh

Started well but got lost

What did you like best about A Discovery of Witches? What did you like least?

Started ok but the story just petiered out

What was most disappointing about Deborah Harkness’s story?

It's ending just stopped as it was getting interesting again

What does Jennifer Ikeda bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Good vocal skills nicely read

Did A Discovery of Witches inspire you to do anything?

No not really may be read the scores and reviews more clearly

Any additional comments?

I really don't think I want to read the second book

The Discovery of an Editor might have helped!

A Discovery of Witches contains the outline of an interesting story but desperately needs a ruthless editor. The plot has definite potential. I found Elias Ashmole and the manuscript Ashmole 782 really interesting and I loved the house where Diana's Aunt Sarah lived. However, in the end A Discovery of Witches becomes quite simply a romance (and not even a very good one). It is repetitive, at times boring, frequently annoying and full of cliches. And yet ... I kept listening (the narrator is very good). I hoped it would get better. It never did. I'm almost embarrassed to admit I felt compelled to read the next book. I think I gave Harkness a second chance because I was still interested in the world that she was trying to create. Unfortunately, the second in this trilogy (Shadow of Night) was also a book of lost potential. I won't be trying the third.