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)

Had to give a five star all round

This was a very enjoyable and gripping listen. The story is captivating and keeps you in it's grips. The characters are addictive and added perfectly. The narrator does an excellent job with her soothing smooth voice and portrays all characters very well. I am of to read the next in this stimulating series. Thanks Deborah, a fabulous job all round :)

loved it

definitely one of my favorites. iv read an listened to it several times. a Must read

More More More

Loved the story. Loved the narrator. This is my first Deborah Harkness book....come on Audible, we need more of this author!

Not normally my cup of team but ....

This is not something I would normally bother with. Vampires and witches - really! However, I really did enjoy this book very much. The story wasn't predictable and the characters were almost human.

I particularly liked the conflict between the different creatures. Similar to prejudices we face in real life with race and culture. The moral is that nothing is too great that it can't be overcome.

Highly recommend this book.

Would highly recommend this trilogy!

I really enjoyed this trilogy and felt the narrators voice suited the story perfectly!
I'm re-listening to the series and love it all over again.

Mesmirising characters and story

This was the first book i have listened to by Deborah Harkness. I had no expectations, and i have been pleasantly surprised. I love the way the story melds together modern life and witchcraft with strong romance between the 2 main characters. The only negative about the audiobook is the narrator, which is a small negative and is easily forgotten about when drawn into the story, unfortunately she changes her pitch in quite unexpected places where its not necessary. All in all its an intriguing story, I definitely recommend it.

more than witches

i loved this book from the start till end. i just hope there is a second book coming

A fun listen

Would you listen to A Discovery of Witches again? Why?

Yes, the story is fun and I liked the mystery, even if the writing wasn't particularly good.

What other book might you compare A Discovery of Witches to and why?

A bit like Twilight for the scholarly type. The comparison is a bit unfair bc in general I think this book is better written than Twilight, but it does share the whole vampire-stud motif (although Matthew is a much more complex and real character than Edward Cullen).

If you could take any character from A Discovery of Witches out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Matthew, just to hear his life story

Any additional comments?

Any Oxford student, tutor, or alumni would cringe at how Harkness likes to just drop in place names for no apparent reason. And the narrator, Ikeda, mispronounces Magdalen (the first clue for an Oxford outsider). Although as a former member of New College, I did like that my college was showcased so prominently.

Only stopped listening to sleep!

Any additional comments?

This is the first time I felt I needed to write about any of the books I have listened to and I have been listening to audio books for four years, now it seems I am lost for words. This is a highly addictive story with full characters that you will become attached too. Jennifer Ikeda spins the story with beauty and care making it difficult to stop listening even when I was falling asleep. I cannot wait for the next book to continue this amazing journey.

Absolutely loved it.

Absolutely loved the audible version. The pacing made it very easy to understand the complexity os the scenes.
The narrator had a pleasant voice the you could fully immerse yourself with.
Very very enjoyable story.