A Discovery of Witches

A Novel

By: Deborah Harkness

Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda

Length: 23 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Book one of the New York Times best-selling All Souls Series—"a wonderfully imaginative grown-up fantasy with all the magic of Harry Potter and Twilight” (People).

Now “[a] hot show that’s like Twilight meets Outlander” (Thrillist) airing on AMC and BBC America, as well as streaming on Sundance Now and Shudder.

Deborah Harkness’s sparkling debut, A Discovery of Witches, has brought her into the spotlight and galvanized fans around the world. In this tale of passion and obsession, Diana Bishop, a young scholar and a descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript, Ashmole 782, deep in Oxford's Bodleian Library. Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she navigates with her leading man, vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont.

Harkness has created a universe to rival those of Anne Rice, Diana Gabaldon, and Elizabeth Kostova, and she adds a scholar's depth to this riveting tale of magic and suspense. The story continues in book two, Shadow of Night, book three, The Book of Life, and the fourth in the series, Time’s Convert.

©2011 Deborah Harkness (P)2011 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“A wonderfully imaginative grown-up fantasy with all the magic of Harry Potter or Twilight.... An irresistible tale of wizardry, science and forbidden love.” (People)

“Romantic, erudite, and suspenseful.... Harkness attends to every scholarly and emotional detail with whimsy, sensuality, and humor.” (O, The Oprah Magazine)

“A thoroughly grown-up novel packed with gorgeous historical detail and a gutsy, brainy heroine to match.... Harkness writes with thrilling gusto about the magical world.” (Entertainment Weekly)

It took a bit to get invested...

I think if I had not watched the TV show and read The World of All Souls book, I probably would have set it aside. But it ended up pretty interesting.

One of the best super natural books ever.

I can’t stop listening to this book. This series is one to get. Thank you.

Love Love Love This Series!!

I’ve read this every fall since it was released and have met friends around the world through the book club!! Just started my umpteenth read.

I love this series!

I read this book every fall. I sometimes participate in the real time read. I love how intelligent it is. A truly adult fantasy series. I can't wait for book 5 to finally arrive!

Enjoyed

I really enjoyed reading and listening to this series. Narrated awesomely. Will listen again soon.

*Repeat listener*

I’ve listened to this probably 20 times, and always revisit it every fall. It’s the best audiobook I’ve ever found and Jennifer Ikeda deserves an Oscar for her unparalleled voice acting. Truly impressive!

One of my favorite series…

I return to listen to this series again and again. I love the world the author has created, the writing and the narration. I cane wait for the fifth novel (Blackbird Oracle) to be released next year.

Like Twilight, but worse

Contains Spoilers

I picked up this book because it supposedly had an older FMC who was independent, logical, and intelligent. In reality, Diana behaved like a 16 year old. She's whiny, wishy washy, and fell in instalove with the first hottie to look her way. She's supposed to be independent and strong-willed, but apparently only when it's obnoxious and to her detriment because she immediately goes with whatever sketchy mccrusty the vampire man and his witch killer mom want. She's got a PhD in a witch-adjacent area of study but has zero curiosity about witches. Her parents died in a mysterious way but again, zero curiosity about her family's legacy or her parents. She resists exploring her witchcraft even though she's clearly in danger and more powerful than other witches until the very end of the book.

I could easily forgive any one of these issues. Doesn't want to learn about witches despite being intelligent and curious? Traumatic past experiences led to an illogical distaste, understandable. Doesn't want to explore her own powers to her detriment? Again, past trauma, I get it. Goes for a guy against everything she's ever known to be true and against the advice of everyone else? We've all been there, understandable. Cool with vampire-marrying a controlling man with a ton of secrets and a dark past within a couple months of meeting him? We've all ignored a red flag or two, it's fine... All of this and more at the same time? Oof. At least Bella has the excuse that she was a literal teenager and a human.

The world I didn’t know I needed

This first book is a fantasy baseline. Intricately weaving details history culture human evolutionary sciences in theory of course. This series is my baseline. Richly written, explosive imagery and all the grit you can really hope with a clash of peoples and powers. I would give it more stars if I could.

Really great

I thoroughly enjoyed these audio books. Now that I am older I find it hurts my eyes to read ,so this is a nice compromise . I could not get enough of the story. I cannot wait for the fifth in the series.