A Discovery of Witches

A Novel

De: Deborah Harkness

Narrado por: Jennifer Ikeda

Book one of the New York Times bestselling All Souls series, from the author of The Black Bird Oracle.

Look for the hit series “A Discovery of Witches,” now streaming on Netflix

“A wonderfully imaginative grown-up fantasy with all the magic of Harry Potter and Twilight” (People).

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.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“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

“Harkness conjures up a scintillating paranormal story. . . . Discover why everyone’s talking about this magical book.”
—USA Today

“Delightfully well-crafted and enchantingly imaginative . . . It has some of the same ineluctable atmosphere that made Anne Rice’s vampire books such a popular success.”
—Miami Herald

“A debut novel with a big supernatural canvas . . . Its ambitions are world-sized, ranging across history and zeroing in on DNA, human and otherwordly. Age-old tensions between science and magic and between evolution and alchemy erupt as Diana seeks to unlock the secrets of Ashmole 782.”
—Los Angeles Times

“Harkness, an eloquent writer, conjures this world of witches with Ivy League degrees and supernatural creatures completely—and believably—while maintaining a sense of wonder. . . . A Discovery of Witches is that rare historical novel that manages to be as intelligent as it is romantic. And it is supernatural fiction that those of us who usually prefer to stay grounded in reality can get caught up in. Pardon the pun, but Witches is truly spellbinding.”
—San Antonio News-Express

“Readers who thrilled to Elizabeth Kostova’s 2005 blockbuster, The Historian, will note the parallels, but A Discovery of Witches is a modern Romeo and Juliet story, with older, wiser lovers. Blood will flow when a witch and a vampire fall for each other. Author Deborah Harkness, a UCLA history professor, brings vast knowledge and research to the page.”
—Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Harkness works her own form of literary alchemy by deftly blending fantasy, romance, history, and horror into one completely bewitching book.”
—Chicago Tribune

“A Discovery of Witches becomes increasingly charming as it goes along. . . . A shrewdly written romp and a satisfying snow-day read for those of us who heartily enjoyed the likes of Anne Rice and Marion Zimmer Bradley. By the book’s rousing end . . . I was impatient for the sequel.”
—NPR

Memorable and Unique

I loved this book! Well developed characters playing out an evocative series of life and death adventures. Witches, Vampires, Demons! What is not to love in this fantasy fiction delight.

Got Lost In It

glad this is such a long book...I put it on and started cleaning house and oh my gosh I got so lost in it I forgot to stop and eat...most of Spring Cleaning done...great building of characters. A much more believable world than some of the books I have listened to lately...Hope she writes another...

Enjoyable, Promising, but Still Evolving.

Half way through Part One, I was spreading the news and encouraging friends to read. Half way through Part II, I was still enchanted enjoyed the trip to Matthew's home and meeting his mother was delightful. Have a problem buying into the parts of Diana not being able to use her powers to save herself from evil witches. But the Author did come up with a half way swallowable reason why her she could call her powers forward at times and after all it is fantasy. Got a bit boring in Part III, too many characters being merged together, Diana taking too much time to accept her powers and gain some backbone, then the dumb mistake of agreeing to unknown favors to save Matthew, and you think the ghost would have been more helpful. Found it enjoyable, narration was very GOOD, if I lost my spot in the reading, I did not mind re-hearing parts until I got back on track. The vampire Matthew was smart, protective and devoted all lovable and enticing characters, the heroine too was smart, brave and a bit native a good blend. Enjoyed the history lessons along with the story telling. The time travel story parts sound promising for the next book section, (but, I am a BIG fan of Diana Gabaldon's time travel series, and have to keep remembering not to judge the stories side by side, the same for the Twilight series, my ALL time favorite.) Looking forward to the next book, hope the narrator is still Jennifer Ikeda. Then after the second book, I will decide if the first book was worth enduring the boring sections in the first. Yes, a most promising series for readers who enjoy fantasy, love and a mature sex without all the red-face details.

twilight for grownups

I listened to this book for a 24 hour road trip and it was perfect. it kept me interested the whole time and I enjoyed the readers different distinct voices for each character. the story reminds me of something like twilight for grownups but overall I found the blend of history and fiction to be interesting. id like to continue the series but boy are those books long! I do need to know how this story plays out though.

Appears to be Beginning of a Great Story

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The author did a great job keeping the flow of the story and keeping me interested all the way through.

What did you like best about this story?

The interesting world that Harkness created. There was no secret really about the witches, vampires and daemons. It was all out in the open from the beginning. The discovery is more interesting than the discovery of witches.

Any additional comments?

From my Goodreads Review: While I have seen this book around for years, I have always been intimidated by the shear size of it (over 500 pages). In recent years, I have learned that the longer books have the best payoff if you have the time to commit to them.
Deborah Harkness pulled me in right away by not taking the usual method of discovery for the reader to learn about witches, vampires and daemons. Right from the beginning there is interesting things being learned from an established woman as a witch from a very distinguished family. A drawback of reading a book of this size is that sometimes the author loses you in an part that is just not interesting. That did not happen to me while reading this book. Even going horseback riding in France with the protagonist Diana and Matthew was fun to read.
While the ending of this book is a cliffhanger, I look forward to the next book due to Harkness' well developed characters and interesting world that she has built. I want to know more about what happens to Diana as she struggles to learn her power and fight for her love of Matthew, but also about other vampires and daemons. This was a great way to start, what I think will be a great trilogy.

I definitely recommend this book. This is the first title from Deborah Harkness that I have read, but I liked her smooth style and atypical approach to what could otherwise have been cliché and boring. Side note: This was also a great book on Audible, which I listened to when I was not able to sit and read it. Narrated by Jennifer Ikeda, who is new to me, but did a great job. Her accents were great and tone was melodic.

Excellent Story

This was a good storyline, the narrator was excellent and I look forward to book 2

Good, Not Great.

I think this book was a smart take on a very trendy genre.

The narrator is great, she switches from one accent to another effortlessly and her cadence makes listening a pleasure. She is definitely one of my favs.

The premise of the story was great, and for the first 3/4 of the book I couldn't stop listening... but then I got a little bored with all the logistics. I'd still recommend this book, and I'm sure I'll make time for the sequel- it just wasn't a five-star listen.

In short- the writing was great, the narrator was marvelous, the story was just trying a little too hard.

very enjoyable

I am looking forward to next book with anticipation. Hopefully will be just as consuming and enjoyable to listen to.

Spectacular

Do I love Vampire stories? I didn’t think so, but Deb has me convinced I had been reading the wrong ones until now. I like witches, but I didn’t know how much I would love the world wound around demons, vampires, and witches in this way. It’s captivating to read, and I don’t know how else to describe this, but it feels like coming home. The way Deborah creates dialogue and descriptions feels so natural. I appreciate the historical, scientific, and medical details and I wish all authors required such accuracy and perspective. Well done and a huge bravo on your first novel ever, I wouldn’t have ever guessed you weren’t a huge fiction writer before this!

Takes a bit…

Story dragged for the begining third but once the characters were more fully developed I found it to be much more enjoyable. I’m glad I stuck it out.