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Loading... A Discovery of Witchesby Deborah Harkness
 Bookworm_Lisa | Jun 5, 2013 |  Diana Bishop is a Yale professor who specializes in the study of alchemy and who also happens to be the descendent of a long line of witches. She wants nothing to do with magic and has forsaken magic and all relationships with the magical community. All this changes when she calls up a long lost manuscript in the Bodlian Library at Oxford. This ancient book has long been coveted by witches, demons, and vampires and Diana becomes a target and can no longer ignore her magical legacy. A Discovery of Witches is the debut novel of Deborah Harkness and the beginning of the All Souls trilogy. If you took the magical world of Harry Potter, added in the element of paranormal romance from the Twilight Series and threw in the historical background of Dan Brown's Da Vinci code series, you would have a close approximation of this book. The world Harkness has created is an exciting one. Witches, demons, and vampires exist, appearing as mortals to the human population. But the 3 magical races are wary of each other and do not mix. When Diana needs to team up with 1500 year old vampire Matthew Clairmont, they create an uneasy alliance. It is pretty easy to predict how their relationship will heat up breaking ancient rules between the magical groups. I loved all of the background and origin stories of the magical creatures. Harkness is a history professor and it's clear that there is excellent research and background in this book. The romance between a witch and vampire added to the story and seems almost a pre-requisite for any book in the paranormal genre these days. Overall, I'd give this book 3.5 stars for this book - not outstanding, but definitely lots of promise and I'm looking forward to reading more of this series. (  ) jmoncton | Jun 3, 2013 | Whew, I'm glad this one's done! Big book! I was intrigued by the witches and tbe book connection. I nearly gave up on this book over the vampire connection, though. Gosh, vampires seem bossy and temperamental! I must admit, the Twilight books have turned me a little sour for vampires, which may not be fair. I just enjoyed Diana, her aunts Sarah and Em (more "in person" than over the phone), and the family house (and resident ghosts) so much more than the vampires in this book. That being said, I'd probably give this book a 2.5 if I could. There were some parts I really liked, and others I skimmed. Will I read the next installment in the series? Not sure yet. I'll check reviews and consider it over Christmas break, perhaps. (  ) dukefan86 | May 29, 2013 | A pretty fun read. I liked the historical aspects, the supernatural elements, and Diana is a really interesting character. But I found the romance rather trite, to be honest. She falls too easily for tall, pale, and brooding. And the older I get the harder I find to like books where a modern-era woman falls for a high-handed guy with little or no objections to his old-world chauvinism. ( ) camz1981 | May 19, 2013 | Our Review, by LITERAL ADDICTION's Guest Reviewer, Cheryl W: I was lucky enough to win one of the advanced reader copy versions of Deborah Harkness' A Discovery of Witches, to be released in 02/2011. When I completed the first chapter and woke up the next morning I decided that I had to write my thoughts for the review as they occurred. One of the things that crossed my mind when I first heard about this book was wow. This book is written by a scholar. I researched the author via her university home page because I was curious about her background. When I finished the first chapter I was still in the wow stage and my thoughts were; this is a bridge between scholars and great urban fantasy writers. I love when I get to have both! I wish as a techie scholar I could combine my two loves of computers and urban fantasy. This book was everything I hoped it would be! I read this slowly despite how I typically devour most books. With some books I slow down intentionally because I realize that I do not want it to end quickly. A Discovery of Witches is that type of book. It is the type of book you develop a relationship with as you read it. I think that there will be people that will fall in love with it as they read it just as I did. I hope that even those that feel that it may not be for them still find something that they can take from the book. It is very intricate. The story is well developed, extremely well written and the characters are very well developed. But, it was not a quick read for me because, I did not want it go fast. For me it is a book that you spend time with and do not forget the places it takes you as the characters are being drawn. The history it discusses is thought-provoking. One of the things I liked was how Diana developed with regard to her powers and her family. Politics were a strong part of the story. With regard to the politics one of the most intriguing things I found was who is involved in the politics. I am trying to keep this review spoiler free. But, as the blurb on the back states we have multiple beings involved in this book and they have a very long history with each other. One of the things that make this book so amazing is the historical backdrop for all of the creatures. I found myself looking forward to learning more about all of the beings. I really look forward to more written by Deb Harkness. I had a hard time deciding how to end my review but it does not spoil anything to shout; “I can’t wait to see what happens next”! (  ) LITERALADDICTION | May 15, 2013 |
 "With books about fictional witches, it’s all too easy to fall back on tongue-in-cheek descriptors like “enchanting” or “spellbinding,” but both adjectives aptly describe the superbly entertaining saga Harkness has crafted. This is a riveting tale full of romance and danger that will have you on the edge of your seat, yet its chief strength lies in the wonderfully rich and ingenious mythology underlying the story. Entwining strands of science and history, Harkness creates a fresh explanation for how such creatures could arise that is so credible, you’ll have to keep reminding yourself this is fiction."  As will be obvious by now, this is a very silly novel. Characters and relationships are stereotyped. The historical background is a total pudding. The prose is terrible. And yet, the ideas have just enough suction, somehow, to present an undemanding reader with some nice frissons. I liked, for example, the way Diana tries to sublimate her magic powers in running and rowing and doing yoga – at a mixed vampire-witch-daemonic yoga class, participants struggle not to levitate during their vinyasas. And I liked the way Matthew and Diana smell to each other like Jo Malone candles: Diana is "horehound, frankincense, lady's mantle", Matthew is "cinnamon and clove". "a thoroughly grown-up novel packed with gorgeous historical detail...Harkness writes with thrilling gusto about the magical world. Whether she's describing a yoga class for witches, daemons, and vampires or Diana's benignly haunted house, it's a treat to suspend disbelief. ... As the mysteries started to unravel, the pages turned faster, almost as if on their own. By the most satisfying end, Harkness had made me a believer. "a romantic, erudite, and suspenseful first novel by Deborah Harkness. The first in a planned trilogy, it sets up blood drinkers and spell weavers as enemies for eternity in a feud as old as the Crusades; the duo confront social disapproval and intolerance as they elude evildoers and puzzle out enigmas throughout history. ...Harkness attends to every scholarly and emotional detail with whimsy, sensuality, and humor.  The protagonist is a witch. Her beau is a vampire. If you accept the argument that we’ve seen entirely too many of both kinds of characters in contemporary fiction, then you’re not alone. Yet, though Harkness seems to be arriving very late to a party that one hopes will soon break up, her debut novel has its merits; she writes well, for one thing, and, as a historian at the University of Southern California, she has a scholarly bent that plays out effectively here.
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Interested in learning more about magic and science?
I may have written a novel, but I’m still a history professor! Here are some reading suggestions for those of you whose curiosity has been stirred up by the story of Diana Bishop, Matthew Clairmont, and the hunt for the missing alchemical manuscript Ashmole 782. All of the titles here are non-fiction, and inspired some aspect of A Discovery of Witches.
Elias Ashmole, Theatrum Chemicum Brittanicum: Don’t be put off by the Latin title. This is a collection of English alchemical texts that were gathered by Elias Ashmole. The missing alchemical manuscript that Diana finds in the Bodleian library is not among them, alas, but if you are interested in the subject this is a fascinating glimpse into the mysterious texts that she studies as a historian.
Janet Browne, Darwin’s Origin of Species: Books That Changed the World: Browne is not only a great scholar, but a superb writer. A highly-regarded biographer of Darwin, here she turns her talents to writing a “biography” of his most famous book—and one of Matthew Clairmont’s favorites, as well.
Owen Davies, Grimoires: A History of Magic Books. If you are interested in the history of magic and witchcraft, Davies’ description of the development of magical spellbooks will provide insights into how ideas about magic, science, and nature developed over the centuries.
Carol Karlsen, The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England. Diana Bishop is descended from a long line of witches. You will find out more about some of those witches—the Bishops and the Proctors—while reading this classic interpretation of what happened in Salem in 1692.
Robert Kehew, Ezra Pound, and W. D. Snodgrass, Lark in the Morning: The Verses of the Troubadours. Matthew is a very old vampire, who has slightly old-fashioned views on love and romance. You might be surprised at the love poetry of his early life, and come away with a whole new appreciation for “old-fashioned.”
Bruce Moran’s Distilling Knowledge: Alchemy, Chemistry, and the Scientific Revolution. This marvelous book is not only deeply learned but extremely readable. Touched with Moran’s sense of humor and his compassion for his subject’s tireless efforts to understand the natural world, you will come away from this book with a new appreciation for the alchemists.
Alexander Roob, Alchemy and Mysticism. Diana Bishop is an expert on the enigmatic imagery that is used in alchemical texts. Many are included in Roob’s book, along with other illustrations from mystical and magical traditions.
Lyndal Roper, Witch Craze: Terror and Fantasy in Baroque Germany. This scholarly book was important to me as I wrote A Discovery of Witches because it helped me understand how the belief in witches influenced the imagination. Many of the notions we have about witchcraft today have their roots in these terrifying fantasies.
James Sharpe, Instruments of Darkness: Witchcraft in Early Modern England. Sharpe’s book is an ideal starting point if you are interested in the history of witchcraft beyond Salem or Germany. One of his most controversial arguments focuses on the role that women played as accusers—not just as victims—in the witchcraft trials.
Bryan Sykes, The Seven Daughters of Eve: The Science That Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry. I was fascinated by the combination of history, genealogy, and science in Sykes’s work. The book provides an introduction to the study of genetics, and to the legacies that are carried from generation to generation among the population.
--Deborah Harkness (Photo of Deborah Harkness © Marion Ettlinger)(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:54:53 -0500)
Discovering a magical manuscript in Oxford's library, scholar Diana Bishop, a descendant of witches who has rejected her heritage, inadvertently unleashes a fantastical underworld of daemons, witches, and vampires whose activities center around an enchanted treasure.… (more)
Deborah Harkness is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
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Wikipedia in English
The most persistent paranormal creature is a vampire. His name is Matthew and he begins to follow her everywhere. But soon realizes that his interest is not just academic.
When I started to read this story, it seemed like it would be pretty straight forward. I soon realized that there are many levels to the story. Deborah Harkness has weaved a tale with many layers. This is not a book to read in one sitting. It took me several days to read and comprehend.
I recommend this book only to adults. There is violence, and intimacy that isn't graphic. (