The All Souls Trilogy

I started with the television adaptation of this before I realized I need to read the books. The show is very good (and I LOVE Matthew Goode), but I also knew it would be a looooong time before I got the end of the story. And, the book usually is better. Happily, a family member bought me this box set as a gift; it includes all three books in trade paperback, in a cardboard slipcase. Very nice set.

Book 1
4 Stars. The book is a slower burn than the show, but I love that. Harkness spends considerable time building her world, with a lot of description regarding location, how characters look, and what they are doing. Sometimes it was overkill but mostly the vivid descriptions pulled me into the story. The character development is also built show more slowly but steadily throughout, and there are a lot of interesting characters. Diana and Matthew, and their underlying romance, are the heart of the book, but that is often at the expense of the plot. It’s the main reason the book took me longer to read than usual. It’s easy to put a book down when the plot is not spinning. I wasn’t concerned about what would happen next because it was probably going to be a conversation between Matthew and Diana. Once they traveled to Sept-Tours, the pacing started to pick up and more of the mystery came to the fore. The manuscript, Diana’s parents, the state of her power, it all became the focus. And, readers were introduced to the fantastic Ysabeau. Seriously, she might be my favorite character.

One big issue I had with book was “show vs tell”. We’re told many, many times that Diana is no damsel in distress, a brilliant historian, and possibly the most powerful witch living (why does every paranormal heroine have to be so powered-up?). Except that she has no control or willful direction over the power, she defers to Matthew more and more as the book progresses, and she gets rescued from distress a lot. A LOT. She’s powerful, but so naïve and vulnerable she may as well have a “kidnap me” sign hanging on her back. It was somewhat frustrating. Despite that issue, I really enjoy the world Harkness has built. It’s a good story and I’m eager to see where it goes.

Book 2 (slight spoilers for book 1)
3.5 Stars. I enjoyed A Discovery of Witches enough that I started this sequel immediately. Diana and Matthew travel to the past, to Elizabethan England, to hide from their pursuers while they figure out their relationship and the secret to Diana’s power. I’m torn over this book. On the one hand, it took me a long time to slog through the first half. Harkness loves history, that is abundantly clear (which I do appreciate). Her attention to detail in describing the setting and the new characters is exceptional. But, the first half got so bogged down in the minutia that the plot stagnated for too long. Readers get a lot of drama between Matthew and Diana, mainly down to two people who are desperately in love but barely know each other. And that was very realistic, but also annoying as hell after a while.

That said, after the couple travels to Sept-Tours, the second half of the books flew by because it was so engrossing. Readers finally discover the nature of Diana’s power; Matthew finally stops saying how much he respects Diana while simultaneously trying to control her, and actually begins to work together with and even – gasp! – defer to her judgment. The new characters are well developed and have a lot of potential, especially the vampires who will still be alive after the couple returns to the present. All of this kept me turning the pages late into the evening. Overall, the book suffers from a lot of the same problems that many second in a trilogy have. Still, I like the characters and look forward to seeing how the story is resolved.

Book 3 (slight spoilers for books 1&2)
4 stars. The first two books of the trilogy were bogged down in the first half by overwhelming amounts of historical detail, and this installment is no different. However, it also has substantial character development that really propelled the story. Matthew and Diana finally face the issues of the Congregation and Benjamin head-on, and it was so great to see Diana act with greater agency and Matthew supportive of it.

The evolution of the main couple was well done, but it was revelations about other characters, especially those within the family, that I enjoyed most. Readers get answers about Matthew and Miriam’s genetics work on creatures and the Book of Life. Diana’s overdue return to the Bodleian has startling and exciting results.

Overall, this was a very satisfying conclusion to the story and I am excited to read the “spin-off” about Marcus. I hope Harkness writes many more books set in this world, particularly about the children. show less

An enjoyable series while reading, but don't think too hard about it or large chunks of the plot will be in danger of falling apart.

I read the books following the TV serialisation of the first part of the trilogy. I loved all three books!

Start 2nd book