A Discovery of Witches: A Novel

Deborah Harkness

Feb 2011 · All Souls Trilogy Book 1 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

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.

Ratings and reviews

A rich and immersive experience that goes beyond the Netflix adaptation. After watching the series, I found the book to be much more detailed, delving deeper into the characters and their motivations, even though some minor changes were made. The storyline remains largely intact, yet the added layers of complexity enhance the overall narrative. I particularly enjoyed the intriguing magic system Harkness has crafted, which adds a unique dimension to the story.

Badly written. I have over 900 books in my library, and this is the second book I could not finish. It's cheesy. The author's attempts at wit fall flat. After enjoying the books of Sarah J. Mass and Jennifer Armentrout, this book seems written by an amateur. I can't understand why so many people have written good reviews.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness is the first book in her All Souls Trilogy . The sensationally magical story of an American witch with no desire for her powers and the centuries old vampire that irrevocably changes her life. Diana Bishop is a witch with limited skill and prefers to think of herself as the scholar she is. Focused on historical Alchemy, she journeys to Oxford for work and somehow manages to get her hands on a magical manuscript. Unbeknownst to her at the time, it is a highly coveted, most sought-after, and elusive tome that no one has seen in centuries only to have her call it from the archives of the Bodleian with ease. Matthew Clairmont has been searching for this book for centuries believing it to be a book of origins of the vampire, witch and daemon species and hoping it has answers to why all the species are dying out and losing power. Learning that a young and inept witch has managed to call the text forth from the archives and going to investigate is a life-changing event for him. Diana Bishop is everything his ancient soul never knew it needed and despite how badly he tries to deny his attraction to her their relationship evolves. But with an ancient like Matthew there are secrets - he has lived a hundred lifetimes and has a hundred lifetimes of secrets - but the depth of some of what he keeps from Diana may break them before they even have a chance to explore the bizarre dynamics of a witch and vampire relationship. Addictive! This series is quite possibly as addictive as Matthew's attraction to Diana! Now also a wonderful TV series on Sundance Channel, I was blown away with how entranced I was with these characters. The main characters, the secondary characters, the world-building. Definitely one of my best reads of 2019! Enjoy!

About the author

Deborah Harkness is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the All Souls series, which includes A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, The Book of Life, Time's Convert, and The Black Bird Oracle. A history professor at the University of Southern California, Harkness has received Fulbright, Guggenheim, and National Humanities Center fellowships. She lives in Los Angeles.