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Melissa Markham, May 15, 2013 (view all comments by Melissa Markham)
Ugh! Don't do it. Put the book down and step (click?) away. You'll love it at first. A brilliant Ivy League professor of alchemy, who loves to run, row, and drink tea, is spending her sabbatical year at Oxford writing a paper on alchemy. What's not to love? Then she meets a vampire. Then her brain turns to mush. All of her intelligence, not to mention her pressing academic work, disappears. You'll hang on okay until the end of the book. But it will leave you hanging. And you'll feel compelled to read the next book. Half-way through the second book, you'll finally slam it shut. In utter disgust, you'll throw it across the room, delete it from your ipod, or somehow eradicate it from your life. Then you'll suffer an existential crisis wherein you'll despair that books are even worth reading anymore. Your self esteem will plummet as you ponder what made me you spend that much time with these people who are impossible to like, chasing a plot that refuses to budge. Finally, you'll come crawling back to the realm of Good Literature, begging to be let back in after participating in the ultimate betrayal that is this series.
And the worst part is? It actually started out pretty well...
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”!
Ginger Keller, January 30, 2013 (view all comments by Ginger Keller)
First of now a series of fatasy novel series I stumbled upon. Plenty of action, character development, intrigue, mystery, romance and -- yes -- fantasy.
Cassandra Cleveland, January 13, 2013 (view all comments by Cassandra Cleveland)
By far the best novel I read last year. It was so good I could not spare a moment to sleep. The characters are well developed and intriguing; and the story line is refreshing, in that it pulls in so much history. I have read others who have attempted to pull this off, but Deborah Harkness is the first to pull it off.
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"Review"
by People,
"A wonderfully imaginative grown-up fantasy with all the magic of Harry Potter and Twilight."
"Synopsis"
by Firebrand,
In a sparkling debut, A Discovery of Witches became the "it" book of early 2011, bringing Deborah Harkness into the spotlight and galvanizing fans around the world. In this tale of passion and obsession, Diana Bishop, a young scholar and the descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript 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 story of magic and suspense. And the story continues in Book Two, Shadow of Night.
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