Shadow of Night: Book 2 All Souls Trilogy

by Deborah Harkness, 584 pages

Minor Spoilers!!


This is the sequel to A Discovery of Witches, which appeared on bestseller lists last year. The first volume begins when Diana Bishop, a history scholar and a witch, discovers a magical alchemical manuscript in Oxford's Bodelian Library (seen above). At first the book frightens her, awakening powers that she did not wish to possess. When she returns the book to the reference desk, it disappears into the bowels of the venerable library. But other creatures (vampires, demons and other witches) are all after the book known as Ashmol 782. For her own protection, Diana is forced into a partnership with handsome and brilliant geneticist Matthew deClairmont, who also happens to be a long-lived vampire (though not one who presently feeds on humans.)

This 2nd book takes up where the first one ended, with the pair's arrival in Elizabethan England. Diana and Matthew are still looking for the mysterious book, and also trying to find someone to teach Diana how to use her newly acquired powers. They are outlaws as well, since their relationship is forbidden by a covenant of The Congregation, which is kind of like a paranomal Spanish Inquistion. They travel all over Europe and meet all sorts of famous people of the age, some helpful, others lethal. Though there is some mention in the beginning of Diana's outlandish American accent, she doesn't seem to have much problem adapting to the Elizabethan age. It helps that she's a historian, and she does have Matthew to clue her in since he's been there before.

 I had a little bit of a problem with the "timey-wimey wibbly wobbly" stuff. I thought it should prove more of a handicap for Diana than it seems, and everybody is just a little too overwhelmed or charmed by Diana except for the dangerous and jealous demon known as Kit Marlowe. The book also glossed over the problem of travel in 1591. Maybe since the deClairmonts are so rich and powerful, they could jaunt from one country to another without much difficulty. All that nit-picking aside, the story does move along at a fast clip for such a long book. It ends with a lot of loose threads waiting to be knotted tidily up in the third book. If you liked Discovery of Witches, you will probably like Shadow of Night. If you found Discovery a bit too much like Twilight, then you might find the same issue with Shadow.

From Dead to Worse

Charlaine Harris
359 pages

Quinn is missing.  He hasn't been seen since the vampire summit. Hurricane Katrina has effected the balance of power in the werewolf and vampire communities.  Female werewolves start to be attacked, and Sookie is thrown into the middle of the chaos.  However, not everything is bad in Sookie's life; she does get to meet her great-grandfather.  Overall, this book was just not as enjoyable as others in the series have been.

Dead to the World

Charlaine Harris
291 pages

This is the 4th book in the Sookie Stackhouse series.  This one picks up a couple of weeks after the last novel ends.  Sookie and Bill have officially broken up, and Bill is visiting Peru.  On her way home from work one night, Sookie finds Eric running around half-naked by the side of the road.  But Eric isn't quite himself...his memory has been erased.  Apparently, some witches are trying to take over Eric's businesses.  The vampires ask Sookie to hide Eric until they can finish dealing with the problem.  In the meantime, Sookie's brother turns up missing, so now Sookie has to look for her brother AND babysit a vampire.  However, this isn't all bad...

We are introduced to a few more supernatural beings in this novel, which is interesting.  I'm curious as to what will happen between Sookie and Eric along the way.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

J.K. Rowling
309 pages

This is the first book in the Harry Potter series.  Harry's parents were killed by "You-Know-Who" when he was just a baby.  "You-Know-Who" also tried to kill Harry, but failed and disappeared.  Harry is a celebrity in the wizarding world, but he is unaware of this.  He doesn't even know that he's a wizard because he's spent the last ten years living with his unmagical relatives who have been hiding this knowledge from him.  However, Harry is now 11 years old, and it is time for him to go to Hogwarts, the school for wizards.  He is suddenly thrust into the wizarding world and learns about his family and his past.  He also faces many challenges as he "You-Know-Who" takes steps to gain power once more.

I've read this one before, so there weren't many surprises.  However, I did catch some foreshadowing I'd never caught before...like how Harry's father's wand was good for transfiguration.  Overall, it's an okay read, but it's not my favorite in the series.

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

2012/330 pgs

Give this book to fans of A Great and Terrible Beauty and The Prophecy of the Sisters.

Cate and her two sisters are witches-but no one can know their secret. The brotherhood is hunting witches and if they found out about Cate and her sisters, they would be shipped of to a mental instituion (if lucky) or killed. As the oldest, Cate is coming to the time where she will need to declare her intention-marry or join the sisterhood. Her father has hired a governess to teach her younger sisters and help introduce the girls in society, since they have stayed away from town since their mother passed away three years earlier. But Cate is afraid to let anyone else near them-she can't afford to have their secret out in the open and her sister's aren't always the best about controlling their magic.

When Cate learns of a prophecy that suggests three witch sisters will come to power, Cate has to save her sisters before it's too late. Should she marry her next door neighbor and secure a place in society for her and her sisters? But what about the new gardner her father has hired-why can't she keep her mind off of him? Or should she forget it all and join the sisterhood? And what of her sisters-how will she keep them safe?

The story is set in an alternative history New England. There are some things that are predictable and the plot gets a little over the top by the end. There's a cliffhanger to keep you wanting more and book two will follow next year.

Nightschool: The Weirn Books: Volume 4

by Svetlana Chmakova, 229 pages

The mystery of Alex's missing sister and the complicated plots behind her disappearance may wrap up in this final volume of the first story arc, but there's more magic and mystery to come.

If I could read these all one right after the other with a wikipedia page open reminding me what's happened, who's who, and how this world is structured, I think I'd enjoy them a lot more. The art is pretty, but the screentones are a little overused (diluting contrast and making everything a similar shade of grey) and enough of the many, many characters look alike that it's hard to keep them, the many-threaded plot, and the rules of the setting clear in my head. I'm not even sure I understand the resolution to this arc. But I like the glimpses I do understand enough to make me curious about when the next volume will be out. Although I may have to give myself a refresher before I start it. *sigh*

A Discovery of Witches

by Deborah Harkness, 579 pages

This has been an annus mirabilis, or a summer of wonders, for me regarding new fantasy authors. First I found Patrick Rothfuss and his stunning Kingkiller Chronicle novels, then I found Deborah Harkness's whimsical paranormal fantasy waiting for me on The New York Times bestseller list.

Diana Bishop is an American scholar with a specialized focus on alchemical history. While doing research in the Bodelian Library at Oxford, she stumbles across an old manuscript. She's descended from a long line of Bishop witches, though she's sworn off using her special powers. Her indavertent summoning of the powerful book sparks a storm of paranormal activity. Demons and vampires masquerading as humans descend on the venerable library. Matthew Clairmont, something of a Lord of Vampires, comes to Diana's aid when she's stalked by creatures who want the secret of the powerful manuscript. Vampires and witches are normally enemies, but the two of them have to work together to prevent the manuscript from falling into the wrong hands.

The pacing of the story is brisk, with elements of romance and humor mixed in with danger and adventure. Harkness uses her scholar's cred well, giving the story an intelligent basis while she keeps the plot simmering. My friends and I call this one Twilight for Grown-ups. Though be warned: I should have realized it was only the first volume of a planned All Souls trilogy, since this book has a cliffhanger ending. Recommended.

A Discovery of Witches

by Deborah Harkness, 579 pages

Diana Bishop is a witch. But not by choice. She has spent most of her life since the age of seven trying to bury that part of herself, focusing instead on seeing what she can achieve on her own, non-magic-assisted merits. To that end, she has studied diligently, earning a graduate degree in history, focusing on the history of alchemy as a turning point when science and magic at last went their separate ways. And that is how she finds herself in Oxford University's hallowed Bodleian Library, carefully examining some old alchemical manuscripts one minute and face-to-face with a vampire (who also has a doctorate) the next. So one of the manuscripts may have felt a little...tingley and...bespelled. And so what if it opened for her, despite its magical locks? Why is she suddenly having to fend off not just one suspiciously curious vampire but a host of other bloodsuckers, spellcasters, and dotty geniuses (a.k.a. daemons)?

A Discovery of Witches is a quite enjoyable contemporary adult fantasy--when it reads like an adult fantasy. The protagonist is a strong, intelligent, powerful woman who can call up whatever she wants from the bowels of the Bodleian...and make sense of it all! How cool is that? But then, as Jen H. warns in her review, it all goes a wee bit Twilighty* (there are even sparkles, I kid you not). Diana pines and sleeps a lot, especially when her "shadowed man" is out of the picture. It's Bella all over again. But then, thank goodness, she wakes up and starts figuring out how to kick some baddie backside. After discussing this with fellow staff who've read it, we decided that when Diana is with her books or on a mission, she's an adult; and when she's wallowing in romance, she reverts back to being a teenager. The novel's first-person narration makes this contrast even more noticeable (and frustrating). I hold out hope that the next installment will give us more of the grown-up Diana and less of the angsty teen. There are other Twilight parallels, but to say more would be spoilery, so we'll leave it at that and see where (and when) the next book takes us.

The alchemical history is fascinating, as are the depictions of life on and around Oxford's campus. And I love Diana's family home back in New England (it has a bit of a mind of its own and isn't afraid to give anyone a piece of it). Given that the author is a history scholar, herself, I look forward to seeing how she brings yet more of that knowledge into the story.

*No offense to Twilight fans. I read and enjoyed the whole series (minus a few things from book four). I just also enjoy making good-natured fun of it. :P

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Dr. Diana Bishop is a historian doing research at Oxford's Bodleian Library when she unknowingly unearths a rare Ashmole alchemical text that has been missing for centuries. What she is reluctant to admit is that she comes from a long line of witches that can trace back to the first witch killed in Salem, Massachusetts. When the magical community (vampires, witches and demons) realize what she has found and that it may give them all answers to their species origins there are more magical creatures than humans in the library and Bishop has to find a way to embrace her magical past...and future. 


I am very mixed on this book. Despite its nearly 600 pages, it was a quick read. Deborah Harkness is also a history professor with a distinguished academic background so the story is sprinkled with many thought-provoking ideas and figures throughout history. It is a smart read and the reader can spend many hours reading up on different topics from Elias Ashmole to Darwin's Origin of Species. The atmosphere is perfectly creepy. It's when the emotional component gets thrown in that I started rolling my eyes. Yes, a 1500 yr old vampire, Matthew is the love interest and protector of Diana. They fall in love quickly and dramatically. He is very protective of her and tells her what to do because you know, he's never felt this way about anyone. She agrees because she loves him soooo much despite her seemingly intelligent and independent (to this point at least) life. They don't consummate their relationship and despite the growing knowledge that she may be the most powerful witch ever-she is constantly falling into sleep from exhaustion or sorrow when Matthew is gone. I'm sorry but did the last half of my review remind anyone of another Vampire book? Maybe one with sparkly vampires and a ton of teenage angst? Of course, I'll read the second one due out in 2012 because there is a lot here. Just calm down on the Twilight bits...please! 2011, 579 pages.

Home for a Spell by Madelyn Alt

Maggie O'Neill is a fledgling empath witch in Stony Mill, Indiana. In this 7th book in the Bewitching mystery series, Maggie has a broken leg and is living with her current boyfriend Marcus. Feeling guilty for invading and taking over his life she starts looking for an apartment. When the landlord ends up face down in the pool before she can sign the lease-the mystery has just begun.

Hmmm. I am not a fan of mysteries. They drive me nuts. I know, bad librarian. What I have liked about this series up to this point was that there was a great deal more involved in the story than just the "who done it" plot. This book changed completely and left me feeling like I was reading your average run-of-the-mill cozy amateur mystery. Woo. Maggie's education into the magical world of witches is almost non-existent. While the series was taking a darker tone setting up a major storyline about the dark and mystical things happening in Stony Mill-none of that existed in this book. There was little danger or excitement and it just left me feeling ho hum. Readers of this series come to it for the different, the dark (with a touch of humor) and the magical. Hopefully this will be back in book eight. 2011, 290 pages.

Waking the Witch by Kelly Armstrong, pages 309

This book is #11 from Women From The Otherwold. I haven't read the other books from the series, but the plot is still easy to understand. Savanah Levine, daughter of two dark and powerful magical parents works in detective agency and she is investigating her first solo case. Three girls are murdered in a small town in Washington and there are traces of magical rituals. Gradually the plot thickens and she realizes that somebody is trying to kill her.

I think that the book is very interesting. I like the main character because she always seems strong and confident. She rides a motorcycle and understands a lot about cars.

I also like the plot. The case turned to be more complicated than I thought. There are many suspects who could have killed the women.

XxxHolic: Volume 3

by CLAMP, 182 pages

Watanuki and Dômeki investigate Himawari's concerns about unsettling events at another school. And the shop has a new customer, who decides--contrary to Yûko's recommendation--to walk away with what turns out to be a monkey's paw. Anybody's who's read the W. W. Jacobs story knows that's not going to end well.

I'm enjoying the addition of Dômeki to the story. His calm, quiet demeanor is a nice contrast with Watanuki's high-strung, manic nature. Yay for frenemies! Also, sheesh, lady--hello? monkey's paw? baaaaaad idea? *sigh*

XxxHolic: Volume 2

by CLAMP, 190 pages

Yûko decides that Watanuki needs to see what a real fortune teller is like, so after crossing paths with a charlatan she takes him to see an old friend. The old woman sees more clearly into Watanuki's soul than he does himself and she and Yûko share some secret smiles while they talk about him. Annoyed but impressed, Watanuki shrugs it off and goes about his schoolday and working at the shop, always looking out for a chance to talk to Himawari-chan, the sweet girl he's crushing on. He finds he might have some unwanted competition in his classmate, archery club star Shizuka Dômeki, with whom he's always arguing, and tries to avoid him as much as possible. But when Yûko decides they all need to have a ghost "story" party at Dômeki's family's temple, Watanuki has good reason to worry he'll be seeing a lot more of Dômeki in the future, whether he likes it or not.

Hmm, Yûko always seems to know more than she says, that sneaky space-time witch. She and Mokona (the black counterpart to Tsubasa's white fluffy bunny dimension gate creature of the same name and personality) really like their booze. I want to see their next customer. And I want to see another glimpse of the bigger story beneath the story. Yûko does actually say the words, "I wish...." in this volume as she sees the Tsubasa kids off on their journey--nobody says anything about it, but was that a contract, too? If so, what is she going to make herself pay to fulfill it? Sneaky, sneaky, I tell ya.

XxxHolic: Volume 1

by CLAMP, 185 pages

When unhappy spirit-magnet Watanuki's legs carry him into beautiful Yûko's wish-granting shop, the young man just wants to turn right back around and leave. But his legs, and apparently fate, have other ideas and before he knows it, he's made a wish...and agreed to pay its price. Now he's got to work for Yûko until his efforts are equal to the cost of his wish. In the meantime, he has to cook, clean, and help this weird woman who invades everyone's personal space--physical and psychological--as she runs her shop and goes about her own mysterious business.

In just this first volume, the creators set up a rich, complex tale and intriguing characters, even without the title's crossover elements with Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. What's the story with Watanuki's mentioned but as yet unseen home life? And does Yûko have a personal agenda, in addition to helping her regular clients? Strange and mystical artifacts from who knows how many worlds spill over every surface in her tapestry-draped, fragrant smoke-filled shop, and the reader feels, even if she hasn't read other CLAMP titles, that each item has a story.

Coolness. More, please. :)

Nightschool: The Weirn Books: Volume 3

by Svetlana Chmakova, 212 pages

At school, Alex discovers she's not the only one to remember her sister; nor is her sister the first to have disappeared. She teams up with the student council and a geeky T.A. in order to retrace the steps of the missing.

Elsewhere, the hunters' safe house is betrayed by one of their own and comes under attack by an underworld werewolf gang. But what or who is the real target? And how is this all connected to Alex?

Daemon, the hunters' capable leader, and Mr. Roi, the most powerful, colorful, and insurance-claim-generating teacher at the nightschool, combine their resources to track down the source of the emerging threat and try to find a way to stop it.

There are more subplots here than I know how to explain, so you'll just have to read it (preferably one volume right after another so you don't forget who's who and what's going on).

Nightschool: The Weirn Books: Volume 2

by Svetlana Chmakova, 195 pages

Alex Treveney is a weirn (a special kind of witch) homeschooled by her older sister Sarah, a Night Keeper at a secret after-hours school for weirn, vampires, werewolves, and other "night things". When Sarah disappears, along with all evidence of her existence--including everyone but Alex's memories of her--Alex takes it upon herself to find her. With a burst of unknown power, she somehow survives an encounter with a band of "hunters", whose job it is to take out any night things who break the treaty governing their sharing of the world with humans, and enrolls in the nightschool in order to pick up and follow her sister's trail. Meanwhile, the hunters have to deal with the casualties from their run-in with Alex, whom they assume is a malevolent agent and an enemy to be destroyed--even though she has no idea what she's done.

There's a lot going on in this original English language manga, but if you can keep your threads and characters straight, it's worth it, as the art is attractive, the characters interesting, and the story engaging and unique.

The first two volumes of this series appeared on YALSA's list of "Great Graphic Novels for Teens" in 2010.

Petty Magic by Camille Deangelis

A nice distracting bit of witchery, this is the story of Evelyn, beldame from the House of Harbinger.  The story has witchcraft of the most uplifting and useful kind as well as the kind used entirely for selfish reasons. It's got fantasy, romance, adventure, mystery and nostalgia, all rolled together and told from the somewhat flippant but very likeable voice of Evelyn.
This is sort of like Anne Rice-lite.  If you like romance novels and witch stories with a bit more of a literary flair, then you'll enjoy Petty Magic. 
320 fairly fast moving pages.
Kim F

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

"I frantically racked my brain for some sort of throat-repairing spell, which I was clearly about to need. Of course the only words I actually managed to yell at the werewolf as he ran at me were, "BAD DOG!"

Sophie Mercer came into her powers as a witch when she was 13.  Only problem is her mom is a complete muggle and her dad, the warlock of the family, isn’t around to provide any training. After one too many well-intentioned magical experiments goes amuck Sophie, now 16,  is sent to Hex Hall, a boarding school for wayward magical folk. It doesn’t take long before Sophie is caught up in magical mysteries, teenage angst and a touch of romance…with the most popular girl’s boyfriend…of course.

What kept me reading all night until I’d finished was the snarky, sassy and intelligent banter of our main character Sophie.  The pacing is fast and while you get to know Sophie’s inner thoughts it is the plot that drives the novel.  Secondary characters are interesting but not overly developed and the romance elements add a splash of interest without being over the top.   2010, 323 pages.