A Discovery of Witches cover art

A Discovery of Witches

All Souls, Book 1

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

A Discovery of Witches

By: Deborah Harkness
Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $37.99

Buy Now for $37.99

About this listen

Now a major Sky original production.

The number on international and Sunday Times best seller.

A Discovery of Witches is the first in the must-have, must-listen All Souls trilogy.

It begins with absence and desire. It begins with blood and fear. It begins with a discovery of witches.

Diana Bishop, a young scholar and 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 must navigate with a vampire, Matthew Clairmont.

This manuscript, Ashmole 782, holds the secrets of their past...and the key to their future.

©2011 Deborah Harkness (P)2011 Penguin Audio Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Romance Romantasy Fiction Paranormal Witchcraft Magic Users Magic Time Travel Discovery

Critic Reviews

"Rich, thrilling...captivating." (E. L. James)

"Intelligent and off-the-wall." (The Sunday Times)

"A bubbling cauldron of illicit desire." (Daily Mail)
All stars
Most relevant  
I really loved the storyline and the increasingly varied characters. It was a beautiful story.

Amazing storyline!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book reflected an enjoyable take on the possible origin of supernatural species: witches, vampires and demons. With their talents still hidden from humans, supernatural beings walk among us with each sharing a burning question: Where do we come from? When Diana Bishop, an expert on alchemy and a witch working at Oxford, makes the startling discovery of an ancient manuscript, demons, vampires and fellow witches enter her life en masse, desperate to get their hands on the document. Having being searched for for centuries, it's purported to contain the history and secrets of the three species. A vampire, Matthew, has been seeking the manuscript for generations. Once he enters Diana's life, there's no going back.

Diana, having previously ignored her history as a witch, now has no choice but to embrace it as she's drawn onto a dangerous path where others will stop at nothing to get to her secrets and find out the source of her power. The author spends a good amount of time splicing history through the tale as Diana and Matthew's pasts are slowly revealed. There's high tensions between the different supernatural species and when Diana and Matthew's budding romance enters forbidden territory, a dangerous and unpredictable enemy emerges as the council of the supernatural declare war.

This is a long listen, but an entertaining one. There was enough mystery, action and intrigue to keep the plot going along nicely without it being too over the top. The book isn't a standalone, so if you're looking for closure, you won't find it if you're planning on stopping after Book 1 in this series. I found the narrator took a little getting used to at first as there seemed to be a bit of a jilt to the narrator's sections where I couldn't quite place what the fluency or accent was, but once I got used to it, I really enjoyed her and her talent for representing the cast. The steam level is low but the romance between Matthew and Diana is throughout and there's a great bunch of secondary characters to support the fated couple. I'll be continuing with the series.

An entertaining story on supernatural origins

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I spent a wonderful few days engaging with this book and moved immediately on to the next one. Erudite and well balanced, Harkness crafts her tale with a deftness that was at times both inspiring and surprising.

Enthralled

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Really enjoyed it, so much I am onto the next book. So excited onto the next.

Enjoyed it immensely

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An enchanting story to listen to, can't wait for the next one. A wonderful book

Wonderful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
brilliant story telling! loved it! the narrator is amazing! accents, tone ! So much feeling.

wonderful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I read the book several years ago and I wanted to read it again so I could read Shadow of Nighy but did not have the time to sit and read the book. Having already read the book and have expectations of the voices and the way the story is told, I am impressed by the narration of the story. I would recommend this is you like a bit is supernatural, romance and historical fiction.

Recommend reading/listening

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

If you could sum up A Discovery of Witches in three words, what would they be?

Easy listening, Interesting, A grower!

What other book might you compare A Discovery of Witches to, and why?

Similar, and i mean only slightly, to the twighlight series.

Which character – as performed by Jennifer Ikeda – was your favourite?

I liked Isabeau. Her french accent was good, and I could really imagine her face.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A tale of forbidden love.

Any additional comments?

When i first started listening, I didnt like Jennifers man voice. It sounded like a posh...well...woman. BUT as the story progressed, I started to get used to it and now it doesnt bother me at all. Her range of accents and voices are great and the story is good too. Its easy to listen to and gripping, but you have to be interested in witches and vampires to get on board.

Its a grower!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
loved this book! It has everything, heart tugging emotion, drama, action and adventure! its compelling and enthralling
I could not put it down

Absolutely AMAZING book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It's essentially a love story and includes some fairly archaic masculine/feminine conventions but the breadth of research across historical, medical, alchemical, religious and geographical fields is beyond enchanting. The narration is fantastic despite the extremely challenging array of accents required ... they aren't exactly accurate but aren't too distracting either. Great holiday book.

So much more than I was expecting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.