A Discovery of Witches cover art

A Discovery of Witches

All Souls, Book 1

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A Discovery of Witches

By: Deborah Harkness
Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
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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)
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I really loved the storyline and the increasingly varied characters. It was a beautiful story.

Amazing storyline!!

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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

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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

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Really enjoyed it, so much I am onto the next book. So excited onto the next.

Enjoyed it immensely

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An enchanting story to listen to, can't wait for the next one. A wonderful book

Wonderful

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