Book Review - Shadow of Night

It was a no brainer that our book club was going to read the sequel to A Discovery of witches. The timing of when we read the first one worked out perfectly, at the time we didn't even know that the sequel was only a month or two away from being released so that was great, sadly now we have to wait probably a year for the next one to be released, but at this point I feel pretty confident that I know we will continue to get together and meet for our book club! We did somewhat pick a place that went with the theme of our book again this month, we went to an Irish pub, since there's no English pubs, it was the closest we could get.

Let me also add that this book was worthy of buying the hardcopy version to add to my collection versus an e-book for my kindle. I've already loaned it to Kristin for her to read next!

Book Title: Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

Book Sumary (From Amazon): Deborah Harkness exploded onto the literary scene with her debut novel, A Discovery of Witches, Book One of the magical All Souls Trilogy and an international publishing phenomenon. The novel introduced Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and reluctant witch, and the handsome geneticist and vampire Matthew Clairmont; together they found themselves at the center of a supernatural battle over an enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782.

Now, picking up from A Discovery of Witches’ cliffhanger ending, Shadow of Night plunges Diana and Matthew into Elizabethan London, a world of spies, subterfuge, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the mysterious School of Night that includes Christopher Marlowe and Walter Raleigh. Here, Diana must locate a witch to tutor her in magic, Matthew is forced to confront a past he thought he had put to rest, and the mystery of Ashmole 782 deepens.

Deborah Harkness has crafted a gripping journey through a world of alchemy, time travel, and magical discoveries, delivering one of the most hotly anticipated novels of the season.

Book Review: Let me start by saying that overall I enjoyed the book. I loved the continuation of the story and the characters however there were def a lot of things that I didn't like about the book also. I think it is suffering from what I'll "middle book syndrome." The middle book is never the best, its a lot of filler information before you wrap up the story in the third and final installment. The Lord of the Rings trilogy come to mind and in my opinion was the same way. Of course it has to be this way so they can pull everything together in the last book.

My major problem with the book was there was a lot of additional information, plots and characters that really didn't add much to the storyline. I can see what the author was trying to do but it just wasn't needed. As a History professor I think she was trying to cram too many different historical references into the book and as a result it wound up being 600 pages long. Not that I had a problem with the length because it did keep my attention, but I think it would have been more concise, sometimes less is more. There were far too many characters being introduced in the book, especially right off the bat it was difficult to remember who everyone was and how they fit in.

Don't get me wrong, I would absolutely recommend this book and series, I just didn't think it was as good as the first book, there was too much thrown in. There were a couple things that happened that did keep me going and I did manage to get through the book pretty quickly. I have high hopes for the third book though, I think it is going to be really good. I can't believe I have to wait a year now to see how it ends!