Search Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »
My library | Help | Advanced Book Search | Web History | Sign in

Books

A Discovery of Witches:

A Novel
Front Cover
2960 Reviews
Penguin Group US, Feb 8, 2011 - Fiction - 592 pages

"A wonderfully imaginative grown-up fantasy with all the magic of Harry Potter and Twilight."
-People

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.

What people are saying - Write a review

User ratings

5 stars
749
4 stars
841
3 stars
646
2 stars
440
1 star
284

Three tips: it is a love story. - Goodreads
It's clumsy writing and bad character development. - Goodreads
Well written, well researched. - Goodreads
Sometimes the plot pacing felt rushed. - Goodreads
Such a fun, engrossing, educational, whirlwind story! - Goodreads
The prose is stilted. - Goodreads

Review: A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy #1)

User Review  - Kristin - Goodreads

I wanted to love this book, I truly did. The plot had so much potential and I loved the first part of the book, set in Oxford. I was fascinated by the different "creatures" inhabiting this world. When ... Read full review

Review: A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy #1)

User Review  - Robin - Goodreads

This book was just not my cup of tea... pun intended. (Diana, the main character, spends an inordinate amount of time making and drinking tea.) I think there should be a warning label on the front ... Read full review

All 2332 reviews »

Related books

Other editions - View all

About the author (2011)

Deborah Harkness is a scholar and writer specializing in the history of science and medicine. She has received numerous awards, including Fulbright, Guggenheim, and National Humanities Center fellowships. Currently a professor of history at the University of Southern California, her most recent academic publication is The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution. This is her first novel.

Bibliographic information