7.07.2012
A Discovery of Witches
Series: All Souls Trilogy book 1
Overall Grade: B+
Plot: Diana Bishop is a decendent from two lines of powerful witches. She wants nothing to do with her innate powers and talents and instead has a promising career as a historian of alchemy. In the process of summer research, she calls up an alchemic text from an Oxford library that was long thought lost, and which all three races of creatures want. These three races of creatures, witches, vampires, and daemons, live among humans, blending in with various degrees of success, though they are actually genetically separated species from each other and humans. Now it looks like all the sides want Diana in order to get their hands on the book. And if Diana might just be falling into a forbidden romance with the vampire, Matthew Clermont, that has taken it upon himself to protect her, that might just bring even more trouble down about her ears.
Review: A romance without being overally sappy, this book has plenty of fantasy to keep the reader happy. Once the plot starts thickening in Oxford, you move to France, and from there to the US. The sequel promises to have Diana and Matthew back in time somewhere. Matthew's romantic self-restraint is explained in terms of his character's backstory, but it is still refreshing a suitor who is so romantic without clothes coming off. Diana is a bit Mary Sue, in her sheer number of crazy witch abilities, held back only by her inexperience and lack of training. I expect those gloves to come off in the next book or two as she gets trained up and then we'll reassess her Mary Sue-ness.
Labels: genre: fantasy, genre: fiction, genre: mystery, media: book, series: All Souls
