Diana, against her better judgment, is drawn into Matthew’s circle of protection. He claims to want to help Diana, and is interested in Ashmole 782, but his altruistic intentions are suspect. He’s a scientist at heart, who wants to not only know the how but also the why. He’s mysterious and attractive, but he’s a vampire. Because its hidden text supposedly explains the origin of paranormal creatures–and perhaps even how to destroy them forever.Ī DISCOVERY OF WITCHES is a story of love, travel, and vampies.and full of so much fluff.ĭuring Diana’s research, Matthew Clairmont appears. Now every vampire, witch, and daemon in Oxford wants to know how she got it to appear and if she’s going to do it again. But she’s here as a scholar and not a witch, so sends it back, where it disappears again. She can tell it’s special because it fires off all her witch’s senses. in history, an expert on alchemical texts, and during her research at Oxford she finds a text that has been missing for 150 years. The story starts off with a problem: Why does everyone want Ashmole 782? Diana is a Ph.D. However, while I enjoyed Harkness’ blending of ideas and the magic, even if they aren’t exactly groundbreaking, the execution made it hard for me to enjoy it on a level that would make me give an unhesitating endorsement. You know, the kinds of things any Writing Excuses episode would explain are problems because they affect flow and readability.įor most urban fantasy readers, those are issues that won’t impede their enjoyment of the love story. And the plot itself is bogged down with irrelevant information. Expository conversations are used to forward the plot. Too much time is spent on the minutiae of eating/traveling/clothing. The issue isn’t that Harkness uses these tropes over again–they are tried and true for a reason–it’s that it’s her first novel and you can tell. If you’ve read your share of urban fantasy, you’ve seen all this many times over. There’s the trendy locales (Oxford, France, upstate New York), the wine/books/artifacts only a centuries old vampire could have, the tension between the supernatural races. The antagonists resent their blossoming romance because vampires and witches ‘just don’t mix’ (Really! It’s never happened before!). Her vampire love interest Matthew is almost perfectly thoughtful, impeccably dressed, brilliant, rich, and well connected. Main PoV character Diana is smart, orphaned, stubborn, beautiful-though-she-doesn’t-know-it, and a powerful witch. In A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES ( Amazon), Harkness takes all the urban fantasy romantic tropes and… uses them. I had to know if she deserved being there. Yeah, a newb (to the genre anyway) sitting amongst some of the most popular fantasy authors today. Brett, Naomi Novik, Brandon Sanderson, Jim Butcher, and Joe Abercrombie. Debut author Deborah Harkness has been on my ‘to read’ list since her appearance at New York’s ComicCon fantasy author panel with the likes of Peter V.
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