A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

8.0/10 dropps

In her debut novel, Deborah Harkness has created a fantasy world that is both very familiar and very strange. Combining numerous elements of fantasy and history we follow Diana Bishop, the sole remaining witch in the Bishop line (one dating back to Bridget Bishop and the Salem witch trials). Diana is uncomfortable with her magic since her parents died tragically when she was a child. Her own refusal to learn about her capabilities finds her unwittingly opening a bewitched manuscript called Ashmole 782 in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. The simple opening of the cover plunges Diana and the reader into a world of daemons, vampires, witches, and the like.

An easy read, A Discovery of Witches flows well, alternating between focusing on Diana Bishop and her counterpart Matthew Clairmont, a vampire who studies genetics at Oxford. Harkness uses new and interesting ways to present an alternate world of magic that lives in tandem with the oblivious human world. Through Diana and Matthew she attempts to explore the origin of magical creatures by investigating such familiar works as Darwin’s Origin of Species, the Bible, and Shakespeare. It is interesting to see how well she has been able to fit into a magical world not only in literature and history, but in science. Fans of history and mythology, not just vampire fans, will enjoy encountering familiar references to the Greek gods, Christopher Marlowe, and various other all-time favorites.

The novel begins fluidly. It is a story one can easily gulp down in several sittings. But by the time you’ve gotten two-thirds of the way through the book, it is easy to see A Discovery of Witches as a rather uncomfortable combination of Twilight, the DaVinci Code, and sometimes Harry Potter. There is an overwhelming level of magical reference that doesn’t always sit easily in one story. It doesn’t distinguish itself much from the standard girl-meets-vampire-hunk prototype, although the history behind some of its parts is fascinating. It is an enjoyable read, though, frankly, a novel that might be worth waiting for the paperback version. If you’re looking for an all-around enjoyable, fairly simple read, look no further that A Discovery of Witches. The next installment in the series is slated to come out sometime in 2012.

-Devin Barreto