Well, That Didn’t Go As Planned

Summary of Shadow of Night

In Shadow of Night, the second book in the All Souls Trilogy, by Deborah Harkness, Diana Bishop, a witch and historian, and Matthew Clairmont, a vampire and biochemist,  learn that the best-laid plans can go wrong.  At the end of book one, the pair made a so-called simple timewalk, and instead, it turned out to be a hot mess.

All Diana and Matthew wanted to do is to find a place to hide from the Congregation. So, they figured why not hide in the past—Elizabethan England in the 1590s. They decided time walk to England for a few weeks, find a witch to train Diana, and recover the ancient manuscript, Ashmole 782 before it gets damaged. It sounded easy enough in theory, but the lovers find themselves in a world of Renaissance politics, intrigue, spies, prejudice, fear, plagues, religious turmoil, and witch hunts. Uh oh, yeah, that! Now, what do they do? Is this going to be a one-way trip?

Together they will have to learn to rely more on each other. In this story, Diana and Matthew face their old enemy the Congregation, and one or two new and unknown enemies, who are bent on destroying Matthew and the de Clermonts no matter when. Matthew’s previous lives and secrets are going to haunt them. Diana’s past and secrets won’t be easy to reconcile either. How do you reconcile your past, present, and future while living in the past?

Diana and Matthew’s travels take them from England to France, then from Prague to England in months rather than weeks. Along the way, the two gain personal strength. Their relationship grows and adapts with the assistance of the School of Night, Philippe de Clermont, a boy named Jack and a teenager named Annie, a firedrake, and Goody Alsop, a witch.

The world of creatures is brutal no matter when or where it is. Diana and Matthew learn you can’t run from your past. Lies and secrets have a way of catching up with all of us, and we have to face our fears and ourselves. If and when Diana and Matthew return to the 21^st Century, they may only begin to realize how their timewalking journey changes them for good.

Book Review

Once again, Deborah Harkness does a fantastic job! Her writing comes across well-researched, educated, and knowledgeable. She turns her professional interests in medieval and Renaissance history into a believable world of fantasy. Four words describe the Shadow of Night’s plot–entertaining, fun, dark, and tangled. Harkness makes readers feel they are part of the environment of Elizabethan England on the streets of London, or in the queen’s drawing rooms. The author’s words have a way of evoking the smells, sounds, and textures of the multiple settings. I love seeing interactions between Diana and Matthew, Walter Raleigh, William Cecil, Kit Marlowe, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, and Queen Elizabeth I. Harkness brings readers into the reality of the fear associated with the duplicity of politics and unsteady alliances in the 1590s. Vividly, she describes the real dangers people faced, whether a creature or human. I enjoyed being educated and entertained at the same time.

I liked A Discovery of Witches, but I like this book better.  I sank into the story more profoundly, and I understood  the characters’ personalities and motivations in-depth. The author’s character development answered many questions for me while it created others. I identify with Matthew because I can sympathize with him over all the loss he’s endured. He isn’t perfect, and he needs Diana’s love and protection as much as she needs him. I empathize with Diana, who underestimates her value and magical abilities, because I can relate my own life experience with anxiety and fear.

The book left one open-ended storyline for me. I wanted to know more about daemon society and culture. I still want to know why daemons are unstable and treated as second class citizens of the creature world. This book doesn’t cover it for me.

Score

On a scale of 1-10, I give this book a 9.5.

Melissa K. Cannell  Copyright, 2020