The First Orange Door Book Review: Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

I apologize that it took so long to get a book read! I think that this factor plays a lot into the review of this book. Without further ado. . . Here it is:

Shadow of Night: Book 2 of The All Souls Trilogy

This book took a very long time to read. I can't blame it completely on the book because there were some other factors such as life in general, starting a blog for cooking and food porn and also a new discovery of a game on the I-Pad called Spelltower. I will tell you NOT to check it out if you like word games because it is going to be my downfall. I digress. . . I would like to point out that I really LOVED the first book in this series - A Discovery of Witches. Vampires and witches were described in new ways and did not fall into the typical Hollywood/teen fiction world that we have seen in recent years. This author must truly be brilliant. Deborah Harkness pulls elements of historical fact and literary finds with traditions from a variety of cultures to truly make the world, past and present, come alive and from a variety of perspectives.

I think my big problem was that the first book was so wonderful and ended with a cliffhanger. Then I waited. . . There was no Book 2 when I completed it and I went on to other things. If you haven't read Book 1 you are very lucky because you can read these back to back. I spent so much time trying to retrace/recall what happened in Book 1 while reading Shadow of Night that I know I'm missing entire parts in the continuum.

I also didn't like the male vs. female battle that went on for control sometimes. Apparently Matthew in the past is not as liberal and understanding as present day Matthew!

Good parts of this book that make it ultimately go on the list of books worth reading:

1. I really like these characters. They have flaws and seem human even if they have supernatural powers.

2. I liked the time travel and the glimpses into Elizabethan England and France as well as Prague. From my perspective getting a new back story for the Golem was pretty cool all on its own.

3. We learned a lot about Ashmole 782, the book at the center of this time traveling quest.

Until I downloaded this photo from Amazon, I had not read any other reviews and it sounds like a lot of people agree with me. This book is not as good as the first but necessary to bring us to the conclusion for Book 3 which is not yet set with a release date (it might not yet be done according to the author's website). If you haven't started this series maybe just wait?

The story of the first book is also going to be a movie. . .

So final verdict: On the list of "books worth reading" but with some conditions!