Fabulous reads – Discovery of Witches

Discovery of Witches, Deborah Harkness

I’M just going to put this out there – I judge a book by its cover. The cover draws me in and then, if the synopsis entices me enough to spend my hard-earned cash, my card is swiped before any onlookers have the chance to shout “Don’t do it!”. With this in mind, the Discovery of Witches books had me spellbound in the first few seconds. So before you judge me, let me explain how, after this book, I am a reformed man.

The lead protagonist is a witch who, due to a traumatic event in her past, pushed her to turn her back on her magical heritage and has instead found solace combing through dusty old tomes of alchemy for historical research. Per chance, Dianna Bishop calls up a rare and highly sought-after manuscript that could explain the origins of creatures (witches, vampires and daemons). Drawn to her unintentional discovery, scores of creatures are drawn to Oxford, Diana’s current hometown.

This is where the adventure begins… or so I thought. A quote below the synopsis reads: “Discover for yourself this dazzling novel of epic scope and breathtaking imagination. Prepare to be spellbound.” This left me with some high expectations as I hoped for something that would draw me in, and grip me until I had reached the final full stop of the last sentence on the last page. This was sadly not to be – and I had already purchased the entire trilogy.

The book sits at a mind-numbing 594 pages, and while it is not a terrible read, it is by no means a page-turner either. With a backstory and characters who could easily launch this book into cult status, it is instead marred with a mix of convoluted historical facts. Now, forgive me if I am wrong, but when you make the effort to painstakingly create a host of wonderful characters – in what could easily be an amazingly juicy piece of fiction – you are given poetic license to make things up. There is no need to prove to me through historical jargon that witches, vampires and daemons truly exist. It simply put a dampener on the whole affair and made reading it more of a chore a than an enjoyable pastime.

If you are interested in having your fiction intermingled with an abundance of historical drivel, then this is right up your alley. But if you are like me and are wanting to get lost in an epic adventure – steer well clear. 3/5