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A Discovery of Witches

(All Souls Trilogy #1)

Deborah Harkness (Goodreads Author)

really liked it 4.00 · Rating details · 337,173 ratings · 33,103 reviews

Fall under the spell of Diana and Matthew in the stunning first volume of the No.1 internationally bestsellling ALL SOULS trilogy.

A world of witches, daemons and vampires. A manuscript which holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future. Diana and Matthew - the forbidden love at the heart of it.

When historian Diana Bishop opens an alchemical manuscript in ...more

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Kindle Edition, 610 pages

Published February 8th 2011 by Headline

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Sep 27, 2011 Squee rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: the-idiocracy-is-here

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Upon sighting this book in a soon-to-be-closed Borders store, I was intrigued. The blurb sounded interesting and the first couple of pages seemed competently written. Despite the huge discount, I hesitated, and instead checked the book out from the library.

And am I ever glad that I didn't actually buy it.

The book started out promising. Protagonist Diana Bishop, distinguished history scholar and professor (just like the author! uh oh...), repressed witch, tea aficionado, rower and yoga ...more

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Apr 12, 2011 Kristina rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, brain-candy, my-book, supernatural-creatures, disappointing

This is an odd book. Now that I have finished reading it, I'm not sure why I was so enamored of it. With so much discussion of spells and enchantment, I wouldn't be surprised if the book put a spell on me. Despite overall enjoying the book, there are still lots of things about it that irritated me. First, the author needed a better editor. I am finding more often that books surrounded by a certain amount of hype are not well-edited. I don't know if the editors think that every word the author This is an odd book. Now that I have finished reading it, I'm not sure why I was so enamored of it. With so much discussion of spells and enchantment, I wouldn't be surprised if the book put a spell on me. Despite overall enjoying the book, there are still lots of things about it that irritated me. First, the author needed a better editor. I am finding more often that books surrounded by a certain amount of hype are not well-edited. I don't know if the editors think that every word the author writes is gold or if editors are timid, but in either case they aren't doing their job. Much of this book could have chopped out and the story tightened up. There are too many extraneous details that weigh down the plot (and what exactly the plot is is also a good question). I think the author, in order to differentiate her witch/vampire/supernatural book from all the other supernatural books on the shelves, threw in everything, including the kitchen sink, into her novel. It's exhausting stumbling around the pages trying to figure out what the plot is. I'm going to try not being too specific because even though nothing really happens in this novel (really, nothing does), there is information that shouldn't be divulged until you read the novel. Harkness has several plot lines going: the mysterious Ashmole 782 manuscript, the forbidden love affair between Diana the
relunctant witch and Matthew the 1,000 + years old vamp, the mysterious death of her parents, the possible extinction of the supernatural beings, the Congregation wanting to know the extent of Diana's power, tracing Diana's DNA, and the threat of a witch/vamp war. It's all a little crazy.

This book is some kind of pseudo-science, pseudo-historical novel what with all the science and history. The excessive alchemical details get annoying, as does the DNA discussions(and you'd better know what mtDNA is because I don't think the book does a good job explaining it. Luckily, I knew). However, unlike the alchemy stuff (which I don't see the point of), at least the DNA information is related to the plot(s) of the book. The romance is fairly interesting and intense at first, but it quickly peters out into some of kind of tame, boring, lovey-dovey PG-rated sappy mess. It's not that I need pornographic details, but the author kept telling me how much they loved each other and how intense their passion was, but I never really felt it. Matthew, as a scary vampire, is a huge disappointment to me. I'm sorry,but you cannot have this vampire doing yoga and talking DNA with new-age geeky precision and then have me believe that he is all that scary. Nope, just doesn't work. Diana is also a disappointment. She's extremely annoying. She talks about how she wants to be a strong, independent woman, but in reality she is the wimpiest, most annoying witch ever. She won't use her witchy powers (which, to give the author some credit, I understand why she had this attitude), but when it comes time for her to protect herself, she wimps out, cowers, faints, and in rushes Matthew to save her AGAIN. Give me a break. The book is basically just a description of food, wine, her "stretchy black pants" and all the places Matthew took her to keep her hidden from the Congregation. (I don't like the term Congregation either. Makes me think of church and not a scary group of supernatural beings.)Apparently this book was compared to the Twilight series, which I think odd because I never saw the connection (I have read them all, to my shame). What I will compare this book to is the Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse series. Those books are far superior to this book. Sookie is poor little human with just her one skill (she can read minds) and yet she protects herself quite well, rarely needs her supernatural friends to come to her rescue, and has several times saved her vampire boyfriends. Plus, she does it all with a sense of humor. Diana, who apparently has every witchy power
ever known, plus some that aren't, can barely twinkle her nose to make magical tea.

Another point of irritation with me are all the characters who need their backstories told. I don't really need to know or want to know everything about these characters. If they are going to stick around for awhile, tell me their stories later or create a glossary and stick them at the back of the book. The flow of the novel is stopped over and over again to tell me something not all that interesting about a minor character. My last point is about this ridiculous Knights of Lazarus organization. I find this organization absolutely unbelievable and incomprehensible. I'm not giving away any plot secrets by mentioning this because I still can't figure out what the author meant by creating this order of do-gooder vamps who have helped people in need over the centuries. It's so ridiculous. Whenever it was brought up, I tried to skim over it, hoping it would disappear. The haunted Bishop house, the house as a character, was entertaining. I did enjoy that detail. Overall though, now that I've written this review, I'm trying to figure out what exactly I DID like about the book. This book basically sets up the next two books in the trilogy. I will probably read the second book but I doubt I will buy it. I think Harkness, just as with Justin Cronin of The Passage, saw an opportunity to make some money on the current (and lasting way too long) vampire, witch, supernatural creatures popular literature fad. However,Harkness has taken vampires and turned them into wine-loving, gentle, kind creatures who wear business suits or lab coats, have tons of money, and are really kind of boring. ...more

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May 10, 2011 Jenne rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

okay, so the good things: I liked the world/mythology/etc, and was amused by the Anne Rice reference! And I also liked the subtle pro-gay marriage message.
It could have actually been a lot of fun except for the romance part, which went like this: (SPOILERS!)

Diana: I am exceptionally good at being a historian of science, and I even have a job at Yale! I am also a witch, but I don't use my powers. Much.
Gosh this mysterious manuscript sure is mysterious!

Matthew: I AM TALL. I WENT THROUGH YOUR ...more

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Feb 11, 2017 Sasha Alsberg rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Sorry Bronze Horseman, A Discovery of Witches has taken the #2 spot for my favorite book <3

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Apr 02, 2011 Catie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2011, paranormal, romance, series

This book kept me hanging on just enough to stop me from abandoning it. I’m not really sure who this book is aimed at; it’s a very pedestrian, traditional romance wrapped up in a nearly 600 page, painfully slow tale filled with history and science. It’s a bit like a Hallmark card wrapped up in an encyclopedia. The history and science buffs will be turned off by the cheesy center, and the romance lovers will resent having to wade through pages of endless description and detail just to get to the This book kept me hanging on just enough to stop me from abandoning it. I’m not really sure who this book is aimed at; it’s a very pedestrian, traditional romance wrapped up in a nearly 600 page, painfully slow tale filled with history and science. It’s a bit like a Hallmark card wrapped up in an encyclopedia. The history and science buffs will be turned off by the cheesy center, and the romance lovers will resent having to wade through pages of endless description and detail just to get to the good stuff. And speaking of “the good stuff” – there isn’t any. If I am going to struggle my way through a sappy romance, the least I would expect is a good sex scene!

The female lead is Diana, who is a highly intelligent woman and well respected in her field. She’s also the daughter of two powerful witches who were murdered when she was seven years old. Traumatized by their deaths, she turns her back on magic and devotes her life to study. When she accidentally pulls a heavily enchanted manuscript from the Bodleian library and is somehow able to open it, she draws the attention of the supernatural communities. Matthew, a biochemist vampire with many secrets and motivations of his own, seeks out Diana to investigate.

Probably the main thing that turns me off about this book is the cast of characters. Matthew will be startlingly familiar to any reader of paranormal romance. He’s a perfect physical specimen, with vast wealth (including several ancient homes which he built himself), a guilt-inducing past, and a tendency to be an overly protective, patronizing control freak. He also likes to name drop famous historical figures that he’s known, drone on and on about wine, and spout obnoxious lines like, “Will you never wait until I help you?” And, despite being alive for 1,500 years, he apparently still thinks that women are incapable of feeding and clothing themselves or knowing when they’re tired (Don’t worry, he’ll give you sedatives without your knowledge if you try to disagree). He’s the kind of guy who says, “I might not be able to control myself if you step away” after a first kiss, then spends the rest of the book avoiding consummating the relationship, because “there’s plenty of time” even though at this point the characters have (view spoiler) Diana is the otherwise intelligent woman who acts like a child whenever she’s in his presence. She has to be bullied and bated into using her powers, and saved time and time again by Matthew. Despite Matthew’s continual marveling about how powerful and strong she is, her strength is barely in evidence.

This book needs some serious trimming. This author is clearly a very bright, intellectual woman and she has a ton of ideas. I just wish she hadn’t put all of them in this one book. She manages to cram in alchemy, paranormal groups, magic, evolution, mythology, medieval knights, politics, DNA testing, yoga, and wine tasting, not to mention (view spoiler) before this book is done. There are also four chapters (out of about forty) that are written in third person following Matthew, instead of the first person (Diana) perspective that’s used for the rest of the book. It’s as if she feels the need to show the reader absolutely everything that’s going on, everywhere. This book would have been so much better if she had kept a few ideas in reserve. Some of the topics, like the wine tasting and the yoga, serve no purpose to the story, except perhaps to make Matthew seem even more pretentious.

I did enjoy much of the science and history, but there were too many niggling little scientific inaccuracies to keep me spellbound. For instance, Matthew has apparently mapped the DNA of enough witches and other supernatural beings to be able to locate and identify markers of different magical powers, not to mention create a map of the different lineages of witch families. However, he is somehow unable to use the same information to determine whether the different supernatural groups (witches, vampires, and daemons) are genetically related. For all of the author’s vast intelligence, I’m not sure that she really understands evolution either. I’m not one who typically nit-picks stories on the technical details, but this book is so agonizingly slow and the sappy romance is such a turn off for me – I found myself focusing on the little details more and more.

This book is absolutely not for me. However, if you are an intellectual person with a love of sweet, "courtly love" type romances, and macho-man heroes, then I think you might like this one. ...more

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Apr 19, 2011 kari rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-choose-not-to-finish

THIS IS ACTUALLY ZERO stars, but it won't be listed if I put zero, so, just so you know - ZERO!.
I thought this was going to be a really entertaining read, but I'm giving up. The main character makes no sense, whatsoever. We're told that she isn't able to do magic and then she does magic. Huh???
And then we have the vampire sneaking in her window and watching her sleep, fascinated by her sleeping. Where have I read this before? Let's see....... can anyone think of where they might have read this? ...more

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Nov 17, 2013 Nataliya rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: the-hype-is-overhyped, first-in-a-series, 2013-reads

For mere two bucks I rescued this book from a dusty shelf of a local Goodwill store, adopting it with high hopes.

For free, I returned it to the same shelf a few weeks later with dejected feeling, sandwiching it between a rejected copy of 'Twilight' and a tattered paperback with a shirtless guy on the cover.

At least it found its rightful spot. And I'm out only two dollars. And I would have gladly paid more to free my own bookshelf of this book.

So it goes.

My books mercilessly rejected the ...more

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Apr 27, 2011 Arni Vidar Bjorgvinsson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, amazon

It's quite difficult to gather my thoughts well enough to manage a review. I don't know how or where to begin.

I started this book 4 evenings ago, and all I really knew about it was that it was a Witches and Vampires book. Fine, I'll give that a go. As the pages wore on, however, I realized that I was barely making any headway on the % counter. Upon checking, I then found that this book is almost 800 pages long, which is more than almost all of my fantasy DTB's. Wow.

I started reading this book ...more

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Dec 13, 2010 Anne rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal, nook, read-in-2012

2.5 stars

Hmmm. At first, I really thought this was going to be at least a 4 star book. It was interesting and full of detail!

description

Then suddenly, it wasn't.
Wasn't interesting, that is. Oh, it was still full of detail, don't worry.
Details about how they appreciatively sniffed wine.

description

Details about different kinds of tea.

description

Details about the layouts of old buildings.
Details about rugs and furniture.

description

And just when I started to think I couldn't take it anymore...MORE WINE AND TEA!

description

Yes, yes! I get it! She likes ...more

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Apr 13, 2011 Jilly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, favorites

HOLY. FREAKING. CRAP. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just finished this book last night, and I was blown away by it. This is easily going to be the best book that I will read this year, and is going in my top 10 list of best fiction books of all time! Excellent fiction is not always easy to come by. I don't mind mediocre reads from time to time, but it is SO GREAT to be totally stunned by an indescribably excellent book every once in awhile!

For one thing, this book is so well-written. The author HOLY. FREAKING. CRAP. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just finished this book last night, and I was blown away by it. This is easily going to be the best book that I will read this year, and is going in my top 10 list of best fiction books of all time! Excellent fiction is not always easy to come by. I don't mind mediocre reads from time to time, but it is SO GREAT to be totally stunned by an indescribably excellent book every once in awhile!

For one thing, this book is so well-written. The author has a beautiful way with words, and her descriptions are eloquent and lovely. There was a seamless flow to this book that was exquisite. Nothing was choppy or out of place; the rhythm, pacing, and phrases used flowed so effortlessly that I was never distracted by the writing or the language (as sometimes happens in fiction). Because of this, I was able to get completely lost in this world; and boy was I! "Spellbound" is the only proper way to describe it.

Also, the characters were strong and interesting. Knowing that this is the first in what is supposed to be a trilogy, you get a good base understanding of the main and supporting characters with the full knowledge that a deeper relationship with them will come as the story continues to unfold.

I have read a few reviews that say the beginning of this book is boring; I did not find it so. I was instantly mesmerized and drawn in. I knew that the author was setting the stage for all that was to come, and while it may seem slow at first, you will be very grateful as you continue in the book. Once I got into the "thick" of things, I was grateful to have waded through the beginning, as it gave me a strong foundation for all of the character developments and plot twists that arose throughout the story.

MY ONLY COMPLAINT: Now I have to wait for the next book! However will I do that?!?! I tend to get very emotionally involved with books and characters that I love; I already miss spending time with these characters and I am desperate to continue living in their magical world! Dear Ms. Harkness, I am under your spell, please put me out of my misery and publish the next installment soon!!!!

June 30, 2018 UPDATE: Since I first read this book and posted the above review, I have read the book 23 times. I literally NEVER get tired of it!

September 24, 2018 UPDATE: Finished my 24th re-read.

July 28, 2019 UPDATE: Finished my 25th re-read.

November 27, 2019 UPDATE: Finished my 26th re-read. ...more

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Feb 14, 2011 Kat Hooper rated it did not like it · review of another edition

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Dr. Diana Bishop, descendant of the famous Bridget Bishop of Salem, Massachusetts, turned her back on her natural powers after her parents were killed when she was a child. Instead, she relied on her brain power, went to Oxford and Yale, and became a well-known researcher in the field of history of science. Now she’s back at Oxford, spending the year studying old alchemical texts archived at the Bodleian Library. But when she calls the book known as ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Dr. Diana Bishop, descendant of the famous Bridget Bishop of Salem, Massachusetts, turned her back on her natural powers after her parents were killed when she was a child. Instead, she relied on her brain power, went to Oxford and Yale, and became a well-known researcher in the field of history of science. Now she’s back at Oxford, spending the year studying old alchemical texts archived at the Bodleian Library. But when she calls the book known as Ashmole 782 from the stacks, she can feel its power and she can see hidden writing moving on its pages. It frightens her a bit and she notices that soon after returning it to the stacks, she’s attracted the attention of many creatures — vampires, daemons, and other witches — who are suddenly hanging around the Bodleian. One vampire in particular, Matthew Clairmont, an attractive professor of biochemistry and neuroscience, just won’t leave her alone. What is so special about Ashmole 782 and why are all these creatures hoping she’ll call it back?

After reading the blurbs about A Discovery of Witches, this was a book I was eagerly waiting for. I love academic settings (especially Oxford), old libraries, and the blend of history and science. And I did enjoy much of A Discovery of Witches for this reason. Diana Bishop is an urban fantasy heroine that I can relate to. She spends her time in libraries instead of tattoo parlors; she prepares lectures and writes letters of recommendation instead of training with weapons and kicking peoples’ butts. I understood her goals and interests and the way that her focus on academic pursuits makes her slightly awkward and absent-minded elsewhere. I was also much intrigued by Matthew Clairmont’s genetic research into the evolution of witches, vampires, and daemons and how this related to Diana’s research in alchemy.

Thus, A Discovery of Witches had a lot of potential for me, but there were three problems that sapped my enjoyment:

The first is that the book is simply way too long. With nearly 600 pages to work with, Deborah Harkness should have been able to get these interesting ideas farther off the ground. I was frustrated that, by the end, it had become clear that A Discovery of Witches is the first novel in a series. In this first installment, Harkness carefully develops the characters and sets up the romance. There is a lot of sitting in the library, hanging around various houses, talking, drinking tea, and eating. The story covers only about a month of time and I think I witnessed nearly everything Diana ate and drank during that month.

Secondly — and this is a common problem for me in urban fantasies — I couldn’t appreciate the romance which dominated the plot. Vampires are just not sexy to me and I had a hard time believing that an overprotective, angry, admittedly murderous vampire would be attractive to an independently-minded academic. Not to mention that his body is cold and his heart beats only rarely. He spends a lot of time growling, bossing her around, speaking roughly, giving everyone dark looks, and displaying mate-guarding behaviors — steering her around by her elbow and with his hand at the small of her back, hovering over her, blocking her path, pushing her up against barriers, “scooping” her up, tossing her on horses, grabbing her by the chin and twisting her neck, telling her she’ll catch cold if she sits on the ground (a guy who sequences DNA thinks that sitting on the ground will make her sick?). He even binds her with an oath without her permission. I find this kind of behavior in a courting male insufferable. This is a common problem for me, and one of the reasons I don’t read much vampire lit, but I wasn’t expecting to encounter this issue in such magnitude in a book about a famous researcher from Oxford and Yale. I know she’s scared of what’s going on in her life, but where is this woman’s self-respect? In some ways, A Discovery of Witches felt like Twilight for middle-aged academics. The most unbelievable part of the entire romance, though is that [removed spoiler — Read it here.]

Thirdly, there are a lot of minor plot issues that just don’t fit into a well-developed fantasy, especially once we leave the academic atmosphere of Oxford and the book starts to feel like Harry Potter. Magic in this world seems arbitrary. We’re told that each power has a genetic marker, which is cool, but its practice is not sufficiently explained. It’s the snap-your-fingers-to-clean-the-dishes, close-your-eyes-and-concentrate-to-fly type. Sparks fly from Diana’s fingers, she cries rivers of tears, witchfire bursts from her outstretched arm. She is suddenly accumulating a host of new skills that make her the most powerful witch alive, but she doesn’t respond with the awe we’d expect. When she finds out that she can time-travel, she practically shrugs it off (and the physics of time-travel don’t even try to make sense).

I truly enjoyed the first part of A Discovery of Witches — the relatable heroine, the university setting, the focus on the history of science. But once the romance got going and we left Oxford, A Discovery of Witches lost its charm. I’m still curious about the blend of genetics, evolution, and alchemy, but the long sick romance dominated this intriguing mystery and the plot could not hold up against it. I may take a look at the sequel, though, just because I really want to know what’s inside Ashmole 782.

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature. ...more

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Feb 16, 2011 Amanda rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Absolutely no one.

Recommended to Amanda by: carol.

Shelves: crap, untumbled-turds, blog, bloodsuckers

In A Discovery of Witches, we clueless humans have no idea that we share our world with witches, vampires and daemons (creatures whose manic bursts of creativity result in some of the world's greatest artistic works). Isn't that exciting? One would certainly think so. So, what kind of shenanigans does this preternatural lot get up to while we live our ordinary lives?

Well . . .

Behold the books that shall be read! Thrill to the revelation that trips to the library will be made time and time ...more

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Mar 02, 2011 Sarah Kelsey rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, chicklit, paranormal, romance, elastic-reality, mary-sue

Well well, Mary Sue, Mary Sue, Mary Sue. I haven't encountered you for a few books. Now I know where you've been keeping yourself.
-------
Updated: March 3, 2011.

I struggled to finish this novel. The book started out so well with an interesting protagonist, a bibliophile's dream setting, and wonderful descriptions of illustrated manuscripts. The plot tugs at the small thread of 'paranormalcy' in the protagonist's life, and everything goes south from there. Literally south. They leave England and Well well, Mary Sue, Mary Sue, Mary Sue. I haven't encountered you for a few books. Now I know where you've been keeping yourself.
-------
Updated: March 3, 2011.

I struggled to finish this novel. The book started out so well with an interesting protagonist, a bibliophile's dream setting, and wonderful descriptions of illustrated manuscripts. The plot tugs at the small thread of 'paranormalcy' in the protagonist's life, and everything goes south from there. Literally south. They leave England and go to France, and nothing good ever seems to happen in France. Why does she go to France? One might well wonder. It's because her wine connoisseur, yoga master, Oxford fellow, French and vampire boyfriend takes her there. Edward- er, I mean Matthew becomes her very protective vampire husband and, in spite of the fact that his list of superlative credentials continues to grow, this superman's top priority seems to be feeding her and giving her foot massages. Apparently he has nothing better to do. Ah, ladies, what an impossible standard we set for our heroes. Please remember that next time you cuss out a model for being too skinny.

My biggest problem with this story isn't the love interest, though he's pretty difficult to stomach; it's the conflict development around the protagonist. Diana, our heroine, suddenly gets what amounts to unlimited power about halfway into the book, power which she sometimes uses and some times does not. Why? This is not clear. The weak explanation for this is that she is panicked on some occasions and uncertain on others. This contrasts jarringly with the fact that Superman continually tells her how brave and decisive she is, and she does occasionally act bravely and decisively. She seems to have sudden attacks of damsel-in-distress, an affliction which does not follow from her other behaviors or her internal monologue. It's understandable why the author has to do this; she's made her protagonist omnipotent. Without these character anomalies, the text has no conflict and the plot is broken. However, with these anomalies, the main character is broken. This book is fundamentally flawed.

What I did love about this book were the descriptions of the texts and the settings. The author does a lovely job bringing to life the various settings and props of her story. The text suggest that quite a substantial amount of research provides the foundation for this story, and I hope that's true. Not being a scholar of medieval manuscripts, I don't know. Nothing stood out as a glaring error to me, and what little bit I did recognize meshed with what I knew.

The book is clearly set up for a sequel, probably a trilogy. In future installments I hope the author puts some limits and rules on the protagonist's power, especially if they explain some of her erratic choices in the first novel. It's too late to fix the saccharine plasticity of the protagonist and her man, but perhaps this is targeting just romance readers who are used to slapping Edward Cullen's romantic perfection onto Fabio's physique and sliding a couple of PhD's and a stock portfolio into his back pocket. It could have been so much more than that.

I would certainly consider reading a Harkness book again. It's obvious from this book that the woman knows how to write. I'd just prefer a little less perfection in the central characters.

...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Jessica ❁ ➳ Silverbow ➳ ❁ Rabid Reads-no-more rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: angels-and-or-demons, urban-fantasy, some-kinda-magic, vampires, best-series, jerk-of-my-dreams, the-book-boy-is-mine, rabid-reads-reviews, creeptastic

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads

This book.

Have you ever liked something almost against your will? Something that encompasses roughly half of the things you hate in reference to said thing? Something that makes you scratch your head in wonder, b/c you can’t figure out why on earth you aren’t terribly bothered by those detested things in this situation?

Welcome to my life.

This book has:

1. What can be construed as insta-love. Matthew and Diana are drawn to each other from the moment they meet, BUT it’s ...more

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Nov 06, 2011 mark monday rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: i-gave-up, romantica, secret-histories

my gosh, i really wanted to like this one. it looks good. it is nice and big and so i imagined getting lost with it for days. the subject matter is enticing. even the cover looks appealing - elegant and mysterious and sorta bold. but unfortunately this book is just a big, perpetually flaccid penis. it looks good, like it could be a fun time, but nothing is happening, it's limp, it's useless.

hmmm, where do i even start? this was an experience where a lot of bored sighs found life. i got about my gosh, i really wanted to like this one. it looks good. it is nice and big and so i imagined getting lost with it for days. the subject matter is enticing. even the cover looks appealing - elegant and mysterious and sorta bold. but unfortunately this book is just a big, perpetually flaccid penis. it looks good, like it could be a fun time, but nothing is happening, it's limp, it's useless.

hmmm, where do i even start? this was an experience where a lot of bored sighs found life. i got about halfway through and just gave up, because:

- this is a thin little Urban Fantasy & Romance that has been tricked up to be a kind of literary romantic horror novel. i shouldn't have believed the hype, its comparisons to other recent "literary horror" novels like The Passage or Zone One. it is nothing like those two. now i don't mind little Urban Fantasy & Romance novels. but please, promotional team for Discovery, don't front. don't make this novel out to be what it clearly is not.

- the repetitive scenes were abysmally boring in their, well, repetitiveness. how many fuckin times do i have to read about our tedious heroine going to the library and finding that a bunch of preternaturals are stalking her? apparently a dozen or so times. i kid you not, the sheer number of these scenes were ridiculous, they verged on being a kind of Comedy of the Absurd. Harkness, were you being paid by the word or something?

- the trials and tribulations of our heroine and her paramour were a snorefest. oh poor angsty wittle witch doesn't want to be a witch, she just wants to be a regular human! boo hoo hoo! oh poor angsty wittle vampire has such mixed feelings about having mixed feelings for the wittle witch. boo hoo hoo! what hard lives these preternaturals have! i'm not sure i've seen witches & vampires portrayed in such a boring fasion... i got more thrills from the silly Beautiful Darkness series. c'mon Harkness, where's the nuance? where's the adventure? for chrissakes, even the romance sucked. BORED NOW.

i tried to like this one, i really tried. i tried looking at it from different angles, i tried to come at it at different times - perhaps it was my mood, right? i focused on the fact that this was such a nice, big novel... surely it must eventually get good, if i was patient and understanding. surely it would harden into something that could give me at least a little bit of excitment. but nope, it remained flaccid and i just had to give up on it. there are a lot of other big books out there for me to enjoy.

...more

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Dec 05, 2014 Bradley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, fantasy, urban-fantasy, metaphysics, history, 2017-shelf

Re-Read 12/15/17:

Beyond what I said in my original review, I really enjoyed all the interwoven devices that carry all the way through all three books. I knew I'd enjoy a re-read even as I finished the third book since there are so many great historical details as well as more developed characters, later on, but I think I may have enjoyed this novel more this time around purely for its own sake.

Just knowing what happens at the end and where Diana winds up is good enough to chortle over, all by ...more

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Nov 06, 2012 seak rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: your worst enemy?

Shelves: dnf

I tried really hard, but wow this book was boring. I think it reminded me way too much of The Historian, which was the biggest waste of 900+ pages I've ever read. I think it's because I've done way too much academic research in my 20 years of schooling to ever find it remotely entertaining.

I think the part where the witches, vampires, demons, etc. do yoga together pretty much killed it for me.

(Okay, it's probably more of a calm indifference, but had I wasted any more time this would be more ...more

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Sep 24, 2018 High Lady of The Night Court rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-read

"It begins with absence and desire.
It begins with blood and fear.
It begins with a discovery of witches."

This trilogy is like no other paranormal book I’ve ever read. The world is huge and the author not only takes us around the world but also tells us about its history through the Book of Life. The protagonist of the story has distanced herself from her magic and any other supernatural concept in the world after she lost her parents as a child. The protagonist’s lack of knowledge allows the "It begins with absence and desire.
It begins with blood and fear.
It begins with a discovery of witches."

This trilogy is like no other paranormal book I’ve ever read. The world is huge and the author not only takes us around the world but also tells us about its history through the Book of Life. The protagonist of the story has distanced herself from her magic and any other supernatural concept in the world after she lost her parents as a child. The protagonist’s lack of knowledge allows the reader to learn everything about this mystical world gradually and I loved that facts about the world weren’t just dropped here and there randomly in an attempt to make the reader understand whats going on.

The protagonist, Diana Bishop, is one of the Bishop witches, a very well known family of witches. But ever since she was a child Diana could never cast a proper spell and her powers never seemed to have truly manifested. Since her parents’ death Diana has made it a point to live a human life with the barest hint of magic in it. She is a history professor, a scholar, who has won quite a few awards, and is now dabbling in alchemy.
One day, Diana Bishop calls a magic book, Ashmole 782, from the Bodleian library, not knowing its significance. In a futile attempt to avoid the magical world she sends the book back, but she doesn’t realise that the second the book opened for her there was no turning back.

The book, Ashmole 782, also known as the Book of Origins is coveted by all 3 magical and supernatural species. Witches, vampires, and daemons have all lived lives separate from each other unbeknownst to humans who live in blissful ignorance. Whenever two or more of their kind are around humans they tend to draw attention but human disbelief covers it up. Once the book of life was called witches, vampires, and daemons are following Diana to figure out how she called on a book no one has seen for centuries and each of them want to make it their own with a desperate need to make it to the top of the food chain.

And as always we have the cliche paranormal forbidden romance, but I enjoyed it all the same. I feel like at this point there is so much literature out in the world that no matter what you write it will end up being at least slightly cliche in reference to something else. Anyways, in this book Diana meets Matthew de Clairmont one of the most powerful vampires alive (or should I say dead) after she finds Ashmole 782. Matthew, like the others, wants to know the contents of the book of life, but not to destroy another species but to find out how to protect them all from extinction as they seem to be getting weaker by every generation. Putting aside the, again cliche, vampire possessiveness, Matthew is a pretty great guy, easy on the eyes, and his character mixes with diana’s very well.

I’m writing this review after reading all three books, don’t worry there are no spoilers, and can confidently say that every single character introduced throughout the trilogy plays off of the other characters amazingly and they each have a role of their own. Even the humans introduced in this books and later play a great role in the overall plot. I loved that even though it is a paranormal series the author ignore the human, and technological, aspect of the world and incorporated it in the perfect way.

The de Clermont family hierarchy s fascinating and just gets more interesting and complex through the series. The characteristics of vampire and their habits is explained well and slightly hilarious as the protagonist knows about as much as we do. There is one sentence in the third book that really cracked me up. If you don’t want to know I’m putting it under spoilers below this sentence.(view spoiler)

I well aware that I’m reviewing the first book but I must say the third book is my favorite among the three but I figured I might as well provide some incentive to start and/or end this series if you’re not one of the hundred thousand people who have read it.
The first book acts a great introduction to a huge plot behind the scenes and is concluded fabulously in the third book. The characters each have unique personalities and draw out different sides in each other. The story is put down very well and I had a great time making my way through it despite all the new releases vying for my attention.

For any of you haven’t read this book yet, vampires don’t sparkle, witches don’t boil babies, and daemons are not demons or the daemons from Phillip Pullman’s His dark Materials. If you’re planning on reading this book, I hope you have a great time. ...more

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Apr 12, 2011 Anne rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

[In the interests of full disclosure, I edited this review in September 2018. Upon reflection, some of my initial comments were a little too fangirl in style and my initial reference to Twilight was being misconstrued or used to make a point.. After many years and quite a few rereadings of this book, my enthusiasm for it has not waned, but I can appreciate why it troubles some readers. I believe one can be a thinking, modern and independent woman and yet still appreciate a male character who [In the interests of full disclosure, I edited this review in September 2018. Upon reflection, some of my initial comments were a little too fangirl in style and my initial reference to Twilight was being misconstrued or used to make a point.. After many years and quite a few rereadings of this book, my enthusiasm for it has not waned, but I can appreciate why it troubles some readers. I believe one can be a thinking, modern and independent woman and yet still appreciate a male character who possesses the chivalry and courtliness (and, at times, chauvinism) of another time. In many ways, it is the character’s historicity and immortality which makes palatable (and attractive) what would disgust me in a modern man. Instead of judging one another, or casting aspersions on another reader’s feminist credentials, we could simply accept differences in taste.]

Even now, a few weeks later, and when some of the details have become a little fuzzy, I can't stop thinking about this book. I love many different genres of books, but books like this really get me excited; they take me out of myself, to a world that my rational brain tells me doesn't exist, but which my heart whispers could be right under my nose.

I stayed up until after 1am two nights in a row to read more of this book and was even almost late back to work at lunchtime, because I was so completely absorbed in it. I even forwent an evening meal to finish it.

A Discovery of Witches is one of the most enjoyable books that I have read in a very long time and I loved the feeling of being completely submerged in a different life and a different world.

I really liked Diana and admired her verve and athleticism, so different from my own book-worm, sedentary nature. I am also fascinated by the idea of being a historian of science and feel like I was cheated out of the belief that I could be anything as a teenager!

I really enjoyed the way Diana’s relationship with Matthew developed and while I know that there are those who find his behaviour problematic, I didn’t expect him to behave like a guy born in the 21st century, so I wasn’t really bothered by it. I think Diana asserted herself when she needed to - I wasn’t looking for her to make feminist speeches.

Reading this book was so satisfying and I felt that I was getting just the right mix of romance, adventure, history, character development and magic. I don't know how I will contain myself until the release of the next book, as I am quite apprehensive about the "trip" Matthew and Diana embarked upon at the end of the book.

If you have a taste for the supernatural tempered by real life choices and adult dilemmas, then you are in for a treat of the best kind in reading this book. ...more

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Mar 08, 2011 Kelsey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, books-i-want-to-own

First of all, I thought this book was fantastic and I CANNOT wait for the second in the series because the ending of the book, I won't give details, has you CONSTANTLY WONDERING and yearning for more.
Though it doesn't beat the Harry Potter series (and nothing ever will), it sure is up there in the running with my favorites. Have I found a new series after Potter? Well, I won't get too carried away, but this book is one of my favorites.

I have only two complaints about this book.
My first First of all, I thought this book was fantastic and I CANNOT wait for the second in the series because the ending of the book, I won't give details, has you CONSTANTLY WONDERING and yearning for more.
Though it doesn't beat the Harry Potter series (and nothing ever will), it sure is up there in the running with my favorites. Have I found a new series after Potter? Well, I won't get too carried away, but this book is one of my favorites.

I have only two complaints about this book.
My first complaint is that the beginning/mid-middle was slow, until Matthew came into play, and during select amounts of scientific detail. The more the book went on, the better it got, and the more I couldn't stop reading. I felt like I was in a rut during the middle, but that one thing happened and I kept on trucking, thankfully.
The second is the fact that Diana Bishop, having a P.h.D, seemed immature and naive (during a couple parts of the book). But, I'm sure she will grow as a person throughout the next two books. These complaints are STRICTLY my opinion.

I have read many reviews regarding this book and at some point they irritate me: many readers relate this book to the "Twilight Saga," however, that idea is wonky because the book deals with witches, demons and vampires -- with a history and past intertwining all of them together. Yes, there are some points in the book where the romance seems a bit "Twilight-y." However, that was not the author's intention and I'm sure I just took it that way because I had read Twilight first (the only vampire books I have ever read, and probably the only ones I'll EVER compare other vampire stories to. Sad, I KNOW!).
If you've read Twilight, you may or may not compare the romance to it, but I feel that Diana and Matthew's relationship was far less awkward, more natural, and sweet. I would NOT compare the actual idea and "being" of a Vampire, because Ms. Harkness does an EXCELLENT and far better job at describing a vampire and how they function. I wish Ms. Meyer would have taken some advice from our dear old Deborah.

Moving on from my soap-box, the book was fascinating. The author included so much historic detail that I, a fellow historian, also love and strive to learn about. Her explanations and enormous amounts of detail provided awesome imagery that really helped me read and cherish the book.
I loved it, the characters, and the complete storyline; and until the next book, I will be hanging on by a thin thread.

Thanks for reading! :) ...more

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Sep 03, 2017 Melanie rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: vampires, demons, witches, romance, fantasy, paranormal, buddy-reads, read-in-2017, paloma

Let me preface this review with me saying that this is my personal opinion. I know this book is very beloved by very many, and that’s awesome. Nothing makes me happier than books making people happy, and if A Discovery of Witches is your favorite book, than I am truly happy for you. Unfortunately, this book just didn’t work for me.

Nothing offended me or anything like that, this book was just ungodly boring. I mean, there is a very alpha vampire in here that marks his territory and claims what ...more

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Mar 19, 2011 carol. rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Recommends it for: PNR readers

Shelves: urban-fantasy, paranormal-romance, vampires, female-lead, witches

Redeemed only through a nice use of language.

Initial assessment: Harlequin romance meets Twilight. Most irritating similarity to Twilight: they discover all sorts of ways to be physically intimate without intercourse. Annoyingest magical quality: a witch that claims she doesn't want to use her powers and has spent yeeeears attempting to ignore her powers, "slips up" and uses said powers to get a book that's out of reach on a high shelf. Yes, that's how strong her moral determination is--looking ...more

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Oct 02, 2018 Kinga rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Well, this was the dumbest shit I’ve read in quite a while.

I picked it up thinking it would be some good escapist fantasy book with some romance thrown in but it turned out to be Twilight meets Instagram. We had some vampires, demons, and witches but they never did anything remotely interesting. It was all about yoga, fitness routines, early morning runs, elaborate and photogenic meals, wine drunk in old chateaus, cosy interiors and, I swear to you, there was a scene where the heroine drew her Well, this was the dumbest shit I’ve read in quite a while.

I picked it up thinking it would be some good escapist fantasy book with some romance thrown in but it turned out to be Twilight meets Instagram. We had some vampires, demons, and witches but they never did anything remotely interesting. It was all about yoga, fitness routines, early morning runs, elaborate and photogenic meals, wine drunk in old chateaus, cosy interiors and, I swear to you, there was a scene where the heroine drew her knees up and held a mug of hot beverage with both hands. This is something you only ever do if are posing for Instagram or pretending you’re in the Marks&Spencer Christmas ad.

There were 600 pages of this nonsense and whatever action or danger did occur it was swiftly dealt within 5 pages so we could go back to characters having some idiotic conversations where they constantly quibbled over nothing in particular. The narrative switches between the first person from the heroine’s point of view and the omniscient third person to explain all the things the heroine couldn’t know about. The whole thing is very lazily executed and there is no change in the voice at all, so I constantly had to keep checking which narrative it is when I thought the heroine fainted but somehow she is still talking.

When our witch heroine met the vampire hero she still had brains and I was hoping she would put an end to his brand of romance which included gaslighting the heroine, controlling her every move, ordering her about, infantilising her and all the other techniques overbearing assholes like him like to employ. It would be like Twilight The Remix. Sadly it was just Twilight The Extended Cut. Diana quickly lost all the brains that she had and also seemingly some of her size. When we meet her she is a tall and athletic woman, but as soon as she falls in love with Matthew she becomes pocket-sized. He constantly scoops her up and carries her about (in his pocket I assume). Every now and then she tries rebel against his constant ordering her about but it’s always presented like a silly childish tantrum and we are to assume she is being foolish for protesting such thoughtful commands.

Due to his vampire abilities Matthew knows everything about her – when she is sleepy, tired, hungry, when she is on her period. And he orders her to sleep, eat etc. Because in her twenty odd years she clearly hasn’t mastered dealing with basic body functions. That fucking guy even buys her birth control pills and orders her to take them, even tells her what day she should take them (he does know those things better, of course). And check this, he also refuses to have sex with her for no fucking reason whatsoever. Here, honey , take loads of hormones with a bunch of side effects, because who knows how powerful my seed is, maybe I can impregnate you just by thinking about it. What in the puritanical hell is that? And that is AFTER they were married, which brings me to the clusterfuck that was their ‘wedding’ (?). What happened was he went on some trip, came back, kissed her and told her he loved her. She is like ‘cool beans’. And then he says: “oh, by the way, in the vampire culture that thing means we are now married and mated for life”.

Is she mad as fuck that dude tricked her into marrying him, literally married her without even asking if this is something she might be interested in? No, of course not, that’s not weird and creepy at all. Supa romantic. That halfwit of a heroine embraces it and goes on to call all the people he has turned into vampires over the years, some of whom are a few centuries old, “OUR children”. She literally met that dude a few weeks before and now she is calling his three-hundred-year-old “son” – MY son. Sure, go hard or go home.

Also, another thing we are supposed to find romantic is that whole alpha-maleness and ‘pack animal behaviour’. All the men never stop acting idiotically protective over “their women” and growl at each other for no logical reason. It is supposed to show us they are all alpha males fighting for dominance. Wow. How exciting. You’re basically dating a German shepherd. We are told that Matthew the vampire is endlessly brilliant and eternally patient, but he acts neither. He withholds information from the heroine for no reason other than to be controlling, he acts rashly, he can barely control his anger fits and basically has an emotional complexity of a fighting dog. Whatta man, whatta man, whatta man.

Oh, and did I mention all the characters smell of flowers, spices and minerals that no mammal has any business smelling of? And why is a man smelling of cloves and cinnamon sexy? Are we supposed to shag him or sprinkle him over a latte?

AND ALSO. Tiny bit of advice from me for Diana – if someone gives you a bunch of ingredients and very strict instructions how to make them into some tea, and tells you to make it exactly like that every day, and drink it at the same time every day, then maybe don’t it because it’s hella fishy. Or at least, I don’t know, ask why, you absolute nincompoop!

I am not reading another instalment of this bloated abomination. I heard the characters are going back in time. They should go back to the Middle Ages where they belong and then die from the plague. ...more

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Aug 05, 2014 Sean Barrs the Bookdragon rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, y-a, darkness-horror-gothic, love-and-romance, 3-star-reads

This could have been a great book.

The series has a lot going for it. The author has achieved a perfect level of magic combined with mystery and academia.

Sounds strange doesn’t it?

But this is very much in a similar vein to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The characters explore libraries (yay libraries!) to gain knowledge about the supernatural. The protagonist comes across a very unusual book, a book of magic. The tension is here very early on, the narrative drive is here very on, though it all This could have been a great book.

The series has a lot going for it. The author has achieved a perfect level of magic combined with mystery and academia.

Sounds strange doesn’t it?

But this is very much in a similar vein to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The characters explore libraries (yay libraries!) to gain knowledge about the supernatural. The protagonist comes across a very unusual book, a book of magic. The tension is here very early on, the narrative drive is here very on, though it all goes downhill as the story progresses. She drew me with the enchanting mysteries of magic and books:

“The leather-bound volume was nothing remarkable. To an ordinary historian, it would have looked no different from hundreds of other manuscripts in Oxford’s Bodleian Library, ancient and worn. But I knew there was something odd about it from the moment I collected it.”

description

So we have a solid opening, and a solid plot, but the author goes and fucks it all up with a terrible romance plot and her poorly written characters. The protagonist Diana Bishop is a witch coming out of the magic closet; she also likes to go rowing, which the author tells us at every opportunity. She happens to be a Dr in science history. So, theoretically speaking, she’s a smart woman. She quickly falls in love with a mystery man she meets at the library; he is shrouded in darkness and secrecy. It’s quite a romantic encounter; he appears to be something much more than an ordinary guy. She becomes enamoured with him.

Matthew de Clairmont is an ancient vampire who is also a genetic researcher (amongst other things.) We hear lots about his prowess as a vampire, but never actually see it. I don’t really know what he’s capable if. When there was a chance for him to use his abilities, and demonstrate the strength of vampires in this world, he stands back and does nothing. He becomes a piece of furniture and just watches the action. Diana doesn’t seem to mind though; she sticks with this gaping idiot throughout. She’s not even bothered that he watched her sleep like some creepy sex pest. We later learn that he practices yoga, which just ruins the entire vampire image. How can this guy ever be considered threatening after that? He loses all of the seductive powers of vampirism and enters the realms of weird.

There are some good things about this book. The idea of magic behind a world of fact and academic is great. The protagonist goes on to discover what she is capable of in a tale of magic oozing with possibilities. But, these possibilities are never really fulfilled. It’s all about the romance and her dependency on Matthew. She follows him like a little lost dog, for some reason. I wanted to read about a woman who learns about herself and the world through her own willpower not because of the help of an apparently powerful vampire nerd. This book is quite unique, I’ll give it that. The narrative is not told in entirely simple prose; there are suggestions of academic language, which, I suppose, reflect the nature of investigating the mystery book found at the beginning.

The main success of this book was its ability to keep me reading. Obviously, I had a few problems with it, but I still wanted to know the answers to the mysteries Harkness posed. It kept me in suspense by not revealing what the characters are completely capable of e.g Diana’s powers. I know there is going to be much, much, more. The room for character development and new plots is huge. The next book could go anywhere. And because of that I read it with the hope that the characters would improve and that the mysteries would remain. Without the libraries, mystery and books, this book would have been a complete disaster rather than a partial one.
...more

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Feb 27, 2011 Shelby *trains flying monkeys* rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2011, witches, read-2014

I read this book back in 2011. I marked it five stars. I put it on my favorites list.
I'm hunting 2011 Shelby down to kick her ass.

I wanted so much to enjoy this. I'm reading it with some of the bestest people..I just give up. The wording..the insta love..the clueless female.

Just can't. I sorry.

Book you got kicked off the favorite list.

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Mar 08, 2012 Steve L added it · review of another edition

A Discovery of a Crappy Book. This book is terrible. Why oh why were the stupid witches discovered. Here is the plot:

Day One.

I went to the library. I am a witch; he is a vampire. I shouldn't love him. But he is so cold and I am so hot for him. I had lunch and did some yoga.

Day Two.

I went to the library. Some people may or may not have been there, and they may or may not have been magical. I am a witch; he is a vampire. I shouldn't love him. But he is so cold and I am so hot for him. I had lunch ...more

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Apr 17, 2012 Lucia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, paranormal, bookshelves-owned, 5-stars-read

UPDATE AUGUST 2016:
This was my 4th time reading this book and I enjoyed it more than ever! No doubts about this being my most favorite paranormal story of all times.

My Diana and Matthew:

“It begins with absence and desire.
It begins with blood and fear.
It begins with a discovery of witches."

I am not exaggerating when I say that this is the most fascinating paranormal story I have ever read in my life.

Discovery of Witches is splendid combination of history, science, romance and action. This book ...more

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Jan 30, 2011 Suzanne (Doppleganger) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: vampires, romance, paranormal, witches-wizards-magic, time_travel

A Discovery of Witches is a vampire romance. Let me say that again. A Discovery of Witches is a Vampire Romance.

Oh sure the title mentions ‘witches’ instead of ‘vampires’ or other vampire clichés like blood, darkness, or night. It has witchy symbols on the cover and the synopsis calls it “equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense”. But don’t be deceived, this is a vampire romance.

If you don’t like vampire romances, then this book is not for you.

You say you like vampire romances? So do ...more

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Aug 28, 2017 Sylvain Reynard rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This novel is a masterpiece.
It's tempting to compare it to other works so as to characterize it but to do so would be a disservice.
Prof. Harkness writes well and her story-telling is engaging and suspenseful. She masterfully weaves together history, science, alchemy, illuminated manuscripts, love, sex, war, and family dynamics.
You'll enjoy this novel and then you'll be eager for the sequel.
Highly recommended.
SR.

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Apr 01, 2013 Darth J rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: better-than-i-thought-it-would-be, series, witch-wizard, vampire

Original Rating: 5 Stars
Re-read Rating: 3.5 Stars

We find our protagonist, Diana Bishop, in the Selden End of the Bodleian Library researching alchemy. As a witch, she is trying to find a root to the three magical races (with the other two being daemons and vampires). In walks Matthew Clairmont, vampire and obvious love interest, who is also a scientist studying blood stuffs (obviously).

I’ll be honest; both times I skipped over the romance aspects of this book because that stuff just doesn’t ...more

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About Deborah Harkness

Deborah Harkness

22,035 followers

My life has been a series of left turns that nevertheless took me in the right direction (though it didn't always seem so at the time). I went to college to be a theater major and ended up studying the Renaissance. I went to grad school to become a college administrator and loved to teach so much I became a college professor instead. I thought I wanted to be a Tudor-Stuart historian, and found ...more