Book Title: Shadow of Night
Author: Deborah Harkness
Series: All Souls Trilogy #2
Series: All Souls Trilogy #2
Date Started: July 17th 2013
Date Completed: July 26th 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Adventure, Thriller, Mystery
Rating: Four stars
Review:
This sequel had mixed reviews - some said it was terrible and nothing like the first, whilst others described it as being just as interesting, though maybe not as exciting. I agree with the latter. I can understand why people maybe not like Shadow of Night since, after the thrilling and dangerous events of the previous book, it was quite a surprise when nothing really happened event-wise in the whole 600 pages. However, I found all the smaller details extremely engaging and I think the story progressed an enormous amount - ready for the final novel.
Shadow of Night is set in 16th century England, Prague and France (I think that's it...). Diana and Matthew successfully managed to timewalk from the present day to Elizabethan London, and now must carry out their intentions of locating the illusive volume, Ashmole 782, whilst also finding Diana a teacher for her powers along the way. But as situations get complicated, it seems that the couple may not be as safe in the past as they had hoped.
Shadow of Night is not a kid's book. It's aimed mostly at adults, although it's reasonably easy for advanced young adults to read Harkness' work as well - if they have the patience and determination. It therefore comes as no surprise that this novel is written extremely well. I don't have much experience in adult book (other than classics, which aren't that helpful when comparing the style of modern texts) but I can guess that this is a among the most prestigious of the styles.
Harkness writes with a certain flare that makes her sophisticated style come to life on the page. I've always had difficulty imagining what's going on in a story when the writer has used such complicated structures and words - but I could picture everything that was going on in this novel, and with a fair amount of vibrance.
It really impressed me that something packed with so much detail and complex plot lines kept my attention for over 600 pages (with very small text too!). I was thinking throughout the whole thing and trying to work out what was happening as well as being able to simply enjoy the story.
The story concerning the whole trilogy progressed incredibly far: Diana's confidence and powers were truly mastered, and her and Matthew's relationship was taken quite a few levels up. Events in both the past and present provided the reader with vital information for the next book, and to truly understanding each character and their reasonings and personalities.
As a book on its own, however, not much actually happened. There weren't really any clear climaxes, and the whole story was pretty consistent tension-wise. I still really enjoyed it, but it seemed like it was more about supplying the reader with information about everything's past, present and future - rather than actually telling a new, story.
One of the downsides - and upsides, I guess - about Harkness' writing is that she writes and manages so many characters. It's quite impressive, but to be honest the confusion caused by it is slightly unnecessary since the story doesn't actually need that many complications.
I felt like we lost Diana for about half of the book. She says practically nothing for the first hundred pages or so. (I understand that that fitted with the era, but considering she's the main protagonist, it was slightly annoying since the story was ruled by arrogant men for a while.) But, when she did come back, it was the Diana we know and love - with a new fierceness that came with her progressing storyline. I do think she needs to start really sticking up for herself - she might stop men from saying harsh and sexist things about her, but she hasn't really shown herself as able to prevent them saying it in the first place.
I think I grew to like Matthew a lot more in this book. I seem to remember I did like him in A Discovery of Witches, but I found him a little too typical. I think he became more of his own person in this book - mostly because we saw him as independent away from Diana, due to his many connections to Elizabethan London etc. I also liked the way that his and Diana's relationship did break down a little bit a few times, and he reacted accordingly. He became a much more realistic and unique character.
Christopher Marlowe is a bloody jerk. Kit is not a nice person - although you've still got to feel pretty sorry for him. I think it would have been better if Harkness had demonstrated some of his and Matthew's 'best friend' status before he started acting up. However, I do think the particular twist he added was very interesting.
I love Henry (The Earl of Nothumberland) and I love Walt (Sir Walter Raleigh). (I also love the mentions to all these historical figures in the stories - it makes it stick out a bit more and lets the reader relate better.) They're both lovely; they're just really nice, kind, loveable characters that I think were very appropriate to lighten up the very grim landscape Diana was thrown into.
Other historical figures used in the book include George Chapman, Tom Harriot and one William Shakespeare. Tom and George didn't really stand out at all for me, and they were the members of the School of Night I always forgot. Shakespeare, on the other hand, was, unsurprisingly, very easy to remember, despite the fact he was only in one chapter at the very end. I think it would have been interesting for our protagonists to actually meet with him, although I understand how this might have been a little too predictable.
I like I love Matthew's family more than I love him...Gallowglass is yet another relation to the de Clermonts that I fell in love with. Being Matthew's nephew (and therefore my beloved Marcus' cousin) Gallowglass was a nice connection to the present. I liked the way he became almost as protective of Diana as Matthew was.
We also got to meet (spoiler - although it was reasonably predictable) Diana's dad. The only reason I'm mentioning him is that he is the only person in these books to make everything truly lighthearted. He's was such a nice character to have featured because he brightened the whole grim book for a couple of chapters. I like dark books, but sometimes it can be a little overdone - Stephen Proctor stopped this.
I love Jack and Annie - they're adorable and I was sad to see them disappeared into the past when Diana and Matthew left. I kind of hope in the next book they do research into the children to find out what eventually happened to them. I also really like Pierre - he is an awesome servant.
I really liked meeting Philipe. We heard so much about him in the first book, and sometimes meeting characters you've heard a lot about can be really disappointing - but Matthew's father was just as foreboding as he was described. I loved the effect he had on Matthew - and I really loved the twist in his character near the end of his inclusion. I was also sorry to see him go.
Mary Sidney was good - she was another person to lift a bit of the darkness from the story.
Now. Forget about Diana and Matthew. My new OTP is Marcus and Phoebe. I've always absolutely loved Marcus to death - and I loved Phoebe the minute I started reading her chapter. So you can probably imagine what I was like when they got together. I exploded a little bit. The next book better feature them a lot or I am going to kill something, I swear...
I know I've gone of for AGES about the characters, but like I said, there's so many of them. There are many others I could also mention (e.g. Louisa de Clermont, Rudolph, Queen Elizabeth, Sarah, Em, Peter Knox, Hubbard, Ysabeau etc.)
It's a very slow book. I can't really hide that criticism anywhere. It's a very slow book and I can understand why it might make people find the book hard to stay with. The writing also makes it quite hard to read fast, since it's sophisticated and detailed.
On the other hand, I did still enjoy it - and I have very little patience - so it is completely possible for other people who enjoyed the previous book, such as myself, and wishes to continue the story despite the pace to do so.
I felt, overall, that Shadow of Night was a very well written and thought-out book - although the purpose may have been more about setting the story and characters up for the final happenings, rather than being an individual story in itself.
Having said that, I would still recommend it to anyone who likes romance, fantasy etc. It's basically a well-written and more mature version of twilight - and when I said well-written and mature I mean it. It may be a little harder to get on with than the first book, and I understand that it is a very long book, but if you're willing to give it some time and patience, you will definitely be rewarded.
(My highlight was Marcus and Phoebe. Because Phoebe is a brilliant, intelligent girl who is just a natural role model. And Marcus is my favourite male character. Ever. End of story.)
Image Source: http://media2.apnonline.com.au/img/media/
images/2013/02/01/shadow_of_night.jpg
This sequel had mixed reviews - some said it was terrible and nothing like the first, whilst others described it as being just as interesting, though maybe not as exciting. I agree with the latter. I can understand why people maybe not like Shadow of Night since, after the thrilling and dangerous events of the previous book, it was quite a surprise when nothing really happened event-wise in the whole 600 pages. However, I found all the smaller details extremely engaging and I think the story progressed an enormous amount - ready for the final novel.
Shadow of Night is set in 16th century England, Prague and France (I think that's it...). Diana and Matthew successfully managed to timewalk from the present day to Elizabethan London, and now must carry out their intentions of locating the illusive volume, Ashmole 782, whilst also finding Diana a teacher for her powers along the way. But as situations get complicated, it seems that the couple may not be as safe in the past as they had hoped.
Shadow of Night is not a kid's book. It's aimed mostly at adults, although it's reasonably easy for advanced young adults to read Harkness' work as well - if they have the patience and determination. It therefore comes as no surprise that this novel is written extremely well. I don't have much experience in adult book (other than classics, which aren't that helpful when comparing the style of modern texts) but I can guess that this is a among the most prestigious of the styles.
Harkness writes with a certain flare that makes her sophisticated style come to life on the page. I've always had difficulty imagining what's going on in a story when the writer has used such complicated structures and words - but I could picture everything that was going on in this novel, and with a fair amount of vibrance.
It really impressed me that something packed with so much detail and complex plot lines kept my attention for over 600 pages (with very small text too!). I was thinking throughout the whole thing and trying to work out what was happening as well as being able to simply enjoy the story.
The story concerning the whole trilogy progressed incredibly far: Diana's confidence and powers were truly mastered, and her and Matthew's relationship was taken quite a few levels up. Events in both the past and present provided the reader with vital information for the next book, and to truly understanding each character and their reasonings and personalities.
As a book on its own, however, not much actually happened. There weren't really any clear climaxes, and the whole story was pretty consistent tension-wise. I still really enjoyed it, but it seemed like it was more about supplying the reader with information about everything's past, present and future - rather than actually telling a new, story.
One of the downsides - and upsides, I guess - about Harkness' writing is that she writes and manages so many characters. It's quite impressive, but to be honest the confusion caused by it is slightly unnecessary since the story doesn't actually need that many complications.
I felt like we lost Diana for about half of the book. She says practically nothing for the first hundred pages or so. (I understand that that fitted with the era, but considering she's the main protagonist, it was slightly annoying since the story was ruled by arrogant men for a while.) But, when she did come back, it was the Diana we know and love - with a new fierceness that came with her progressing storyline. I do think she needs to start really sticking up for herself - she might stop men from saying harsh and sexist things about her, but she hasn't really shown herself as able to prevent them saying it in the first place.
I think I grew to like Matthew a lot more in this book. I seem to remember I did like him in A Discovery of Witches, but I found him a little too typical. I think he became more of his own person in this book - mostly because we saw him as independent away from Diana, due to his many connections to Elizabethan London etc. I also liked the way that his and Diana's relationship did break down a little bit a few times, and he reacted accordingly. He became a much more realistic and unique character.
Christopher Marlowe is a bloody jerk. Kit is not a nice person - although you've still got to feel pretty sorry for him. I think it would have been better if Harkness had demonstrated some of his and Matthew's 'best friend' status before he started acting up. However, I do think the particular twist he added was very interesting.
I love Henry (The Earl of Nothumberland) and I love Walt (Sir Walter Raleigh). (I also love the mentions to all these historical figures in the stories - it makes it stick out a bit more and lets the reader relate better.) They're both lovely; they're just really nice, kind, loveable characters that I think were very appropriate to lighten up the very grim landscape Diana was thrown into.
Other historical figures used in the book include George Chapman, Tom Harriot and one William Shakespeare. Tom and George didn't really stand out at all for me, and they were the members of the School of Night I always forgot. Shakespeare, on the other hand, was, unsurprisingly, very easy to remember, despite the fact he was only in one chapter at the very end. I think it would have been interesting for our protagonists to actually meet with him, although I understand how this might have been a little too predictable.
I like I love Matthew's family more than I love him...Gallowglass is yet another relation to the de Clermonts that I fell in love with. Being Matthew's nephew (and therefore my beloved Marcus' cousin) Gallowglass was a nice connection to the present. I liked the way he became almost as protective of Diana as Matthew was.
We also got to meet (spoiler - although it was reasonably predictable) Diana's dad. The only reason I'm mentioning him is that he is the only person in these books to make everything truly lighthearted. He's was such a nice character to have featured because he brightened the whole grim book for a couple of chapters. I like dark books, but sometimes it can be a little overdone - Stephen Proctor stopped this.
I love Jack and Annie - they're adorable and I was sad to see them disappeared into the past when Diana and Matthew left. I kind of hope in the next book they do research into the children to find out what eventually happened to them. I also really like Pierre - he is an awesome servant.
I really liked meeting Philipe. We heard so much about him in the first book, and sometimes meeting characters you've heard a lot about can be really disappointing - but Matthew's father was just as foreboding as he was described. I loved the effect he had on Matthew - and I really loved the twist in his character near the end of his inclusion. I was also sorry to see him go.
Mary Sidney was good - she was another person to lift a bit of the darkness from the story.
Now. Forget about Diana and Matthew. My new OTP is Marcus and Phoebe. I've always absolutely loved Marcus to death - and I loved Phoebe the minute I started reading her chapter. So you can probably imagine what I was like when they got together. I exploded a little bit. The next book better feature them a lot or I am going to kill something, I swear...
I know I've gone of for AGES about the characters, but like I said, there's so many of them. There are many others I could also mention (e.g. Louisa de Clermont, Rudolph, Queen Elizabeth, Sarah, Em, Peter Knox, Hubbard, Ysabeau etc.)
It's a very slow book. I can't really hide that criticism anywhere. It's a very slow book and I can understand why it might make people find the book hard to stay with. The writing also makes it quite hard to read fast, since it's sophisticated and detailed.
On the other hand, I did still enjoy it - and I have very little patience - so it is completely possible for other people who enjoyed the previous book, such as myself, and wishes to continue the story despite the pace to do so.
I felt, overall, that Shadow of Night was a very well written and thought-out book - although the purpose may have been more about setting the story and characters up for the final happenings, rather than being an individual story in itself.
Having said that, I would still recommend it to anyone who likes romance, fantasy etc. It's basically a well-written and more mature version of twilight - and when I said well-written and mature I mean it. It may be a little harder to get on with than the first book, and I understand that it is a very long book, but if you're willing to give it some time and patience, you will definitely be rewarded.
(My highlight was Marcus and Phoebe. Because Phoebe is a brilliant, intelligent girl who is just a natural role model. And Marcus is my favourite male character. Ever. End of story.)
Image Source: http://media2.apnonline.com.au/img/media/
images/2013/02/01/shadow_of_night.jpg
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