Shadow of Night: A Novel (All Souls, #2)

by Deborah Harkness

The #1 New York Times bestselling second installment in the All Souls series, from the author of The Discovery of Witches and The Black Bird Oracle.

Look for the hit series “A Discovery of Witches,” now streaming on AMC+, Sundance Now, and Shudder!

Picking up from A Discovery of Witches’ cliffhanger ending, Shadow of Night takes reluctant witch Diana Bishop and vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont on a trip through time to Elizabethan London, where they are plunged into a world of spies, magic, and a coterie of Matthew's old friends, the School of Night. As the search for Ashmole 782—the lost and enchanted manuscript whose mystery first pulled Diana and Matthew into one another's orbit—deepens and Diana seeks out a witch to tutor her in magic, the net of Matthew's past tightens around them. Together they find they must embark on a very different—and vastly more dangerous—journey.

“A captivating and romantic ripping yarn,”* Shadow of Night confirms Deborah Harkness as a master storyteller, able to cast an “addictive tale of magic, mayhem and two lovers”(Chicago Tribune).

• ISBN10: 0670023485
• ISBN13: 9780670023486
• Publish Date: 10 July 2012 (first published 1 July 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Penguin USA
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 592
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780670023486

Reviews

1,5 stars

"Words kill just as swords do."

    
I had a feeling that I wasn't going to like Shadow of Night after reading the first chapter, but I persevered because I hoped it would improve and also because I struggle to DNF books and series. What a snoozefest though! 

I thought I was warming up to Matthew and Diana at the end of A Discovery of Witches, but Shadow of Night brought out the worst in them. 

Matthew is such a jerk. He is possessive, controlling and condescending. He treats Diana like dirt and although he keeps secrets and hides things from her, he expects her to tell him everything. If this series didn't excuse his negative aspects by claiming them as characteristics of his species, he would be problematic and abusive. 
  
Diana is annoying and contradictory. There are a few impactful moments where she stands up for herself, but she always ends up following Matthew and hates on people who don't agree with him. This is an issue because while the narrative (and other characters) tell us that Diana is smart, logical, independent and bold, there is little evidence to prove it. 

The characters feel distant because there is more telling than showing. However, the parts where Matthew and Diana aren't involved are more compelling. Give me more of Philippe, Ysabeau, Marcus, Sarah, Em and even Verin please! On an entirely unrelated note, how many more times can I use 'more' in this paragraph? *facepalm*

Matthew and Diana travel to the past to find a witch teacher for Diana and to uncover the mystery of the Ashmole 782 manuscript. The main plot points are only dealt with in the last quarter and lack depth. Instead, most of Shadow of Night deals with unnecessary side plots that add little to the main plot. There are many different aspects to unpack and there are too many unrelated events and loose ends. The story is slow, boring, muddled and all over the place. However, I started warming up to Shadow of Night in the last quarter (when the plot started going somewhere).

The time travelling aspect has weird rules that make little sense. When Diana and Matthew time travel to the past, past Matthew ceases to exist for that duration. However, present Matthew literally tells everyone from the past that Diana is his wife. What will past Matthew think when people ask him about a wife whom he has no knowledge of? 

Readers who are interested in 16th century Europe will enjoy finding Easter eggs from that time and reading about historical figures and beloved characters. Harkness has done research and put effort into describing Europe in 1509. However, I found the historical details, figures and name dropping unnecessary and preferred present day events. 

I wish I could have seen more of the witches and witch magic. The witch aspects, especially the weavers and familiars, are extremely interesting   

Am I going to read The Book of Life?  Yes. This series can only get better... right?

"In every ending there is a new beginning."

 

[moraa]

I liked this book well enough. Good plot, characters, and setting. Will reread it and update my review

[Artemis]

So I tried but the characters are just not interesting. I don't want the romance part of the story at all, I just want to figure out the background mystery of the book and relations between the different creatures. I attempted to skim the next chapters in the section but just gave up.

don't think I'll be attempting to pick this up in the future.

[pamela]

Shadow of Night is the first book I have ever read where the plot happened entirely off the page, and I didn’t know it until the last chapter. Characters gathered, fought, died, fell in love, and were born while Diana and Matthew played house in the Elizabethan Era – and we got to experience or read about none of that. Everything that could have made Shadow of Night exciting was left out of the book entirely and added on like a footnote at the end. Real trauma was glossed over as if it hadn’t even happened. This book was almost physically painful to read. It was boring, poorly constructed, the pacing was all off, and the central premise entirely nonsensical.

All the worst parts about the characters of A Discovery of Witches are back in force in Shadow of Night. Diana is still a special snowflake for no discernible reason, and Matthew is still a controlling asshole. Neither character has any personal growth, and neither learn anything from their behaviour. Matthew is allowed to be an asshole ‘because Vampire’, and Diana is allowed to be devoid of personality or backbone ‘because Mary-Sue’.

Despite being shallow constructs, they were still the only characters with any real depth as the reader is treated to a revolving cast of interchangeable satellite characters who are virtually indistinguishable from one another and who serve no purpose other than being historical name-drops or temporary antagonists. Apparently, Matthew just knew every single influential person in history ever. Something that even Deborah Harkness mentions directly in the text. It made for tough reading as historical name after historical name were just shovelled into the narrative without any real reason or purpose. Matthew is even apparently responsible for building most of the historically significant buildings around Europe, including St. Vitus in Prague. It was just too much and wholly shattered my suspension of disbelief.

“London had well over a hundred thousand residents. Why did Matthew have to know everyone that historians would one day find significant?”

The character development of Diana and Matthew seemed to halt completely, and in some cases take a considerable step back. In A Discovery of Witches Diana’s role as a historian was a central part of the plot, however in Shadow of Night Harkness seems to have forgotten entirely the training that Diana would have had to become one.

In one scene we see Diana struggling to follow a discussion between Matthew and his friends in Latin, even though to have made it to fellowship in Oxford with a specialisation in Middle English there is no way that she wouldn’t have a working grasp of the language. She states on numerous occasions that she struggles to keep up with all Matthew’s historically significant friends, even though they’ve gone back in time to a period that was her area of specialisation. She would have had a very detailed knowledge of these people before she ever set foot in that time. There is even a terrible moment when Diana exclaims about the carriages being totally different from those she’d seen in Jane Austen films. I mean, it’s a totally different period in time. She’s a historian! As if she wouldn’t have known that or even be surprised by it!

To add insult to injury, she has to ask Matthew to mansplain Norse mythology to her when her historical nephew by marriage, Gallowglass (and if his constant use of the term ‘Auntie’ doesn’t have you wanting to pull your hair out by the end of this book, then I don’t understand the world anymore), compares them to Odin’s ravens. Even though it’s not her specialisation, there is no way that an Oxford Fellow wouldn’t know at least superficially about Norse mythology. The tale of Odin’s ravens is one of the most well-known, and Norse mythology was essential to the development of British culture through invasion.

“ ‘Among my people it’s a great compliment to be likened to a raven. I’ll be Muninn, and Matthew we’ll call Huginn. Your name will be Göndul, Auntie. You’ll make a fine Valkyrie.’
‘What’s he talking about?’ I asked Matthew blankly.
‘Odin’s ravens. And his daughters.’”

Matthew’s characterisation fares no better. In A Discovery of Witches he was precise and exacting, if somewhat harsh. In Shadow of Night however, he flits between callous disregard for danger or aggressive control. Christopher ‘Kit’ Marlowe is a central antagonist of Shadow of Night and his behaviour threatens Diana’s life constantly. In the first book, Matthew would have killed him for this – we saw him do just that with Gillian Chamberlain – but for some reason, Matthew just laughs off the danger as inconsequential. Diana does the same thing. Despite Kit actively trying to have her outed as a witch, she still chooses to follow him willingly on a moonlight stroll where, surprise, it ends badly! (In one of the most-anticlimactic scenes of tension and self-discovery ever put to page, I might add.)

The romance between Diana and Matthew is completely flat and lifeless with some of the most lacklustre sex scenes ever put to page. And a pregnancy sex scene that was just plain icky if you think about the physical logistics of what is being described. Diana just blindly accepts Matthew’s controlling behaviour as part of who he is, and in return, Matthew constantly keeps Diana in the dark about important matters that could influence their relationship.
But the most horrible aspect of their relationship is that Matthew completely admits to raping his dead wife. Take a look at the quotes below:

“When I look back, I wonder if she was abused when she was a child. Not punished – we were all punished, and in ways no modern parent would dream of – but something more. It broke her spirit. My wife had learned to give in to what someone older, stronger, and meaner wanted. I was all of those things, and wanted her to say yes that summer night, so she did.”

“She wouldn’t say no, but her eyes always held some reluctance when we made love”

Let’s take a moment to think about those words. Essentially Matthew is admitting that he knew that his ex-wife had been likely sexually abused and he took advantage of that to get the woman that he wanted. Bearing in mind that he did this before he was a vampire. He did this as a human, without the coldness and control that supposedly comes with being a vampire. He took advantage of an abused woman, admitted to knowing that she didn’t want to have sex, but made her do it anyway. I don’t care how you slice it, that is absolutely horrific. But Diana’s reaction is no better.

“It hurt to know that Matthew was still so deeply attached to his dead wife and son.”

It hurt Diana to know that he was still attached to his dead wife and son (which in itself is odd, because any person with a heart would be), but it doesn’t hurt her to be explicitly told that her husband is a rapist – or at the very least took advantage of an emotionally vulnerable, severely abused woman. This destroyed the series for me. There is very little that Harkness can do to claw her way back from that.

But, if we ignore the plot and characterisation that I don’t agree with and look just at the construction of the book, even this was poor. Harkness spends so long dwelling on the minutiae of Matthew and Diana’s life that she makes absolutely terrible mistakes that should have been picked up in editing. Shadow of Night is written primarily in first-person, and yet Harkness occasionally slips into third-person. While there are a few moments of this, the most glaringly obvious was right at the end of the book.

“’Hurry, then,’ I said, scarcely able to control myself. Despite my entreaties, the speedometer stayed exactly where it was. I groaned with impatience. ‘We should have stuck with Marcus’s car.’
‘Patience. We’re almost there.’ And there’s no chance of my going any faster, Matthew thought as he downshifted again.”

If it’s written in first-person then there is no way we can be told what Matthew is thinking – especially since this literally switches from first-person Diana to first-person Matthew. There are a few chapters in Shadow of Night that were written in third-person, and in my opinion, these are Harkness’ strongest chapters. They have the most subtle characterisation and the most development in the shortest space of time, but it was still a stylistic choice to have the novel written from Diana’s point of view – if that choice is made then stick with it. Or simply write the story in third-person! This really grated, especially given that so much happened to so many characters that never made it to the pages of Shadow of Night. To break into third-person for something so utterly trivial as the speed of a car made the whole thing even more insulting.

This brings me to the part of Shadow of Night that was the most nonsensical. The entire premise of time travel. Harkness took no time to really flesh out or develop her theory of it, and as such, it left far too many questions unanswered and far too many inconsistencies to be believable. We are meant to believe that by travelling back in time, the Matthew from that time simply disappears and will reappear when they leave again. There is no way that this would work. And if past-Matthew returned after a year’s absence with no knowledge of what had happened, then this would have been a memory that present-Matthew possessed. He would have remembered a blank year in his own personal history. Gallowglass, for instance, remembers meeting Diana and Matthew, which means that time continued on linearly. Therefore, Matthew’s own past and memories would have been altered simply by him being there.

The more time they spend in the past, the more historical anomalies appear in the present. Even this makes very little sense, as the past has already happened, those anomalies would already have existed and not have been any different to recorded history. If they do change history, then no one would have noticed these changes as it would essentially have been an alternate timeline, in which only the people making the changes would have known them – to anyone from the present, it would have just been history. Time travel is a minefield for a writer, but Harkness makes absolutely no attempt to make sense of the internal logic of the way she uses it. Even the fact that they only travel to one time is barely explained. They are hiding and trying to find Diana a teacher. There was no need for them to try and live and fit in – really they should have just jumped from time to time until they found what they needed. There was minimal attempt to explain why Diana couldn’t do this except that it was deemed necessary for the plot. If it’s necessary, explain it!

Honestly Shadow of Night was really difficult to get through. Written in third-person and experiencing what was happening to the characters left in the present would have made a far more compelling read than the historical name-dropping and lacklustre characterisation of the Elizabethan Era that we got. Honestly, it reads like poorly constructed Twilight fan-fiction written in an attempt to be more academic and, quite frankly, failing. I simply do not understand how this trilogy has gotten quite the acclaim it has.

[ktshpd]

(Twilight + The DaVinci Code + Outlander)

[Eve1972]

Loved this one as much as the first! I can't wait to read number three!!

[elysium]

The book starts where the previous one left and Diana and Matthew lands on Elizabethan England. As a historian Diana is thrilled but finds herself lost even with her knowledge of that time. Everyone can tell from her speech and manners that she isn’t from around, and it causes curiosity. Matthew’s friends ─ the infamous School of Night that includes few well-known persons ─ tries to teach her the proper manners and speech and they also find a witch to train her, while trying to find the missing copy of Ashmole 782.

I loved A Discovery of Witches and I’m happy that the second book lived up to it! There was lot less DNA stuff in it which was relief but also less vampire, daemon, witch – mythology which was a shame.

We learn quite a bit more about Matthew and his past which was interesting. We really get to know him more and we finally meet his father, Philippe. I really wish there would be more of him! Not to mention more father-son scenes.

Diana learns more about witchcraft and her ability to control it. I loved seeing her growing more confident both with her magic and with her relationship with Matthew.

I really wish there will be more Gallowglass, Marcus and Pierre. I can’t help myself! I thought the relationship Marcus and Phoebe moved little too quick and we didn’t meet them long enough to see that grow.

I love the way Harkness manages to involve both vampires and historical things and to make it feel natural. I love these books and can’t wait for the next book!

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

Sign of a good book? I make notes in the margins and underline stuff. Oh, and I pull out my Norton Anthologies from college to check the check the accuracy of the literary mentions.

Note: Shakespeare wed Ann Hathway in 1582.

[Beth C.]

This was a very good follow-up to the first book in the trilogy. I appreciated more of the background for Matthew, and the different historical settings (and by association, the people in them) were fascinating. It did seem like it ran a bit too long, and each new very famous person started stretching the boundaries of the believable a bit. The jumps back to the present were a little disorienting as well. However, it kept me entertained, and I really just enjoyed the story. I will be looking forward to seeing how the last book wraps all the loose ends together.

[Melanie]

Listening to audiobook.

3.5 stars.

I listened to this story which, in my opinion, made it easier for me to get through the entire thing. It is an extremely long story and a little hard to follow. The story takes place mostly in the 1500s and is narrated by Diana. It does occasionally jump to different times and different people, which was a little confusing at the time I was reading it. This time travel does make sense once you figure it out and helps explain why something was done in the past or explains something that will happen in the future.

I was disappointed because I was anticipating this story a lot. It wasn't bad, just not as good as I expected.