I never think there's much to say with second or third books because I never want to give anything away.

Book one ends with Diana and Matthew leaving modern day behind and traveling to 1590 with the goal of finding witches to help Diana learn her powers, but the plan doesn't go smoothly. Matthew and Diana get caught up in living. They spend a lot of time talking to people and meeting up with famous people in history: Walter Raleigh, Queen Elizabeth, Doctor Dee, Marlowe, and William Shakespeare is mentioned. Those are merely a few of the people. I kept wanting them to focus on their goals, but they were living their lives. Matthew has to take on the job he had at this time in history, as the Matthew of this time period disappears because they can't both be in the same place. This problem is never really explained. Where does he go? Does he know? Matthew leads a complicated life as a spy and a member of the Conference (the group that makes decisions for the demons, vampires, and witches--can't recall the actual name). Eventually, Diana actually meets some witches that can train her, but these are very short scenes. How Diana will be this amazing witch with so little training is beyond me. Matthew and Diana get married, they meet family that vows to protect Diana, they meet the vampire who rules London, they get closer to each other emotionally, they take care of two stray children, and they journey about a lot. You see a lot of this time period as they look for Ashmole 782.

Overall, it was fine. They're moving about with lots of characters you wonder how it will all flesh out in the end. There are some chapters in the modern period that only show that Matthew and Diana are changing the past. It ends with their return. ( )

This whole series is really not my true cup of tea but I met the author at an event and I really liked her so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

There are elements that I don't love about the books but I really DO want to find out what happens with the underlying plot of the manuscript and the future of the creatures. ( )

Loved this as much as A Discovery of Witches. History, magic, love and adventure. ( )

The Book is Better!

The second book in the All-Souls Trilogy picks up where the other left off with our heroes traveling back in time. Most of the story takes place around 1590 but the future (or present) is never too far away. What I liked most about this story; it never lets you forget that everything happening in the past was connected to the current or present struggle. I also loved that the magic and the study were present in this one as well since that was my favorite aspect of the first book.


So, we have Diana and Matthew taking on vampire clan relatives, the School of Night and other London societies, witch covens, and even creation. A lot is happening in the story, but not a lot happening for long periods of time. This story seems to focus on the universal theme of relationship drama, which usually boils down to communication issues. Diana with all her magic and Matthew with all his might, the two of them get caught up in a lot of drama that could have been avoided. But that is the story being told and if you love these characters, it all sucks you in.

In this book, I found that many of the side and supporting characters were my favorite parts. I loved the collaboration of like minds despite their faiths. Seeing the cooperation between Pagan, Christian, Jewish, and more was refreshing.

Where the first book teased you with sensuality without leaving you wanting, the second book takes you into the bedroom of a deeply committed couple and holds nothing back. While not suitable for teens and below, this isn’t an explicit romp of ‘how much can the author get away with?’

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this story, but there was still something, not quite tangible, that kept me from loving it. In any case, I must finish this series at some point. Now that I have finished the second book, I can watch season two of the show and see how I feel about it. For now, in my opinion, the books are better than the show.
( )

Shadow of night continues the story of Matthew (vampire) and Diana (witch) on their search for Ashmole 782 and magic lessons for Diana. To find both, they've gone to the past, to 1590. They meet a lot of illustrious figures and travel around.

My opinion of this book is pretty much the same as my opinion of it's predecessor. It's too long. There are numinous descriptions of events and places that are not really relevant. As in the first book, Matthew is an annoyingly stereotypical vampire, meaning again he is overbearing, over-possessive and arrogant.
Despite of all that, I really enjoyed the book. It reads really fast (partially because my eyes sometimes skip over the irrelevant bits by now), and the story is amusing. It holds quite a few historical details that frankly, I'm not that interested in, but it doesn't detract from the story too much. I'm looking forward to part 3!

Summary:

Matthew and Diana go back to 1590, to Matthew's home in England. Matthew is Matthew Roydon here. They meet Matthew's friends: Christopher (Kit) Marlowe (daemon, writer, in love with Matthew), Thomas Harriot (mathematician, astronomer, human), George Chapman (human, poet) Henry Percy (Earl of Northumberland, human), Sir Walter Raleigh (physicist). His servants are Pierre and Francoise. At some point, his cousins Gallowglass and Hancock also show up. They try to find a witch to educate Diana, but the local witch betrays her. On top of that, by moving to the past, Matthew's 1590s self has disappeared, and his father is worried. So they go to France.
In France, Philippe adopts Diana and she and Matthew get married once more. She also sees Matthew in a blood rage, which is caused by a disease. Then they go to London.
In London, Diana meets Mary, the Countess of Pembroke, adopts a boy, Jack, and meets the vampire who rules creatures in London, Father Hubbard. She gets him to send her a witch to help.
Somewhere during all this, Diana learns she is pregnant (supposedly impossible).
The witch is a 14-year old girl, Annie. Her aunt is a relative of Sophie Norman, Susanna Norman. Susanna gets Goody Alsop, who sees that Diana is a weaver, a witch who makes new spells. She gets several helpers for her education. The first thing they do is a forspell, which should show Diana's nature. She conjures her familiar, a firedrake, and sees the goddess again, who says that what she took is Diana herself (in response to the promise made in book 1).
Diana miscarriages at some point.
They find out that Ashmole 782 was owned by John Dee. When they go to visit him, it turns out the book was stolen by King Rudolf of Prague. They go to Prague, and are also charged by Queen Elizabeth to bring back Kelley.
In Prague they find the book, and reaize it contains a huge amount of genetic information. The pages, the ink, and the thread to bind it are all made of creatures (blood, hair, skin). When they get their hands on it, Kelley has taken out three pages and the book is broken. They also meet another weaver and Diana gets pregnant again.

Every now and then there are flash-forwards to the future. In one of these, Gallowglass speaks with some aunt. The both of them have spoken to Philippe after he was tortured by the nazis. They were told to go to Sept-tours if certain signs of Matthew and Diana being in the past, and thereby changing the future (little artifacts being found suddenly).

Back in England, Kit has conspired with Louisa, Matthew's sister, to kill Diana, but Diana merges with her firedrake in time to fly away. Matthew is furious and takes them to Bedlam. Their he drinks their blood. Diana is alerted to his by father Hubbard and stops him in his blood rage.
Later they meet Diana's father, who is time walking. After a while, he leaves, and a little later, so do Diana and Matthew. They say their farewells, and Diana goes to father Hubbard, unknown by Matthew. She asks him to protect Jack and Annie. He agrees, if she will become a member of his family by giving him her blood. She gives him a drop, but she freezes it, so that he won't get any information from it.



Second read:
Didn't mind the long bits too much this time around. Still a cozy book. But a large part of it was traipsing around the 16th century without any true purpose. ( )