The All Souls Real-time Reading Companion

Penguin Adult HC/TR | Penguin Books
On sale Nov 17, 2015 | 9781101992968
Sales rights: US, Canada, Open Mkt
From the bestselling author of The Black Bird Oracle comes a richly illustrated real-time reading guide that brings to life the world created by Deborah Harkness in the All Souls series, retracing the events of the bestselling novels with illuminating behind-the-scenes details.

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

A world of witches, vampires, and daemons.
A manuscript that holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future.
Diana and Matthew—the forbidden love at the heart of the adventure.
 
This real-time reading companion follows the first three novels in the All Souls series: A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life. Use it to re-immerse yourself in their enchanting fantasy world and enrich your experience of the fascinating series Deborah Harkness has created.
Praise for Deborah Harkness's #1 New York Times bestselling All Souls Trilogy
 
“A stirring, poignant saga.”
Us Weekly
 
“Romantic, erudite, and suspenseful . . . Harkness attends to every scholarly and emotional detail with whimsy, sensuality, and humor.”
O, The Oprah Magazine
 
Packed with gorgeous historical detail and a gutsy, brainy heroine to match. . . . Harkness writes with thrilling gusto about the magical world.”
Entertainment Weekly
 
“With this series, Harkness has woven a one-of-a-kind web of magic, science, history and fiction. This story, which centers around the search for a magical book, is infinitely rich and multifaceted. . . . Diana and Matthew’s epic adventure proves that love, empathy and fearless determination have the true power to change everything.”
—USA Today
 
“A wonderfully imaginative grown-up fantasy with all the magic of Harry Potter or Twilight. . . . An irresistible tale of wizardry, science and forbidden love.”
People
 
“Brims with sensuality, intrigue, violence and much-welcome humor . . . Harkness has immersed and spellbound readers with her alternative universe. . . . Her ambitious melding of scientific and historical detail is inventive and brings surprising depth.”
Los Angeles Times
 
“The charm in Deborah Harkness’s wildly successful All Souls trilogy lies not merely in the spells that its creature characters cast as they lurk pretty much in plain sight of humans, but in the adroit way Harkness has insinuated her world of demons, witches, and vampires into ours. . . . Harkness casts her own indelible spell of enchantment, heartbreak, and resilience. . . . She is terrific at bringing her magic world to life, maintaining a fast-paced, page-turning narrative.”
The Boston Globe
 
“This trilogy is a superlative example in a subgenre you could call realistic fantasy—think Harry Potter but for grown-ups or Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Witches, vampires, and daemons exist, along with time travel. But this world also is recognizably ours, not a wholly made-up setting like George R.R. Martin’s Westeros. When done well, as it is here, this sort of fiction provides characters who are recognizably human in their desires and actions even if most of them are creatures with supernatural powers. Through them Harkness succeeds at the hardest part of writing fantasy: She makes this world so real that you believe it exists—or at the very least that you wish that it did.”
Miami Herald
 
“Where Harkness excels is with her charmingly offbeat details of witches and witchcraft, especially whenever Diana and her Aunt Sarah take center stage. At their best, these scenes can stand beside J. K. Rowling’s depictions of life at Hogwarts. A noted scholar of the history of science, Harkness also does a deft job of weaving in details relating to alchemy, herb lore, and a few tongue-in-cheek references to Elizabethan historical figures.”
The Washington Post

About

From the bestselling author of The Black Bird Oracle comes a richly illustrated real-time reading guide that brings to life the world created by Deborah Harkness in the All Souls series, retracing the events of the bestselling novels with illuminating behind-the-scenes details.

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

A world of witches, vampires, and daemons.
A manuscript that holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future.
Diana and Matthew—the forbidden love at the heart of the adventure.
 
This real-time reading companion follows the first three novels in the All Souls series: A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life. Use it to re-immerse yourself in their enchanting fantasy world and enrich your experience of the fascinating series Deborah Harkness has created.

Praise

Praise for Deborah Harkness's #1 New York Times bestselling All Souls Trilogy
 
“A stirring, poignant saga.”
Us Weekly
 
“Romantic, erudite, and suspenseful . . . Harkness attends to every scholarly and emotional detail with whimsy, sensuality, and humor.”
O, The Oprah Magazine
 
Packed with gorgeous historical detail and a gutsy, brainy heroine to match. . . . Harkness writes with thrilling gusto about the magical world.”
Entertainment Weekly
 
“With this series, Harkness has woven a one-of-a-kind web of magic, science, history and fiction. This story, which centers around the search for a magical book, is infinitely rich and multifaceted. . . . Diana and Matthew’s epic adventure proves that love, empathy and fearless determination have the true power to change everything.”
—USA Today
 
“A wonderfully imaginative grown-up fantasy with all the magic of Harry Potter or Twilight. . . . An irresistible tale of wizardry, science and forbidden love.”
People
 
“Brims with sensuality, intrigue, violence and much-welcome humor . . . Harkness has immersed and spellbound readers with her alternative universe. . . . Her ambitious melding of scientific and historical detail is inventive and brings surprising depth.”
Los Angeles Times
 
“The charm in Deborah Harkness’s wildly successful All Souls trilogy lies not merely in the spells that its creature characters cast as they lurk pretty much in plain sight of humans, but in the adroit way Harkness has insinuated her world of demons, witches, and vampires into ours. . . . Harkness casts her own indelible spell of enchantment, heartbreak, and resilience. . . . She is terrific at bringing her magic world to life, maintaining a fast-paced, page-turning narrative.”
The Boston Globe
 
“This trilogy is a superlative example in a subgenre you could call realistic fantasy—think Harry Potter but for grown-ups or Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Witches, vampires, and daemons exist, along with time travel. But this world also is recognizably ours, not a wholly made-up setting like George R.R. Martin’s Westeros. When done well, as it is here, this sort of fiction provides characters who are recognizably human in their desires and actions even if most of them are creatures with supernatural powers. Through them Harkness succeeds at the hardest part of writing fantasy: She makes this world so real that you believe it exists—or at the very least that you wish that it did.”
Miami Herald
 
“Where Harkness excels is with her charmingly offbeat details of witches and witchcraft, especially whenever Diana and her Aunt Sarah take center stage. At their best, these scenes can stand beside J. K. Rowling’s depictions of life at Hogwarts. A noted scholar of the history of science, Harkness also does a deft job of weaving in details relating to alchemy, herb lore, and a few tongue-in-cheek references to Elizabethan historical figures.”
The Washington Post