"Shadow Of Night" by Deborah Harkness

Yes, you're seeing it correctly - SIX stars!

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• Hardcover: 592 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; First Edition edition (July 10, 2012)
• ISBN-13: 978-0670023486
• Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 2 inches 
• Also available as a e-book and an 'Audible' talking book   I had pre-ordered this book and began to read it immediately - and I also listened to it in the Audible version (which was done by a remarkable gifted narrator, Jennifer Ikeada. That's how much I did not want the story to end.

I became a huge fan of Deborah Harkness' work after I read her first novel ,  A Discovery Of Witches. That book book left me spellbound - and it was another read that I just wanted to go on and on. Shadow of Night is a the second book in a 3 book "All Souls Trilogy" and it is is a remarkable piece of fiction. I don't know how she manages it but Ms. Harkness has fashioned a world of 'creatures' (vampires, witches, daemons, and warm bloods) that, although totally fiction, feels more like world we might all want to inhabit....at least I sure do!

This volume continues the fantasy world and romance of Diana Bishop and Matthew deCleremont. Diana, a witch who has never wanted to learn about her powers, is an Oxford professor of history who has discovered a very 'bewitched', very important alchemical book called Ashmole 782. She uncovered this mysterious tome while she was studying at the Bodleian library in Oxford. Matthew is a 1500 year old vampire who falls head over heels in a forbidden love for the witch (the 'covenant' that guides the behavior of creatures specifically forbids love between creature species).

In a search for the origins of Ashmole 782 Diana and Matthew "time walk" back to 1590 - an Elizabethan time of wars, superstitions and persecutions. Matthew is employed by Elizabeth I as a member of her spy networks. Together, Diana and Matthew, search for the many strands of truth, relationships and rivalries that twine together as they strive to uncover the secrets contained in Ashmole 782.

This book is fantastical, extraordinary and filled with passion, mystery and intrigue. It so much, much more than just a quirky story about a vampire and a witch. It's enthralling, riveting and totally, thoroughly magnificent. I have to put these two books of Deborah Harkness' up there on my top ten novels of all time.... that's how much I like them!

I found it fascinating to look up some of the history of the legendary "School of Night" - and other historical references in the book that I found has a basis in true historical fact. Fascinating stuff.

My only concerns are:

1. How long will I have to wait for the third book of the trilogy to be published?

2. When will the movie be made? If ever a book needs to be made into a movie - this is the one! I can't wait!