Shadow of Night book review

Review from 2020

The sequel to A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness was just that a sequel. Shadow of Night fell to the same doom that we usually see in follow-up movies. Before you read further spoilers are ahead.

Now that I have warned you let’s jump in.

A Shadow of Night picks up right at the end of the Discovery of Witches. Matthew (the vampire) and Diana (the witch) got their Doctor Who on and travel back to Elizabethan England. Their purpose of training Diana to actually use her magic and find the mysterious alchemy book from the first novel.

I thought this would be right up my alley. Magic, vampires, and historical setting sign me up! But it was a slow read and just didn’t hook me in. There were so many historical figures as the side characters and they were either magical or knew about this oh-so-secret world of creatures. Everyone seemed to be ok with the idea that the main characters were from the future and had no problem helping them. Clearly, Matthew and Diana never watched any time travel movies because they started influencing the world around them without any thought.

It took almost 300 pages for Diana and Matthew to actually do what they came to pass to do. Diana at times seemed more concerned with learning all Matthew Elizabethan secrets than learning to control her power. Matthew just became more possessive and moody and kinda unlikeable. Most of the side characters were also forgettable.

There were some highlights of the book that kept me reading. We got to meet Matthew’s vampire father. He was stern and warm all at once. He was what you wanted in a vampire patriarch. Honestly, I wish the book was just about him. But he was only in the book for a few chapters.

Another part I liked in the book was that Deborah Harkness seemed to be aware of the flaw of modern vampire stories and the fact that they are rife with toxic masculinity. There was a cute scene where Diana teased Matthew about vampire pop culture. It was a dig at most readers' negative reviews of the previous novel. I found it amusing.

This sequel really was just a filler and set up for the trilogy. Few of the conflicts had no real impact on the story that I am aware of. If it wasn’t for the witchery this book would of be utterly dull. I felt like I was just reading to get to the next book. I have already started reading the third book and its leaps better so far.

I give Shadow of Night two Tardises out of five. Maybe the Doctor can go back and speed up the story.