The World of All Souls: A Complete Guide to A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and the Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy #Companion)

This is a gorgeous companion book to Deborah Harkness’ “All Souls” trilogy, A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES, SHADOW OF NIGHT, and THE BOOK OF LIFE. As such, it is tremendous. If you have no interest in the books, you probably won’t be a fan of this volume either. For trilogy fans, you have a treat awaiting!

After an interview with the author and synopses of all three books, Harkness describes the different “creatures” of her universe (humans, witches, vampires, and daemons) and a listing of the characters follow. Then the real treat comes: we learn the history behind the organizations and locations of the story, an explanation of magic and witchcraft lore as portrayed in the book, a history of Matthew Clermont, and sections on alchemy, decorative arts, and lifestyles in the series. The book ends with a list of books important to the series and translations of foreign words used.

Some companion books for series are so much rehashing of plots and fluff like recipes (okay, there are recipes in this book, but only eight pages out of 483); this one is a real treat because of the research Harkness put into the books and which is passed on in this volume. All this and there are deleted chapters from the books that were cut in the interest of moving the plot along, and also beautiful pen-and-ink wash illustrations throughout the text of characters, places, and items, along with photographs and maps, plus some color inserts. Truly a must for All Souls fans, especially if you are a history or fantasy buff.

Background companion to the All Souls trilogy. I have listened to the trilogy at least a dozen times now and I still hear something new each time I listen. This book helped to fill in areas where I didn’t realize there was a blank area! I love how the conversation between Matthew and Dimenico was given more attention. I can’t wait for the next book to come out so we can find out more about Marcus. I highly recommend this book for anyone who was enchanted by A Discovery of Witches like I am.

I adore this book. I loved the series A Discovery of Witches and the fantasy and history surrounding the characters. I love the real places and how the author wove her story into real events. For me, that is real talent. This book shares background and history, character revelations and answers all the questions I had during Harkness’ most excellent series. This was worth every penny and I will refer to it often going forward. It will help when the TV series comes out too (because you know TV can’t explain everything, but this book does). The other nice thing is as I prepare to re-read the series, now I have answers I missed before. Excellent.

This is NOT my genre when it comes to reading, but I got hooked when I read the first book, The Discovery of Witches, patiently waited for the next releases and fell asleep reading in bed with the books, my glasses still on and sitting propped up. This series is so incredible I read the books a second time start to finish. I was thrilled when I discovered the guide. I would recommend you purchase The Complete Guide only if you have read the Trilogy, the 4th book or have plans to, it is fascinating and invaluable!

I have not yet read the entire book, it’s easier to sort of browse through it like an encyclopedia. There is so much information in this that fills in the reader about how much research and world-building Harkness put into Diana’s magic and the world around her….as a historian should. The pictures and extras are great. Easily worth the price of the hardcover, it looks great on the shelf or the coffee table. Personally I’m keeping it beside the rest of the series on my shelf.

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