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The Book of Life

The Book of Life 2

(All Souls 3)

by Deborah Harkness
Paperback
Publication Date: 15/07/2014
3/5 Rating 2 Reviews

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Fall under the spell of Diana and Matthew once more in the stunning climax to their epic tale, following A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES and SHADOW OF NIGHT.



A world of witches, daemons and vampires. A manuscript which holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future. Diana and Matthew - the forbidden love at the heart of it.



After travelling through time in SHADOW OF NIGHT, the second book in Deborah Harkness's enchant ing series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew's ancestral home at Sept-Tours, they are united with the cast of characters from A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES - with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency. In ancestral homes and university laboratories, using ancient knowledge and modern science, from the hills of the Auvergne to the palaces of Venice and beyond, the couple at last learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.
ISBN:
9780755384785
9780755384785
Category:
Fantasy
Format:
Paperback
Publication Date:
15-07-2014
Publisher:
Headline Publishing Group
Country of origin:
United Kingdom
Pages:
592
Dimensions (mm):
233x155x43mm
Weight:
0.76kg
Deborah Harkness

Deborah Harkness is the number one Sunday Times bestselling author of A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night and The Book of Life. A history professor at the University of Southern California, Harkness has received Fulbright, Guggenheim, and National Humanities Center fellowships.

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2 Reviews

forgot to change the star status!!!

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“With the knot of ten. It begins again…”

Magic.

Pure Magic.

That’s the only way to describe the story that Deborah Harkness weaved because that’s what it is. It’s a magical journey in more than just the plot. And once again, the author has me spellbound and wishing that this wasn’t the end of a fantastic set of books but at the same time I’m appreciating the way it finished off.

From the beginning it drew me in, not just because I read the first two books and loved them, but because that’s the way the book affected me. I could be in the middle of an earthquake and I swear I would barely recognise that the earth’s movements weren’t coming straight from my imagination. I was sucked in. The story played out like as if I were watching it. The detail, the visionary, the narrative was written in such a way that I literally lost myself. It was my perfect getaway book and I had been waiting a very, very long time for it.

I was so excited about its release that I couldn’t wait any longer for the Hardcover version to hit our bookstores in Australia to match my other two books – something that I will regret later on I’m sure but it was a book I just could not resist buying nevertheless. And it was all well worth it too!

In this last book of the trilogy, there is a little bit of action, some mystery, a LOT of drama and the answer to “what is the book of life?” You get to know Baldwin (the oldest in the de Clermont family) and meet Verin. Gallowglass plays a bigger part in this book too and you develop an understanding for his part in this story and (I admit) feel a bit sorry for him too towards the end when something about him is revealed.

The twins’ birth is exciting. Meeting them for the first time is a wonderful occasion and it made me remember the moment my two boys had been born (both at separate times) and the feelings that encompassed. Their names are perfect and eventually you get to find out what their “species” is: are they vampire, witch, or a bit of both? I also loved the connection they have with both of their parents, especially the parts about Matthew (the big strong man – which in most traditional ways is written as not being a new-age, loving father but a rock to rely on) becoming such a softy with his children.

Questions are raised about the similarity between “blood rage” and “weavers” and why it is that the two can create babies, but by the end of the book, those questions are answered and the big “Oh!” factor comes into play as the meaning dawns on you.

It all makes sense.

You have to admit it.

And that’s what I loved about this book. The answers could’ve been anything. But the answer that Deborah Harkness writes is just perfect and it makes COMPLETE sense – so much so that it really couldn’t have been anything else.

The little paragraphs at each section telling us about the star signs and the effect it has on a person or object was quite a thought-provoking concept. I found them to be quite interesting in finding the relationship to that paragraph and that section of chapters. It gives us a brief look into what is to come.

It is a well-rounded and fantastically written finale that I have ever come across. There were no loose ends. I mean sure – I would have read more and more books of this story – even followed the twins into adulthood quite happily, but the end was perfect. I wasn’t dissatisfied, I had no lingering questions, I didn’t need to find out “what happened next” because the story literally ended on the best note possible and my imagination can fill all those “what if’s” if there ever was any. So for all those who are a bit scared of reading this book because it is the last in the line of great books and other trilogy’s have let you down with their finale’s, I say” Don’t be afraid. You won’t be disappointed!!! Jump in for the magical ride that Deborah Harkness has already taken you on and remember it all started with “The Discovery of Witches…”

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