The Book of Life: A Novel (All Souls Trilogy, Book 3)
The Book of Life: A Novel (All Souls Trilogy, Book 3) book cover

The Book of Life: A Novel (All Souls Trilogy, Book 3)

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$12.99
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Penguin Books
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Description

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Sol in Cancer The signe of the Crabbe pertains to houses, lands, treasures, and whatever is hidden. It is the fourth house of the Zodiak. It signifies death and the end of thinges. —Anonymous English Commonplace Book, c. 1590, Gonçalves MS 4890, f. 8r Ghosts didn’t have much substance. All they were composed of was memories and heart. Atop one of Sept-Tours’ round towers, Emily Mather pressed a diaphanous hand against the spot in the center of her chest that even now was heavy with dread. Does it ever get easier? Her voice, like the rest of her, was almost imperceptible. The watching? The waiting? The knowing? Not that I’ve noticed, Philippe de Clermont replied shortly. He was perched nearby, studying his own transparent fingers. Of all the things Philippe disliked about being dead—the inability to touch his wife, Ysabeau; his lack of smell or taste; the fact that he had no muscles for a good sparring match—invisibility topped the list. It was a constant reminder of how inconsequential he had become. Emily’s face fell, and Philippe silently cursed himself. Since she’d died, the witch had been his constant companion, cutting his loneliness in two. What was he thinking, barking at her as if she were a servant? Perhaps it will be easier when they don’t need us anymore, Philippe said in a gentler tone. He might be the more experienced ghost, but it was Emily who understood the metaphysics of their situation. What the witch had told him went against everything Philippe believed about the afterworld. He thought the living saw the dead because they needed something from them: assistance, forgiveness, retribution. Emily insisted these were nothing more than human myths, and it was only when the living moved on and let go that the dead could appear to them. This information made Ysabeau’s failure to notice him somewhat easier to bear, but not much. “I can’t wait to see Em’s reaction. She’s going to be so surprised.” Diana’s warm alto floated up to the battlements. Diana and Matthew, Emily and Philippe said in unison, peering down to the cobbled courtyard that surrounded the château. There, Philippe said, pointing at the drive. Even dead, he had vampire sight that was sharper than any human’s. He was also still handsomer than any man had a right to be, with his broad shoulders and devilish grin. He turned the latter on Emily, who couldn’t help grinning back. They are a fine couple, are they not? Look how much my son has changed. Vampires weren’t supposed to be altered by the passing of time, and therefore Emily expected to see the same black hair, so dark it glinted blue; the same mutable gray-green eyes, cool and remote as a winter sea; the same pale skin and wide mouth. There were a few subtle differences, though, as Philippe suggested. Matthew’s hair was shorter, and he had a beard that made him look even more dangerous, like a pirate. She gasped. Is Matthew . . . bigger? He is. I fattened him up when he and Diana were here in 1590. Books were making him soft. Matthew needed to fight more and read less. Philippe had always contended there was such a thing as too much education. Matthew was living proof of it. Diana looks different, too. More like her mother, with that long, coppery hair, Em said, acknowledging the most obvious change in her niece. Diana stumbled on a cobblestone, and Matthew’s hand shot out to steady her. Once, Emily had seen Matthew’s incessant hovering as a sign of vampire overprotectiveness. Now, with the perspicacity of a ghost, she realized that this tendency stemmed from his preternatural awareness of every change in Diana’s expression, every shift of mood, every sign of fatigue or hunger. Today, however, Matthew’s concern seemed even more focused and acute. It’s not just Diana’s hair that has changed. Philippe’s face had a look of wonder. Diana is with child—Matthew’s child. Emily examined her niece more carefully, using the enhanced grasp of truth that death afforded. Philippe was right—in part. You mean “with children. ” Diana is having twins. Twins, Philippe said in an awed voice. He looked away, distracted by the appearance of his wife. Look, here are Ysabeau and Sarah with Sophie and Margaret. What will happen now, Philippe? Emily asked, her heart growing heavier with anticipation. Endings. Beginnings, Philippe said with deliberate vagueness. Change. Diana has never liked change, Emily said. That is because Diana is afraid of what she must become, Philippe replied. * * * Marcus Whitmore had faced horrors aplenty since the night in 1781 when Matthew de Clermont made him a vampire. None had prepared him for today’s ordeal: telling Diana Bishop that her beloved aunt, Emily Mather, was dead. Marcus had received the phone call from Ysabeau while he and Nathaniel Wilson were watching the television news in the family library. Sophie, Nathaniel’s wife, and their baby, Margaret, were dozing on a nearby sofa. “The temple,” Ysabeau had said breathlessly, her tone frantic. “Come. At once.” Marcus had obeyed his grandmother without question, only taking time to shout for his cousin, Gallowglass, and his Aunt Verin on his way out the door. The summer half-light of evening had lightened further as he approached the clearing at the top of the mountain, brightened by the otherworldly power that Marcus glimpsed through the trees. His hair stood at attention at the magic in the air. Then he scented the presence of a vampire, Gerbert of Aurillac. And someone else—a witch. A light, purposeful step sounded down the stone corridor, drawing Marcus out of the past and back into the present. The heavy door opened, creaking as it always did. “Hello, sweetheart.” Marcus turned from the view of the Auvergne countryside and drew a deep breath. Phoebe Taylor’s scent reminded him of the thicket of lilac bushes that had grown outside the red-painted door of his family’s farm. Delicate and resolute, the fragrance had symbolized the hope of spring after a long Massachusetts winter and conjured up his long-dead mother’s understanding smile. Now it only made Marcus think of the petite, iron-willed woman before him.“Everything will be all right.” Phoebe reached up and straightened his collar, her olive eyes full of concern. Marcus had taken to wearing more formal clothes than concert T-shirts around the same time he’d started to sign his letters Marcus de Clermont instead of Marcus Whitmore—the name she’d first known him by, before he had told her about vampires, fifteen-hundred-year-old fathers, French castles full of forbidding relatives, and a witch named Diana Bishop. It was, in Marcus’s opinion, nothing short of miraculous that Phoebe had remained at his side.“No. It won’t.” He caught one of her hands and planted a kiss on the palm. Phoebe didn’t know Matthew. “Stay here with Nathaniel and the rest of them. Please.”“For the final time, Marcus Whitmore, I will be standing beside you when you greet your father and his wife. I don’t believe we need discuss it further.” Phoebe held out her hand. “Shall we?”Marcus put his hand in Phoebe’s, but instead of following her out the door as she expected, he tugged her toward him. Phoebe came to rest against his chest, one hand clasped in his and the other pressed to his heart. She looked at him with surprise.“Very well. But if you come down with me, Phoebe, there are conditions. First, you are with me or with Ysabeau at all times.”Phoebe opened her mouth to protest, but Marcus’s serious look silenced her.“Second, if I tell you to leave the room, you will do so. No delay. No questions. Go straight to Fernando. He’ll be in the chapel or the kitchen.” Marcus searched her face and saw a wary acceptance. “Third, do not, under any circumstances, get within arm’s reach of my father. Agreed?” Phoebe nodded. Like any good diplomat, she was prepared to follow Marcus’s rules—for now. But if Marcus’s father was the monster some in the house seemed to think he was, Phoebe would do what she must. --This text refers to the paperback edition. “Weaving an extraordinarily rich story of magic and science, history and fiction, passion and power, secrets and truths, Harkness delivers an unforgettable and spellbinding finale that's not to be missed.” —USA Today “Juicy and action-packed.” —People “Pure escapist summer fun.” —Jodi Picoult, Parade “The epic and erudite vampire-witch romance comes to a thoroughly satisfying conclusion in the action-packed All Souls trilogy ender.” —Entertainment Weekly “A stirring, poignant saga.” —Us Weekly “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. . . . From the novel’s poignant opening, 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 “Harkness has immersed and spellbound readers with her alternative universe. . . . Her ambitious melding of scientific and historical detail is inventive and brings surprising depth. . . . The Book of Life brims with sensuality, intrigue, violence and much-welcome humor.” —Los Angeles Times “Secrets and mysteries are finally revealed in the entertaining and satisfying conclusion. . . . The entire trilogy is a delightful plunge into the world of magic, witches and vampires, where love breaks all rules and happy endings are possible.” —Shelf Awareness “There is no shortage of action in this sprawling sequel, and nearly every chapter brings a wrinkle to the tale. The storytelling is lively and energetic, and Diana remains an appealing heroine even as her life becomes ever more extraordinary. A delightful wrap-up to the trilogy.” —Publishers Weekly “Harkness herself proves to be quite the alchemist as she combines elements of magic, history, romance, and science, transforming them into a compelling journey through time, space, and geography. By bridging the gaps between Harry Potter, Twilight, and Outlander fans, Harkness artfully appeals to a broad range of fantasy lovers.” —Booklist “The witch Diana’s and the vampire Matthew’s quests to discover their origins and confront the threats to their star-crossed union tie up as neatly as one of Diana’s magical weaver’s knots. . . . As in the previous two installments, there are healthy doses of action, colorful magic, angst-y romance and emotional epiphany, plus mansion-hopping across the globe, historical tidbits and name-dropping of famous artworks and manuscripts. . . . It’s still satisfying to travel with these characters toward their more-than-well-earned happy ending.” —Kirkus Reviews “The adventure never lets up. . . . History, science, and the unpredictable actions of paranormal characters with hidden agendas all swirl together to create a not-to-be-missed finale to a stellar series.” —Library Journal --This text refers to the paperback edition. Deborah Harkness is the number one New York 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. She lives in Los Angeles.Visit www.deborahharkness.com and follow “Deborah Harkness” on Facebook and @DebHarkness on Twitter. --This text refers to the paperback edition. From Booklist Dedicated scholar, reluctant witch, and seasoned time traveler Diana Bishop returns to wrap up the wildly popular All Souls trilogy. After a supernatural “meet-cute” in A Discovery of Witches, and a time-traveling adventure in Shadow of Night, Diana and vampire/scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present, continuing their pursuit of magical alchemical manuscript Ashmole 782, aka The Book of Life; but before the secrets contained within the manuscript are revealed, Diana and Matthew must navigate the peculiarities of their essentially forbidden union. As the stakes grow increasingly higher, they prepare for a showdown in the demon world that could have direct—and possibly dire—xadconsequences for their own families. Harkness herself proves to be quite the alchemist as she combines elements of magic, history, romance, and science, transforming them into a compelling journey through time, space, and geography. By bridging the gaps between Harry Potter, Twilight, and Outlander fans, Harkness artfully appeals to a broad range of fantasy lovers. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: With the first two volumes in this trilogy selling more than one million copies, and the movie version of A Discovery of Witches currently in development, the conclusion of this paranormal adventure is guaranteed to fly off the shelves. --Margaret Flanagan --This text refers to the hardcover edition. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • The #1
  • New York Times
  • bestselling series finale--sequel to
  • A Discovery of Witches
  • and
  • Shadow of Night,
  • that sets up
  • Time's Convert.
  • Look for the hit TV series “A Discovery of Witches” airing Sundays on AMC and BBC America, and streaming on Sundance Now and Shudder.
  • After traveling through time in
  • Shadow of Night
  • , the second book in Deborah Harkness’s enchanting 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 reunite 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 the trilogy’s final volume, Harkness deepens her themes of power and passion, family and caring, past deeds and their present consequences. 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.   With more than one million copies sold in the United States and appearing in thirty-eight foreign editions,
  • A Discovery of Witches
  • and
  • Shadow of Night
  • have landed on all of the major bestseller lists and garnered rave reviews from countless publications. Eagerly awaited by Harkness’s legion of fans,
  • The Book of Life
  • brings this superbly written series to a deeply satisfying close.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(29.4K)
★★★★
25%
(12.3K)
★★★
15%
(7.4K)
★★
7%
(3.4K)
★
-7%
(-3432)

Most Helpful Reviews

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A big let down for me- *Spoiler free review*

What a huge let down this book was. I'm talking EPIC proportion let down.

First of all, I am shocked at all the positive reviews I'm seeing. I feel like we didn't read the same book.

A Discovery of Witches was one of my favorite reads of 2011. I wasn't as much into reading then, and I stumbled across this one while randomly perusing my library for books. I fell in love with the story, the characters, and the magic of it all. I felt like the story was building up for something important, something powerful.

The second book was also pretty successful for me. It was lovely in the way that historical fiction is pleasurable for me. I also have a deep love of time-travel books, so I was practically guaranteed to fall head over heels.

A lot of time has passed since the second, and my expectations were sky high for the third. Unfortunately, the careful world-building fell to crap in the final installment. I'll try to break down my main issues with the story without giving away any spoilers.

1) The POV switches: I have very specific opinions about lots of POVs in the a story: Namely, I hate them. This book had at least 5 different points of view, which irritated me to no end. Why not just two? Those extra points of view just seemed lazy to me, just a way for the author to do some "telling" and less "showing" about the characters. To make matters worse, the author switched from 1st to 3rd person throughout the book! Talk about a headache. It was a terrible choice, in my opinion.

2) The number of characters: This book was like a who's who from the previous two books. I swear, no one was left out. There were so many people re-introduced that I had a hard time keeping track of everyone. The story felt so... cluttered. All of these extra people and their minor storylines weighed the plot down so much. It became sort of jumbled and confusing. I'm not sure why the author didn't just keep her focus on the main characters.

3) The lack of secrecy: I'm so confused! In the previous books, Diana and Matthew guarded the secret of their relationship, the quest for the book, and the secrets of Matthew's family fiercely. In this book? They let it alllll hang out. They tell everyone EVERYTHING! Everyone seems to know what they are searching for, that Diana is pregnant, simply everything! I have no idea why this had them throwing caution to the wind. They freaking told an entire class of students what they were researching. It was madness. Then they are looking for the person "leaking their secrets"... it could be the pizza boy for all they know! It was truly bizarre.

4) Diana's familiar: I won't say too much about this topic so I don't give away any spoilers, but I was utterly confused about the change in the firedrake's personality throughout the story, especially towards the end.

5) The haphazard plot: It honestly felt like the author didn't think this trilogy through very well. It was like the author had a brilliant idea for the first book and then had no idea how to carry it through. The third book had to reveal some mind blowing things to fit with all the buildup, but instead it was a collection of jumbled tangents. The main characters jumped from location to location, doing a series of things that didn't really make sense. They seemed like chickens with their heads cut off. The book didn't seemed planned. It was almost as though the author was making it up on the fly.

6) The blood rage thing: I hated this plot point. Blood rage was supposed to be this crazy thing, but some deep breathing and zen meditation seemed to snap all the characters out of it?? I was so confused as to why it was this big issue to begin with if it was that easy to control. I would have preferred it be a mindless, insane thing instead of the nuisance it was made out to be. It was a poorly fleshed out concept that could have been more powerful.

7) The Book: Okay, what is the deal with that book? We never truly get answers. I still am left wondering who created it and why. If you are reading this story thinking that something wondrous will be revealed, don't hold your breath.

8) Plot inconsistencies: There are so many plot elements that make no sense or are left dangling. I don't want to go into them all because I want this review to be spoiler free, but there were many instances where the book contradicts itself.

All in all, this book was a huge bummer. I give it 2 stars, mainly for nostalgia because I was happy to visit with these characters again.

Oh, and can Gallowglass get his own book? Pretty please?

**Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
292 people found this helpful
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An entertaining read, even if there are some annoying flaws

Entertaining read. I did not mind the detail; I enjoyed being able to fully immerse myself in the world. And the story was exciting, and relatively well written. Those are the good points. Here are the bad. First, even in the third book, I just could not feel the romance between Diana and Matthew. At all. We kept being told they are the parties to a great romance, but I cannot feel it. If you are going to write a romance, making us feel the romantic tension is Romance 101. As a romance, this book is disappointing. Also, as in previous books, part were quite derivative from Twilight, albeit a much more sophisticated and better written Twilight. This includes having the ruling council be based in Italy, and making one of the main sources of tension be the showdown between the "good" vampire family and the ruling council, although here there is the twist that the de Clermonts have a seat on the council. The ending also, while wrapping up some loose ends, still left some basic questions unanswered. I will go into those in the next paragraph.

SPOILER WARNING. DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT YET READ THE BOOKS.

For example, after two books of buildup about how Diana helped Philippe while he was being tortured by the Nazis, they never show her go visit him, and just give some flippant excuse that "it must have happened, since he remembers it"? Indeed, if Diana can time travel, why not go back and save Philippe, Emily, her parents, etc? Also, what does the book of life say? Who wrote the book? How were the creature skins collected, etc? Is Diana always going to have a tree growing out of her neck? How will she be able to teach when she has letters and numbers in her eyes? Also, as an academic myself, I find it unbelievable that she can disappear for 1 year+ with nothing other than a quick letter, having filled out no other HR paperwork and having no discussion with her dean about who is covering her teaching load, yet still have a job to return to?
64 people found this helpful
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Saves the Best for Last!

I will be honest and admit that I didn't re-read the prequels prior to diving into this one. It's been a couple of years since I read Shadow of Night so my memory was fuzzy on certain details and as a result, toward the beginning of this book I felt a little lost. It didn't last for long though as Harkness weaves the story together very well incorporating important developments from the other novels into this one. It definitely feels like a third book so you don't want to start here.

If you've been waiting patiently for this one then it was worth the wait. It's a satisfying final act and at this point I'd say it's my favorite of the series because I want to read it again. Harkness is prolific, but the pace felt just right this time around whereas in the earlier novels it occasionally felt slow. Either that or I finally adjusted to her writing style. I was hanging onto every word and the suspense created just the right tension, especially toward the end. I couldn't put the book down. It struck an emotional chord with me which was a pleasant surprise. After about a third into the book I was completely invested in the outcome for Diana and Matthew as they had so much counting against them and their family. And it only compounds as the story goes on. Diana's growing powers, Matthews secrets, the plot twists, the villains, they were all very entertaining.

Aside from feeling lost after having not re-read the other books, my only other criticism is that I thought it was a little crowded character-wise. I could keep up with core supporting characters, but often enough I found myself mixing up the rest.

These books offer a mix of everything which is what makes them so fun. I came for the paranormal but I appreciate the amount of research that went into the historical aspects of the book, the strong writing, the humor, the horror, the drama, and the romance. The chemistry between Diana and Matthew is the best part of the reading experience. By the end I felt like I went on a journey with the characters and that to me is a sign of a successful story. Though this is the end of the trilogy I think there is enough left to write another one and I wouldn't be surprised to see it down the line.
57 people found this helpful
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I hate to write a bad review as I had such ...

I hate to write a bad review as I had such high hopes for this book. But, it was such a snoozefest that I feel I must. I was really disappointed with this book. Like supremely disappointed. It has all the bad aspects of book 2 (way over written, too many frivolous and unnecessary details, too many characters coming and going) but then she adds an entire new set of issues that make it just excruciating to read. I literally had to force myself to finish this book, hoping there would be some great finale..sadly there is not. The entire plot line about Benjamin and the blood rage is just silly. She spends way too much time with the obnoxious DNA coding stuff. Snooze. Is this really such a needed plot point?? Then there is the scion stuff, so much build up for what? Nothing, Baldwin has a minor hissy but everyone else (the dreaded congregation who is not so dreaded after all as they do NOTHING) is totally fine with it. Sort of like how the Knights of Lazarus are so desperately needed, but in the end they don't do anything much at all to drive the story forward. Really the entire story is convoluted, drawn out, and most of it is completely ridiculous (and its not the great, imagination inspiring ridiculous that captured me in book 1 and drew me in....this book is full of boring, contrived, boastful ridiculous). I may be picky, but little things like writing that both twins just woke from a nap and then explaining that one twin (being part vampire) can't sleep....writing something like this nearly sentences apart from each other really forces a reader away from a fantasy type story instead of bringing them in because it's SO inconsistent. I really can't even say how bad this book is. It is just bad. Do yourself a favor, reader. Read book 1 because it really is a great book. Try out book 2, it's not terribly bad if you don't mind lots and lots of detail. But skip this one, make up your own ending, it will be better than this silly, thrown together story plot. It really seems like there was no plan for this book or perhaps making money was a bit more important than taking the time to publish quality work.
48 people found this helpful
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A Disappointing Final Book - No Spoilers in the main review.

(Please note I'm trying to write this review without any specific spoilers, so I apologize for a lack of specific examples in some of my comments)

I was really eager for this 3rd book. The pacing in the second book had improved on the first, the dialogue had gotten better, and the flow was less choppy overall. I thought things could only get better in book three. Unfortunately all the style progress achieved in "Shadow of Night" felt lost in the "The Book Of Life". I almost put it down after 3 chapters - quite a statement for me, especially for a book I actually bought at full price (over $11.00 for the Kindle version!).

I carried on because I wanted to know how Ms. Harkness would end the story, but the choppiness of the scenes, plot inconsistencies, the seemingly incomplete dialogue, and the revelations experienced by the characters with no foundation laid, were frustrating. I felt like I was reading a heavily edited down version of a much larger story arc and missing some really good stuff as a result. Some scenes felt cut short, disregarding the impact of the information just introduced. Other scenes were obviously just there to move the characters along to somewhere new because the author couldn't figure out how to resolve or integrate the situation at hand.

Character development is almost nil in this last volume, which is a shame given the number of lesser characters that were brought back into play. Some of these characters were used as plot devices, but they often seemed to linger on for no reason. The were more like background actors that refused to yield the stage after delivering their only line in the play. Thankfully, I had reread the previous two books, just before this release, otherwise I would have been lost on the few backstory points that were touched on, but only so briefly as to be more irritating than informational.

Unfortunately for fantasy books like this, the magic lives in the details and I found them to be sorely lacking here. In the end, there was ultimately joy in destination but not this final leg of the journey. And the ending was tainted by the arduous path the reader is forced to endure to get there. I liked where Ms. Harkness eventually took the story, but the potential promised in the first two books of the series is never fully achieved. The underlying path and ideas she uses to get from A to B felt sound but are largely unexplored and certainly under developed. I think the editing was perhaps not done as artfully as it might have been and/or perhaps the final book was rushed to press. Maybe it was chopped to meet length or other publishing constraints. Whatever the reason, the result is that the life found in previous books seems to flat line in this finale. If this was the first book, and not the last, I would not have gone back for more.
44 people found this helpful
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Let's be Real: the All Souls trilogy is Twilight-spawn

Slightly pretentious Twilight-spawn, actually, as if all of this highbrow attention to history and science and art could obscure the fact that we're still talking about two stories where an obscenely wealthy and dangerous old vamp falls in love with a mousy, not-very interesting human and their love is obsessive and forbidden, and over the course of the series Mousy Girl gets her groove back and becomes Queen of the Mary Sues, and when the couples breed the Powers That Be are disgusted and afraid of the unknown dangers that these rare forbidden vampire-hybrid babies represent, and vow to wipe out the whole Cullen/de Clermont clan.

That said, there's a reason Twilight made Stephanie Meyer rich, and there's a reason all of these books are bestsellers. Mock all you want, with good reason (and even Harkness mocks, when her vampires haughtily insist they don't sparkle), but the fact is, these books are entertaining. Twilight lets you shut off your brain and get carried away in the fantasy of forbidden attraction; All Souls takes you on the same journey without shutting off your brain.

I read A Discovery of Witches in February 2011, with no idea it was the start of a trilogy, and when I got to the cliffhanger ending, I was so gobsmacked it took me several days before I could sleep again. When Shadow of Night came out in 2012, I got an ARC copy and took a week's vacation so I could savor it properly. But since then, I've moved house, had a second baby, weathered a lot of changes at work, and I'm generally a lot busier, and so when the long-awaited final book in the All Souls Trilogy showed up on my Kindle, while I was excited to see it, I didn't have time to drop everything and devour it. Moreover, I didn't have time to re-read the first two books to refresh my memory, which in retrospect would have been very helpful. Consequently, I spent the first quarter of The Book of Life catching up on vaguely remembered details from the complicated world Harkness developed in the previous books.

The Book of Life picks up more or less where Shadow of Night leaves off: time-traveling supernatural power couple Diana Bishop (a witch) and Matthew Clairmont (a vampire) have returned to the present day from 1590, where Diana was learning how to use her rare spell-weaving powers from the more powerful witches of that age. (One of the overarching plot issues is that the magical world is weakening in the modern age: witches cast less effective spells, vampires are less able to make new vampires, and daemons are more prone to insanity than genius.) Diana is pregnant with twins, a secret which will get them in very hot water with the Congregation (the governing council of the magical creatures), because witches, daemons, and vampires aren't allowed to marry outside their own kind, much less reproduce.

Book of Life ties up the convoluted strands of the series-wide plot: the search for the ancient manuscript, Ashmole 782, that all of the creatures believes holds the key to their survival; the long-anticipated confrontation with the Congregation over Diana and Matthew's forbidden relationship; the explanation (and solution) to the problem of weakening magic. In reaching these conclusions, the book delves deeply into a lot of less central subplots: there is a lot of time devoted to the gordian knot of political and familial loyalties and obligations in the de Clermont vampire clan, a lot of time devoted to the analysis of genetic material in the pages from Ashmole 782 and DNA-testing of various magical creatures, and a lot of time devoted to traveling and describing the many settings of this book, including various locations in France, upstate New York, New Haven, London, New Orleans, Oxford, Venice, and Chelm, Poland.

The entire series has been plagued by pacing problems. Deborah Harkness's attention to detail is at once the series' greatest strength and also its greatest weakness. The extensive descriptions of places, people, history, furniture, art, and so on make the reader feel like s/he is right there in the story, but sometimes Harkness gives us more detail than we could possibly need. In A Discovery of Witches, the never-ending descriptions of Diana's clothes and meals made me crazy. In Shadow of Night, Harkness told us more about arcane alchemical processes than any reader (except perhaps a Ph.D. candidate) could possibly care to know. -And here in Book of Life, perhaps more than ever, the details get in the way of the story.

Let me explain: As the capstone of the trilogy, Book of Life is the climax the whole series (all 1800 pages of it) has been building to. The reader therefore has a sense of urgency in seeing how certain plots resolve that the detailed narrative often frustrates. Some examples: Matthew's mother, Ysabeau, gets held prisoner early on by the Congregation. Despite expressing some concern about it (and after learning why imprisonment might be especially traumatic to Ysabeau given her history), Matthew and Diana hie off to the States and spend several months gardening and cleaning the Bishop homestead in New York rather than working on a plan to free her. Later, they learn that the Book of Life's main villain is holding a witch hostage and repeatedly raping her, trying to breed with her. Matthew and Diana express horror and outrage... and then go to Yale and spend several more weeks futzing around in labs and libraries. Then, Diana has a pregnancy complication and gets put on bed rest while she and Matthew are on separate continents. Rather than rushing to her side, Matthew spends a week carving infant cradles. Later still, Matthew himself is a hostage of the Big Baddie, and Diana hurries to France... to feed her babies. Now, as a relatively new mom myself, I get that babies need to be fed, but surely not even the most hard-core breastfeeding enthusiasts would object to the sitter offering a little bit of formula so that Mom can go save Daddy from Mortal Peril.

The baby plot was almost as ridiculous and cringeworthy in Book of Life as it was in Breaking Dawn. The birthing scene was less horrifying, thank God, and the Bishop-de Clermont babies have reasonably normal names and growth patterns, but they still prefer blood to milk, and there's a ridiculous scene in which Diana tells her husband that their daughter is "not a vampire. She's a vampitch. Or a wimpire." (p. 424). Seriously?!

Book of Life has a point of view problem (as does Breaking Dawn, now that I think of it). Some of the book is written in first-person POV, as narrated by Diana. Some of the book is in third-person POV, usually limited to Matthew or other characters, but sometimes almost omniscient. Whatever rhyme or reason there may have been to the POV changes, I found them jarring and unnecessary.

One plot I wish the series had developed more fully (and I say that with some hesitation, when there were so many plots that could and maybe should have been pared down), is the issue of Diana's mortality. Unlike Twilight's Bella, Harkness's protagonist has no intention of becoming a vampire. That means this is a story of a timeless, all-consuming love between a woman who will live a mere handful of decades compared to her husband's millennia. Perhaps the most empowering aspect of this love affair (especially contrasted with Twilight) is that both Diana and Matthew are happy with Diana the way she is, and don't wish to change her... but I still think they need to confront the issues in a more meaningful way. At one point, Matthew tells Diana that his greatest wish is to grow old with her, which of course can't happen -- Diana's response is to conjure him a few grey hairs for Christmas, a wholly unsatisfactory answer to a real and pressing problem.

Reading over my review, it all sounds more negative than my actual reading experience reflects. I have a lot of nitpicky complaints, but overall, this book, and this series, is great entertainment. It's long and complicated and full of delicious (and sometimes maddening) detail, and the romance is compelling and the stakes are sky-high, and for a lot of people (including me) the All Souls trilogy is total reading catnip. I envy newcomers to the series who have the time to dive into all three books and read them in one epic 1,800 page binge, all at once, because I bet the story would be all the more transporting and satisfying that way, rather than interrupted by the long wait between book releases.
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THE DEATH OF PLOTTING and CARELESS TREATMENT OF MAJOR CHARACTERS ENDS THE BOOK OF LIFE

I loved DISCOVERY OF WITCHES, and I eagerly downloaded SHADOW OF NIGHT at the stroke of midnight on the day of its release. But I was disappointed at the plot disintegration, the puzzling and ill-advised tangents of the main characters, and the introduction of jarring multiple POVs. Matthew's character, once so edgy and alpha, became less Heathcliff and more unformed and unsexy. I guess the “SHADOW” was a foreshadowing of what would be in store for readers of THE BOOK OF LIFE. While SHADOW was truly a shadow to its predecessor, DISCOVERY OF WITCHES, I was unprepared for the terrible disappointment I experienced with THE BOOK OF LIFE. Here are just a few of the reasons:

1. In the original book, there's an edgy, sexy, dynamic tension between Diana and Matthew, whereas in the final book, those “vibes” are almost non-existent.
2. Matthew is no longer an alpha Heathcliff with a scary, but brilliant take on life, but a clueless, blundering dolt. The lack of dynamic tension between the couple demolishes what was once the sweet underlying “forbidden love conquers all” storyline that had been so cleverly woven around interesting historical and academic facts and ideas.
3. Important characters who, in the first book, had hinted at a more important and pivotal role in the future, disappeared or were seen merely blinking in the dim light at the fringes.
4. Certain characters that appeared for the first time in BOL seemed to be terribly contrived and PC.
5. It was a crime that the character of Baldwin was short shrifted. The author could have done a lot with him. It was also disappointing that the readers aren't allowed to see Peter Knox and Gerbert get their just desserts.
6. Most of the main characters first introduced in the DISCOVERY lost their significance.
7. Phillip's importance fizzles. His character's integrity is also undermined without reason. The promise that Diana made to be with him during his torture in SHADOW went nowhere in BOL.
8. The ghosts who appeared in and out of scenes in DISCOVERY were somewhere else. Well, two of them seemed to hang around, but served no purpose. What happens in the last chapter is much too little, far too late.
9. The plot was riddled with countless logic problems. This problem proved to be so huge, that I doubt I'll ever re-read the book.
10. The whole big build up of ASHMOLE 782 died with a whimper. It made so little sense. It's also suspiciously like Karen Marie Moning's SHADOWFEVER where Mac becomes the book. While it worked for that character and the Fever series, it does NOT working in BOL.
11. The multiple POVs were distracting and disruptive.
12. It's a crime that this exciting, familiar but different story was so poorly tended.

Outside of my personal disappointment in one of the few books that I've ever marked on my calendar to download as soon as it became available, is my bewilderment regarding the many glowing reviews it has garnered. I'm perplexed by the many glowing reviews in major papers. The terrible plotting, the amateurish multiple POVs, the unravelling of the main characters, the pointless digressions and tangents taken—don't seem to have been noted. Is this yet another case of the Emperor's New Clothes? None of the reviewers want to take issue with a money-maker series with a large fan base? Hmmm. That doesn't seem to be enough of an answer even if it's true.

Here's what I hope: I hope a fan will write a better ending to this series.
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4.5 stars: The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

Back in their present, Matthew and Diana must deal with grief, the realities of becoming parents, and the complex and dangerous dynamics of creature politics and vampire families; Diana must embrace her weaver magic, and Matthew must deal with his blood rage.

(Though reviews are inherently subjective, I prefer to provide some organization to my opinions through the use of a personal rubric. The following notes may contain spoilers.)

Plot and Setting: 4.8 -- Plot is engaging from start to finish. Has many unique elements, no major holes, and a sense of focus. Setting is clear and believable. Timeline may be a bit hard to follow. Again, a story with many facets, tied together by Diana and Matthew's relationship and the difficult things they each must learn to accept about themselves, particularly as they become parents and as they navigate the dangerous waters of creature politics. True love, danger, sacrifice, and all that good stuff. Good landmarks to keep track of time passing, but quite a few larger leaps through time, which is a bit disorienting.

Characters: 5 -- Relatable, realistic, interesting, dynamic characters. Even minor characters have depth, as do the relationships between characters. All the characters continue to be complex and brilliant. They grow and develop and challenge and help each other, and it's great. Diana is interesting in this one: her unusual, supernatural characteristics take over in more and more ways, and yet she is still very much herself most of the time. And of course there are babies, and people relating to babies, which is always a chance for adorableness and deep emotion.

Mechanics and Writing: 5 -- Few, if any, typos, punctuation issues, or word errors. (
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Disappointing! Harkness can write better than this.

Dissappointing. Not up to the standards of the first two books, and I think Harkness knows it. The dialogue is often cheesy, particularly the stilted pseudo-medieval pontifications of the De Clermonts and the grade-B movie dialogue of the supposed scientists.

Examples of cheesy writing from the first few pages: "...the center of her chest...was heavy with dread." "...he was still handsomer than any man had a right to be." "...her olive eyes full of concern." Characters can't just talk; their attributions always have to have adverbial stage directions: "Ysabeau said breathlessly..." "Gallowglass said, stricken." "Matthew's hushed voice was infused with regret and tenderness...." Fernando's sensitive consolation to grief-stricken Sarah: "It's all right, Sarah. Let it out."

GIVE ME A BREAK!

The plot machinations are mechanical, cliched, and implausible. I'm all for suspending disbelief with a fantasy novel, but this one required ablation of the cerebral cortex.

Harkness's palette of characterization and personality description is limited. Everyone is a kind of extroverted smart-ass, and also often sensitive (even those with "blood rage"), smart, and accomplished (to the point of being a McArthur "genius" or a mastermind of the global economy). (It's nice being a "sensitive" murderer, which most of the main characters are. Matthew's sensitivity is shown by the fact he remembers the names of all the victims he killed, and he feels really, really bad about it all.)

There are implausible trips to separate the lovers; implausible plot devices; implausible everything. The plot is a supernatural "Perils of Pauline" (if only there were a magical train track we could tie Diana to!).

I got the sense of a kind of mash-up of several genres and previously market-tested best-sellers--a combination of "Twilight," "Harry Potter," sentimental bodice rippers, with a little "Silence of the Lambs" thrown in for good measure. There's even a hint of "Jane Eyre," with Diana nursing back to health her dark, brooding, and injured Mr. Rochester. It felt as if Harkness was trying to hit all the proper notes to hit all the keys of the cash register and to touch upon every conceivable "chick lit" trope.

The ending was anti-climatic, given of the apocalyptic, end-of-the-world build-up of the first two novels. THIS is why the Goddess bestowed unthinkable powers on the most powerful witch of all times? Good God...ess (or should I say, "Bad Goddess"?) The goal of all this was to allow Diana and Matthew to lead an "Ozzie and Harriet" life in a tony London neighborhood, so Diana can do committee work for Creatures and pursue some scholarly work on the side? (She probably also becomes a member of the London PTA--the Goddess works in strange ways; maybe that will be Diana's punishment for killing people.)

I have the sense that Harkness grew tired of her enterprise and, in the end, was pursuing the pressures of her publishers and siren call of more money. She can write better than this, and readers of the previous books know it.
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Such a disappointment

Oh my gosh. I wanted to cry at the end of this book, it was so bad. I absolutely loved the first book in the series. The second one was good but not my favorite. But I eagerly anticipated the last book and waited forever for it. What can I say? This is a mishmash of characters from every single book crammed into one novel. I can't even say I really understand the ending. Both the main characters seemed like they had a complete personality overhaul by the third book. Everything moved superfast. And all of the villains from the first book seemed to fade away with some random individual all of a sudden taking center stage as super villain. I hated it. And that is a lot coming from me. The ending was completely anti-climactic and also super, super bizarre. I could go on and on but I will cease. You get the picture.
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