A Discovery of Witches
Cover of A Discovery of Witches
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| Author | Deborah Harkness |
|---|---|
| Cover artist |
Tal Goretsky (Photography) |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Series | All Souls Trilogy |
| Genre | Contemporary fantasy, romance, vampire, witchcraft, alchemy |
| Published | 2011 (Penguin Books) |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| ISBN | |
| Followed by | Shadow of Night |
Tal Goretsky
(Design)
A Discovery of Witches is a 2011 historical-fantasy novel and the debut novel by American scholar Deborah Harkness. It follows the story of Diana Bishop, an alchemical history professor at The University of Oxford who, after accidentally calling an elusive, long-thought-lost manuscript, is compelled to embrace the magic in her blood she has sought to keep out of her life and engage in a forbidden romance with charming vampire Matthew Clairmont.
The book received mostly positive feedback from literary critics. It was praised for its intelligence and the mixture of history with fantasy, although some critics felt the plot was trite and the pacing was slow. Comparisons were made between other popular fantasy series, namely Twilight and Harry Potter. The novel began as a "thought experiment" for Harkness, who had previously only published works of historical non-fiction. She drew upon her academic background as a historian and her studies of alchemy, magic and the occult.
A Discovery of Witches was first published in hardcover on February 8, 2011 by Penguin Books, becoming a New York Times Best Seller upon its release. It has since been released in paperback and also as an ebook. The novel has been translated into more than 36 languages around the world. A Discovery of Witches is the first installment in the All Souls trilogy, followed by Shadow of Night (2012) and completed with the third novel in the series, The Book of Life (July, 2014). Warner Bros. had purchased the rights to create a film adaptation but without beginning production, the rights reverted to the author. As of the beginning of 2015, the project to take the first book "A Discovery of Witches" to film is still categorized as in development. No additional information has been provided by the author to create a film adaptation of the first installment in Harkness's trilogy.
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