Description

*THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED FIFTH NOVEL IN THE BELOVED NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING ALL SOULS SERIES, THE BLACK BIRD ORACLE, IS AVAILABLE TO ORDER.*

‘The balance of romance, magic history and suspense is just right’ Reader Review,
‘No words can describe how much I loved this . . . it was perfect’ Reader Review,
‘Excellent world-building . . . meticulous and absorbing’ Reader Review,

Fall deeper under the spell of Diana and Matthew in the captivating second instalment in the runaway Number One Sunday Times bestselling All Souls series.

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In a world of witches, daemons and vampires the fragile balance of peace is unravelling. Diana and Matthew’s forbidden love has broken the laws dividing creatures. To discover the manuscript which holds their hope for the future, they must now travel back to the past.

When Diana Bishop, descended from a line of powerful witches, discovered a significant alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, she sparked a struggle in which she became bound to long-lived vampire Matthew Clairmont. Now the coexistence of witches, daemons, vampires and humans is dangerously threatened.

Seeking safety, Diana and Matthew travel back in time to London, 1590. But they soon realise that the past may not provide a haven. Reclaiming his former identity as poet and spy for Queen Elizabeth, the vampire falls back in with a group of radicals known as the School of Night. Many are unruly daemons, the creative minds of the age, including playwright Christopher Marlowe and mathematician Thomas Harriot.

Together Matthew and Diana scour Tudor London for the elusive manuscript Ashmole 782, and search for the witch who will teach Diana how to control her remarkable powers…

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Five reasons to read A Discovery of Witches and the ALL SOULS series:

‘Haunting in every way. A story thick with family secrets, human heartache, and the kind of deep magic only Harkness can conjure. You will be enchanted’
LEIGH BARDUGO

‘Harkness’s lush prose makes a fantastical world real enough to touch’
JODI PICOULT

‘Rich, thrilling . . . A captivating and romantic ripping yarn’
E L JAMES

‘Intelligent and off-the-wall . . . irresistible to Twilight fans’
SUNDAY TIMES

‘A bubbling cauldron of illicit desire . . . an assured saga that blends romance with fantasy’
DAILY MAIL

Publisher Review

An inventive addition to the supernatural craze...has exciting amounts of spells, kisses and battles, and is recounted with enchanting, page-turning panache * Marie Claire * A bubbling cauldron of illicit desire...all the ingredients for an assured saga that blends romance with fantasy * Daily Mail * Deborah Harkness has done us proud with her magnificent, enthralling, engrossing sequel... Her weaving of time and ancient lore, of modern science and alchemy, or vampires, daemons and all-too-mortal humans is magical, wonderful and utterly addictive. You won't be able to put it down -- Manda Scott What a rich, thrilling and educational tale it is... A captivating and romantic ripping yarn -- E L James * Books of the year 2012, Guardian *