Now, picking up from A Discovery of Witches’ cliffhanger ending, Shadow of Night plunges Diana and Matthew into Elizabethan London, a world of spies, subterfuge, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the mysterious School of Night that includes Christopher Marlowe and Walter Raleigh. Here, Diana must locate a witch to tutor her in magic, Matthew is forced to confront a past he thought he had put to rest, and the mystery of Ashmole 782 deepens.

Merry Christmas

Thanks. I'm looking forward to reading this.

Another excellent read.

Somewhere during the Unconvention

One of the books I picked up at Stokes Hill Wharf, Darwin, during the BC Unconvention. Some I will read and others I will release during my road trip to WA and then back home to Canberra. Thank you for the book; this is one I will probably read before releasing.

An enjoyable read, but I think it suffered a bit for me not having read the first book in the series. This caused the start to be rather slow for me as I was brought up to speed, and I did consider giving the read away, but I continued...and I'm pleased that I did. A long read, which could have been improved by a stronger edit. Lots of tedious mundane description of things that were not necessary for the story.
Matthew is very domineering at times and controlling. Some other reviewers elsewhere have commented these are danger signs of an abuser. I can see where they are coming from. Just excusing it as possessive vampire behaviour does not make the behaviour any more appealing.
There was no mention of how they expected their relationship to handle Diana aging, as Matthew doesn't age. There was no mention of lice and other everyday things the people in the C16th had to contend with, even the well off. Everything was too 'nice'. It might have been meant to be 1590, but many of the modern expectations seemed to have travelled with them...except the horrible, bondage female clothing, which Diana wore and appeared to accept, even having her waste pulled in tightly; perhaps more than was necessary. Well, that's how the description came over to me.
I just did some fact checking on the corset, and I'm not sure if the description of the corset here was not more in line with the C19 corset, rather than the C16 corset, as apparently there was a difference, starting with the C16 corset not being as tightly laced. The information I read said that when most people think of the corset, they think of the C19 ones, rather than what the C16 one was, which wasn't designed to give a small waist, but rather flatten the body. Enough of that from me.
I enjoyed the read and did enjoy much of the differences of life in the C16 century, although it was fortunate (and convenient) for Diana that she went back to a wealthy household, and not an average household. I did find it strange that Matthew could handle the sun, although perhaps that was explained in the first book, which I didn't read. Weaving the story in with actual history (or so I presume without checking the facts), worked well.
I will add the next book in the series to my wish-list.

Released at Micalong Creek Reserve, Wee Jasper, NSW.

To log this, I am on top of a hill to get mobile connection and holding my mobile wi-fi unit in the air. Very limited reception here.

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