Shadow of Night

I've been waiting to get my hands on Shadow of Night (#209) by Deborah Harkness ever since I put down the first book of this All Souls trilogy, A Discovery of Witches. (See my post of 4/1/11)

Shadow of Night picks up exactly where the first book ends, with Diana Bishop, Yale professor and reluctant witch, making a leap of faith with Matthew Clairmont, Oxford biochemist and vampire, back to the London of 1590 in search of the mysterious rare manuscript Ashmolean 782 in hopes that it will allow them a future together.  It's clear that if she is to survive, Diana must learn what her witchy powers are, and how to control her magic, so it is vital that she finds a witch in this time willing to teach her.

Since Matthew has lived through this period before, he has a home and a circle of notable friends and enemies.  He is also Queen Elizabeth I's "Shadow", employed by her as a spy.  But even he can't protect Diana from the powerful creatures who inhabit London until his father Philippe accepts Diana into the family.  The action moves from Elizabeth's  London to the de Clermont's castle in France to the Prague of Rudolf II and back again, with a few chapters tracking action in the present day, setting the stage for the coming storm in the third and final book.

Much as I liked this book, I did find it confusing at times.  It's been more than a year since I read the first book.  Although I have a fairly good memory, I've read more than a hundred books since A Discovery of Witches.  It was difficult to remember many characters and events from the first book without some kind of hint of who they were, or why the events were significant.  And if you haven't read A Discovery of Witches first, don't even bother to try to read this one.  I wish I'd had a Cliff Notes version of it to review before reading Shadow of Night.  That aspect reminded me of Stieg Larson's Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, which I think was just one huge novel, divided into three sections for publication and financial convenience.  I'm already thinking I'm going to be just as much behind when the third book arrives next year!