A Discovery of Witches by Deborah HarknessMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
"A Discovery of Witches" is a complex and multi-layered novel-one could call it a work of paranormal suspense-which is only the first of a series. Delving into British University culture (Oxford), witches, vampires, daemons, history of alchemy, library archivism, and much much more, this novel is a romp across Britain (16th century to present) and New England (17th century Salem to present-day upstate New York), set in a reality only slightly different from ours: a world in which three types of non-humans exist, collectively known as "creatures": witches, vampires, daemons (which are energy beings, sort of an advanced case of humans with extreme ADHD; very intelligent, artistic, creative, but each one is like a full team of Geminis on speed-full speed ahead, man the torpedos). Although the three groups co-exist with each other and with humans, humans remain unaware, and the three species of creatures keep strictly apart-until now. When Witch Diana Bishop (descendant of the first Witch executed at Salem) discovers Ashmole 782, an archived alchemical manuscript, all Hades breaks loose as vamps, daemons, and witches converge from everywhere on Oxford's Bodleian Library trying to acquire this manuscript-believed to contain the secrets of the creation of all creatures.
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