A Partial Review

I cannot, for the life of me, remember how I found the first book of this trilogy, A Discovery of Witches.  I do know that it's audio book kept me sane during a week or two of driving over three hours each day for two years as I finished up my History degree in 2012. There were days I almost couldn't wait to get back into the car to hear what was going to happen next...and I giggled out loud when the author mentioned something I had just been studying in class...yeah - I'm a little weird like that! ;)

Then, when I finished listening, I bought the book and read it cover to cover in a matter of days - all 500+ pages!  As happens quite often with me...I soon discovered that the book was part of trilogy (hadn't known that when I started!) and that the second book wouldn't arrive until later that year.

Ugh.

My blessed mother bought me the book the day it came out...but I was now aware that there was no third book written, and it wouldn't be for ANOTHER year!

Pro. cras. ti. na. tion.

Well...I held out for seven months, but I couldn't wait another day to find out how things were going for Diana and Matthew.  And, again, the next, and last, book won't be out until later this year.

Ugh.

I'm not going to do a full review of the book until I finish the whole trilogy. (I think I did a short one for the first book....somewhere...) Buuuuut...

WoW!  I guess the best part of Historical Fiction for me - and the story Deborah Harkness weaves in this book - is pausing to daydream about actually being able to travel back in time to witness all of the amazing things I read about on a regular basis.  Diana gets to meet the Queen of England in the late 1500's (yeah...like Elizabeth!) sits with Shakespeare, and (carefully) aids in the discovery of the (truly) first telescope ever made. And, no...it wasn't by Galileo like we all thought.  Yes, the book is fiction, but like my other favorite author, Diana Gabaldon and her tales full of Scottish brogue <shiver> and Highland history,  Ms. Harkness takes the time to really research what it is she's writing about (in this case, Europe in the 16th century) - true delight for those of us who need a bit of a break, from time to time, from our non-fiction history tomes!

Highly recommended...uh...but a bit of a warning.  For those of you "unawares"...Diana is a witch, and her husband, and fellow time-traveler, Matthew, is a vampire! LOL! ;)
Enjoy!