Sara's reading log

I am a book hoarder and reader. My main genre is SF, but I also love magic realism, fantasy and general fiction. Favorite authors are Iain M. Banks, Ursula K. LeGuin, Haruki Murakami, José Saramago, Isaac Asimov, Ben Aaronovitch and more. My rating system is based on five stars. I rate books based on my expectations and what a books aims to be. This means that the brilliant 'Fahrenheit 451' gets five stars because I thought it would be good, people said it was good, and it was good, but 'A Closed and Common Orbit' also gets five stars because in its series, in its style, I really enjoyed it and was not disappointed.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

  • Started on: 2011-07-11
  • Finished on: 2011-07-12
  • Read in: English
  • Rating: ****-
  • Genre(s): Fantasy

“A Discovery of Witches” (Allerzielen in Dutch) is about Diana, a witch, and Matthew, a vampire. Diana is in denial about her powers as a witch, ever since her parents (both witches) were killed in Afrika when she was seven. Now she is an expert in the history of science, especially alchemy, and working at Oxford for a year. Then she accidentally comes across a manuscript that changes her life, and that of other witches. But not only they are involved, also the other creators in the world, vampires and daemons. She meets Matthew the vampire, and has to face up to who she is and will be.
The book is part one of a trilogy, and while it stands alone, it is by no means finished when you reach the final page. The battle may be won but the war goes on, as they say. I really liked the story, although sometimes the idealistic description of Matthew and how he treats Diana feels like wishful thinking by the author. However, the rest of the story is thought up pretty well, overall the book was a great read. Four out of five stars.

  • Started on: 2011-07-11
  • Finished on: 2011-07-12
  • Read in: English
  • Rating: ****-
  • Genre(s): Fantasy

“A Discovery of Witches” (Allerzielen in Dutch) is about Diana, a witch, and Matthew, a vampire. Diana is in denial about her powers as a witch, ever since her parents (both witches) were killed in Afrika when she was seven. Now she is an expert in the history of science, especially alchemy, and working at Oxford for a year. Then she accidentally comes across a manuscript that changes her life, and that of other witches. But not only they are involved, also the other creators in the world, vampires and daemons. She meets Matthew the vampire, and has to face up to who she is and will be.
The book is part one of a trilogy, and while it stands alone, it is by no means finished when you reach the final page. The battle may be won but the war goes on, as they say. I really liked the story, although sometimes the idealistic description of Matthew and how he treats Diana feels like wishful thinking by the author. However, the rest of the story is thought up pretty well, overall the book was a great read. Four out of five stars.