What are you reading?

charley · 10-14-2018, 03:03 PM

I am presently reading the first book in the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness, which is called A Discovery of Witches. I've gotten as far as Chapter 5, and am enjoying it immensely. How I got to start reading it was real simple: I have seen the first 5 episodes of A Discovery of Witches, a TV series adaptation of the book which was released this year by Sky in the UK. It's really very well done, much better than the Twilight film series, sort of better cause instead of for teens it's for adults. It's got everything in it - witches, vampires and daemons; it's well scripted, great acting (and excellent casting); it also has romance, drama, suspense, crime and mystery. Can't wait for episode 6, so I began reading the book... lol

Teresa Palmer plays the "witch" , and oh boy, is she ever a hottie...!!!

She also starred in Hacksaw Ridge as Dorothy...

Harkness has created the witch with a last name of Bishop, going back to one of the original Salem witches - one of her ancestors. So there is a lot of history involved, alchemy, etc. Btw, the two women who raised Diana Bishop (her 'aunts') are a lesbian couple of witches - one white: Sarah (played by Alex Kingston, known for her role in Doctor Who) and one a WOC: Emily (played by Valarie Pettiford) (grinz).

Wikipedia writes of the book:

"A Discovery of Witches was first published in hardcover on February 8, 2011, by Penguin Books, becoming a New York Times Best Seller upon its release. It has since been released in paperback and also as an ebook. The novel has been translated into more than 36 languages. The book received mostly positive feedback from literary critics. It was praised for its intelligence and the mixture of history and fantasy, although some critics felt the plot was trite and the pacing was slow. Comparisons were made between other popular fantasy series, namely Twilight and Harry Potter. The novel began as a "thought experiment" for Harkness, who had previously only published works of historical non-fiction. She drew upon her academic background as a historian and her studies of alchemy, magic, and the occult."

I would say that the pacing in the TV series is not slow at all... kudos to the screenwriters.

Curiously, all of the characters in the book seem to have a dark side, so its appeal seems to be ... um..., universal (laughs)... and that is one reason I thought to mention the book and TV series here (haha!)

IMDb listing carries a rating of 8.6 and popularity is increasing for the TV series https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2177461/

10-14-2018, 03:03 PM	#11
charley Timed Out - Permanent How Do You Identify?: gentle stonebutch [vanilla] Relationship Status: single Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: canada Posts: 497 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 906 Thanked 1,204 Times in 422 Posts Rep Power: 0	A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness I am presently reading the first book in the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness, which is called A Discovery of Witches. I've gotten as far as Chapter 5, and am enjoying it immensely. How I got to start reading it was real simple: I have seen the first 5 episodes of A Discovery of Witches, a TV series adaptation of the book which was released this year by Sky in the UK. It's really very well done, much better than the Twilight film series, sort of better cause instead of for teens it's for adults. It's got everything in it - witches, vampires and daemons; it's well scripted, great acting (and excellent casting); it also has romance, drama, suspense, crime and mystery. Can't wait for episode 6, so I began reading the book... lol Teresa Palmer plays the "witch" , and oh boy, is she ever a hottie...!!! She also starred in Hacksaw Ridge as Dorothy... Harkness has created the witch with a last name of Bishop, going back to one of the original Salem witches - one of her ancestors. So there is a lot of history involved, alchemy, etc. Btw, the two women who raised Diana Bishop (her 'aunts') are a lesbian couple of witches - one white: Sarah (played by Alex Kingston, known for her role in Doctor Who) and one a WOC: Emily (played by Valarie Pettiford) (grinz). Wikipedia writes of the book: "A Discovery of Witches was first published in hardcover on February 8, 2011, by Penguin Books, becoming a New York Times Best Seller upon its release. It has since been released in paperback and also as an ebook. The novel has been translated into more than 36 languages. The book received mostly positive feedback from literary critics. It was praised for its intelligence and the mixture of history and fantasy, although some critics felt the plot was trite and the pacing was slow. Comparisons were made between other popular fantasy series, namely Twilight and Harry Potter. The novel began as a "thought experiment" for Harkness, who had previously only published works of historical non-fiction. She drew upon her academic background as a historian and her studies of alchemy, magic, and the occult." I would say that the pacing in the TV series is not slow at all... kudos to the screenwriters. Curiously, all of the characters in the book seem to have a dark side, so its appeal seems to be ... um..., universal (laughs)... and that is one reason I thought to mention the book and TV series here (haha!) IMDb listing carries a rating of 8.6 and popularity is increasing for the TV series https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2177461/