Par Lance

It has taken me almost three months to labour my way through A Discovery of Witches. I admit that I have not dedicated all of my reading time to this single volume. Far from it. I have found it necessary to divert my attention to more enjoyable books.

The concepts which underpin the storylines are absolutely brilliant. So much thought has gone into the connections between the witches, vampires, daemons and humans, and all of the timelines, which should have made this a gripping read.

From most of the reviews that I had read, I was expecting much more. Perhaps I set my expectations too high, and deafened myself to the negative reviews that told me it would be a drudge.

However, the introduction must have taken up around half of the book before the action finally got under way. It was all so long and drawn out. If the whole thing could have been condensed into less than three hundred pages, I believe that the result would have been stunning.

The parts that I enjoyed, were the brief spells (forgive the pun) of magic, the time travel, and the references to the vampires experiences and encounters throughout history.

One reference that really caught my attention, and I don't think that this is in any way a spoiler, was to Christopher Marlowe and Faustus.

This is not a book that I would especially recommend to my friends, even if they are heavily into magic, witches and vampires, although some may see some appeal.