In this, Harkness' second entry in the All Souls Trilogy, the story picks up immediately after the conclusion of A Discovery of Witches: witch/historian Diana and her vampire/scientist husband Matthew have just timewalked back to England in 1590 to avoid the dreaded Congregation, who is pursuing them for a whole slew of reasons. First of all, marriage between vampires and witches is strictly forbidden. Second, Diana has somehow managed to temporarily discover a powerful book that has been lost for nearly 500 years. And finally, Diana has recently begun using her powers, which are much stronger and stranger than your average witch, and thus a heck of a lot harder to control.
Shadow of Night takes place almost entirely in 1590 and 1591 (with occasional glimpses back into the present day), and Harkness captures that world with vivid detail and the inclusion of historical figures, such as Sir Walter Raleigh and Christopher Marlowe. Except for the mention of unicorns and of course the inclusion of vampires, witches and daemons, the setting is very realistic and believable. This is almost certainly due to Harkness' day job as a historian, and boy am I glad that she decided to delve into fiction. I described this book to a friend as Outlander with Buffy's Willow as Claire and Angel-with-a-soul as Jamie; I stand by that. This is smart, fun and a great historical adventure. Can't wait to see what Harkness has up her sleeve for the third book in this trilogy.
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