As you might remember, at the very end of A Discovery of Witches, Diana took Matthew back to the past to his home at the Old Lodge in 1590 by timewalking, a power she just recently re-discovered that she possessed. I do love that before she learns how to timewalk, Diana argues that it isn’t possible and wonders about the physics of it. She is told to just go along with it and not worry about that because time will sort itself out. Anyway, once they get there, things are completely different. Matthew has lived this past before. It turns out that his past self just disappeared when he showed up from the future and will presumably reappear when they leave. Of course, they can’t leave until Diana can find a witch to teach her how to use a spell to get back. Plus, they really want to try and find Ashmole 782 in 1590 in the hopes that it is not missing any pages which would mean they can fully read it.
The first person they run into is Christopher Marlowe, who is simply called Kit. He is a daemon who is in love with Matthew, even though Matthew will always see him as just a friend. This means that he is instantly going to hate Diana when Matthew shows up with some unknown woman that he says is his wife. Luckily, Matthew has other friends there as well. It turns out that just because vampires aren’t supposed to meddle in human religious and political matter doesn’t mean that Matthew doesn’t know all the key players along with famous people like Shakespeare. My personal favorite is Matthew’s nephew, Gallowglass. Part Norse and part Scot, Gallowglass is a giant of a man who looks like a Viking from years before. He might seems coarse, but he really comes to care about Diana greatly and is almost as protective of her as Matthew! Henry Percy is another one that I love. He’s a human, but is still one of Matthew’s close friends.
When they were trying to decide where in the past to go, it was like the past decided for them. They needed three objects from a specific time to go there and these objects just came to them. The nice thing about going to 1590 is that Matthew’s dad, Philippe, is still alive. Matthew has a lot that he needs to work out with his father to truly forgive himself, plus Diana will get to meet her father-in-law. Of course, it definitely isn’t going to be easy to win his approval. Philippe is a very powerful man in every way possible and he commands as if he is a true king.
Diana and Matthew are going to go running all over Europe to try and solve the problem of training Diana to use her powers, finding Ashmole 782, and returning home. Diana has a habit of getting side-tracked trying to help people, all while studying the past to fulfill the historian in her. Just like the majority of A Discovery of Witches took place in the present, the majority of Shadow of Night takes place in the past. Healing the past is a good thing, but they do need to get back to the present eventually.
Just like in her first novel, Deborah Harkness has created a second masterpiece. Her writing it just as superb as before. While you don’t get to see much of the previous characters, you will get to meet just as many new characters, some with even more exciting backstories than before. I am anxiously awaiting the third novel in the trilogy to find out what happens to all of these people in the future! Even if you don’t think you’ll like Paranormal Romance, I highly recommend that you check out Shadow of Night and the previous A Discovery of Witches today!
