This acclaimed Netflix fantasy series is based on a book trilogy worth your time
Have you made this 'discovery' yet?
If you love fantasy but haven’t watched A Discovery of Witches yet, hear me out. The series, headlined by Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode, is riddled with supernatural creatures, magic, politics, and history, with a forbidden romance at the center. And it is adapted from a book series by Deborah Harkness.
What is A Discovery of Witches about?
In 2011, Harry Potter and Twilight were sparking a rise in the reading of fantasy and supernatural beings stories. Author Deborah Harkness, who is also a historian of medicine and science, used her knowledge of the occult, alchemy, and history to write her first fiction novel, A Discovery of Witches. She followed it up with two more books—Shadow of the Night and The Book of Life, together known as the All Souls trilogy. Harkness has written a companion novella about events before the trilogy. A fourth novel in the series has also been released in July 2024.
The story was set in a world where several manner of supernatural beings co-existed in society, and had a governing council of their own—the Congregation, composed of members of each species. As is the case in any society, there were class wars, oppressive laws, and a bunch of evil people who always disturbed the peace.
Amidst all this is Diana Bishop, a Yale professor of history of science (like the author) who hides her magical abilities. Until one day, while studying a manuscript at the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, the book unlocks her latent magical powers. When she realizes she is being pursued because of what she has set in motion, she is helped by a centuries-old vampire called Matthew Clairmont, who is running a lab to study why there’s been a decline in supernatural species, particularly his kind.
As a forbidden romance brews between the two—interspecies mating is prohibited—there’s also threat looming over their heads, as Diana’s past, present, and future collide, threatening to upend the Congregation and the precarious peace it has kept for centuries.
The TV series
In 2018, Sky Studios brought forth a series that adapted the All Souls trilogy for the screen. In A Discovery of Witches, Teresa Palmer played Diana Bishop while Matthew Goode played the vampire Matthew Clairmont. The cast also included Edward Bluemel, Aiysha Hart, Owen Teale, Malin Buska, Louis Brealey, Alex Kingston, Valarie, Pettiford, and Lindsey Duncan, amongst others. The acclaimed series satisfactorily completed telling the trilogy’s story in three seasons and ended in 2022.
The complete All Souls series in order
1. A Discovery of Witches (Published: 2011)
The first book in the All Souls series, A Discovery of Witches begins with Diana Bishop’s latent magic being awoken when she touches the pages of the lost manuscript Ashmole 782 at the Bodleian Library. It draws other witches, vampires, and daemons to her. That’s how vampire and biochemist Matthew Clairmont is drawn to her too, but soon enough the two begin a forbidden romance while those threatened by it and Diana’s discovery close in on them, spelling danger.
2. Shadow of Night (Published: 2012)
In Shadow of Night, as their enemies close in on them in the present, Diana and Matthew time-walk into the past to Elizabethan London chasing after the missing Book of Life manuscript, and trying to find someone who can help Diana understand her magic so that she can take them back to their time.
It’s not going to be easy because this is a time period where Matthew had a family and a life at court in service of Queen Elizabeth, with as many friends as enemies. What’s more, he wasn’t the same Matthew Diana knew and loved. It was a time when practicing magic was frowned upon, and witches were being persecuted. Navigating all of the politics, family secrets, and deathly traps laid in their path tests Diana and Matthew’s relationship, as they try to locate the elusive manuscript that will alter their future forever.
3. The Book of Life (Published: 2014)
The third book in the series, The Book of Life, brings Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont back to their present time; Diana having learned that she is a weaver—someone who creates her own magic spells—at the feet of the witch Goody Alsop, and Matthew having learned a few things about his own life back in the day. However, their return is marred with tragedy as shadows of the past and present come together to threaten not just their life but also that of their unborn children.
As their world teeters on the brink of destruction and inevitable death, Diana and Matthew must use all their knowledge and power to defeat their enemies and resolve the situation to prevent magical species from certain extinction.
4. Time’s Convert (Published: 2018)
In 2018, Deborah Harkness came up with a companion novella titled Time’s Convert, that follows the life of Matthew Clairmont’s vampire son Marcus McNeil, a young surgeon during the American Revolution and given the choice of immortality. It draws a parallel to Marcus in present day, as the girl he loves, Phoebe, is about to embrace immortality as well, and the juxtaposes the challenges Marcus faced with what he and Phoebe are faced with in present day.
5. The Black Bird Oracle (Published: 2024)
If you thought the All Souls series was over, I’ve got some good news for ya! It looks like Deborah Harkness is not done telling Diana Bishop’s story just yet! She has come out with a fourth book in the series, titled The Black Bird Oracle, which was published in July 2024.
According to the book’s official synopsis, the Congregation wants to now test the magic of Diana and Matthew’s Brightborn twins, Pip and Rebecca, to ensure they’re not a threat. Worried that her kids might be spellbound like her, Diana decides to accept help that has been offered to her from an unexpected source—a great-aunt she didn’t even know existed. Diana, now under the tutelage of a family member and a powerful witch, Gwyneth Proctor, confronts her family’s dark history and discovers new thresholds of her own power.
A Discovery of Witches is one of the many shows from the AMC slate to be added to Netflix in August 2024. So now’s the perfect time to watch the series and read the books!
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