I've just finished reading a couple of books which I loved so much that as soon as I finished them, I started over again at the beginning. The books are the first two of a trilogy by Deborah Harkness: A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night. The third is still in progress and hasn't been published yet.
Deborah is an historian with a few learned tomes to her name; this is a departure, and she tells some wonderful stories of witches, daemons and vampires. Don't let the currently populist subject matter deter you; suspend your cynicism and get stuck in. These books tell a grown-up fairytale, a fine tale of adventure and a love story within a framework of real historical facts and characters - particularly in the history of science and alchemy. During and after both readings, the story and characters stayed with me, and left me really looking forward to the next book.
Let me know what you think.
