A Challenge to read more... August Series Challenge 2015

Since joining Goodreads I have found many “new to me” authors and series.

I took the site’s general “2014 Reading Challenge” and have signed up again this year. In addition to that I decided to sign up for a few reading challenges that the groups I belong to set.

“Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy” Group is for the discussion and recommendation of paranormal romances and paranormal erotic romance, along with urban fantasy, science fiction, futuristic, and fantasy romance. If you love vampires, werewolves, and hot faery men, this is the group for you. Join up and discuss your favourite books!

If you have questions or concerns, please contact a mod other than Pamela. She unfortunately doesn't have a lot of goodreads time at the moment, and you'll get a quicker response from another mod. Thanks!

We recommend members be over 18, since we do discuss books with adult content, but this is not strictly enforced. Please be aware that there will be adult discussion in this group!

So, this post is all about the monthly reading challenge that the “Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy” group have set for August 2015.

PNR & UF Group – August 2015 Challenge

Because August is just too hot to do anything strenuous (you know, like search the bookshelves or even visit a bookstore or library), we are going for a nice simple oldie here.

Read a book from 10 different series. Include the book’s title and author as well as the name of the series and what position it has in the series. E.g. Dragon Actually by A. G. Aikens, (Dragon Kin #1)

August’s Series Challenge each book must be from a different series

1. Man Of My Dreams (The Dream #1) by Gladys Quintal

2. Shadow of Night (All Souls Trilogy #2) by Deborah Harkness

3. Her Warrior Angel (Her Angel Romance Series #3) by Felicity Heaton

4. Dark Soul (The Legends of Regia #4) by Tenaya Jayne

5. Sourcery (Discworld Novel #5) by Terry Pratchett

6. Shadow Strike (Immortal Guardians #6) by Dianne Duvall

7. A Warrior Wedding (The Protectors Series #7) by Teresa Gabelman

8. Charles (Darkness #8) by K.F. Breene

9. Darkness Possessed (Order of the Blade #9) by Stephanie Rowe

10. Moon Dragon (Vampire for Hire #10) by J.R. Rain

I love these reading challenges, as my regular followers will know – just search my site for reading challenges and see how many results you get!! Lol!

Reading challenges are a fun way to “force” us to look further than our noses, to look past those tried and trusted authors and genres that we always read and step into the world of the unknown… we may experience disappointment but we could discover a new “favourite” author and a plethora of new worlds, characters and tales to sink our teeth into! Isn’t it worth the risk?

This challenge was a tough one for me, I love hunting out new to me authors and over the past year, I’ve found some. But, it seems that the hunt for “new” has meant that I’ve got a lot of books still in my wish list from series where I’ve read the first one or two books, liked them but not bought any more from the series because of my thirst for new. ;-) This reading challenge has helped me to work through that wish list and progress through some of those series!

Flora Reviews... "Shadow of Night (All Souls Trilogy #2) by Deborah Harkness

 Shadow of Night (All Souls Trilogy #2) 

by Deborah Harkness

Read: 9^th – 15^th August 2015

Format: Kindle

My Goodreads Rating: 4 Stars

...So what’s this book about?

This is the middle book in the All Souls Trilogy. The blurb on Ms Harkness’ own website says:

A Discovery of Witches introduced Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and reluctant witch, and the handsome geneticist and vampire Matthew Clairmont; together they found themselves at the center of a supernatural battle over an enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782. Drawn to one another despite longstanding taboos, and in pursuit of Diana’s spellbound powers, the two embark upon a time-walking journey.
Book Two of the All Souls Trilogy plunges Diana and Matthew into Elizabethan London, a world of spies and subterfuge, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the mysterious School of Night.  The mission is to locate a witch to tutor Diana and to find traces of Ashmole 782, but as the net of Matthew’s past tightens around them they embark on a very different journey, one that takes them into heart of the 1,500 year old vampire’s shadowed history and secrets. For Matthew Clairmont, time travel is no simple matter; nor is Diana’s search for the key to understanding her legacy.
Shadow of Night brings us a rich and splendid tapestry of alchemy, magic, and history, taking us through the loop of time to deliver a deepening love story, a tale of blood, passion, and the knotted strands of the past.

Funnily enough, although this book is the middle part of a trilogy, (I read them over 14 months apart and could remember very little detail from before ;-) ) I don’t think that you have to read “A Discovery of Witches” to enjoy this one as relevant information is always recapped when necessary throughout the book but as with any series that involves the same characters, readers who have many feel a more in depth connection and experience a deeper understanding.  

 ...So, what did I like about it?

When reading Ms Harkness’ novels, you can tell that she is a highly intelligent academic with a great passion for history and science but the way that she transforms those hard facts into an engaging tale just confirms what a wordsmith and literary alchemist she is in her own right. 

All of the characters in this book, both fictional and historical, came alive for me because of the depth of realism she wrote into them and although you know the outcome of some of the events in this Elizabethan epic, I still found myself turning the pages, needing to know what happens next. But it’s not all doom and gloom, I did chuckle too. ;-)

...So, ummm, was there anything I disliked about it?

Unlike “A Discovery of Witches” (the first book in this trilogy), I do not feel that “Shadow of Night” can be placed in the contemporary paranormal romance genre,  because for me, it reads more like an epic historical novel - once my mindset realised this I really enjoyed reading it.

Going into this book, you know that as it’s the middle of a trilogy, you’ll be left with more questions than answers and possibly a cliffhanger. Well, without revealing any spoilers (you know I don’t do that in my reviews) I will say that you won’t be disappointed but you can breathe easy – it’s not a frustrating cliff-hanger, I can safely wait another 14 months before reading the final book “The Book of Life”. ;-)

...So, basically what I’m saying is...

I really enjoyed this book. Yes “Book of Shadows” features vampires, witches and daemons but it has the same depth of detail, pace of story and tapestry of history woven throughout as Edward Rutherfurd's epic historical novel "Sarum", I couldn’t help but get drawn in. 

If you are a fan of historical novels, and don’t mind the paranormal twist, then give this book a try.