The World of All Souls: The Complete Guide to A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life
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The World of All Souls: The Complete Guide to A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life

by Deborah Harkness

About this book

A fully illustrated guide to Deborah Harkness's 1 New York Time s bestselling All Souls trilogy--"an irresistible . . . wonderfully imaginative grown-up fantasy" (People)

A Discovery of Witches introduced Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and reluctant witch, and vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont. Shadow of Night and The Book of Life carried Deborah Harkness's series to its spellbinding conclusion.

In The World of All Souls, Harkness shares the rich sources of inspiration behind her bewitching novels. She draws together synopses, character bios, maps, recipes, and even the science behind creatures, magic, and alchemy--all with her signature historian's touch. Bursting with fascinating facts and dazzling artwork, this essential handbook is a must-have for longtime fans and eager newcomers alike.

Read by Saskia Maarleveld with Deborah Harkness, Steve West, and Jennifer Ikeda

Music by Isaias Garcia

Includes a Bonus PDF including recipes, images, translations, and more.

Publication Date
May 25, 2026
ASIN
B07B1RYSMK

Reader Reviews

Your Guide to the \"All Souls\" World

June 18, 2018

This is a gorgeous companion book to Deborah Harkness' \"All Souls\" trilogy, A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES, SHADOW OF NIGHT, and THE BOOK OF LIFE. As such, it is tremendous. If you have no interest in the books, you probably won't be a fan of this volume either. For trilogy fans, you have a treat awaiting! After an interview with the author and synopses of all three books, Harkness describes the different \"creatures\" of her universe (humans, witches, vampires, and daemons) and a listing of the...

Full of the world building details this great series is based on

July 4, 2024

The World of All Souls book is definitely full of information. Surprisingly, there are only a few color plates. There is not a single map. I found some of the artwork to look more childishly executed than I would expect. The actual books in the series have a very sophisticated, scholarly tone which balances the fantasy elements into impressive and refined believability. This product does not have that same feel at all, notwithstanding some great portions. It has more of a souvenir shop feel to...

Wonderful book series, great read, great illustrations, and book was sturdy/quality materials

July 21, 2025

Book arrived in pristine condition, and I've really enjoyed this addition to the All Souls Collection. I started reading it between rereads of the first 3, then read more when I was in the middle of Time's Convert, and am finishing The Blackbird Oracle now. After I finish it, I'll finish this book. For right now I'm using it more as a reference to the stories and people I've read about, as well as a \"I don't have time to read multiple chapters now of the main book so I'll just read a few pages...

What a compendium!

September 22, 2018

I adore this book. I loved the series A Discovery of Witches and the fantasy and history surrounding the characters. I love the real places and how the author wove her story into real events. For me, that is real talent. This book shares background and history, character revelations and answers all the questions I had during Harkness' most excellent series. This was worth every penny and I will refer to it often going forward. It will help when the TV series comes out too (because you know TV...

great reference to The World of All Souls

October 12, 2022

I loved Discovery of Witches and the rest of the trilogy. I don't normally buy reference books to fiction series but I was doing a group reread and decided to pick this up. I'm so glad I did. It was great to refer to things as I was reading. I read the first part of this book in order but then skipped around. It is a great resource and adds a great deal the series. ) 11 people found this helpful

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