Shadow of Night

Diana Bishop, a historian and witch, and the vampire Matthew Clairmont leave the present behind and arrive in England in 1590. Their search has two aims: a witch willing to train Diana in managing her magic, and the whereabouts of Ashmole 782, an enchanted manuscript that goes by another name, the Book of Life.

Once in Elizabethan London, they join Matthew's former companions, a group called the School of Night that counts Christopher Marlowe and Walter Raleigh among its members. Diana finds her teacher in the witch Goody Alsop, who shows her that she is a weaver, able to make spells of her own.

The past is no safe refuge. Matthew's history, spies and old enemies press closer as the hunt for the manuscript draws the couple on to the court in Prague.

This is historical fantasy and the second book of the All Souls trilogy, picking up directly from A Discovery of Witches. Real Elizabethan figures share the page with witches, vampires and daemons. The period detail is rich, and the large cast and many plot threads can feel crowded at times.