Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon my Darlings. Today’s post is going to be a ranking of all five of The All Souls books by Deborah Harkness. To preface this post, I really love this series, and each book is definitely worth reading. I just thought ranking my favorites as they currently stand would be a fun post to do today!
Number 5: TIME’S CONVERT
~This one had to be in last place because although it is well written, I do not like it quite as much because the focus is on Marcus instead of on Diana and Matthew! It is simply a case of a book losing a little something when the previous central characters are relegated to side characters in order to flesh out another character’s story.
Number 4: THE BLACK BIRD ORACLE
~I loved this new book, and did a whole review on it recently! That being said, it is a great set-up book for the next books that will be coming in the series, so it did not outrank the original trilogy. That being said, this book did drop me right back into the universe and made me so excited to see what this next phase of the series could bring!
Number 3: SHADOW OF NIGHT
~The second book had to be my number three as it is a really fun romp through time travel to Elizabethan England! It has a good amount of character development, with us getting to see Diana and Matthew advance their relationship. I adored getting to see Phillipe, as he was still alive in the era in which they found themselves!
Number 2: A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES
~My number two pick had to be the first book, as it is an incredible introduction to this universe. I totally adore this book for the beginnings of Diana and Matthew’s relationship. It is the ideal example of a first volume in a series. It introduces us to characters and dynamics that will be important moving forward, it gives us stakes as to why the plot of the series matters, and it leaves off on a cliffhanger that makes us itch to pick up the next volume!
Number 1: THE BOOK OF LIFE
~For my number one pick I chose the third book of the original trilogy. It made for an ideal conclusion to the original trilogy, perfectly wrapping up the events of the previous two books! In many ways, this book feels big and epic. With Matthew and Diana now back in their present time, they have to contend with all of the dangers they were trying to thwart by going back in time. The storyline of the Ashmole manuscript is finally concluded in a very interesting way, and we get answers to some of the genetic questions that had plagued the book from the beginning. Best of all, we get to see a happy ending for Diana and Matthew!
~I hope you have enjoyed this ranking. Where do you place the books in this series? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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