Reading order · 5 books · 2011 to 2024 · Set in Oxford
All Souls Books in Order
The All Souls books follow Diana Bishop, a witch and Oxford historian, and Matthew Clairmont, a vampire scientist, whose forbidden love sets witches, vampires and daemons against each other. Rich in history, alchemy, wine and food.
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Series facts
- Books
- 5
- Published
- 2011 to 2024
- First book
- A Discovery of Witches
- Latest
- The Black Bird Oracle (2024)
- Setting
- Set in Oxford
The reading order
Every All Souls book in publication order. Choose a title for its cast and summary.
5 books · Set in Oxford
- 1A Discovery of Witches2011With Diana BishopDiana Bishop, a historian at Oxford and a witch who has turned her back on magic, calls up a lost alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library.Buy on Amazon
- 2Shadow of Night2012With Diana BishopDiana and Matthew travel back in time to Elizabethan London, to find the lost manuscript and a teacher for Diana’s magic.Buy on Amazon
- 3The Book of Life2014With Diana BishopBack in the present, Diana and Matthew face enemies old and new as they search for the missing pages of the manuscript.Buy on Amazon
- 4Time's Convert2018With Marcus Whitmore and Phoebe TaylorMarcus Whitmore, Matthew’s son, remembers his life during the American Revolution, while in the present day, his fiancée, Phoebe Taylor, begins her own transformation into a vampire.Buy on Amazon
- 5The Black Bird Oracle2024With Diana BishopDiana Bishop discovers a dark chapter in her own family’s history, and returns to its roots to learn more about her magic.Buy on Amazon
Do you need to read them in order?
Read A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night and The Book of Life in order. Time’s Convert and The Black Bird Oracle follow on.
Who appears in which book
The series’ main characters, book by book. Lead means the book is told around them; minor covers cameos.
| Book | Diana Bishop | Marcus Whitmore | Phoebe Taylor | Matthew Clairmont | Ysabeau de Clermont | Gallowglass |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 A Discovery of Witches | LLead | ·Minor | MMajor | ·Minor | ||
| 2 Shadow of Night | LLead | ·Minor | MMajor | ·Minor | MMajor | |
| 3 The Book of Life | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | MMajor | ·Minor | ·Minor |
| 4 Time's Convert | ·Minor | LLead | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | |
| 5 The Black Bird Oracle | LLead | ·Minor | MMajor | ·Minor |
Characters in the All Souls books
6 characters from Deborah Harkness’s chart, with the number of All Souls books each appears in.
| Character | Books | First in this series |
|---|---|---|
| Diana BishopWitch and historian | 5 | A Discovery of Witches 2011 |
| Marcus WhitmoreMatthew's son | 5 | A Discovery of Witches 2011 |
| Phoebe TaylorMarcus's fiancée | 2 | The Book of Life 2014 |
| Matthew ClairmontVampire scientist | 5 | A Discovery of Witches 2011 |
| Ysabeau de ClermontMatthew's mother | 5 | A Discovery of Witches 2011 |
| GallowglassMatthew's nephew | 2 | Shadow of Night 2012 |