A Discovery of Witches is a TV adaptation of the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness.
It follows the story of Diana Bishop, an alchemical history professor at The University of Oxford who, after accidentally calling an elusive, long-thought-lost manuscript, is compelled to embrace the magic in her blood she has sought to keep out of her life and engage in a forbidden romance with charming vampire Matthew Clairmont.
So until Harkness releases the 4th book in the All Souls Universe...
Wasn't book 4 "Time's Convert" released in 2018?
Thank you, TeaAndApathy... my bad!
And actually Time's Convert is my favorite of the series, so far (I'm re-reading it now actually).
It's probably obvious but one of the things I found to be interesting about the latest book was that it focused a decent amount of time on the the Smallpox outbreak which almost lost the Americas the war in 1777 and how inoculations were able to help stamp out the pandemic.
by TheFizza posted 3 years ago
merc said:
I am the opposite, the books are dire in their dialogue & characters and lack any real drama, just an excuse to show off the authors history background. Gerbert D'Aurillac in the books is a rather feeble character who fumbles over computers. I can not even remember how Knox is portayed there. Its all rather prosaic. The tv show though has Knox and Gerbert D'Aurillac really nasty bits of scheming opportunistic work & Domenico a even more calculating & a real arse licker at the same time. In the books the Congregation hardly figures so the conflict is subdued, which is really the axis that the tv series pivots on.
shame that season 3 only has 7 eps.
Hahaha... what you read, doesn't sound all that much like what I read... but that's the thing about art, it's subjective.
And there's nothing wrong with the same piece provoking different reactions, for instance I find this show to be an exploitative, hackney and truncated adaptation of a nuanced fun nerd story... I can, of course, rebut your criticism that the use of the Congregation in the series brings a focus to the threat to our main characters with my own opinion because in my reading I felt the book actually spent too much time on the non-threat of the Congregation.
I could've done with a third less of the Congregation in the book as it seems to truncate more substantial aspects of the story, so I was chagrined to see it beefing up in the tv series, especially since it come off to me as hokey.
That being as it is, I most definitely cannot defend the characters of a books series that barely scraped the 3 stars, out of 5, I gave it in my Goodreads library. Sure it's a fun book series but it's not great by any means... what it is, is a nip for history nerds! One of the things I particularly loved about these tales were all the historical and real-world elements woven into them. Elements which I didn't feel were given the appropriate focus in this translation to the small screen. Still, the characters do have a bit more going on in the books whether or not they feel like each has the kind of voice an actor can provide.
In the end these interpretations depend partly on what aspect of a story the reader/viewer can deal with just being serviceable and to what ends those elements serve. Is Star Wars level dialogue in service to an epic tale about the magics of generations lost and if so does the base level of that dialogue diminish the story so very much?! For me, what is lost in the translation here is some of the best stuff from the books and what is gained feels minimal or even at times reductive.
As a big fan of nerds who write I want more of what brought me to the books in the tele or movie adaptations... I want an Alastair Reynolds adaptation which focuses on the science he, as a former ESA scientist, has woven into his story. I want a Connie Willis adaptation focused on whatever the nerds in her book are all about whether it the history of popular trends or the Black Death. As a result, when Deb's books are adapted I want the universe building and history lectures I loved while reading.
Anyway, I finished the series and am re-reading the 4th book :cool:
by merc posted 3 years ago
Been waiting a year for this. season 3. lots of action very slightly marred by skipping all over the place. lots of drama I wish the bad guys had had a more prolonged and dramatic demise, my main disapointment, possibly a money thing I was expecting a Marvel type battle scene between the two witches, all we got were a few pathetic illusions from Satu & all Diane did to Benjamin was her archery trick. The demise of Peter Knox was weak, just a minature whirlwind, no real howls of anguish or terror & we did not really see him varpourised maybe a bit hurried. All in all a good ending season achieved in just 7 eps. but could have been much better In the final congregation scene Diana did a Margaret Thatcher with her handbag lol
by TeaAndApathy posted 3 years ago
TheFizza said:
So until Harkness releases the 4th book in the All Souls Universe...
Wasn't book 4 "Time's Convert" released in 2018?
by merc posted 3 years ago
TheFizza said:
This is a terrible show but I love it... I should say I love the books sooo much that I don't care that this adaptation is a pale shadow of the source material, which is actually very rich and nuanced. Which is partially because the author, Deborah Harkness, is a university professor of European history and the history of science in Southern California who has studied at Mount Holyoke College, Northwestern University, UC Davis and Oxford University.
So until Harkness releases the 4th book in the All Souls Universe I'll have this redic show to remind me that though I might not have time to re-read the books at least I can catch the general outline of the series on the small screen :cool:
I am the opposite, the books are dire in their dialogue & characters and lack any real drama, just an excuse to show off the authors history background. Gerbert D'Aurillac in the books is a rather feeble character who fumbles over computers. I can not even remember how Knox is portayed there. Its all rather prosaic. The tv show though has Knox and Gerbert D'Aurillac really nasty bits of scheming opportunistic work & Domenico a even more calculating & a real arse licker at the same time. In the books the Congregation hardly figures so the conflict is subdued, which is really the axis that the tv series pivots on.
shame that season 3 only has 7 eps.
by TheFizza posted 3 years ago
This is a terrible show but I love it... I should say I love the books sooo much that I don't care that this adaptation is a pale shadow of the source material, which is actually very rich and nuanced. Which is partially because the author, Deborah Harkness, is a university professor of European history and the history of science in Southern California who has studied at Mount Holyoke College, Northwestern University, UC Davis and Oxford University.
So until Harkness releases the 5th book in the All Souls Universe I'll have this redic show to remind me that though I might not have time to re-read the books at least I can catch the general outline of the series on the small screen :cool:
by merc posted 3 years ago
graybags said:
thats its plus point. All the good shows are either gone or waiting for the next season. But The Discovery of Witches is back in a few days so thats one of the good ones
I stopped watching Discovery of Witches half way through the first season, now that was a bad show.
why did you think that?
Just didn't get into it. Maybe too much of a woman's show? Yeah, I said it. :)
I like it for the bad uns. the bad creatures. cant wait to see what happens to them. itching to roast them my self. the actors who play them do such a great job. they are so obnoxious
and there are some great situations ( some cgi-ed eg the castle with 7 towers or the C17 England streets)
The TV series is better than the books that I skipped a lot through
by graybags posted 3 years ago
lighton said:
I have to say it, I'm with merc here. :cool:
This is such a good show. Still holds a 8.0/10 IMDb rating with 41K votes.
Well, if IMDb says it's good, then it must be! :rolleyes:
by graybags posted 3 years ago
merc said:
I feel exactly the same. I don't find it a chore to watch or think its terrible, but I don't look forward to it each week. But then there's not many shows these days I do really look forward to to be fair
thats its plus point. All the good shows are either gone or waiting for the next season. But The Discovery of Witches is back in a few days so thats one of the good ones
I stopped watching Discovery of Witches half way through the first season, now that was a bad show.
why did you think that?
Just didn't get into it. Maybe too much of a woman's show? Yeah, I said it. :)
by lighton posted 3 years ago
I have to say it, I'm with merc here. :cool:
This is such a good show. Still holds a 8.0/10 IMDb rating with 41K votes.
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So until Harkness releases the 4th book in the All Souls Universe...
Wasn't book 4 "Time's Convert" released in 2018?
Thank you, TeaAndApathy... my bad!
And actually Time's Convert is my favorite of the series, so far (I'm re-reading it now actually).
It's probably obvious but one of the things I found to be interesting about the latest book was that it focused a decent amount of time on the the Smallpox outbreak which almost lost the Americas the war in 1777 and how inoculations were able to help stamp out the pandemic.
shame that season 3 only has 7 eps.
Hahaha... what you read, doesn't sound all that much like what I read... but that's the thing about art, it's subjective.
And there's nothing wrong with the same piece provoking different reactions, for instance I find this show to be an exploitative, hackney and truncated adaptation of a nuanced fun nerd story... I can, of course, rebut your criticism that the use of the Congregation in the series brings a focus to the threat to our main characters with my own opinion because in my reading I felt the book actually spent too much time on the non-threat of the Congregation.
I could've done with a third less of the Congregation in the book as it seems to truncate more substantial aspects of the story, so I was chagrined to see it beefing up in the tv series, especially since it come off to me as hokey.
That being as it is, I most definitely cannot defend the characters of a books series that barely scraped the 3 stars, out of 5, I gave it in my Goodreads library. Sure it's a fun book series but it's not great by any means... what it is, is a nip for history nerds! One of the things I particularly loved about these tales were all the historical and real-world elements woven into them. Elements which I didn't feel were given the appropriate focus in this translation to the small screen. Still, the characters do have a bit more going on in the books whether or not they feel like each has the kind of voice an actor can provide.
In the end these interpretations depend partly on what aspect of a story the reader/viewer can deal with just being serviceable and to what ends those elements serve. Is Star Wars level dialogue in service to an epic tale about the magics of generations lost and if so does the base level of that dialogue diminish the story so very much?! For me, what is lost in the translation here is some of the best stuff from the books and what is gained feels minimal or even at times reductive.
As a big fan of nerds who write I want more of what brought me to the books in the tele or movie adaptations... I want an Alastair Reynolds adaptation which focuses on the science he, as a former ESA scientist, has woven into his story. I want a Connie Willis adaptation focused on whatever the nerds in her book are all about whether it the history of popular trends or the Black Death. As a result, when Deb's books are adapted I want the universe building and history lectures I loved while reading.
Anyway, I finished the series and am re-reading the 4th book :cool:
So until Harkness releases the 4th book in the All Souls Universe...
Wasn't book 4 "Time's Convert" released in 2018?
So until Harkness releases the 4th book in the All Souls Universe I'll have this redic show to remind me that though I might not have time to re-read the books at least I can catch the general outline of the series on the small screen :cool:
I am the opposite, the books are dire in their dialogue & characters and lack any real drama, just an excuse to show off the authors history background. Gerbert D'Aurillac in the books is a rather feeble character who fumbles over computers. I can not even remember how Knox is portayed there. Its all rather prosaic. The tv show though has Knox and Gerbert D'Aurillac really nasty bits of scheming opportunistic work & Domenico a even more calculating & a real arse licker at the same time. In the books the Congregation hardly figures so the conflict is subdued, which is really the axis that the tv series pivots on.
shame that season 3 only has 7 eps.
So until Harkness releases the 5th book in the All Souls Universe I'll have this redic show to remind me that though I might not have time to re-read the books at least I can catch the general outline of the series on the small screen :cool:
thats its plus point. All the good shows are either gone or waiting for the next season. But The Discovery of Witches is back in a few days so thats one of the good ones
I stopped watching Discovery of Witches half way through the first season, now that was a bad show.
why did you think that?
Just didn't get into it. Maybe too much of a woman's show? Yeah, I said it. :)
I like it for the bad uns. the bad creatures. cant wait to see what happens to them. itching to roast them my self. the actors who play them do such a great job. they are so obnoxious
and there are some great situations ( some cgi-ed eg the castle with 7 towers or the C17 England streets)
The TV series is better than the books that I skipped a lot through
This is such a good show. Still holds a 8.0/10 IMDb rating with 41K votes.
Well, if IMDb says it's good, then it must be! :rolleyes:
thats its plus point. All the good shows are either gone or waiting for the next season. But The Discovery of Witches is back in a few days so thats one of the good ones
I stopped watching Discovery of Witches half way through the first season, now that was a bad show.
why did you think that?
Just didn't get into it. Maybe too much of a woman's show? Yeah, I said it. :)
This is such a good show. Still holds a 8.0/10 IMDb rating with 41K votes.