The Black Bird Oracle: The exhilarating new All Souls novel featuring Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont
£8.70£9.50 (-8%)
‘The Black Bird Oracle gives us everything we’ve come to expect and love from Deborah Harkness’s All Souls series. More magic, more lore, more politicking and discovery’ 5* READER REVIEW
‘I cannot put into words how much I LOVED this book’ 5* READER REVIEW
‘What a BOOK. Exactly what I needed in prep for witchy season’ 5* READER REVIEW
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‘Haunting in every way. A story thick with family secrets, human heartache, and the kind of deep magic only Harkness can conjure. You will be enchanted’ LEIGH BARDUGO
‘Harkness’s lush prose makes a fantastical world real enough to touch’ JODI PICOULT
The first shadows fall on a Friday afternoon when a single, dying raven delivers an invitation to the witch, Diana Bishop. It calls her home to the hallowed ground of Ravenswood, to a place and a family she has never known.
And when Diana and her husband Matthew Clairmont learn that their seven-year-old twins must have their magical powers tested, Diana decides to forge a new future for her family, hoping to find answers at the Proctor ancestral home.
There, Diana becomes her great aunt Gwyneth’s pupil in Higher Magic. And as Diana walks an unknown path, she must journey to some of the darkest places within her family history – and herself – if she is to unlock greater power.
An instant Sunday Times bestseller, The Black Bird Oracle returns to the world of All Souls, sweeping readers back to the Salem Panic to shine a light on the intertwined legacy of the Bishop and Proctor families.
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Discover for yourself why readers have fallen under the spell of Deborah Harkness’s All Souls series . . .
‘Bewitches you and doesn’t set you free’ 5* READER REVIEW
‘It was so good to be back in the world of Diana and Matthew . . . as captivating as ever!’ 5* READER REVIEW
‘My favourite book of all time’ 5* READER REVIEW
‘Absolutely phenomenal . . . It was completely spellbinding’ 5* READER REVIEW
‘A masterpiece’ 5* READER REVIEW
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Additional information
| Publisher | 1st edition (6 May 2025), Headline |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 464 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1035410206 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1035410200 |
| Dimensions | 12.8 x 3.6 x 19.8 cm |
by Claire Edgar
Introduction of new characters and places are highly enjoyable however the lack of familiar characters flattens the story and leaves questions unanswered. Despairing a little that a criminal character still has power causes frustration. I also hadn’t realised this wasn’t a stand alone story as would have waited. Ms Harkness is a superb writer and storyteller.
by Cathy
So this is book 5 in the Discovery of Witches series. I had this on pre-order and I was so excited when it arrived. I absolutely love this series, its one of my all time favourites and one I’m happy to reread, in fact I have read it so many times that I had to replace them!
And this new addition did not disappoint! This series follows Diana, who is a witch, and Matthew is who is vampire, whilst ultimately this is a love story, it is also a take of breaking down centuries of racisim, it is enemies to lovers, it is about love and loss, it is about bringing people together to fight a common enemy. Basically it is awesome.
Book 5 sees Diana finding out more about her father’s family, and of course there are trials and tribulations along the way. Deborah is an amazing story teller and world builder, brining together an amazing group of characters in what continues to be a fantastic take of love and friendship, hardship, adversity, and coming out the other end a better person! This books is another 5 star read for me!
by Chloe
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
“Everyone in the family knew that the quickest way to soothe my ruffled feathers was to put a book in one of my hands and a cup of tea in the other.”
As a long-time fan of the All Souls series, including the TV show, I was thrilled to step back into the world of Diana and Matthew in The Black Bird Oracle.
The series has always held a special place in my heart, and I was eager to see what new challenges and revelations awaited them. The book brings us a more mature Diana, now balancing her role as a historian, a powerful witch, and a mother. Her family’s peaceful life is upended when their daughter Becca receives a mysterious gift from a dying raven, leading Diana on a journey to uncover long-buried secrets about her Proctor heritage.
One of the most intriguing aspects of the book is its deep dive into magic. While previous entries in the series explored history and politics, this one shifts focus almost entirely to Higher Magic, wands, and the complexities of Light, Darkness, and Shadow.
Despite my excitement, I found the book to be a bit overcrowded with characters and plotlines. At times, the narrative felt scattered, making it harder to stay fully immersed. There were so many threads woven throughout Diana’s journey to Salem, the Congregation’s involvement, Matthew’s interactions with the Proctor family, and the evolving magic system that it sometimes felt like too much to absorb at once.
Most significantly, some of Diana’s choices did not quite align with the character development from the previous books, which made parts of her journey feel inconsistent.
It truly pains me that this was not a five-star read because I love Deborah Harkness and her writing. While The Black Bird Oracle offers fascinating expansions to the All Souls world and sets up intriguing possibilities for future books, it lacks the gripping, cohesive storytelling of the original trilogy. That said, there is still plenty to enjoy, and I will always be eager for more from this world. Fingers crossed this will be adapted into the TV show as well.
by Jamieson Wolf
Deborah Harkness carries on her spellbinding tale of Witches, Vampires & Daemons. This book deals with her Father’s side of the family in Salem. Thrilling, fabulous, cannot put it down. I do hope there is a fifth in the pipeline…
by W. Green
On est pas déçu c’est encore mieux que la première trilogie !
On est emporté à chaque page. Vivement la suite.
by JackyinAlberta
No spoilers, no clues on the storyline. Just confirmation that lovers of the first trilogy will find joy and satisfaction in this book.
by Cliente Amazon
Großartige Fortsetzung der Serie. Gerne mehr
by Bewitched
Oh my goodness I have waited so long to read this book and it hasn’t disappointed me, taking up where the last book left off telling the continued story of Diana Bishop-Claremont and Matthew Claremont and their 2 bright born children, exploring higher and darker magic and the fears associated with dark magic.
Bringing in new characters from Diana’s family, I love Gwyneth and all the ghosts especially Granny Dorcas, this beautifully written book was a joy to read and held my attention from the moment I started it.
My only complaint now is having to wait for the next instalment to see what happens to Diana and her family.
Nice one Deb Harkness another amazing book, please don’t keep us hanging on too long for the next one!
by JB
Piacevole lettura
by ChrisG
I’ve given this 4 stars because some of the ideas and the writing are brilliant as ever. I had expected that Diana and Matthew would have been doing important work on the history and genetics of creatures in the intervening 5 years but nothing seems to have happened in this very important part of the stories and this really took away from the credibility of the story. What happened to the Diana as carrier of the Book of Life? The book started and ended very abruptly as well. There was so much missing, as other reviewers have said. But still the Ravenswood story was interesting and well developed. It just seemed out of time.
by Thomas E.
I was so happy to hear that Harkness was continuing the All Souls series! I was ecstatic when I learned that we would learn what Diana and Matthew were up to since The Book of Life. I wondered if it would feel like a natural continuation, and I was happy to discover that I was sucked into the story. It’s got magic, lust, family lore and it pulls you along on a story that just flows off the page. I know Mathew and Diana so well by now and was thrilled when Harkness built on the already established world that she’s already created and what a story. This novel is brain candy of the highest order, and I can’t wait to read it again.
by Chloe
Enjoyed immensely. Defo couldn’t put it down so had to keep reading until well past sleep.time. captivating. Thx so much. Hope that there is another one soon
by Lunar Shine
The Blackbird Oracle is a follow on to the third book in the All Souls Trilogy and is a brilliant read.
After being told by the Congregation that they want to test the magical powers of their children, Pip & Becca, (now age
7;) Diana persuades Matthew to forge a new life for them and travel to visit her Gt Aunt Gwyneth, with the intention of Diana studying Higher Magic.
When the Black Bird Oracle pack magically showed itself to Diana the start of a new future begins to unfold.
Many twists and turns leads the reader to another excellent read from Deborah Harkness who is such a brilliant and knowledgeable Author.