The Black Bird Oracle

A Novel

De: Deborah Harkness

Narrado por: Jennifer Ikeda

Duración: 17 h y 3 m

Resumen del Editor

Diana Bishop journeys to the darkest places within herself—and her family history—in the highly anticipated fifth novel of the beloved #1 New York Times bestselling All Souls series.

“The Black Bird Oracle deftly explores the nexus of memory, history, and parenthood—the magic, pain, and promises mothers pass onto their children.”—Jodi Picoult

Deborah Harkness first introduced the world to Diana Bishop, an Oxford scholar and witch, and vampire geneticist Matthew de Clermont in A Discovery of Witches. Drawn to each other despite long-standing taboos, these two otherworldly beings found themselves at the center of a battle for a lost, enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782. Since then, they have fallen in love, traveled to Elizabethan England, dissolved the Covenant between the three species, and awoken the dark powers within Diana’s family line.

Now, Diana and Matthew receive a formal demand from the Congregation: They must test the magic of their seven-year-old twins, Pip and Rebecca. Concerned with their safety and desperate to avoid the same fate that led her parents to spellbind her, Diana decides to forge a different path for her family’s future and answers a message from a great-aunt she never knew existed, Gwyneth Proctor, whose invitation simply reads: It’s time you came home, Diana.

On the hallowed ground of Ravenswood, the Proctor family home, and under the tutelage of Gwyneth, a talented witch grounded in higher magic, a new era begins for Diana: a confrontation with her family’s dark past and a reckoning for her own desire for even greater power—if she can let go, finally, of her fear of wielding it.

In this stunning new novel, grand in scope, Deborah Harkness deepens the beloved world of All Souls with powerful new magic and long-hidden secrets, and the path Diana finds at Ravenswood leads to the most consequential moments yet in this cherished series.

* This audiobook edition comes with a downloadable PDF including a family tree.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 Deborah Harkness (P)2024 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“The Black Bird Oracle ushers in a thrilling new era for Diana, an Oxford scholar and powerful witch, as she navigates marriage to the vampire Matthew and motherhood, while reckoning with dark secrets from her family’s storied past. There’s no better time to get swept up in the romance, adventure, and magic of the All Souls world, beginning with A Discovery of Witches.”—Bustle

“Excitement is high as the release date for The Black Bird Oracle approaches. . . . It’s a chapter of Diana’s story that longtime fans won’t want to miss.”—Screenrant, 15 Most Anticipated Fantasy Books Coming Out the Rest of 2024

“The Black Bird Oracle was well worth the wait: Not only does it reunite us with the powerful love story of Diana and Matthew, it deftly explores the nexus of memory, history, and parenthood—the magic, pain, and promises mothers pass onto their children. Harkness’s lush prose makes a fantastical world real enough to touch; her characters are so real they feel like family.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult

So happy Jennifer Ikeda is back as the narrator

I so wanted to like this more than I did. I absolutely loved the All Souls Trilogy. This just doesn’t hold a candle. There are some gaps in the story, puzzling gaps. There are other things that just seem out of character for Diana. And Matthew disappears in the background. But Jennifer helps it to at least be digestible as a book.

What happened to Diana?

I love the previous All Souls story and the characters. I enjoyed finding out more about Diana's family, the Proctors, Rebecca, and the Dark side of magic. However, what happened to the powerful hand of the Goddess? It seems to be a let down, and minimizing of Diana's character, to just let her molder away being a professor and mother. I am not saying these parts of Diana are not important, but in the previous books she found her magic was absolutely important too. Her colorful threads on her hands have disappeared and the Book of Life disappeared too. She quit using magic it seems, based on the way this new book is written, Diana in fact intimates that she is still weak and unskilled when she meets a powerful weaver towards the end of the book! . She was the hand of justice the Goddess used and, the wife to the head of a powerful scion. Seven years later she is teaching and doing research on the history of science, cleaning the kitchen no magic at all! Matthew is cooking! Really, the vampire who said that cooked food smell made him feel ill! Why not have Marte be in the story?

I think there are interesting aspects to the story and I can see where additional books can follow up, and possibly change some of how the characters come across. Sarah seems to be a bitter harpy in the story. She doesn’t have any nuances of both good and bad, I think Ms. Harkness lost some of the growth of her characters in the previous books and especially has turned Matthew into a mere shadow. The children are quite interesting. I would have liked to have seen Jack interacting with them some. I can't recall but I don't believe he was ever mentioned.

The system of dark magic was a little confusing. Perhaps that is because it was somewhat confusing to Diana too. I hope Ms Harkness will expand her story as it has good possibilities. It just seems sad that the main characters are so diminished. I plan to read the book next, as I listened this time. I will see if I missed anything.

The narration was great I love Jennifer Ikeda's
voice.

Jennifer Ikeda does it again!

I love that they brought back Jennifer Ikeda for the audio version again. Her characters were familiar and comforting. I loved the story, and the fact that the ending makes it seem like there will be more to come! 🤞🏻I did have to rewind and relisten a few times, and I’m not sure if it was because I didn’t read it in print first, so the subject matter sometimes felt a little heavy for audio and I lost focus. I plan on reading it in print as well. I think this is a “me” issue, so I don’t hold it against the book. It was great to discover new people, and new sides of Diana. I loved hearing about the kids and their journeys. One thing I felt like was a bit of a disconnect was the treatment of Diana being a weaver. By the end of the last book, I saw Diana as coming into this amazing power and in this book, I felt like it was kind of swept under the rug. I know that she was becoming a student again, but I just felt like maybe it would have been acknowledged more. Idk if I’m explaining that correctly. Overall, loved it! And I’m looking forward to more!!!!

So must it be

Another lush adventure in the All Souls Series. It always surprises me how much I miss these characters until I pick up one of these books and with Harkness’ enveloping and homey writing style it always feels like no time has passed since I last finished an All Souls book.

Diana must embrace her fears and qualm her preconceived notions in this addition to the All Souls Series. Blessed and burdened with the Black Bird Oracle, Diana must explore the shadow inside her and trust in the Goddess’ plan. The teacher becomes the student once more as she finds a new instructor after the guidance from Goodie Alsop from past tales and times.

Will Diana be able to embrace Higher Magic? Or will the Dark Path swallow her whole. A tale you’ll be glad to read and listen to.

A chapter for Diana Bishop

This book opened up many questions about the future of Diana and her children. The Proctors were fascinating, and there was so much more magic to learn. There are sure to be more books coming our way, but we can only hope we don’t have to live on the edge of the cliff for too long before another story takes flight.

Rich and complex

Complex and intriguing story, beautifully researched, and woven into a rich emotional tapestry. A great addition to the series!

I love the all souls series

* review may contain some spoilers*

I have loved these books since the first read-through. I know I was so excited to learn more about the twins and their powers, but I was not disappointed learning what the bright-born children had to offer.

Finally discovering more about the Proctor family was a great way to advance the story. Hearing Diana accept her magic is a step I wanted in the first three books in the series. I know the fear is a big part of her personality, but I can't wait for her to fully accept her magic and become who she's meant to me. She took some great steps towards that in this book, and I can see she has a lot more to come in future books.

Gallowglass… needs his book… I need him to find his happiness and let me binge every second of it. He was mentioned in small snippets and I need more.

Jennifer is a wonderful narrator, I am glad I purchased the physical and audio versions of this book.

All in all - great book - I need more - that ending leaves so much to your imagination

I have to say this: Harkness & Ikeda are magic!!!

It's like a visit from an old friend. I am so happy to know more about Dianna & Matthew's twins and her path to higher magic.

Mispronounced words

Enjoyed the book very much but the narrator mispronouncing words was very distracting. It was a bit disappointing

Another great adventure with Diana and Mathew

I’m hoping a deck of oracle card comes out quick and the release date of the next chapter in the All Soul’s series.