If you're like me and you were in love with the Twilight series as a teenager, let me put you onto something: The All Souls Series by Deborah Harkness. This trilogy consists of A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, The Book of Life, and Time’s Convert. The series has also been made into a TV show on Sundance Now, and the second season (which follows the storyline from book two, Shadow of Night) is currently airing new episodes every Saturday on the streaming platform. For the first time in my life, I've actually read the book before seeing the story on the big screen, and the TV show really does the books justice.  

Have I not sold you on this yet? A Discovery of Witches is like Twilight for adults, but with magic! And you know what else? It’s even better than Twilight, and here's why: 

The heroine is a fighter.

Diana Bishop (played by Teresa Palmer) is an accomplished historian at Oxford. She's also a witch, although she actually neglects her magical side in favor of a normal, academic life. When she stumbles across an enchanted book for her research, things get dicey for her. She doesn’t go running into the arms of a dashing vampire to protect her, she actually starts protecting herself long before she falls in love with Matthew Clairmont (played by Matthew Goode from Downton Abbey). Off the top of my head I can think of at least five times in which Diana successfully defended herself and Matthew came in with the assist. Don’t get me wrong, there is a little bit of that damsel in distress routine in the first book/season as Diana dusts off the cobwebs and starts learning how to use her magic again. However, she proves time and time again throughout the whole series that despite her chilling past, she can hold her own. It's a far throw from Bella, who literally falls over all the time and even breaks her wrist trying to punch someone.

There isn't a love triangle.

Was Bella ever really going to choose Jacob? No. That boy didn't stand a chance to Bella's first love, and Deborah Harkness won't waste our time with such a notion, either. We can rest easy in the knowledge that once Diana and Matthew choose each other, the only threat to their relationship is prejudice and secrets. And malevolent witches and vampires. And a magic book everyone wants. And also genetics…? You’ll see what I mean.

The main characters have a sense of self-preservation.

When I was fourteen I thought it was insanely romantic that Bella and Edward were so in love that they were constantly willing to die for each other--and nearly did in every. single. movie. And now when I watch them, I get tired of Bella's helplessness and Edward's meltdown every time he puts her in danger. Matthew and Diana certainly find themselves in some dangerous situations, but it's such a relief that for once, one of them isn't totally helpless and the other borderline suicidal when the girl gets a papercut. Whenever they're in trouble, they put their heads together and try to find a solution that leaves them both alive. Which leads me to my next point:

The vampire isn't quite so brooding

Matthew is 1500 years old, and as such he definitely has some skeletons in his closet. Like Edward, he believes in God, but instead of abandoning his relationship with the Almighty just to punish himself, Matthew maintains his faith and never stops looking for redemption. As Matthew opens up to Diana about his mistakes and shortcomings, she doesn't have to spend four whole books trying to get him to accept happiness and forgiveness. Their relationship and their faith in each other does get thoroughly tested, but it’s a lot easier to stomach without all the masochistic “I’m not worthy of love/I’m a monster” crap. The older I get the more I realize that Edward is a little emotionally manipulative. 

Being a vampire or a witch isn't their whole personality

In this franchise, the creatures can be people, too. And no one is forced to go to high school forever. The unfortunate thing about Bella and Edward being as young as they were is their only other personality trait is being in high school. Like I mentioned before, Diana is a successful historian who (initially) doesn’t even use her magic, and Matthew is a brilliant geneticist. Harkness' approach to imaginary creatures is probably the most practical one ever written, and as such we can enjoy fully-developed characters who love red wine, alchemy, science, or Thomas Paine's Common Sense. We know so much more about them besides who they're currently dating, or how they came to be a vampire. That being said…

The author is an actual historian and scholar, so there's more to the plot than the romance.

Through Deborah Harkness’ love of history and science, we can also enjoy a really enticing mystery about an enchanted alchemical book and it’s unknown connection to the main characters. I think the best thing about this series is the fact that Harkness uses the ancient vampires to paint vivid, realistic pictures about what the past was really like; from the Crusades, to the Renaissance, to the American Revolutionary War, to World War II. Furthermore, being as Matthew Clairmont is a geneticist, she also provides fool-proof biological explanations for how daemons, vampires, and witches exist, and what evolutionary problems they're about to face. 

They're not in high school.

That whole "Ah-man-high-school-is-hard-enough-can-you-imagine-being-a-vAmPiRe?!" thing is a little worn out. I'm tired of seeing 25 year-olds playing juniors, I'm sick of the 'can't-tell-my-parents' schtick, I'm SO sick of seeing prom, or even worse? A graduation ceremony in the middle of an impending mythic-creature-crisis. I'll be honest, at first when I realized that Diana and Matthew were well into their 30's, I was a little put off, I thought it would be less enjoyable if they weren’t at least in college—because that’s all I’ve ever read. However, I didn't realize how nice it was having the main characters be adults with jobs, their own places to live, and the ability to drink legally until I read it in All Souls. 

As you can see, A Discovery of Witches is the next step up from the Twilight series. But don’t get me wrong, I’m still gonna watch Twilight at least twice a year. As a matter of fact, I watched it last night. I’m only human.

Until the next cup of coffee,

-Ken