The Black Bird Oracle Audiobook By Deborah Harkness cover art

The Black Bird Oracle

A Novel

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The Black Bird Oracle

By: Deborah Harkness
Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
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About this listen

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
Fantasy Occult Paranormal Witchcraft Magic Users
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Critic reviews

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

What listeners say about The Black Bird Oracle

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Strong addition to the series! ❤️

The wait for this book did not disappoint. It was so enjoyable to get a deeper look into Diana’s Proctor side of the family. Jennifer as always did a wonderful job of voicing both the female & male characters. Thank you Deborah for the amazing continuation of Matthew & Diana’s story, along with a promise for another installment! ❤️❤️

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Fell short

I’ve read all the previous books and this one just fell short. There were many plot holes and inconsistencies with the characters.

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2 people found this helpful

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Loved this book so much!

This book was well worth the wait! I hope we receive more in the series!!

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1 person found this helpful

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A little disappointed

Narrator was outstanding. I did not find this book to be as enjoyable as the previous ones in the series. I felt that the whole plot was setting the scene for more to come, but it just didn’t have the spark and character development of the others. Still, hoping for better to come.

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Great narration

I was so happy to finally embark on another journey with Diana et all. I loved the All Souls Trilogy! Disappointed that this one falls short. Jennifer Ikeda delivered a fantastic narration, as usual and kept me going but the story itself is somewhat weak compared to the previous books.

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Great imagery and performance, some confusing story choices

As usual, Jennifer Ikeda’s performance is great, and I enjoy Harkness’s imagery around magic. The story is good and it will please most fans of the series. I found that a lot of actions from some characters, specifically Diana, were nonsensical, out of character, but I was able to kind of get over that. Luckily those scenes are mostly brief, with little explanation to dwell over. The whole premise of the book is similarly nonsensical, to be honest, but it gives some good soap opera drama, bit of romance, good power fantasy. I suspect the text just needed a couple more passes to build some more logical course of actions to arrive at whatever revelations were needed. The door has been conspicuously left open for more story, which I don’t know if I love. I’ve watched too many worlds I love get stretched too thin, the narratives strained to include stories that weren’t meant to support.

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A great continuation

Great job! Wonderful that we got to see new family and discover more interesting tid bits about Diana and her family. I wanted to devour this book but didn’t want it to end, how long must I wait for Diana’s visit to Venice? Narration was top notch. Use the credit!

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Riveting

loved how quickly the story drew me in and kept me there, not wanting this story to end. I look forward to more of this tale.

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Loved it!

Another stellar installment in this series! So glad Jennifer Ikeda is back as the narrator. I will be re-reading, for sure.

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Another paranormal wonder


It’s so nice to be back with Diana, Matthew and the others. Finally my family has returned to me. Great storyline, characters and suspense. Welcome home, Diana.

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