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Rating: 
Summary: Great Mystery
Review: "Thirteenth Night" truly is a five star book. Alan Gordon has done a splendid job of building a new story around the characters of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night." He presents the reader with an exciting, witty and very well written mystery. I especially like his premise that medieval jesters and troubadours were much more than entertainers. And, mercifully, his characters speak in modern English, not the embarrassing pseudo-antique dialogue one sees in many novels set in the Middle Ages or the Renaissance. "Thirteenth Night" and Alan Gordon deserve to be much better known.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing Take-Off on Twelfth Night.
Review: Alan Gordon says that he got the idea for this book during a seminar on Shakespeare which took place for four-hour meetings once a week. After a while, he started thinking "what if every fool in Shakespeare's plays were the same man?" Years later, the idea was still in his head and he couldn't resist any longer. So he wrote this fascinating and convoluted tale of "Feste", who is summoned back to the Duchy of Illyria/Orsino (where the Shakespeare play "Twelfth Night" took place) by the message "Orsino is dead." Now that his work to foil a wicked plot by Saladin has been endangered, Feste returns to the scene and is beset by plots, counter-plots, and returning villains. The scene is set wonderfully, with details aplenty and a few cameos by historical figures which were quite fun in their own right. Feste's voice is wry and satirical, and I look forward to reading the next book in the series with glee.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Entertainment
Review: Alan Gordon says that he got the idea for this book during a seminar on Shakespeare which took place for four-hour meetings once a week. After a while, he started thinking "what if every fool in Shakespeare's plays were the same man?" Years later, the idea was still in his head and he couldn't resist any longer. So he wrote this fascinating and convoluted tale of "Feste", who is summoned back to the Duchy of Illyria/Orsino (where the Shakespeare play "Twelfth Night" took place) by the message "Orsino is dead." Now that his work to foil a wicked plot by Saladin has been endangered, Feste returns to the scene and is beset by plots, counter-plots, and returning villains. The scene is set wonderfully, with details aplenty and a few cameos by historical figures which were quite fun in their own right. Feste's voice is wry and satirical, and I look forward to reading the next book in the series with glee.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Entertaining with a very clever plot
Review: Gordon's clever working of the characters from the Twelft Night produces a very entertaining mystery. Students who study Shakespear as part of their courses will enjoy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A fun read for any historical mystery buff.
Review: I always wondered what the jester's real game was... Shakespeare's various jesters (Feste, Lear's fool etc.) were all the same man; a member of a secret guild whose purpose was to have a positive effect on the world at large. Starting with the message "Orsino is dead," Feste is called back to the land of "Twelfth Night" to solve the mystery around the death and the possible participation of Malvolio. Gordon remains focussed on the mystery, with a number of clever ruses thrown in to keep the reader guessing. Sticking to modern day speech patterns rather than pseudo-Shakespearean is a definite plus. While you don't get a true sense of period from this mystery, (Gordon works more on plot and characters than setting) Gordon deftly imagines what happened to Twelfth Night's various characters, some coming out much worse for wear. Also enjoyable was the author's treatment of the reader; he lets the story recap Twelfth Night's plot and the Jester's Guild function is intimated not explained in boring detail.A fine first novel in a series I hope is successful.
Rating: 
Summary: The Thirteenth Night
Review: I thought this book was OK. This is the author's first book, and that is the way it read. I think he did a good job on his first book but I am expecting better on his next.
Rating:
Summary: Intrigue Heightened by Wordplay
Review: The tale told in this intriguing little book takes place over the 12...er..13 days of Christmas and will be appreciated by those who love the English language and enjoy a little repartee or extemporized rhyming as well as a good mystery. The storyline builds on Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" so the play's the thing to read initially. According to the dust jacket, this is the author's first book-length mystery (he is a lawyer by day), and while his ingenuity is apparent, this is as polished a piece as any of the grenre. Familiarity with the 13th Century is probably not necessary, but some of the "jests" must be better appreciated by one with a sensitivity to the conflicts of the period--betwen Guelph and Ghibelline, Saracen and Crusader, Rome and Constantinople, and Albigensian and Orthodox. The only complaint I have is the books brevity--must come from writing briefs.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Entertainment
Review: This is one of the most purely enjoyable mysteries I've read in ages. The plot is complex but not in a contrived way, the characters shine, and the writing is superb. Like Stephen Saylor, Gordon can write passages that demand to be reread for the sheer pleasure of it. The dialogue is pitch-perfect and wryly witty without slipping into the coyness that mars the work of other authors. That would be pleasure enough, but the plot contrivance on which the book is based is truly brilliant. Gordon posits that the jesters in Shakespeare's plays are all the same person--who is not merely a jester but an agent working for a secret, international guild of fools whose purpose is to keep the barbarity of various rulers and armies to a minimum. The interweaving of the central mystery, plot strands from Shakespeare, and guild intrigue is irresistible. Note: The connection to Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is presented so well that it won't interfere a jot if you haven't read or don't remember the play.
Rating:
Summary: great fireside reading
Review: This mystery's jester-narrator is a great character, combining intelligence and a (sometimes wicked) sense of humor.Author Alan Gordon deserves special applause for his fabulous idea -- returning to the setting and people of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, adding a "secret agent" in jester's garb, and mixing in an excellent plot. Get your hot chocolate, put on your slippers, and sit by the fireside to enjoy this winter read! I hope there is a sequel underway...
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Summary: A fun read for any historical mystery buff.
Review: _Thirteenth Night_ was a great, fun mystery read and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It's not a detective mystery in the purest sense, since the emphasis is not on clues and investigations but on character. In fact, the book's strongest point is its development of the sometimes one-dimensional characters of _Twelfth Night_ into believeable people. I did not always agree with Gordon's view of the characters; still, I enjoyed what he did with them. The narrator Theophilus does not let us in on all his reasoning, and knowledge until the very end, when he lets the characters in on it as well. Without this knowledge, no reader could solve the mystery before Theophilus does. I find the withholding of information annoying, but it is a typical and traditional technique of the mystery genre (Conan Doyle does it). Still, this is not the book for readers who like to match their wits against those of fictional detectives. I still recommend the book for an interesting and entertaining read.
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