Rating: 
Summary: Good plus Shakespeare
Review: This is one of Harry Turtledove's best books. Although I considered the plot and story mediocre as alternative histories goes - the superb job he did making Shakespeare as a main character into the story was great - showing outstanding research and implementation. I am not sure it will fly with the majority of alternative history buffs, but if you enjoyed Shakespearen stories, the Shakespearen time, or even the movie "Shakespeare In Love", I think you would really enjoy the story.The differing history is based on the Spanish Armada having won and Spain having ruled England for about 10 years with both the Spanish and English getting a little complacent with the way thing are. The story then revolves around Lieutenant Lope de Vega (former Spanish playwrite assigned to watch for treason in the theater) and Shakespeare who is hired by loyal English rebels to write a play to incite rebellion in the populace and who is also hired by the Spanish to write a play honoring their King Phillip II.
Rating: 
Summary: weak plot, but a diverting read
Review: This is only my second Turtledove book. I decided to give him a second chance after Gundpowder Empire, which had a good premise and interesting ideas but a lousy plot. I stand by my initial assessment of Turtledove's strengths after this novel.
Ruled Britannia is on one level a fascinating book- very well researched. Turtledove pays close attention to language and events, but in the end this is also what brings book down. The basic plot is that the Spanish are occupying England after throwing Elizabeth off the throne. If you have some background in English history (and it helps to know alittle bit since things are not spelled out) you would know that around this time in the novel England had defeated the Spanish Armada, securing England's place as a world power. Elizabeth had also come to the throne and undone her step-sister Mary's religious reforms. Mary had aimed to bring England back into the Roman Catholic fold after her father, Henry VIII embraced Protestantism. (yes, it's a little confusing, which is maybe why Turtledove does not go into it too much).
Shakespeare has been hired to write a radical subversive play which English revolutionaries hope will bring down Spanish rule. Far fetched? Yes, but this is fiction so that's ok. It works a premise to hang a snapshot of Elizabethan England on. But instead of an interesting plot and actual event, we get endless, and I mean endless, pages of dialogue in which Turtledove shows off his ability to write witty banner in Elizabethan English. He admits he borrows a lot from the works of Marlowe, Shakespeare and more, but still doesn't lessen the groan inducing "quotes" from famous Shakespeare plays. To make things seem more "real" in this alternative world Turtledove also has an annoying habit of changing play titles and quotes juuuust enough to make them "alternate." "Prince of Denmark" instead of "Hamlet." "Love Labour's Won" instead of "Love's Labour Lost." I would say it was all just a bit precocious except that Turtledove is a grown man. Instead I'll say it is a bit twee, almost sophomoric. Once one gets past the pages of witty banner there is not much left. Like Gunpowder Empire little seems to happen plot wise. Even when things do happen, an exciting swordfight for instance- the actual fight is over in a couple of paragraphs, but then we get several pages of people talking about the fight, using snatches of grade school Spanish (another annoying device meant to convey that the Spaniards in the story speak Spanish not English). Is this a good beach read- maybe (some people might find the Elizabethan word play a little taxing) - but really not much more. It is clear that Mr. Turtledove is a man of many exceptional talents, novelists just does not seem to be one of them. Check it out at your library and read during lunch or on the subway/carpool ride.
Rating: 
Summary: Shakespeare to the life
Review: To draw no envy, Tur'l'dove to thy name,
Am I thus ample to thy book and fame;
And do confess thy writing to be such
As neither man nor muse could praise too much.
Rating: 
Summary: Too many words
Review: Too many words .............................................. and then after about 475 pages the 'action' starts .................. To read or not to read is not the question !
Rating:
Summary: The pen is mightier than the sword
Review: Turtledove, the master of alternative history, turns his gaze to the Elizabethan era and asks, what if it were the Isabellian era instead? As "Ruled Britannia" opens, England has been occupied for ten years by the Spanish forces of Phillip II, who holds it in the name of his daughter Isabella. Elizabeth is held in the Tower of London, most of the nobles of the realm have either been exiled or executed, and the weary populace shows little signs of resisting. But as Philip lies on his deathbed, a coup is planned by Elizabeth's faithful councilor William Cecil, who enlists the aid of the popular playwright William Shakespeare in a plot to inspire the English to rise against the occupation.
As with most alternate history, you need to have a good grasp of how things actually went in order for the changes to make much sense. Many characters are familiar: Cecil, Shakespeare, Kit Marlowe, and Francis Bacon among them. Others may not be, such as Lieutenant Lope de Vega, Shakespeare's Spanish counterpart whose interest in his rival's latest work may unravel the whole plot.
Shakespearean gems are scattered throughout, some in contexts guaranteed to elicit a chuckle. And, to Turtledove's credit, all the English dialogue is cast in an Elizabethan dialect. Depending on your familiarity with it, this can either be one of the book's greatest charms or its worst annoyance.
Unfortunately, this is not an action-oriented book, and at almost 600 pages, that can be a real killer. There are scenes where characters are writing, where they are reading, and where they are talking, and scenes where they talk about reading what someone has written. Any actual action is jammed into a somewhat unsatisfying chapter at the end. This is a book about words and ideas, which may not appeal to everybody. Still, it is an original, witty, rich novel that makes for enjoyable, if not always easy, reading.
Rating:
Summary: Two playwrights, both alike in dignity,..
Review: Two playwrights, both alike in dignity, in fair London where we lay our scene... If you like Historical Fiction and Shakespeare, then you may well consider this to be one of the best books you have ever read. A brilliantly done alternative history: England is under the Spanish Thumb and Master William S is a subversive playwright. Wonderful writing, great plot: Beg, borrow, buy or steal a copy, but read it!
Rating:
Summary: Decent Read
Review: Well, this book isn't exactly for those who do not understand or care for anything Shakespeare, as the author writes in similar ways and words throughout most of the book. And since the book deals with history, then those not acquainted with the general information of that time may be lost. Not a whole lot of action, but some suspense. I feel it was a good read, but I am glad I've finished it. I read this book because of the author recognition and feel that the books about the ramifications of the North losing the Civil War are much better. But anyway, read this if there is nothing else to read or are interested in either Shakespeare, history, or both.
Rating:
Summary: A new Shakespeare play!
Review: William Shakespeare is well considered to be the greatest English writer in history. Though his English is now archaic, the intricate cleverness of his plot lines and their timeless insights into human nature have made him acclaimed. Which presents a serious problem for any author attempting to have him as a major character in a novel. Can you better his prose? Well Turtledove lacks any temerity! He makes Shakespeare the central character of this novel. Both Shakespeare's spoken dialogue, and the invented writings in his play Boudicca are well done. More to the point, and the harder of it, read carefully the few stanzas of the latter that are presented in the text. Turtledove seems to have captured the cadences of authentic Shakespeare. As another reviewer said, it feels like an undiscovered Shakespeare play! Having said all this, I should add that the story is a little sparse on action. It's a lighthearted romp through England of that time. Certainly, it does not compare in action or grimness of subject with Turtledove's WorldWar series, with its subtext of Nazi genocide, or his Civil War series. The forced admixture of Spanish and English cultures is amusing. Turtledove lives in Los Angeles, as do I. Here there is a melange of both, with the Anglo influence being dominant. I think he used this experience and inverted it, to get some of the everyday depictions of London under the Spaniards. The casual use of a few Spanish phrases in English is unremarkable in 21-st century LA, but would certainly have been rare in 16-th century London, but for the Occupation. This book may appeal more to the fans of Shakespearean and Middle English literature than your dyed-in-the-wool science fiction fans. In this, it resembles Turtledove's early short stories set in an alternate Byzantium Empire. As you may know, he has a PhD in Byzantine history from UCLA. He parlayed this expertise into various stories. Someone asked him about this once: How do people in that field feel about what he did. He said about half thought it was just weird. But the other half thought it was cool that he could put such arcana to use. He has done similarly here.
Rating:
Summary: The master's best recent novel!!
Review: _Ruled Britannia_ (hey, Amazon, correct your spelling!) is Turtledove's best stand-alone book in the last few years. In fact, it's an absolute delight, not least because of the gorgeous amount of Shakespearean language (much of it directly adapted from the Bard's own works, indeed - trying to guess which plays or poems a certain line came from is a big part of the fun) and because of the depth and affection with which Turtledove depicts his alt-hist Shakespeare and his Spanish opposite number Lope de Vega (a famous real-life playwright who, in the novel, is a junior officer in the Spanish occupation force who much prefers to spend his time hanging with Master Will and his cronies, or else in pursuing and bedding English beauties). Turtledove might have been accused in some instances recently of padding his work, or phoning it in, but not this time around. Along with _Guns of the South_, I can hardly think of a better introduction to the good Professor's work.
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