Ill Met by Moonlight

Rating:
Summary: A Great Fantasy with Shakespeare
Review: I didn't know what to expect from a fantasy with Shakespeare as the main character. But, since I have been a fan of the current trend in fiction which centers around real people, and a lover of Shakespeare, I thought I'd give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised! I found it especially interesting to see how the seeds of many of Shakespeare's greatest plays began during the kidnapping of Shakespeare's wife and child by the "good people" in the fairy kingdom once ruled by King Oberon and Queen Titania. I did not find the quotes from plays to be distracting, I thought Ms Hoyt did an excellent job incorporating them into her story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and read it in one sitting...

Rating:
Summary: A tale signifying nothing...
Review: I had high hopes for this book; the title, the cover, the idea of reworking William Shakespeare's life - all appealed to me. The story is meant to be a creative retelling of Shakespeare's life, the first in a series. It begins with Shakespeare as a young newly married man. His wife, Nan (a variation on Anne Hathaway) and his young daughter, Susannah, are stolen away by the King of the elves who plans on making Nan his wife. The premise of this book is - I believe - that Will's resulting adventures and interactions with the eleves became his inspiration for his later writing.

Now the unfortunate part: The writing of this book is frankly, well, just plain bad. Try as you might, you cannot become very attached to the characters. There is not enough deail and intricacy in the plot. Every thing seems very cliche. And it IS very cliche because Hoyt steals a lot of her plot from Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, MacBeth, and of course, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Not only does she snatch ideas from these plays, she shamelessly pilfers exact dialogue. Perhaps she thought that putting Shakespeare's dialogue into the mouths of her characters would enhance the novel. But it does not; it fact it irks and distracts and suggests that she is unable to provide her own wording.

This incorporation of Shakespeare's lines into the novel was the number one reason that the book failed to be enjoyable (for me). At the most dramatic moments in the novel, you are pulled away from the scene because of the dialogue: "A plague. A plague on both your houses! Your houses, remember. You are both cursed." It could be that I've heard the lines so many times before in context, that they failed to impress me when I read them in Ill Met By Moonlight. Instead, I grew annoyed with an author who evidently could not come up with her own original dialogue.

This is a very romaticized and melodramatic book. Like I said, the melodrama might work if one could feel some attachment to the characters. But for the most part, that's not possible. Just as you're liking a character, the most awful dialogue comes out of their mouth and spoils it all. Will is not at all how I would imagine a young Shakespeare to be. There is not even a hint of genius present in him.

So, in conclusion, I'm disappointed with the novel. I'd hoped it would be more like a book I'd read when I was younger, A Cue for Treason (by Geoffery Trease). I would suggest that book in place of this one for those of you who don't mind young-adult books. True, its less fanciful but the story is fun, interesting, and suspenseful. It does not mangle Shakespeare like this book does and it is truer to life.

My last complaint is that Ill Met By Moonlight is only the first book of a series. If I'd known that I would not have bought it. I definitely will not purchase the next book. Fortunately, the conclusion of Ill Met By Moonlight is such that you do not feel you MUST go out and find out what happens next.

Believe me, you probably won't even care. ;o)

Rating:
Summary: NOVEL PREMISE, MILDLY INTERESTING
Review: It is a bold endeavor using the best-known figure in English literature as your main foil in a light hearted fantasy concerning men and fairies. Ms. Hoyt has taken William Shakespeare as a very young newlywed and enveloped him in a plot that has the usurper fairy king kidnapping his wife and child, first as a wet nurse and then maybe as a wife. Coming to his unlikely aid is the rightful king, who just happens to be able to change from male to female, and in a tale of mismatched love and lust plots to retrieve Will's wife Nan.

An interesting premise and actually not a bad little story. Some may be put off by the use of such a famous persona in such a light fantasy but as it happens I'm not one of them. I'd be willing to bet the old Bard wouldn't care all that much either, anything for a good story I'm sure. The biggest problem I had with the whole thing is the rationalization of why Will's wife Nan was picked by the usurper Sylvanus to be his wife. She was a self admitted `old maid' and a bit of a shrew who married a much younger William out of, oh I don't know, desperation? Certainly if she were a raving beauty she would have been snapped up long before Will came along, regardless of any possible personality flaws. So why did a centuries old fairy, with all the beauty and power of his enchanted position precipitate his own ruin by kidnapping this rather ordinary human woman? Beats me, I can't figure it out. To be honest it is easier to accept the existence of fairies than this plot twist.

I will say one thing of Ms. Hoyt, she certainly knows Shakespeare's works, at least the more well know ones anyway. Inter-dispersed with almost every spoken line is a hint, and sometimes a bit more than a hint, of some famous quote from one of the Bards plays. It's actually interesting trying to place some of the more paraphrased ones with their original.

As a romance it's only fair and as a fantasy it's good. All in all I would RECOMMEND it. It garnered just enough interest from me to proceed onto the next one, from there we will see.

Rating:
Summary: NOVEL PREMISE, MILDLY INTERESTING
Review: It is a bold endeavor using the best-known figure in English literature as your main foil in a light hearted fantasy concerning men and fairies. Ms. Hoyt has taken William Shakespeare as a very young newlywed and enveloped him in a plot that has the usurper fairy king kidnapping his wife and child, first as a wet nurse and then maybe as a wife. Coming to his unlikely aid is the rightful king, who just happens to be able to change from male to female, and in a tale of mismatched love and lust plots to retrieve Will's wife Nan.

An interesting premise and actually not a bad little story. Some may be put off by the use of such a famous persona in such a light fantasy but as it happens I'm not one of them. I'd be willing to bet the old Bard wouldn't care all that much either, anything for a good story I'm sure. The biggest problem I had with the whole thing is the rationalization of why Will's wife Nan was picked by the usurper Sylvanus to be his wife. She was a self admitted 'old maid' and a bit of a shrew who married a much younger William out of, oh I don't know, desperation? Certainly if she were a raving beauty she would have been snapped up long before Will came along, regardless of any possible personality flaws. So why did a centuries old fairy, with all the beauty and power of his enchanted position precipitate his own ruin by kidnapping this rather ordinary human woman? Beats me, I can't figure it out. To be honest it is easier to accept the existence of fairies than this plot twist.

I will say one thing of Ms. Hoyt, she certainly knows Shakespeare's works, at least the more well know ones anyway. Inter-dispersed with almost every spoken line is a hint, and sometimes a bit more than a hint, of some famous quote from one of the Bards plays. It's actually interesting trying to place some of the more paraphrased ones with their original.

As a romance it's only fair and as a fantasy it's good. All in all I would RECOMMEND it. It garnered just enough interest from me to proceed onto the next one, from there we will see.

Rating:
Summary: Pure magic!
Review: Sarah A. Hoyt blends magic and Shakespeare into a heady brew! Will Shakespeare is a 19-year-old school teacher, barely able to make ends meet for his wife and baby daughter. Then his wife and child disappear, taken by the "good people", the fairies, and Will must join forces with Quicksilver, an enigmatic elf, to save them.

I definitely recommend this book for any fantasy or Shakespeare lover--and especially for anyone who loves both! Ms. Hoyt shows a side of Shakespeare I'd never considered. Conventional wisdom has it that Shakespeare and Ann Hathaway had an unhappy marriage, based on the evidence of the second-best bed, etc. Here we see Shakespeare in love (no pun intended) with his older, strong-minded wife.

Part of the fun of this book was identifying the many references to Shakespeare's plays. I noted "Hamlet", "As You Like It", "Romeo and Juliet", and many others, and I probably missed quite a few.

The moral of this review: catch this book before, like fairy magic, it disappears.

Rating:
Summary: Pure magic!
Review: Sarah A. Hoyt blends magic and Shakespeare into a heady brew! Will Shakespeare is a 19-year-old school teacher, barely able to make ends meet for his wife and baby daughter. Then his wife and child disappear, taken by the "good people", the fairies, and Will must join forces with Quicksilver, an enigmatic elf, to save them.

I definitely recommend this book for any fantasy or Shakespeare lover--and especially for anyone who loves both! Ms. Hoyt shows a side of Shakespeare I'd never considered. Conventional wisdom has it that Shakespeare and Ann Hathaway had an unhappy marriage, based on the evidence of the second-best bed, etc. Here we see Shakespeare in love (no pun intended) with his older, strong-minded wife.

Part of the fun of this book was identifying the many references to Shakespeare's plays. I noted "Hamlet", "As You Like It", "Romeo and Juliet", and many others, and I probably missed quite a few.

The moral of this review: catch this book before, like fairy magic, it disappears.

Rating:
Summary: Well Met
Review: Sarah Hoyt has written a lovely fantasy that has the young Will Shakespeare saving his wife from the world of fairy, meeting his muse, and witnessing an internecine fairy conflict that will become grist for much of his future writing. She has also given us a literary guessing game as characters, quotes, and plots of the Bard's output come peeking around the corners of the story. Ariel is a dream. Her look into "fairyland" is often stunning in its invention. I particularly liked the use of dew drops as a sort of Elizabethan era DVD. There are points where the plot drags, but the book is short enough that we quickly move back along, and the excitement of fairy duels and life at court more than make up for any shortcomings. This book will do well in the hands of an adult, but should do exceptionally well with the "young mature" reader. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Sarah Hoyt is a good read
Review: Sarah Hoyt is neither William Shakespeare nor a wanna be, she is her own woman and her own writer. But she is fascinated by the Bard. That interest and resulting expertise does bleed through in her stories.
The story Ms Hoyt tells belongs in the category of "it could have been." She has sufficient knowledge to weave a plausible story inside the known facts of Will Shakespeare's life. But Ms Hoyt doesn't just pile fact upon fact. She starts with a very real seeming locale in England and begins following a day in the life of a very young William Shakespeare. She follows Will as he tries to find his missing wife and child. Then in what may become her trademark Ms Hoyt starts to veer off the tried and trite everyday world. Her plots do not go exactly where we anticipate. Her plots have a way of going to a better place than we anticipated. Her story works out to leave us with warm feeling of completion -- Of course it was Ms Hoyt and her skill that made it seem to be so.

Rating:
Summary: A Midsummer Night's fun
Review: This book is a delight. Anyone who loves Shakespeare and the faerie world will probably get something out of this. It stars Quicksilver, who was the rightful heir to throne of the fairy kindgom and consequently stripped of many of his powers. His brother is the one who took the throne after their parents were murdered. In the meantime, Quicksilver's brother needs a new bride, and steals Will Shakespeare's wife and baby to take over as queen (and care for his own little one). Quicksilver ultimately conspires with Shakespeare to set things straight and along the way the reader runs into many charming Shakespearian elements (familiar characters appear, familiar phrases are uttered). It's as if Hoyt used these settings as future inspiration for the budding Bard. A joy to read, and Hoyt's penned a sequel, 'All Night Awake,' to continue new adventures in London, once all is concluded in Stratford.

Rating:
Summary: Quicksilver!
Review: To tell the truth I probably would've walked by the display of "Ill met by moonlight" in a bookstore, ignoring its colourful cover or flashing title. Fantasy and fairy tales are not really my cup of tea. However, it was the prospect of listening to audio book version read by Jason Carter that made me buy the tale. Fans do some crazy stuff that is for sure.

Now, after listening to eight hours of adventure, love and magic, I have to admit that I would've truly missed a fantastic novel if I hadn't bought it when I did. The first few minutes, the prologue to be exact, sounded strange to my ears. Then the story started and I was pulled into the magical world of Will Shakespeare and Prince Quicksilver.

English is not my first language so I have to say that I did not understand all words of this very colourful story. I learned to love and hate the characters and when the story moved on I was eager to see what would happen in the next scene, the next paragraph, yes, the next sentence. I fell in love with Quicksilver just as Lady Ariel did - and yet hoped for the dark Lady Silver to show Will the pleasures of love and passion. Sometimes my breath would catch in my throat when the unexpected happened. The Hunter's evil herd of wolves, or Will's attempt to capture Lady Silver by iron chains made me gasp in surprise and I hoped and feared for my favourite character.

In the end I was sad that the tale ended so soon but it was a good end, a happy end of a fairy tale.

This was only the second audio book I've ever "read". I was very pleased with the reading by Jason Carter who breathed vivid life into each character.