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Ever wondered what William Shakespeare's life was like
before he was known as the Bard? Before the Queen took notice
of him? Before the Globe Theatre? Step back in time and into
the Arden Woods about Avon. Find out what transformed the
life of a petty schoolmaster into a writer of enduring vision.
In an instant this young son of a glover had his life ripped
from him by the King of those that live under the hill, the
King of Elves. Can this mortal overturn the will and power
of the ruler of an immortal realm? He must or face the loss
of his love... and his life...
Ill
Met by Moonlight is the first book in Sarah A Hoyt's Shakespearean
fantasy series (the other two books being All Night Awake
and Any Man So Daring). The title is a reference to
Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
The book is a work of fiction that examines the life of a
young schoolteacher by the name of Will Shakespeare. Things
are not going well in his life, he is struggling to support
his wife and baby daughter, and then one day he returns home
to discover that they have vanished. His first thoughts are
that they have returned to his wife's family, and so he ventures
into Arden Forest, to start the journey towards the village
where she grew up. On his travels he stumbles across a palace,
where no building should be. But this is no ordinary palace.
It's the home of dancing lords and ladies of unearthly beauty,
and his wife is dancing with them.
Will
thinks he is going mad, until Quicksilver,
an elf who was tricked out of his inheritance by his brother,
Sylvanus, appears and explains to Will that his wife and daughter
have been kidnapped by Sylvanus, the evil king of the Elven
realm. Quicksilver promises to help Will rescue his captive
wife and child, but in return he must agree to help her in
a soul-damning plot to kill the fairy king.
Hoyt's
story is a breath of fresh air in a publishing industry bulging
with Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter literary
clones. A pure work of fiction, that only borrows the character
of Shakespeare and postulates how he came up with the inspiration
for his plays, this story will appeal to both fantasy and
Shakespearean fans.
It's
odd how the presentation can differ so much between two releases
from the same company. Not only is the packaging for this
release a hundred-fold better than the poor offering for Buzzy
Multimedia Audio's other recent release (Interlopers),
but the vocal actor is also much better.
As
I moaned in by review of the Interlopers, cardboard
packaging and the vocal delivery of Ben Browder made that
release a definite no-no. However, Ill Met by Moonlight
is another matter altogether.
To
start with, this eight disc CD collection comes housed in
four double CD jewel cases which are housed in a cardboard
slip case. And I can think of no one better than Jason
Carter to read this collection.
Carter
adds emotion into his delivery - which sounds like he's telling
a story, not reading from a script. This is essential in keeping
the listener glued to the plot. And once you start to listen
to this audio book, you'll find it hard to stop.
A
joy from beginning to end. A great reading of an engaging
story.
Nick
Smithson
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