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Ruled Britannia

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Harry Turtledove's newest book is a straight alternative history; no fantasy, no science fiction. The turning point is a victorious Spanish Armada, whose superior forces overwhelmed the British and have returned England to Catholic rule. Elizabeth I is now a prisoner in the Tower of London, while King Phillip II's daughter Isabella and her husband are the Queen and King.

Nine years later, the book begins with a vivid description of the English Inquisition (no one expects...) and heretics paraded and then burned at the stake. The population has been whipsawed between Catholic and Protestant rule, and now the Catholics are back with a vengeance. William Shakespeare is one of Turtledove's viewpoint characters, and like most, he is willing to go along with whatever religion the rulers want, as long as he can continue his day-to-day living. If that means observing Lent a month earlier than the Protestants would have, then he'll eat fish where others can see him. Alas, events do not allow a peaceful existance for him.

Shakespeare is asked to help overthrow the Spanish-Catholic overlords by writing a play about Queen Boudicca and her revolt against the invading Romans. Meanwhile, the Spanish ask him to write a master work commerating the about-to-drop-dead-any-day-now King of Spain, Phillip II. And the other viewpoint character, the Spanish lieutenant Lope de Vega, is there to watch Shakespeare and ensure nothing treasonous is going on. And de Vega enjoys his job, in fact he writes plays in Spanish and loves talking shop. So how is Shakespeare ever going to rehearse Boudicca, assuming he can figure out which of his troupe is willing to do so without running to the Inquisition?

Unlike most of Turtledove's other books, there are ONLY two viewpoint characters, and that helped move the plot along as well as let the background seep in. Turtledove's typical work has anywhere between eight and twenty viewpoints, giving a channel-surfing feel to some of them. Here we get to know the two protagonists, their fears, triumphs, and demons. Many here have said this is Turtledove's best book yet. While I'd reserve that for _How Few Remain_ (his fantastic alternate history of a victorious Confederate States of America 20 years later), this is certainly one of his best. If you love Shakespeare, you will love the use of his quotes throughout the book, as well as discovering how his plays take different form in this universe. If you don't, you will want to read more Shakespeare when you're through. Don't miss this one.

Ten years after the successful invasion of the Spanish Armada overthrew Elizabeth, England has quietly simmered under the repression of the dons. All it needs is the right motivation to rise up. As King Phillip II lies on his death-bed, England's remaining loyalists decide now is the time to strike. But how to stir the people to rebellion? A play's the thing, and who better to write it but William Shakespeare of course.

It's not that easy, of course. Spain wants to make sure England stays loyal, and what better way to commemorate their king than with a play, written by William Shakespeare.

Poor Master William. Not made for intrigue, nor gifted with great physical courage, he finds himself in the burden of his nation's sovereignty on his shoulders. Worse, he is forced to contend with the attentions of Senior Lieutenant Lope de Vega, who is made for intrigue and is a formidible playwright of his own.

"Ruled Britannia" is the book that Harry Turtledove should be remembered for. Even more than "Guns of the South", even more than "Worldwar" or "Great War". Turtledove writes with a richness of setting and depth of character only hinted at in previous works. He imbues Shakespeare and de Vega with complexity and depth as both play unwitting games of cat and mouse, leading from back alley murder and conspiracy, through the threat of the Inquisition, plays, romance, swashbuckling action, onward to the inevitable question: which play will be performed?

Groaning under Spanish rule for ten years, ever since England failed to defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588, London citizens have endured the Inquisition, the continued imprisonment of Elizabeth in the Tower of London, the use of Irish barbarians as thugs and enforcers by the Spanish occupiers, and a constant sense of uncertainty born of religious and political turmoil. The pageantry and spectacle of an auto-da-fe, both awe-inspiring and terrifying, open this novel of alternate history, its horrors made real by the cry of a condemned man, begging for help from an acquaintance in the mob, William Shakespeare, who can do nothing to help, and whose own life is endangered by the man's pitiful appeals.

Shakespeare here is a hero at the height of his powers as an actor and playwright. Sharing one-third of a room in a boarding house, eating and writing by firelight in a pub, dealing with the egos of his acting company, and associating with people from all walks of society--from mysterious characters like Nick Skeres and the "witch" Cicely Sellis, to Francis Bacon and Lord Burghley (Sir William Cecil)--Shakespeare is the pivot around whom all the action revolves. In counterpoint to him is Lt. Lope de Vega, an unpublished Spanish playwright, sent to infiltrate Shakespeare's theater and its productions and unmask any traitors to Spanish rule. When Lord Burghley secretly hires Shakespeare to write a play called Boudicca, planned as a call to the populace to throw off their Spanish yoke and avenge themselves, Shakespeare finds himself in mortal danger--he has also been hired by the Spanish to write a play in honor of Philip II, the dying Spanish king, a play to be produced as soon as Philip dies. Writing and rehearsing both plays simultaneously with a less than reliable troupe, Shakespeare must walk a fine line to avoid discovery as the mood in London becomes increasingly threatening.

Writing in the language and style of the period, author Turtledove casually (and very skillfully) incorporates innumerable Shakespearean quotations into his text, often with humorous intent. Puns, the off-color wordplay which so often provides comic relief in Shakespeare's plays, dialogue in which characters talk at cross-purposes, and a character who constantly misuses "big words," are a delight for any language-lover and admirer of the Bard. Quotations from Shakespeares Boudicca, which feel like quotations from a new and undiscovered authentic work, are brilliantly crafted from works of the period by Shakespeare and several contemporaries, and the opening night of that play is a stunning literary coup by Turtledove. All the talk and intrigue do lead to a plot which is a bit thin and short on action--until the bang-up conclusion, filled with arquebuses, rapiers, poleaxes, pikes, and even chamberpots. Lovers of language will thrill at Turtledove's achievement here, even while wishing, perhaps, that the book were a hundred pages shorter. Mary Whipple

For a writer to portray the life of another writer, one for whom daily living details are in short supply, is a difficult job. When it is not a work of biography, but rather an alternate history, and the writer being portrayed is Shakespeare, this act takes courage and more than a bit of chutzpah. Happily, Turtledove is (mostly) equal to this task.

Imagining a world where the Spanish Armada won, and England conquered and placed under the nominal rule of Queen Isabella, subsidiary to King Philip II of Spain, in many ways this is an intriguing look at the both the time and place - and its overlap with another SF writer's look at this time, Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, provides an interesting comparison. Instead of Stephenson's incredibly broad look at the times, people, and politics, Turtledove chooses to limit the scope of this book to the theater and its environs, with Shakespeare becoming the focal point of an attempted rebellion, as William Cecil commissions him to write a play designed to inflame the audience. Almost simultaneously, he is commissioned to write a play praising the life and deeds of King Philip, due to be performed upon Philip's death.

The tension in this book derives from these two opposing objectives, of how Shakespeare can write and get rehearsals performed of a subversive play while being closely watched by the Spanish for his progress on the King Philip play. Many of the characters presented are familiar ones: Kit Marlowe, Francis Bacon, Richard Burbage; and in general they are well fleshed out, and conform in the main to what is actually known about these people.

But more than plot or character, this book is driven by style and place. The dialogue is done in the Elizabethan English of the time, what Shakespeare basically wrote in. At times this is a little unnerving, as the syntax, word order, and vocabulary is such that you need to read a sentence two or three times to make sense of it. But it certainly provides a definitive ambience, which coupled with the descriptions of living, working, hygienic, and religious conditions, the typical fashions in dress and social customs, gives one a very good sense of the era. Turtledove has also inserted some wry jokes: changes in the names of Shakespeare's plays (such a "Love's Labour Won" instead of "Love's Labour Lost") and at various appropriate places in the dialogue he has stolen some of Shakespeare's most famous lines, given them perhaps a slightly shifted meaning. You don't need to be a Shakespearian scholar to recognize these, as most of these lines are so famous they have almost become part of the English language, though trying to match the lines to what play they belong in (and if that play had been written by the time of this book) is a more difficult but fun exercise.

The major failing I found with this book was that the basic idea behind the plot, that those planning a major rebellion would try to use a play as one of its major lynch-pins, does not come across as very believable. The play could obviously only be performed once, and would an audience of a couple hundred or so really make that much difference to the outcome of an uprising? But as a fun, light read that provides an interesting perspective on the times and the writer, this work does quite well.


--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

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.

In a world where the Spanish Armada was not defeated, William Shakespeare and the other citizens of London live under the Spanish flag in Harry Turtledove's 'Ruled Britannia.'

Shakespeare, as portrayed by Turtledove--quite accurately as many would suggest, is a well respected but struggling playwright. He writes and acts to put coins in his pocket and to create art. He quibles with the theater over any change they deem necessary to make to his plays. In the meantime, he attends Catholic Mass and attempts to live according to the conventions as prescribed by the Catholic Spanish conquerors. His greatest fear is to be labelled as a heretic and face the bonfires of the Spanish Inquisition.

In order to enjoy this novel, it is important to keep in mind that this is not a statement by Turtledove on Catholicisim or Prodestants. It is merely a 'what if' story of what might have happened had Kind Phillip and the Spaniards been successful in their plans to invade England.

That being said, Shakespeare is no hero. He minds his own business until he is approached by Queen Elizabeth's loyal subjects with a request that he create a play that will inflame the passions of the English, inciting them to overthrow their oppressive conquerors. If not for the gold presented him, it is entirely likely Shakespeare would have had nothing to do with the plot.

In a strange twist of fate, the Spaniards also approach Shakespeare to write a play. King Phillip is nearing death, and they desire that a play be written in his honor, in the hope that it will help foster good will between the British and their Spanish Rulers.

All along, Shakespeare has to avoid his plans being discovered by the adoring yet suspicious Lope de Vega. As intriguing as Shakespeare, de Vega came to London with the Armada. He is a playwright as well, and has a weakness for falling in love. His seductions eventually get him into trouble, and provide some amusement along the way.

'Ruled Britannia' is a fascinating novel. Turtledove steps away from the Civil War and the World Wars to write in a different era. He has proven himself to be a first rate alternative history author. I highly recommend this novel to any Turtledove fan, British history buff, those with a love for Shakespeare, and alternative history fans in general.

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.

On an earth that never was but could have been, The Spanish Armada was triumphant and landed in England. Queen Elizabeth was sent to the London Tower and King Phillip II of Spain's daughter Isabella and her husband Albert rule the land, forcing the Protestants into hiding and making Catholicism the state religion. Spanish soldiers are an army of occupation and the English Inquisition is a powerful instrument of the church.

William Shakespeare is not a political man. All he wants to do is have his plays produced for the masses to see. Will is approached by Sir William Cecil, Elizabeth's prime advisor to write a play that will appeal to England's sense of patriotism so that they will, when called upon, overthrow their Spanish masters. Will rises to the occasion and begins writing a drama while knowing that one mistake will mean his and the troupe's death by the flames.

RULED BRITANNIA is a fascinating stand-alone work of alternate history as Harry Turtledove departs from his American opus to provide a compelling work that is believable and shows what might have been if the storm and Drake had not caused havoc on the Armada. Using William Shakespeare as the hero and the reluctant catalyst to signal the beginning of the revolution is an inspired plot device, one that guarantees reader interest for more than just Mr. Turtledove's legion of fans.

Harriet Klausner

I've been a Harry Turtledove fan ever since I read Guns of the South, which was my introduction to the vast genre of science fiction known as alternate history. As a history student married to a history student, I LOVE playing the "What If" game with various historical scenarios.

Most of Turtledove's recent work, however, has not been very inspiring. Once, I would rush to the bookstore to pick up the latest installment of whatever series I was in the middle of. Now I'm content to getting the newest books from the library. Flat characterization, little plot advancement, and dull repetition have tarnished what would otherwise be very good books.

I wish they could all be like Ruled Britannia. This stand-alone novel shows that Turtledove can still write engaging dialog with memorable characters-even if the characters are largely historical figures. Maybe the idea of a successful Spanish invasion of Britain is far-fetched for some (I personally think that the invasion would have been a bit more "multinational" as more Catholic powers piled onto England), but the reactions of British citizens to the invasion is, I feel, quite accurate. I particularly like the portrayal of religion in the daily lives of Britons-for many, it didn't matter whether Protestants or Catholics were in power, or what ceremonies they had to follow or avoid; they were going to worship God, however they were allowed to.

I was particularly pleased to see one of my favorite Spanish playwrites, Lope de Vega, portrayed in the book. Lope was born only two years before Shakespeare, so they certainly were contemporaries. The depiction of de Vega's womanizing is very accurate, historically speaking, as are other aspects of his life-it was really only the failure of the Spanish effort against England that allowed him to leave the army and begin his writing career in earnest (Lope's ship was among the few who returned from the bitter defeat of the Armada at the hands of the British fleet).

The plot is particularly interesting, especially when contrasted with modern times. Imagine an era in which political propaganda is released NOT in 15 second soundbites, but in the text of plays. The depiction of the contemporary drama scene in the book is quite accurate, showing exactly how much research Turtledove does to ensure his books are as authentic as possible.

There is something for everyone in this book-literature snobs will even enjoy trying to figure out which of Shakespeare's actual plays the "alternate" titles represent. The book is a refreshing reminder of why I started reading Turtledove to begin with. I can only hope that the good doctor will continue to release these "single shot" alternate histories in addition (or perhaps in place of) the extended sagas that he has been writing recently.

Since its inception, Science Fiction has speculated about time travel and the possibility of changing the present by meddling in the past. Harry Turtledove writes about radically altered pasts without resort to time machine through a device called "alternate history". Blurbs on his books proclaim him the master of this genre. In support of his title Turtledove has published two hefty tomes in as many months. Advance and Retreat is the fourth book in his "war between the provinces" series which projects events in the US Civil War through a very convoluted looking glass. Ruled Brtiannia is more conventional, working from a single "what if..." premise, i.e. that the Spanish armada had succeeded in subjugating England in 1588.

Elizabeth is locked up in the Tower and Phillip II's daughter sits on the throne of England. Turtledove's story begins a decade later when William Shakespeare becomes embroiled in a plot to throw off the Spanish yoke. He proves a reluctant and timid revolutionary. Turtledove creates a persona for Shakespeare that is entirely believable and consistent with the known facts of his life. Many of the other characters in the book are important historical figures, though playing somewhat different roles in an England under Spanish rule. William Cecil is the prime conspirator rather than Elizabeth's prime minister. He commissions Shakespeare to write and perform a play that will arouse the patriotic fervor of the English. Lope de Vega, the great Spanish playwright (who really did sail with the armada) is a captain in the London garrison and a fan of Shakespeare's plays. His commander has him commission Shakespeare to write a play extolling the virtues of Phillip II. Faced with these competing and contradictory demands, Shakespeare comes up with a solution worthy of... well... of Shakespeare. Burbage, Kemp and Christopher Marlowe naturally figure in the story.

Turtledove sprinkles lines from Shakespeare and Marlowe, or approximations thereof, liberally through his dialogue. He plays a trifle loose with the sequence of the plays for no apparent reason, having the Falstaff of the Merry Wives of Widsor precede the Falstaff of Henry IV -- rather than the the other way round.

A witty and entertaining book.