Hamlet Revisited and Renewed, December 29, 2003

By	Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

Things begin to heat up quickly. A professor discovers an old book that may prove Hamlet was plagiarized word for word. Then during a rehearsal, the troupe is sucked through the stage and into the real-life story of Amlodd (Hamlet). They find themselves in the roles they have been studying except for the professor who seems to have swapped bodies with Amlodd.

Not wanting to die like their play-characters, the actors try to disrupt the story but discover that the story has a lot of momentum. To make matters worse, one of their number seems to be channeling some form of deity.

I have to say that I now know more about the history of Hamlet than when I started to read, but it was not a history lesson. In fact, some of the later revelations would have been right at home in one of the finer novels of Richard Laymon. Some may find these revelations a little disturbing.

I would have to say that this is sort of a fantasy tale and sort of a horror story but that it leans more towards the fantasy. A very original book.

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