Ill Met By Moonlight
When young schoolmaster William Shakespeare’s wife and child are discovered missing, he assumes they must be off visiting family. A later walk through the forest shows otherwise as he finds her dancing with King Sylvanus, Lord of Elven Realm. Teaming with Quicksilver, the true heir to the Fairyland throne, Shakespeare works to retrieve his family while resisting the fatal elven charm.
Hoyt’s premise that this encounter with the folks under the hill is the fodder for some of Shakespeare’s plays is quite clever. Dialog from his plays are scattered throughout and provide amusement as one tries to identify them. Starting each chapter with stage directions also foreshadows Shakespeare’s future success as a playwright. However, an excess of character introspection and repetitive dialog becomes maddening as the action is halted each time a character pauses to lament his or her situation.
More fantasy than historical, this book is appropriate for fantasy fans who enjoy long forays into each character’s thoughts. Those wishing a novel about Shakespeare with a more historical bent should look elsewhere.
