This book first appeared as an audio drama on Audible, narrated by Richard Armitage.
What the Critics Say
“It’s a fresh, contemporary take on Shakespeare’s tragedy, one not afraid to create new characters or cut long soliloquies. We get a noirish Hamlet, who, when asked by Laertes if he's ready to fence, blurts out: ‘I’ve been ready all my life.’” (Associated Press)
“English literature teachers worried about getting pupils entranced by Shakespeare should plug them in to this imaginative gloss on Hamlet before starting on the real thing. Hobbit-fanciers will rejoice to find that Richard ‘Thorin Oakenshield’ Armitage is an outstandingly versatile narrator. This is the one of the most powerful listening experiences that I’ve had.” (The Times London)
Some reactions from Audible customers
‘Brilliance itself… the drama, the passion, the complexity of characters.’ Michael, Sydney, Australia.
‘I love this take on the old story. There's depth of emotion here, and the characters and actions make sense in a new way. As a wonderful bonus for those of us who have longed for deeper and better-realized female characters in Shakespeare's plays … Hartley and Hewson endow the women of Elsinore with brains and sensible motives and actions.’ C. Telfair, Shephardstown, WV.
‘I have become a huge fan of A.J. Hartley and David Hewson. Having studied Shakespeare as a student I am familiar with the stories, but this is not just another rehashed version. They take the story line and while remaining faithful to the basics, add life and depth to it in a way that is never boring.’ T. Higgins, Detroit MI.
‘The authors have done a wonderfully creative job of approaching the tale from a fresh, very lateral perspective. Lesser events and characters in the play are brought to the fore, and a wonderful layer of Machiavellian political intrigue suffuses the story. The same is true of the play's original paranormal elements. The authors have developed it into a lush political and psychological thriller.’ Madeleine, London.
‘I'm not unique in finding new depth to the characters - Ophelia, Hamlet himself, and (for me) especially Claudius. Is Hamlet mad or acting? Is Claudius evil or caught in the one act he committed (perhaps) through the evil manipulations of another? By adding back stories to the major and secondary characters, the story moves beyond the dramatic (and melodramatic) familiarity of Shakespeare's speeches into a tragedy of real people's lives.’ Janice, Sugar Land, TX.
‘You’d think that Hamlet would be done to death by now, but these writers managed to bring something fresh and very engaging to the table. Hamlet, although definitely still a brooding character, feels a lot less like a navel-gazer and a lot more like a caged lion, brooding only because he has not yet figured out how to sink his teeth into his prey. By the time the final scene occurred, bathed in blood as usual, I was twisted up inside with all of the individual characters’ desperations and I could see the whole thing happening not as some giant farcical tragedy but as a set of unavoidable forces all crashing into each other, each person hurting inside and out.’ R. L. Cobleigh, Ashland, MA.