King of Shadows

You know you are in the hands of a master when you read this book. This is fantasy at its best. Beautifully crafted plot, unforgettable characters, and accurate history.

Nat Field, an actor in the American Company of Boys, goes to London with the troupe to play the role of Puck in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the new Globe Theatre. Suddenly, he is transported back in time to 1599 London and finds himself portraying Puck at the original Globe. Not only that, he's performing with Will Shakespeare himself, who is playing Oberon! The author brings the sights, sounds and smells of Elizabethan London to life and takes us behind the scenes of the Bard's own production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." After reading this, you'll probably want to read the play and see a performance yourself. Susan Cooper, who was a student of J.R.R. Tolkien, is an outstanding writer and storyteller. Don't miss her magnum opus, the five-book "The Dark Is Rising" series.

Nat is a talented orphan who is chosen to be part of an international Shakespeare festival. The first part of the book is about the people he's working with and the plays he's in. But when Nat gets sick and slips into a coma, he's really traveled back in time to Elizabethan England, where he is performing in the same plays with Will Shakespeare, who befriends him and gives him a very special gift. The rest of the book is about Nat's relationship with Shakespeare and the other actors, as well as the differing interpretations of the plays that he's in. I liked that we're told right away that Nat's in a coma rather than having it revealed at the end of the book that it's a dream or hallucination. Also, the discussions of how different time periods and directors see the plays in various ways was a sophisticated concept for a kid's book; it's nice when the author assumes some intelligence on the part of the reader! The story is interesting on many levels -- we learn a lot about England of the time, but within the context of interesting events and happenings -- drama without violence. Highly recommended.

I really liked this book! I am an actor myself and it in intrigued me the love of the art that was shared with me! I learned to love the characters including William Shakespeare and Thomas. I loved how I felt to really be there! I also like the connections that Nat had when he woke up to how he was 400 years ago, like how gross is hair was because he did not wash it back than and how it could have seemed liked part of the dream because nurses did not clean it! I have recently gone to England and went on the London tower and everything! I felt I was there again when reading. I did not give it five stars because it had some slow parts. Although I think it is a great read and I recommend it to others!

Loved reading this book, and it is a great book to teach. I paired it with Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in 8th-grade lit class, and it was entertaining and informative. The descriptions of Elizabethan England are accurate and give a picture of life during that time. Young adult historical fiction--great book.

The trope of waking and finding oneself acting in one of Shakespeare's own productions is a clever one, and any book that introduces Shakespeare's theatre to middle school students has much to be said for it. The writing is somewhat pedestrian, but not leaden, and it is certainly readable. But the sophomoric use of obscenities, joking references to child molesters, etc., make this book thoroughly unsuitable for the younger end of the age spectrum suggested -- quite irresponsibly -- by Library Journal and others. A great pity, because otherwise this would be a wonderful book for bright ten-year-olds. I am hardly a prude, but it is wearying to see the extent to which the culture is manically trying to ensure that children not be allowed to be children any longer than can possibly be helped. Again, this could have been much more than the current fashion allowed it to be. A pity the author could not resist marching along.

I have a soft spot for time-travel books and have read a fair few. This one will go right to my "very special" shelf of YA books, alongside "The Dark is Rising" (which is actually better than this, but it's better than just about anything!). I read a borrowed copy in one gulp, and now I'm ordering my own. Looking through the reader reviews, I didn't notice anyone linking this to the "Dark is Rising" series, but did anyone else notice that we have a character in here who has been living for a very long time, making things happen for Good?

A teenaged boy finds himself transported from modern London to the Elizabethan era where he finds himself part of Shakespeare's acting company. Great story and an excellent picture of London at that time. Written for older children this mature adult enjoyed it.