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A Midsummer Tempest (1974)

by Poul Anderson

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Holger Danske (2)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
6581034,849 (3.39)30
Nebula and World Fantasy Award Finalist: A fantastic tale of intrigue, love, war, magic, and swashbuckling adventure set in an alternate universe where fairies mingle freely with Englishmen and all of Shakespeare's fictional characters are real Welcome to an alternate civil-war-torn seventeenth-century England--a world where Hamlet once brooded and Othello jealously raged. Here faeries and sprites gambol in English woods, railroads race across the landscape while manned balloons float above the countryside, and the most respected historian of all is one William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon.   The year is 1644, and the war between the Roundheads and the Cavaliers rages. When Rupert, nephew of King Charles I, is taken captive by Cromwell's troops and imprisoned in a Puritan home, he is immediately smitten with the beautiful Jennifer Alayne, his captor's niece. Escaping with the help of his newfound beloved and the loyal trooper Will Fairweather, Rupert leads Jennifer deep into the forest, where the faerie folk who dwell there have a vested interest in the outcome of the great and bloody conflict. Though the lovers must soon part--with the prince undertaking a dangerous mission for his magical benefactors that could turn the tide of war--Rupert and his lady love will be forever joined by the rings presented to them by King Oberon and Queen Titania. And despite the strange, twisting pathways and turbulent seas they are destined to encounter, they will always be able to find each other again . . . as long as their love remains true.   Nominated for the World Fantasy Award and winner of the Mythopoeic Award, Poul Anderson's A Midsummer Tempest is a titanic achievement--a delightful alternate-history fantasy that brings the fictional worlds of Shakespeare's plays to breathtaking life with style, wit, and unparalleled imagination.… (more)
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Showing 1-5 of 10 (next | show all)
An enjoyable fantasy from Anderson. Basically, it's the adventure of Prince Rupert vs the Roundheads in a world where Shakespeare's plays were literal truth. There are several
negatives. There is a completely unnecessary and unconvincing chapter that tries to couch this as an alternate universe. (This ties it to Three Hearts and Three Lions) There's a romance that would have been dated even in Shakespeare's time. And there's way too many cases of characters speech rendered in dialect

Nevertheless, Anderson's story resolves well, and the language wordplay is a lot of fun.

Recommended. ( )
  ChrisRiesbeck | Jul 19, 2021 |
I really like the characters; I really like the concept, a universe where everything Shakespeare wrote is true; and the author skillfully interweaves two Shakespeare plays with a slightly altered version of history. And all the characters speak in iambic pentameter! And each chapter ends with a rhymed couplet! ( )
  LordGro | May 5, 2020 |
Somehow I expected to like this book lot more than I actually did. Anderson was a fine sf and fantasy writer and the concept of a world based on Shakespeare's plays is clever. However, the idea that the Weberian Puritan/capitalist ethic made Cromwell a villain is not comfortable to me, even though at the climax King Charles does have to admit it is England not his own divine monarchy that is at stake, ( )
  antiquary | Jun 24, 2018 |
Fantasy/alternate history, in which Shakespeare's plays really happened, plus parallel universes and, randomly (sort of), trains.
Sounds, sadly, way more amazing that it actually is. The idea is very cool, but the execution is poor enough that the story barely holds together and is mostly just confusing. Shame, really. ( )
  electrascaife | Jul 22, 2017 |
Ogier/Holger the Dane finds himself swept back into another encounter with world of fairies, this time in the Shakespearean play, and in the English Civil war. Those who like scenarios where King Charles wins the conflict will enjoy this version. I found it less fun than Hearts and Lions. ( )
  DinadansFriend | Feb 6, 2016 |
Showing 1-5 of 10 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (7 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Anderson, PoulAuthorprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bermejo, LuisCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Gabbert, JasonCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Quadro-Grafik BensbergCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Schichtel, ThomasTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Sweet, DarrellCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Whelan, MichaelCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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To Karen
with thanks for twenty years of love.
First words
THUNDER AND LIGHTNING. A HEATH ABOUT TO BE BLASTED.

Throughout that sullen day, cannon had spoken from time to time between the confronting armies.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Wikipedia in English (1)

Nebula and World Fantasy Award Finalist: A fantastic tale of intrigue, love, war, magic, and swashbuckling adventure set in an alternate universe where fairies mingle freely with Englishmen and all of Shakespeare's fictional characters are real Welcome to an alternate civil-war-torn seventeenth-century England--a world where Hamlet once brooded and Othello jealously raged. Here faeries and sprites gambol in English woods, railroads race across the landscape while manned balloons float above the countryside, and the most respected historian of all is one William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon.   The year is 1644, and the war between the Roundheads and the Cavaliers rages. When Rupert, nephew of King Charles I, is taken captive by Cromwell's troops and imprisoned in a Puritan home, he is immediately smitten with the beautiful Jennifer Alayne, his captor's niece. Escaping with the help of his newfound beloved and the loyal trooper Will Fairweather, Rupert leads Jennifer deep into the forest, where the faerie folk who dwell there have a vested interest in the outcome of the great and bloody conflict. Though the lovers must soon part--with the prince undertaking a dangerous mission for his magical benefactors that could turn the tide of war--Rupert and his lady love will be forever joined by the rings presented to them by King Oberon and Queen Titania. And despite the strange, twisting pathways and turbulent seas they are destined to encounter, they will always be able to find each other again . . . as long as their love remains true.   Nominated for the World Fantasy Award and winner of the Mythopoeic Award, Poul Anderson's A Midsummer Tempest is a titanic achievement--a delightful alternate-history fantasy that brings the fictional worlds of Shakespeare's plays to breathtaking life with style, wit, and unparalleled imagination.

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Book description
What if Shakespeare were a historian and his world a mortal one of men and elves?

Somewhere, spinning through another universe is a history almost like ours except for the result of a revolution or two and the earlier incidence of a few inventions. A prince called Hamlet has lived in Denmark, and the English woods are full of Pucks, Titanias, and Oberons. Cromwell is at the throat of King Charles, but locomotives rage through the verdant countryside and observation balloons tower over battle lines.

Rupert, prince of the Rhine and defender of the crown, has been captured by the Roundheads, and an eviscerated Royalist force is chased to Glastonbury Tor, the site of legendary Avalon, the Court of Arthur. But Rupert has escaped, sent on a magic quest for the fairy kingdom that chooses to make its stand in England against forces of industrial revolution. If his aims succeed, Rupert can save both the land for its spirits and the king for his crown.

Poul Anderson brings back heft and haleness to an age that used its language well and its halberd even better. Cavalier and Puritan come full-bodied and lively out of his rich imagination, and science fiction takes an unexpected ride into the past. -- from the first edition dust jacket
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