All Night Awake

I looked forward to reading this after being pleasantly surprised at 'Ill Met By Moonlight.' This book proved as entertaining, and maybe even a little more action packed than the first in what looks like is heading into a series. Here, Faerie King Quicksilver accidently frees his evil brother, Sylvanus, who was banned from the fairy kingdom for having King Oberon and Queen Titania (Sylvanus and Quicksilver's parents) knocked off so he could assume the throne. He used the help of the Hunter, an ancient and mysterious power, to help him kill the king and queen, and now Sylvanus, having been captured, is forced to serve as one of the Hunter's hounds as his punishment. As 'Awake' gets under way, it's 10 years after 'Ill Met,' and now that Quicksilver has unwittingly set his evil brother free, now the Hunter is injured and a breach in fairy land has occurred. Now, plague is rampant, beginning at Stratford and spreading to London, where Sylvanus seeks death and destruction. Quicksilver doesn't want anyone to know, especially his wife, Queen Ariel, and he takes off to London to try to right his wrongs. In the meantime, Shakespeare is in London trying to make it as a writer, but he's not doing too well. He's in debt, starving and basically ready to foot it back home in the country if he doesn't starve to death along the road back home. However, in steps Christopher Marlowe, who's enjoying patronship and success. Problem is, he's in hot water with the secret service, and they're badgering him more and more ruthlessly to name names in any conspiracy to off Queen Elizabeth. Marlowe sees a chance to implicate Shakespeare (the queen's men are always hungry for more), before Marlowe can make what he hopes will be a clean break from the intrigue and maybe take his illegitimate son, Imp, along with him, since Imp is the only thing Marlowe really cares about. If you're wondering, 'Hey, wasn't Marlowe gay?', well, Hoyt offers her own explanation, mainly that Marlowe had a fling with Quicksilver some years back. Quicksilver, incidentally, is a sort of gender shapeshifter, so Marlowe basically was enjoying the best of both worlds, so to speak.Now Quicksilver arrives in London and is trying to set things straight with the help of Shakespeare. Will doesn't want any more connections with faerykind, though, as he's not happy he cheated on his wife in the first place with Quicksilver's feminine side, Silver. For a while the plot bumps back and forth between Shakespeare and Silver, Silver/Quicksilver and Marlowe, and Marlowe and Shakespeare, all of whom are trying to accomplish their own agendas, with the exception of Will, who basically wants to be a poet, earn an income and help his family out back in Stratford.In the middle of this, Queen Ariel is basically pouting at home in faeryland, because she thinks Quicksilver has left her to find Shakespeare and resume the affair as Silver, two things he'd promised her he'd never do again. Every few chapters we see her miserabl

Having read (and thoroughly enjoyed), the first book, "Ill Met By Moonlight" I gladly picked up the second. And, while I enjoyed it a great deal, there were several points in which I was physically frustrated with the actions of some of the characters. When Quicksilver goes in search of Shakespeare to enlist Will's help, the Queen, Ariel, is not told the extent of the situation. She thus spends the entire book in a self-loathing and misunderstanding as she - and Quicksilver's own right-hand man, Malachite! - thinks naught but ill towards her missing husband. Always assuming the worst, this line of the plot was deeply frustrating for the reader who wished to slap some common sense into the Queen.The other issue which was not expected was that this book was more about Kit Marlowe then it was about Shakespeare. This was fine enough, as the character was interesting and served the plot well, but I was certainly not expecting for Will to have a secondary role in the story.One must certainly read the first book ("Ill Met By Moonlight") prior to starting this one however, as the basis for the story relies on your easy knowledge of the setting and characters. I had not expected a second and was pleasantly surprised when I saw it printed, but I was left a little wanting in comparison to the first, which I enjoyed cover-to-cover without pause.Those who enjoy fantasy, historical "what if's?" and Shakespeare/Victorian literature would enjoy this book even if they generally avoided this level of "fantasy" fiction.

In Arden Grove near Stratford-On-Avon lies the hill that is the heart of fairy. Once Sylvanus ruled the fey but his evil ways caught up with him and he was doomed to spend eternity as one of the Hunter's dogs. Through trickery and guile, Sylvanus plays upon the sympathies of the new king of the elves, his brother Quicksilver, into using the power of the hill to free him from his bondage.Sylvanus, as evil as ever, makes his way to London, spreading carnage, death and illness as he passes. Realizing what he's done, Quicksilver travels to London to find a way to defeat his brother and restore the natural order of the world. Quicksilver, in his alter ego of Lady Silver, tracks down William Shakespeare to warn him to leave London for those who have been touched by fairy are forever marked and Sylvanus will be able to use him for his foul purposes. Kit Marlowe, a courier of Elizabeth I, wants Shakespeare in London as a sacrifice to those of the Queen's council who want a traitor. Sylvanus finds Marlowe more than adequate for his purposes, leaving it up to others to defeat the evil Sylvanus.ALL NIGHT AWAKE is an entertaining blend of historical facts with fantasy lore. Readers learn how Shakespeare obtained his muse, the fate of Kit Marlowe, and the court intrigues that center on Queen Elizabeth I. The antagonist is one of the most odious creatures to grace the pages of a book so the reader wants him defeated. Sarah A. Hoyt's prose has lyrical feel that adds to a wonderful work.Harriet Klausner

Lately it seems that all fantasy writers must write trilogies--even if they only have one book's worth of story--because that's what is in fashion now. I've read enough dud sequels lately to last me a few decades. This book is an exception. For starters, I wasn't even expecting a sequel to _Ill Met by Moonlight_. That novel was complete in itself and very satisfactory. So, seeing that a sequel had appeared was a pleasant surprise--since Hoyt hadn't blatantly set it up with loose ends as many authors do.I didn't like this book quite as much as Ill Met, for three reasons. First, the metaphysics were more confusing than in the first book. Second, the constant use of Shakespearean quotes gets a little heavy-handed from time to time. Third, this book doesn't stand on its own as well as Ill Met; it would make no sense without the first volume and too obviously sets up the third.However, _All Night Awake_ is a good book. Quicksilver, the gender-bending elf who became king of Fairyland at the end of Ill Met, has ruled his kingdom now for ten mortal years. At the behest of his beloved wife, Ariel, he has promised fidelity and suppressed his female aspect, Lady Silver. But when his evil brother, Sylvanus, hatches a diabolical plan to take over the world, Quicksilver must go to London to save both the human world and the elfin one. And there, Lady Silver demands her share of attention--for there live two of her ex-lovers. Will Shakespeare, starving artist, determined to remain faithful to his wife after his one lapse. And Kit Marlowe, famous and admired, but haunted by memories of his fairy lover and by the deaths of men he has betrayed over the years. Without being preachy or pedantic, Hoyt delivers a moving story of love and honor, marriage and temptation, friendship and betrayal. And along the way, there's a bit of humor. For example, Marlowe makes a habit of never actually calling Shakespeare "Shakespeare". Instead he cobbles together synonyms--"Wigglestick" is one example. I would add the caveat that this book is more violent than _Ill Met by Moonlight_.