Ruled Britannia

In a world where the Spanish Armada was not defeated, William Shakespeare and the other citizens of London live under the Spanish flag in Harry Turtledove's 'Ruled Britannia.'Shakespeare, as portrayed by Turtledove--quite accurately as many would suggest, is a well respected but struggling playwright. He writes and acts to put coins in his pocket and to create art. He quibles with the theater over any change they deem necessary to make to his plays. In the meantime, he attends Catholic Mass and attempts to live according to the conventions as prescribed by the Catholic Spanish conquerors. His greatest fear is to be labelled as a heretic and face the bonfires of the Spanish Inquisition.In order to enjoy this novel, it is important to keep in mind that this is not a statement by Turtledove on Catholicisim or Prodestants. It is merely a 'what if' story of what might have happened had Kind Phillip and the Spaniards been successful in their plans to invade England.That being said, Shakespeare is no hero. He minds his own business until he is approached by Queen Elizabeth's loyal subjects with a request that he create a play that will inflame the passions of the English, inciting them to overthrow their oppressive conquerors. If not for the gold presented him, it is entirely likely Shakespeare would have had nothing to do with the plot.In a strange twist of fate, the Spaniards also approach Shakespeare to write a play. King Phillip is nearing death, and they desire that a play be written in his honor, in the hope that it will help foster good will between the British and their Spanish Rulers.All along, Shakespeare has to avoid his plans being discovered by the adoring yet suspicious Lope de Vega. As intriguing as Shakespeare, de Vega came to London with the Armada. He is a playwright as well, and has a weakness for falling in love. His seductions eventually get him into trouble, and provide some amusement along the way.'Ruled Britannia' is a fascinating novel. Turtledove steps away from the Civil War and the World Wars to write in a different era. He has proven himself to be a first rate alternative history author. I highly recommend this novel to any Turtledove fan, British history buff, those with a love for Shakespeare, and alternative history fans in general.

William Shakespeare is well considered to be the greatest English writer in history. Though his English is now archaic, the intricate cleverness of his plot lines and their timeless insights into human nature have made him acclaimed. Which presents a serious problem for any author attempting to have him as a major character in a novel. Can you better his prose? Well Turtledove lacks any temerity! He makes Shakespeare the central character of this novel.Both Shakespeare's spoken dialogue, and the invented writings in his play Boudicca are well done. More to the point, and the harder of it, read carefully the few stanzas of the latter that are presented in the text. Turtledove seems to have captured the cadences of authentic Shakespeare. As another reviewer said, it feels like an undiscovered Shakespeare play!Having said all this, I should add that the story is a little sparse on action. It's a lighthearted romp through England of that time. Certainly, it does not compare in action or grimness of subject with Turtledove's WorldWar series, with its subtext of Nazi genocide, or his Civil War series.The forced admixture of Spanish and English cultures is amusing. Turtledove lives in Los Angeles, as do I. Here there is a melange of both, with the Anglo influence being dominant. I think he used this experience and inverted it, to get some of the everyday depictions of London under the Spaniards. The casual use of a few Spanish phrases in English is unremarkable in 21-st century LA, but would certainly have been rare in 16-th century London, but for the Occupation.This book may appeal more to the fans of Shakespearean and Middle English literature than your dyed-in-the-wool science fiction fans. In this, it resembles Turtledove's early short stories set in an alternate Byzantium Empire. As you may know, he has a PhD in Byzantine history from UCLA. He parlayed this expertise into various stories. Someone asked him about this once: How do people in that field feel about what he did. He said about half thought it was just weird. But the other half thought it was cool that he could put such arcana to use. He has done similarly here.

Harry Turtledove's newest book is a straight alternative history; no fantasy, no science fiction. The turning point is a victorious Spanish Armada, whose superior forces overwhelmed the British and have returned England to Catholic rule. Elizabeth I is now a prisoner in the Tower of London, while King Phillip II's daughter Isabella and her husband are the Queen and King.Nine years later, the book begins with a vivid description of the English Inquisition (no one expects...) and heretics paraded and then burned at the stake. The population has been whipsawed between Catholic and Protestant rule, and now the Catholics are back with a vengeance. William Shakespeare is one of Turtledove's viewpoint characters, and like most, he is willing to go along with whatever religion the rulers want, as long as he can continue his day-to-day living. If that means observing Lent a month earlier than the Protestants would have, then he'll eat fish where others can see him. Alas, events do not allow a peaceful existance for him.Shakespeare is asked to help overthrow the Spanish-Catholic overlords by writing a play about Queen Boudicca and her revolt against the invading Romans. Meanwhile, the Spanish ask him to write a master work commerating the about-to-drop-dead-any-day-now King of Spain, Phillip II. And the other viewpoint character, the Spanish lieutenant Lope de Vega, is there to watch Shakespeare and ensure nothing treasonous is going on. And de Vega enjoys his job, in fact he writes plays in Spanish and loves talking shop. So how is Shakespeare ever going to rehearse Boudicca, assuming he can figure out which of his troupe is willing to do so without running to the Inquisition?Unlike most of Turtledove's other books, there are ONLY two viewpoint characters, and that helped move the plot along as well as let the background seep in. Turtledove's typical work has anywhere between eight and twenty viewpoints, giving a channel-surfing feel to some of them. Here we get to know the two protagonists, their fears, triumphs, and demons. Many here have said this is Turtledove's best book yet. While I'd reserve that for _How Few Remain_ (his fantastic alternate history of a victorious Confederate States of America 20 years later), this is certainly one of his best. If you love Shakespeare, you will love the use of his quotes throughout the book, as well as discovering how his plays take different form in this universe. If you don't, you will want to read more Shakespeare when you're through. Don't miss this one.

Ten years after the successful invasion of the Spanish Armada overthrew Elizabeth, England has quietly simmered under the repression of the dons. All it needs is the right motivation to rise up. As King Phillip II lies on his death-bed, England's remaining loyalists decide now is the time to strike. But how to stir the people to rebellion? A play's the thing, and who better to write it but William Shakespeare of course.It's not that easy, of course. Spain wants to make sure England stays loyal, and what better way to commemorate their king than with a play, written by William Shakespeare.Poor Master William. Not made for intrigue, nor gifted with great physical courage, he finds himself in the burden of his nation's sovereignty on his shoulders. Worse, he is forced to contend with the attentions of Senior Lieutenant Lope de Vega, who is made for intrigue and is a formidible playwright of his own."Ruled Britannia" is the book that Harry Turtledove should be remembered for. Even more than "Guns of the South", even more than "Worldwar" or "Great War". Turtledove writes with a richness of setting and depth of character only hinted at in previous works. He imbues Shakespeare and de Vega with complexity and depth as both play unwitting games of cat and mouse, leading from back alley murder and conspiracy, through the threat of the Inquisition, plays, romance, swashbuckling action, onward to the inevitable question: which play will be performed?

On an earth that never was but could have been, The Spanish Armada was triumphant and landed in England. Queen Elizabeth was sent to the London Tower and King Phillip II of Spain's daughter Isabella and her husband Albert rule the land, forcing the Protestants into hiding and making Catholicism the state religion. Spanish soldiers are an army of occupation and the English Inquisition is a powerful instrument of the church.William Shakespeare is not a political man. All he wants to do is have his plays produced for the masses to see. Will is approached by Sir William Cecil, Elizabeth's prime advisor to write a play that will appeal to England's sense of patriotism so that they will, when called upon, overthrow their Spanish masters. Will rises to the occasion and begins writing a drama while knowing that one mistake will mean his and the troupe's death by the flames.RULED BRITANNIA is a fascinating stand-alone work of alternate history as Harry Turtledove departs from his American opus to provide a compelling work that is believable and shows what might have been if the storm and Drake had not caused havoc on the Armada. Using William Shakespeare as the hero and the reluctant catalyst to signal the beginning of the revolution is an inspired plot device, one that guarantees reader interest for more than just Mr. Turtledove's legion of fans.Harriet Klausner