Book Review
of Falstaff’s Big Gamble
Sponsored by Pump up Your Book
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Blurb
:
This
novel is Shakespeare's Worst Nightmare.
It takes two of the Bard's most famous plays, Hamlet and Othello, and recasts
them in Gundarland. There, Hamlet becomes a dwarf and Othello a dark elf
and Iago and his wife, Emilia, are trolls.
If that isn't bad enough, these two tragedies are now comedies with Falstaff,
Shakespeare's most popular rogue, thrown in as a bonus.
Both Hamlet and Othello are plagued by the scheming Falstaff, who embezzles
money from Othello. After Hamlet becomes king (with help from Falstaff) the
rogue becomes the dark nemesis behind throne.
About the
Author:
Award-winning author Hank Quense writes humorous fantasy and sci-fi
stories. His motto is fantasy and sci-fi stories told with humor and satire. He
has over forty published short stories and a number of nonfiction articles. On
occasion, he also writes an article on fiction writing or book marketing but
says that writing nonfiction is like work while writing fiction is fun. He
refuses to write serious genre fiction saying there is enough of that on the
front page of any daily newspaper and on the evening TV news. Hank lives in Bergenfield, NJ with his wife
Pat. They have two daughters and five grandchildren.
Hank’s previous works include Zaftan Enterprises, Zaftan Miscreants and Tales
From Gundarland, a collection of fantasy stories. Readers Favorite
awarded the book a medal and EPIC designated it a finalist in its 2011
competition. His Fool’s Gold is a retelling of the ancient
Rhinegold myth and Tunnel Vision is a collection of twenty previously
published short stories. Build a Better Story is a book of advice
for fiction writers.
Contacts:
He has a number of links where
you can follow his work and his occasional rants:
Excerpt:
Falstaff’s Big Gamble is Shakespeare's Worst Nightmare.
It takes two of the Bard's most famous plays, Hamlet and Othello, and recasts
them in Gundarland. There, Hamlet becomes a dwarf and Othello a dark elf
and Iago and his wife, Emilia, are trolls.
If that isn't bad enough, these two tragedies are now comedies with Falstaff,
Shakespeare's most popular rogue, thrown in as a bonus.
Both Hamlet and Othello are plagued by the scheming Falstaff, who embezzles
money from Othello. After Hamlet becomes king (with help from Falstaff)
the rogue becomes the dark nemesis behind throne.
EXCERPT
Hamlet, Crown Prince of Denmarko, paced the castle
battlements late on a clear, cool spring night.
He walked with hands clasped behind his back and head down. He had a thin nose with brown hair and
eyes. His scrawny build and clean-shaven
face gave him the appearance of a starving waif.
He paused, gazed at the multitudinous stars, sighed and
continued his pacing. A breeze brought
the smells of the harbor: salt water and rotting fish guts. At last, he stopped, thrust one hand to the
sky and declaimed, "To bee or not to bee?" He stroked his chin. "Whether 'tis nobler to buy honey from
the peasant farmer in the market and thus provide him sustenance and income to
support his brood of brats, possibly keeping him from rebelling over high taxes
. . . or to grow my own honey thus, gaining coins to assert my independence
from my noble family and the sordid court?
Hmm."
He paced some more, still troubled by his vexing question. Nothing less than his future depended upon
the answer. Because his uncle, and now
stepfather, Clodio, had usurped his right to rule the kingdom, he needed a
profession and an income.
"Do you always talk to yourself?" a voice said
from the shadows.
"Who . . . who goes there?" Hamlet's head snapped from one side to
another while his hand grasped the hilt of his dagger.
"'Tis I, the ghost of your father. I bring a message for your ears alone."
Hamlet goggled at the specter who materialized in the shadows
of a doorway. "You're not my
father's ghost. My father was a dwarf
and you're the ghost of an elf. You're
an impostor and a dead one to boot."
"Hey, your father is busy and he asked me to fill
in."
"Busy? In the
underworld? What's he doing?" Hamlet clutched his red tunic and tugged
downward as if to hide his shaking hands.
"He met a good-lookin' ghost of a female dwarf and he's
wooin her."
"Dead not a month, and he forsakes his wife, my mother?
"You gotta understand.
Life on this side — no pun intended — is pretty borin'. When you gotta a chance to do somethin'
interestin', you gotta go with it."
Hamlet ran a hand over his face. Why me? he thought. "What's the message?"
"His death was no accident. It was murder most foul. Here is his exact message. 'But know, thou noble youth, the serpent that
did sting thy Father's life, now wears his crown.’” The ghost paused then added, "Did your
father always talk funny like that?"
"Murdered? By
whom?"
"Didn't you listen?
The message tells you who whacked him. Your father wants you to send
this guy over here so he can talk to him.
He doesn't wanna wait until the guy croaks from natural causes."
Hamlet watched in awe as the ghostly figure evaporated.
A few seconds later, it popped back into
sight.
"Oh, I forgot to tell
you.
Your father says, 'Thy mother the
queen is to know naught of this nocturnal visit.’"
The ghost disappeared.
His father's murder shocked him. And the murderer had married his mother
immediately afterward. Did the world
have no morals?
He recalled his first thoughts when he'd heard of his
father's death. How he admired the
perseverance and tenacity his father must have had to commit suicide by
suffocating himself with a pillow. Now
all that admiration was wasted; the old dwarf had had help.
What to do? He needed
to make decisions about bee farming and now he had to avenge his father. Was there no end to the demands on a prince's
time? He said to the stars, "To
bee-keep or to avenge? That is the
question."
Other:
About The Strange Worlds of Hank Quense
Hank Quense has written about the Strange Worlds
that he has developed as a background to many of the books he has written. One
of these worlds is called Gundarland, a planet inhabited by humans and fantasy
creatures. The second is Zaftan 31B, home world of the alien race known as
Zaftans. The books contain information on culture, races, religion, politics
and other topics. His latest book in this series is Zaftan Enterprises.
The
Rhinegold Myth
The
Rhinegold myth dates back to the Dark Ages in the Rhine area of Northern
Germany. It involves a horde of magical
gold (called, oddly enough, the Rhinegold).
Possession of the Rhinegold keeps the gods from aging. The gods involved were Wotan (Odin to some)
and the other gods residing in Asgard.
Wotan was worshipped by the Saxons and their allies when they invaded
and conquered Britain. Wotan was also
worshipped by the Vikings when they sacked Paris, founded Dublin and otherwise
terrified many parts of Europe.
According
to the myth, a dwarf named Alberich found the gold and used it to forge a ring
of immense power. Wotan had to recover
the gold or else he and the other gods would age and die. But the gold was now
cursed and would destroy anyone who stole it.
It was also now in the possession of a dragon named Fafner. Wotan
decided he needed an old-fashioned hero, one strong of arm and short of brains. Wotan planned to have the hero, called Siegfried,
snatch the gold. After that, Wotan will convince Seigfried to give the gold to
him.
Naturally,
things didn't work out to Wotan's satisfaction.
While
the Rhinegold myth isn't that well known, it has been used in several works of
art. The opera composer, Richard Wagner,
wrote his masterpiece about the Rhinegold.
The operas, there are four of them, are called the Ring Cycle.
If the
ring of power sounds familiar, that is probably because J.R. Tolikien used the
idea in Lord of the Rings.
I love
the myth. I wrote a humorous version of
it called Brunnhilde's
Quest. While writing that book, I
had the idea of writing this as a scifi book set in the distant future with
aliens instead of the fantasy creatures.
This book will be available as an ebook called Wotan's Dilemma and will
become available before the end of the year (or maybe early next year). It features one of my favorite aliens, a
zaftan, as Fafner who is now a main character instead of begin a minor one.
Book Review:
This book was hysterical, sort of a
cross between Monte Python, Dr. Seuss, and Shakespeare. I kept laughing out loud. My family kept looking at me like I had lost
my mind, but it was so funny,
I give
this book 5 out of 5 clouds.
This
product or book may have been distributed for review; this in no way affects my
opinions or reviews.
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