# Shakespeare inspired novels **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 11, 2009, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-inspired-novels/520828 "2009-12-11T04:10:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-inspired-novels/520828/1 "2009-12-11T04:10:31Z")
My bookclub is reading Fool by Christopher Moore, which is Moore’s retelling of King Lear (and about as true to the original as Moore’s retelling of the New Testament in Lamb). We usually read in threes…anyone have any ideas for more novels that are inspired from Shakespeare plots? Nothing too dark, its Winter in Minnesota. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-inspired-novels/520828/2 "2009-12-11T04:24:40Z")
Terry Pratchett wrote several Discworld novels that were based on Shakespeare’s plays. They’re the ones featuring the witches and they’ve done **Hamlet, McBeth** , and **A Midsummer Night’s Dream** , among others. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-inspired-novels/520828/3 "2009-12-11T06:38:02Z")
My friend L. Jagi Lamplighter has just released [_Prospero Lost_](http://www.amazon.com/Prospero-Lost-Prosperos-Daughter-Book/dp/0765319292/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260513298&sr=8-1), the first part of a three-volume fantasy novel based on characters from _The Tempest_. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until next summer for part two, _Prospero in Hell_, and some later date for the final part, whose name I don’t know. > [@Publishers Weekly](#): > > Starred Review. Lamplighter’s powerful debut draws inspiration from Shakespeare and world mythology, infused with humor and pure imagination. Four centuries after the events of The Tempest, Prospero’s daughter Miranda runs Prospero Inc., a company with immense influence in the supernatural world. When she discovers a mysterious warning from her father, who has gone missing, Miranda sets forth accompanied by Mab, an Aerie Spirit manifested as a hard-boiled PI, to warn her far-flung, enigmatic siblings that the mysterious Shadowed Ones plan to steal their staffs of power. Every encounter brings new questions, new problems and a greater sense of what’s at stake. Featuring glimpses into a rich and wondrous world of the unseen, this is no ordinary urban fantasy, but a treasure trove of nifty ideas and intriguing revelations. A cliffhanger ending will leave readers panting for sequels. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-inspired-novels/520828/4 "2009-12-11T12:32:24Z")
Harry Turtledove’s [Ruled Britannia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruled_Britannia). It’s a stand-alone single volume alternate history, with the point of departure being that the Spanish Armada succeeded in conquering England. I thought it was a fun read. I especially liked that you got two “new” Shakespeare plays in the book. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-inspired-novels/520828/5 "2009-12-11T13:52:29Z")
Poul Anderson’s **A Midsummer Tempest**? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-inspired-novels/520828/6 "2009-12-11T14:53:11Z")
Jane Smiley’s “A Thousand Acres” is a novel based on “King Lear,” Or, rather, it puts King Lear in a modern, midwestern setting and turns Regan and Goneril into the heroines, while making Lear a pedophile and Cordelia a manipulative bitch. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-inspired-novels/520828/7 "2009-12-11T15:55:29Z")
Sort of a hijack, but don’t miss the DVD of Canadian Broadcasting series SLINGS AND ARROWS. The first series is basically MACBETH with a side plot of ROMEO AND JULIET (with happy ending), about a repetoire company doing HAMLET. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-inspired-novels/520828/8 "2009-12-11T16:43:46Z")
“Shakespeare-inspired” in the sense of being about a Shakespeare production rather than having a plot adapted from Shakespeare: Robertson Davies’ fun early novel _Tempest-Tost_. ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-inspired-novels/520828/9 "2009-12-11T16:48:06Z")
Wasn’t What Dreams May Come a novel before it was that movie? (which by the way, is visually stunning) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-inspired-novels/520828/10 "2009-12-11T16:49:51Z")
King Lear was inspired by the tales of Lear and his Daughters, which had been around for a while before Billy wrote his play. Shakespeare was also inspired by a recent law where Parliament gave adult children the ability to take over and manage the estate of aged/infirm parents. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-inspired-novels/520828/11 "2009-12-11T16:57:49Z")
> [@Translucent\_Daydream](#): > > Wasn’t What Dreams May Come a novel before it was that movie? Yes, and it’s [hardly the only one](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_titles_of_works_based_on_Shakespearean_phrases) to have a title taken from Shakespeare. I don’t think there’s much Shakesperean about it besides the title, though. ---
**Author:** ![Morgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Morgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgis)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-inspired-novels/520828/12 "2009-12-11T18:06:45Z")
One of my favorite series of books was inspired by _The Tempest_. No one seems to have heard of these books, and I think they might be out of print. A Sorcerer and a Gentleman The Price of Blood and Honor The Well-Favored Man (written before the other two, but takes place after them) by Elizabeth Willey ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-inspired-novels/520828/13 "2009-12-11T18:12:30Z")
_Nothing Like the Sun_ by Anthony Burgess is a “Shakespeare inspired novel”, albeit not a Shakespeare plot - fictionalised speculation about his life and relationships instead. It’s a very good book indeed. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-inspired-novels/520828/14 "2009-12-11T18:13:40Z")
_[The Story of Edgar Sawtelle](http://www.amazon.com/Story-Edgar-Sawtelle-Novel-P-S/dp/0061374237/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260555240&sr=8-1)_ was inspired by \*Hamlet. \* ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-inspired-novels/520828/15 "2009-12-11T18:30:21Z")
**Gertrude and Claudius** by Jon Updike is a sort of prequel to Hamlet. ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-inspired-novels/520828/16 "2009-12-11T18:46:06Z")
Do titles/themes count? Steinbeck, _The Winter of Our Discontent_ Huxley, _Brave New World_ ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-inspired-novels/520828/17 "2009-12-11T18:56:51Z")
Nope, titles don’t count - has to be a “retelling” of a Shakespeare tale. And, the group avoids SF and Fantasy. Not to say we don’t read it once in a while - but we really try to limit it (its an SF and Fantasy set of people - as in ‘run cons, specialize in the genre as professional librarians, partnered with and/or friends with published SF/Fantasy authors’ - so we try and ‘stretch’ a little for bookclub - though sometimes we stretch in odd ways - like reading Twilight). But a lot of these suggestions are good, and the Discworld idea - though Fantasy - will go over well. And the Smiley would be an interesting partnering with Fool…though probably dark… Thanks all. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-inspired-novels/520828/18 "2009-12-11T19:29:04Z")
Robert Nye’s novel, **Falstaff** , is the fictional memoirs of that character.