Book/ Series: A Midsummer Tempest by Poul Anderson (Operation Otherworld Series Book #3, but can be read as standalone)
Published: 1974
Book Tropes: Alternative English History/ Fantasy
Recommended for fans of: Shakespeare (esp. The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream), R.L. Stevenson (esp. The Black Arrow)
Awards: 1975 Mythopoeic Award
Some time back, LibraryThing recommended A Midsummer Tempest for those who like Shakespeare’s plays, steampunk, the old adventure classics and medieval English history. I’ll second that recommendation, as long as you are certain that this blend is exactly what you’re looking for.
Plotwise:
Midsummer Tempest merges several different time periods. First, we have the English Civil War (1642–1651 in reality) ongoing, where Cromwell & his Parliamentarians are locked in battle against King Charles I & his Royalist supporters. Then, there’s the Industrial Revolution (1760-1840 in reality) which ushers in the locomotives and the Age of Iron. Finally, throw in the Faerie, who want to support the Royalist cause because otherwise machines would take over and magic would die out. This whole mix-up could have been such a mess, but Anderson manages it just fine.
We start in media res, when Prince Rupert, a Royalist supporter, is captured in battle by the Roundheads (i.e. Parliamentarians). While imprisoned, he falls in love with his captor’s niece, Jennifer. Faerie rulers, Oberon and Titania, help Rupert and Jennifer escape to Old Prospero’s Island. There, they will find books with arcane magic that can help the Royalists. The condition is that Rupert and Jennifer must always stay true to each other’s love.
My Thoughts:
You can tell where this will go wrong, because the course of true love never did run smooth. Rupert and Jennifer are split up, duped, led astray, etc. If you know Shakespeare, you know what kinds of ploys are used to keep these two apart. It’s quite entertaining. Anderson also uses the gallant language for courtship which is all kinds of fun:
Gravity came back upon him. “Jennifer,” he said, “with charm and merriment and … simply caring, you’ve kindled stars in this eclipse of mine.”
“I’m frankly tired of hearing I’m too fine!” she flared. At once she grinned. “Though true it is, thou’st ground me down between the millstones of thy duty and thy conscience. … When we are wed, the foremost task for me will be to tease thy moodiness from thee.”
He hugged her to him. His voice trembled. “Thou’rt far too good for me. But so’s the sun. God gives with spendthrift hand. His will be done.”
In the end, Rupert and Jennifer are reconciled, and the Royalist cause wins the day. Can’t say I was much impressed with the magic system, but there was a very real certainty this could have ended badly. Instead, we find that the Industrial Revolution gets postponed and the Faeries get a longer pass in the mortal world. Oh well, all’s well that ends well.
Rating: 7 of 10
Do you like Shakespeare retellings? Which books did this one make you think of? Let’s chat!
23 replies on “A Midsummer Tempest by Poul Anderson”
This sounds really amusing… but I’d need to be in a *very* specific mood to enjoy it. (At least if I find myself in that mood, I’ll know what book to turn to!)
Haha, that’s *exactly* the case here.
Funnily enough, I just started a graphic novel called Kill Sgakespeare. So far it‘s Hamlet, starting with Hamlet killing Properl…
Oops, typo… Shakespeare!
Oops again, Polonius, not Prospero! Wrong play… 😏
Haha. In any event, the graphic novel sounds pretty good. I’m going to look this up, thank you!
I’m going to have to take a closer look! The cover and synopsis seems a bit very deurmekaar (that means messy in Afrikaans!), but if you say it actually all comes together nicely, I believe it can be worth looking into!
Loved your review.
Hope you had a good week Lex!
Now that’s a very good word to add to my dictionary: deurmekaar. Thank you, one of these days I’m going to use it myself. 🙂
Hmm, quite intriguing, but not sure if this would work for me.
Speaking about Shakespeare, there’s the amazing series William Shakespeare’s Star Wars, by Ian Doescher. I don’t see Doescher on your blog, so maybe you have not read it. It’s so brilliant: Star Wars rewritten in Shakespeare’s style, I have reviewed several volumes, this may be my best review: https://wordsandpeace.com/2014/06/25/book-review-the-jedi-doth-return/
Wow, another very cool mash-up. Thanks for sharing the link 👍🏻
Ooh I’ve never read poul Anderson. And is that an old school cover or what? I’ve always been interested in the faerie angle so this appeals to me a bit. And the Shakespeare retelling. Ever since someone pointed out a long time ago that Forbidden Planet (one of my favorite vintage movies) was based on the Tempest (loosely), it’s always fascinated me to see his work adapted to fantasy/ SF.
I have never seen Forbidden Planet. Though I think you mentioned it on your blog some time back (?)… The Tempest theme makes me want to watch the movie.
The cover played a big role in drawing me to the book — I really like those old school covers quite a lot!
Oh I would love to hear what you think of Forbidden Planet! It’s vintage but oh so good. Very ground breaking for its time, and the music…
OK. Looks like that’s the next adventure/ scifi movie I should try out. Thanks Greg!
I enjoyed your review but I think this one will have to be a pass for me. Sounds like just way too much going on and given that I don’t read too much in this genre then it may not be the book for me. Glad you enjoyed it – will you keep reading the series?
Probably won’t read the series. It’s a *once of a kind* book. 😉
Save Prince Rupert! I have had a crush on him since reading the Margaret Irwin book, The Stranger Prince, and although I am a Royalist, I never felt Charles I treated him very well.
… And you’ve just given me a new book to try out! I’ll confess I like Rupert myself. 🙂
I’m not sure this would be for me either. I have to think to much about what Shakespeare is actually saying! But it sounds like the author did a good job of capturing his style. I’m glad you liked it!
Definitely a very unusual style/ mash-up!
This going on my tbr. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve only ever read one Shakespeare – A Midsummer Nights Dream strangely enough – somehow, they don’t appeal to me for reading, I have a strange hang up that they’re better seen as plays (although I did enjoy my one and only experience). This is an author I haven’t read though so perhaps I should add this to my list.
Lynn 😀
You’re right — the play has a very different feel from other prose (?) fiction. The retelling always twists things around. My own personal favorite from Shakespeare is Twelfth Night, see if you’d like to give that a try some day!