King of Shadows
|
Gregory cover of Puffin paperback ed. (2000) | |
| Author | Susan Cooper |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Bill Gregory (depicted)[1] |
| Country | US, UK |
| Genre | Children's historical novel, timeslip fantasy |
| Publisher | Margaret K. McElderry, US, Bodley Head, UK |
Publication date | October 1999, November 1999 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 186 pp, 181 pp[1] |
| Awards | None |
| ISBN | 0-689-82817-9 |
| OCLC | 40444020 |
| LC Class | PZ7.C7878 Ki 1999[2] |
King of Shadows is a children's historical novel by Susan Cooper published in 1999 by Penguin In the United Kingdom, it was a finalist for both the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.
Plot
Nathan Field is recruited by Arby. Arby is a producer itending on reenacting A Midsummer's Night's Dream play in London at the re-built Globe theatre the way they were done 400 years ago. The company of boys is said to be the best, from all over America the boys are chosen to play. He is chosen to be Puck in a Midsummer Night's Dream. However, he suddenly falls ill and is taken to the hospital, feared to have acting nerves. The night before he goes to the hospital, he dreams of being tossed high above the earth and then pulled firmly back. He wakes up in a different room with a cat talking to him in a heavy Elizabethan accent. He has traveled back 400 years in time, to the year 1599, when the Globe Theatre was first built. He meets William Shakespeare and acts with him in the play he had rehearsed for in his own time, and experiences theater as it was originally intended. He becomes a very good friend to stray cat, almost like a son to him. Before he knows it, he is back in the hospital basket, awake and unsure whether what he experienced was real. Later, Rachel Levin and Gil Warmun, his co-actors from the present time, try to find out who he was 400 years ago.
Synopsis
Nathan Field, a talented young actor, arrives at the newly rebuilt Globe theatre in London to play Puck in A Midsummer's Night's dream. As rehearsals begin, eerie echoes of the past begin to haunt Nat and he falls ill with a mysterious sickness. When he wakes, Nat finds himself in 1599, an actor at the original Globe - and his co-star is none other than the King of Shadows himself: William Shakespeare. Nat's new life is full of excitement, danger, and the passionate friendship that he has longed for since the tragic death of his parents. But why has he been sent to the past - and is he trapped there forever? He travels to the past from 1999 to 1599 and meets - William Shakespeare the king of literature.
Characters
Nathan F, or Nat Field
- 1999
Arby, Gil Warmun, Rachel Levin, Mr.Fisher, Aunt Jen, Pudding Face, Eric, Ferdie, David Roper, Ray Danza, Joe Wilson, Alan Wong
- 1599
Richard Burbage, William Shakespeare, Roper, Queen Elizabeth I, Will Kempe, Richard Mulcaster, Harry sam
Characters as characters in the play
- 1999
Puck, played by Nat.
Oberon, played by Gil.
Bottom, played by David Roper.
Theseus, played by Ray Danza.
Hippolyta, played by Joe Wilson.
Titiana, played by Alan Wong.
Fairy, played by Eric.
Adaptations
King of Shadows was adapted for the stage in 2005 and first performed by the New York State Theatre Institute (NYSTI) starring P. J. Verhoest as Nat, David Bunce as Shakespeare, John Romeo as Burbage, and Aaron Marquise as Roper.
See also
References
- 1 2 King of Shadows title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Retrieved 2013-03-14. Select a title to see its linked publication history and general information. Select a particular edition (title) for more data at that level, such as a front cover image or linked contents.
- ↑ "King of shadows" (U.S. edition). Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
External links
- King of Shadows in libraries (WorldCat catalog) —immediately, first UK edition
- Susan Cooper at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database