King of Shadows

Rating:
Summary: Perfect Book!
Review: This book was truly awesome. I found it at the library and was just like, "Hmm Susan Coopers a good author. Maybe this will be good." I took it home and read like the first five pages and I was hooked! I love Shakespeare and his plays. This was sooo interesting and kept your eyes glued to the pages! I read it all yesterday. Heck, I even took it to school to read. I agree with the one girl, I am also 13. I love, love, love to read! I hate those stupid like "Animorphs" series. This was a Sci-Fi, but also "real" if you get my drift. Overall an exciting, fun, neat book!

Rating:
Summary: GREAT BOOK!
Review: This is a great book... it tottally draws you in... shows life in the Elisabetan times, and makes you want to read a Misummer Night's Dream! Great for all ages, no scences of violence, (or 'scariness')and the rest of it.

Rating:
Summary: unique
Review: This is an exiting and mystical book about a boy called Nat Field, who's world has been shaken by the deaths of his parents and his only escape is through his shakespearian drama group. The leader Arby has chosen Nat to act as puck from Mid Summers Night Dream in the newly rebuilt globe theatre in Present day London. While there Nat hears strange voices and suddenly gets thrusted back in time to the globe in 1499. He is about to perfform in front of the Queen with William Shakespeare himself as his Co-actor.

Rating:
Summary: King of Shadows
Review: This was the best book I've read to date, and I'm serious (I don't mean that it's on a list of about five hundred other books that I think are good, I mean this is the number one book on my list).

The story documents the tale of Nat, a young actor travelling to London with a group of kids from all over the US in a play company who are going to perform Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Julius Caesar at the Globe. But when he gets sick with a terrible fever, he finds himself transported into the London in 1599 when the Globe was new and William Shakespeare is alive!

It is told in first person through the eyes of the protagonist, Nat, and it tells not only, in detail, about the feelings he gets when he finds out where (or when) he is. It's not just another fall down the rabbit hole type of book, and it's not really fantasy. It describes in rich detail the play company and the city of London in 1599 from the point of view of a young character who has been plagued by death in his life. If you love Shakespeare like I do, you'll absolutely love this book. Even if you don't, you'll still love this book. It was full of meaning, yet the story is layered in a way that can be understood by younger readers as well as on a deeper level by adults.

This is a great book and definately worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Not The Best
Review: Three-and-a-half, I guess. KING OF SHADOWS was pretty good, but I was a little dissapointed. Though I absolutely love time travel, sci-fi and Elizabethian times, (KING OF SHADOWS has all of these) it lacked some detail. The book ended too quickly. KING OF SHADOWS has a great, complicated ending that I liked alot, though it seemed uneven with the rest of the book. Another thing that bugged me was that I had nothing to think about. The puzzle was all put together for me.

Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: When I first started reading this book, I was totally convinced that I should put it back on the library shelf. But after I got past the more boring chapters, I got to a book combining the traditional time travel with the world of a young orphan boy. For those who want a plesant change in reading, try KING OF SHADOWS.

Rating:
Summary: King of Shadows Rules!
Review: When I read King of Shadows, I realized once again how well-written all of Susan Cooper's stories are. The characters are developed richly and they all have distinct personality. The plot is wonderful, and I would give this book an 15 on a scale of 1 to 10.A great read, as well as her series the Dark is Rising. Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: A new world
Review: With this novel, I think that Cooper has created a fun and original work. It is a story of a boys acting company who travel to London to preform at the rebuilt Globe Theater. For one boy, the trip involves not just a voyage across the Atlantic, but a journey in time as well. Nat Field finds himself back in Elizabethian London acting in the role of Puck in Shakespeare's personal production of A Midsummer's Night Dream.

This odd transposition in time allows for some interesting interaction with the setting. For a twentieth century boy, the London of Shakespeare's day is a strange world. Having no modern convieniences (such as toilets) and having the drink at every meal be ale are things that don't fit the everyday life of a young American boy. But Nat gets along and proves himself as an actor in Shakespeare's own production.

Given the general elements of this book, not all young readers would enjoy it. To identify with or even to like the main character, one cannot by a typical American kid. The theatrical world and the ability to understand the historical setting of Shakespeare's time are, unfortunately, completely foreign to most kids these days. So this book is not for the typical nintendo-playing sports-loving kid, but rather for the imaginitive book-lover. (For the book is full of imagination and history.)

The book isn't perfect, but it is still a fun read. As an adult reader, I wished that I could have read more about the purpose behind the time travel, but I realize that what was written is sufficient for a younger audience. So, as a young adult novel, it is a great book, well worth the read.

Rating:
Summary: SUSAN COOPER DOES IT AGAIN
Review: Wow... I cannot believe that Susan Cooper could write anotherincredible book! I thought The Dark is Rising series was outstanding,and I like King of Shadows even better! I was so caught up in readingthat I had to finish it... it took me until 10:00 at night but I couldn't put it down! A must-read, definately! I am so impressed by Susan Cooper!

Rating:
Summary: A highly original time-travel adventure
Review: _King of Shadows_ is a very entertaining addition to Susan Cooper's collection of novels. It's both an adventure and a story about very compelling characters. I think this book would make Shakespeare novices more interested in those wonderful plays. The book conveys how the plays are entertaining and funny as well as high, canonical literature. Yet the book is written in such a manner that non-Shakespeare buffs can enjoy and understand it.

I highly recommend this books to middle readers and older. To sum up, _King of Shadows_ is fun, original, and sure to appeal to a wide variety of readers.