Rating: 
Summary: An Enjoyable New Read for Stephen Fry Fans
Review: As an avid fan of Stephen Fry's written work, I take issue with both the above editorial and the other consumer comments made about this book. Although not as meritous as his first work, "The Liar", "Revenge" (or "The Star's Tennis Balls" -- the British title)is still well worth reading, especially if one prizes Fry's writing style, as I do. What the above editorial writer does not understand is that Fry's whimsy and philosophy are only part of the charms that captivate his reader. By belittling Fry's style and stating that he needs an editor to "save his work", the editorial writer damns himself by showing that he simply does not understand the genius of Fry's work. The editorial writer is simply commenting on his own ignorance, not the writing ability of Mr. Fry. I found this book to be a better read than "Making History", but not as good as "The Liar." The book is probably placed a very close second to "The Hippotamus", which was a very enjoyable read, as well. "Revenge", a variation of "The Count of Monte Cristo" has Fry's signature writing style, full of clever word play, glorious discription, and dynamic character development. I would encourage readers to read this book. I love everything that Fry writes, and this book certainly holds its own in the Fry canon of work. Stephen Fry fans will not be let down.
Rating:
Summary: Almost, but not quite
Review: Fry's novel is a sometimes gripping "beach read," but lacks the substance to be anything more. A modern re-telling of "The Count of Monte Cristo," "Revenge" suffers from some serious plot holes (where did Ned pick up his incredible business acumen? He reads a few Internet magazines and suddenly is the next Bill Gates?) and lacks character development (Portia, in particular, is a one-dimensional character - it is hard to understand what makes her so fascinating to Ned and Gordon...). However, Ned's amazing escape, plotting and ultimate, well, revenge, make this a fun read for those who can check their skepticism at the door.
Rating: 
Summary: Lazy, lazy, lazy
Review: Having read other Fry books which were funny and inventive, this one was disappointing. It feels like Fry hurried through writing this book to meet a deadline or something. In Dumas' original, the revenge part of the story unfurled at a pace fitting to the amount of plotting that preceded it. In Fry's version, he rushes through like he's in a hurry to get the book ended. Skip this and read the Dumas- you can skim through the parts that are overwritten and still enjoy a better telling of the tale than this one.
Rating:
Summary: Reads as if written by a talented, lonely, bitter adolescent
Review: I have always found Fry to be a writer of limited ability. I enjoyed Making History and The Liar in spite of Fry's inabilty to craft flesh and blood characters and his apparent dependence on B-movies and bad American television for his depiction of any person not within his realm of life experience. His depiction of adolescents, the inevetible heros of his novels, are so unbelievable as to make one wonder has Mr.Fry ever met a modern teenager? His heroes are always golden-haired, blushing youths, so unlike himself one wonders if there is not quite a bit of wish fulfillment motivating his writing. Revenge was reportedly inspired by The Count of Monte Cristo. I can hear Dumas spinning in his grave. This novel is dire. It is all the worst in Fry's writing coming to a head in one wretched, mercifully brief book. It is a house built on sand and cheesy plotting. You will not be surprised at anything that happens in this dreary exuse for a thriller. The biggest crime is using the internet as the theme of the revenge sequence which gives this relatively new novel a very dated atmosphere. He has written this novel under the assumption that all the dot.com phenoms would still be around in a few years and that internet security will still be in the minds of his readers in years to come. Very shortsighted of him, to say the least. This book reads as thought it was conceived by a precocious, outcast,and ultimately boring adolescent. Grow up Mr.Fry.
Rating: 
Summary: Stephen Fry is One of a Dying Kind
Review: I have no idea what the previous reviewers were thinking, but it certainly had nothing to do with the book, Revenge--or as it was entitled in the original, Stars' Tennis Balls. Fry has never hidden the fact that this is the Count Monte Cristo story, and neither was he going to amend Dumas' storyline by much. It was simply reworked in a, well, very Stephen Fry-esque way. In order to understand it, you need to have known Stephen Fry and his work (including that in acting) for some time. He truly is a representative of a near-extinct type, the well-rounded man. Revenge/Stars' Tennis Balls has a wealth of autobiographical elements by this rather troubled man, but he never loses his sense of humour about it, nor does it become annoying. It is a virtuoso's play with language that also serves as an entertaining read. I finished this book in one night and recommend Fry's other works (Hippopotamus, Moab Is My Washpot, Making History, Liar, Paperweight), including his wonderful acting in the famous BBC series, Blackadder. To appreciate them, though, you need to be a bit of a Britophile.
Rating:
Summary: A Little "Heads Up"
Review: I have nothing in particular to add te the previous reviews, only I would like to say that it is the same novel as "the Star's Tennis Balls". Don't buy both of them.
Rating:
Summary: a fairly stupid tale
Review: Mr.Fry's Revenge tests the credibility of the reader to the extreme. His character not only learns seven or eight languages from his tutor as easily as you learn to chew gum, but he can speak those languages so perfectly and without any accent, that he can pass as a native wherever he goes. He also acquires an amazing proficiency in business which would provoke serious jealousy to more than one executive of Enron. Not to mention that the character shows up in England out of nowhere with a misterious identity which no one can blow wide open , as if such thing would be possible nowdays (try to sell this idea to to Britains tabloids!). I frankly think that Mr. Fry found in "the Count of Montecristo" tale an inspiration for making some good money writing a book without putting much effort on the task. That is brilliant!. And fraudulent also!
Rating: 
Summary: Dumas Revamped
Review: Readers familiar with the plot of Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo, about the unjust political imprisonment of sailor Edmond Dantes in post-Napoleonic France, will not be surprised by the various turns taken in author Stephen Fry's modern version of the tale. When the book begins, Ned Maddstone, the seventeen-year-old son of a Tory MP, is bound for Oxford and, almost certainly, for a life marked by as much success as he has already enjoyed: a cricket-playing future Head Boy and member of a sailing club, Ned is polite and good looking and newly in love, and he has the easy grace that comes with aristocracy. He would never dream of offending, but in his unselfconscious perfection Ned manages to do just that, and he consequently falls victim to a plot hatched by three jealous acquaintances. Though Fry's plot will not surprise, his reworking of the Dumas classic is cleverly done. Loyal Bonapartists have become IRA sympathizers, and treasures are now hoarded in Swiss bank accounts. Most charmingly, in the latter part of the book Ned is released into a gadgetized world that has been altered beyond measure by the computer revolution, reminding us of just how much our own lives have changed since 1980. Fry's book is a good read, though the animosity Ned unwittingly provokes in his acquaintances seems unrealistically ferocious. (I do not know whether this might be said also of the original.) Readers who do not know what to expect of the book are likely in particular to enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Revenge
Review: Revenge is a modern retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo. Stephen Fry, with his signature wit and acute understanding of human nature, weaves this tale of deceit, vengeance and murder.
These extraodinary characters conspire to destroy each other, but end up only destroying themselves.
Rating:
Summary: Not original enough to be a Fry's best
Review: Stephen Fry is a well-known comedian, actor and fabulously funny writer - he is in fact a Oxford graduate. I have enjoyed his other books tremendously. This book, based on Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo" about revenge, betrayal, love and innocence is well-written and set in the 1990s dot-com era. It is a cute story and Fry's inventiveness to use anagrams of the original characters in Dumas is interesting. But the story never really gets off ground, the characters aren't interesting. I was a little disappointed.
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