Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781605980119
ISBN: 1605980110
Label: Pegasus
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: Pegasus
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 224
Publication Date: 2008-10-28
Publisher: Pegasus
Studio: Pegasus

Ambition, intrigue, betrayal, murder...In 1610, The Tragedy of Macbeth was first performed. 400 years later, the sequel.

Ten years dead, Macbeth may lie in an uneasy grave, but the three witches who led the ill-fated thane to his tragic destiny still hover in Scotland's eerily medieval "fog and filthy air." Still, too, their cauldron boils with toil and trouble.

Ten years king, Malcolm sits on an uneasy throne. If Malcolm's mind is haunted by the ghosts of his royal father as well as the thane and lady who so bloodily betrayed him, Malcolm's soul is sickened, as was Macbeth's, by the witches' prophecy that from Banquo's seed would spring a line of Scottish kings: a prophecy that remained unfulfilled at the end of Shakespeare's play.

The witches also taunt Malcolm with riddles all his own: that sorrows will visit him from Ireland (where his younger brother fled upon their father's death); that his love for Macbeth will breed fresh treachery.

True to the Shakespearean model, its devious plot unfolding in five acts and its speech set to the measure of blank verse, The Tragedy of Macbeth Part II draws bold the tragedy of a powerful man undone by the terrors he imagines and the truths he fails to see.

Customer Rating:
Summary: A Great Read
Comment: I thoroughly enjoyed this original play. It picks up where Macbeth left off, and imagines a smart resolution to all of the unfinished elements of the original Macbeth, including the original prophecy that the "seed of Banquo" shall become kings (never addressed in the original Macbeth).

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Macbeth II has it all
Comment: Ambition, greed, revenge, lust--Noah Lukeman succeeds in capturing the torrent of emotions that made Shakespeare's original a favorite among actors and audiences the world over.

Lukeman begins his story 10 years after Malcolm ascended the Scottish throne. After years of peace, King Malcolm is witnessing his Scotland being torn apart by sibling rivalry and the sudden appearance of Macbeth's beautiful, long-lost daughter. Sweet and gentle, she is the opposite of her conspiratorial parents in every way. Nonetheless, Malcolm's love for this new Lady Macbeth will breed fresh treachery, as conspiracies flourish and rebellions brew.

While most of us have had a love affair with Shakespeare at some point in our lives, and some of us still do, Lukeman has successfully taken his own passion for Shakespeare to a new level. The poetic dialog and masterful grasp of the Shakespearean idiom makes THE SEED OF BANQUO a worthy addition to the canon, as well as a rousing good read.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Interesting Story; Lack of Language
Comment: Although a decade has passed in the story timeline since Macbeth's fall, the story begins on the eve of impending war, with potentially dangerous rebel armies building up in several locations, and King Malcolm seeking a bride to produce an heir. Court politics and the ambiguous prophecies of the witches succeed in convincing Malcolm to slay his brother Donalbain, believing him a threat to his throne. He begins his descent to madness, when he first sees Macbeth's daughter, believing her to be the apparition of her mother. Yet, her character is far different, the roles switched in this sequel; Macbeth, who grew up in a nunnery, dutifully consents to become his wife, Lady Malcolm, and though he is drawn to her, Malcolm himself becomes more obsessed with the witches' words and mercilessly finding traitors in his court, slaying the faithful MacDuff. Seyton's plot of enthroning his daughter Syna eventually has a confused and emotional Malcolm decree his Lady's death, and after which, he seems to lose his reason. Though the witch's prophecies have been true thus far, he vows to break their prophecy to spite them--by jumping head first into battle, to defy their decree that only Cawdor can kill him... Only to find that Cawdor (who through a spontaneous deux ex machina arises from an army of peasants to support Fleance) does kill him, and, of course, Fleance, the seed of Banquo, takes the throne.

It's perhaps a new idea to read something Shakespearean, and to become nostalgic for proper iambic pentameter--complete with the obscure analogies of another time. But, unfortunately, that was my impression while reading this sequel. The pacing is decent, but perhaps more poetic lines are needed to "artistically justify" sudden changes in character thoughts--Lady Macbeth-Malcolm's change of heart from pious to gaining an affinity for MacDuff and Malcolm's sudden love for her, for example. While the piece is reasonably well edited, the language the story is woven in does not compare with its predecessor.

Nevertheless, the story is interesting, the overall plot of the sequel plausible and suspenseful enough to be a page-turner.

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