The Serpent of Venice, by Christopher Moore

The envoy of the Queen has been invited to dinner, but not all is as it seems.  The invitation is a trap, set by three dastardly plotters- a merchant, a senator, and a naval military officer.  You see, the envoy is in the way of these men; he blocks their quest for wealth and power.  They simply must get rid of him.  But rest assured, he will not go quietly.

I have had many books by this author on my "to read" lists over the years, but this is the first one I have actually gotten to read, and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised.  I consider myself to be a great fan of classic literature, and while I do hold it in some reverence, I am also a fan of a good satire or parody.  So I was quite happy to see that the author does a great job of parodying some classic literary tropes and mechanisms in a humorous way.  The book left me chuckling numerous times.

From what I gather, the character of Pocket is one that has been previously introduced in the author's writing.  However, I did not feel like I had was out of the loop, having not read any of the previous books.  Perhaps if I were to read them now, this book would become even more enjoyable to me, but nevertheless, I feel like the characters and the writing stood on their own.

While a good understanding or familiarity with Shakespeare is helpful for the full enjoyment of the book, it is not entirely necessary.  Most importantly, one should go into it with an open mind and a sense of humor.  If you do that, you will find yourself in the middle of a highly entertaining book.

I received a review copy courtesy of TLC Book Tours in exchange for my honest review.  See the rest of the tour here.

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