Caliban's Hour

Beautiful Miranda is compelled to listen to the Beast Caliban's dark tale of desires and wizardry in spite of his ugliness as he weaves a story of passion and longing and creates the magic of love. By the author of Tailchaser's Song.

Williams (To Green Angel Tower) takes a break from his bestselling fantasy epics, venturing into Shakespearean territory with this intriguing retelling of The Tempest. The story begins years later, when the abused slave Caliban, now fully grown, has made his way to Italy and into the chambers of Miranda, Prospero's daughter, whom Caliban once loved and was punished for pursuing. Prospero is long dead and Miranda is now a matron, but Caliban remains bent on revenge-and on having someone hear his story from his point of view. He proceeds to describe his life on the island setting of The Tempest, his first encounters with the shipwrecked Prospero and Miranda and his feelings of betrayal and humiliation at their later treatment of him. Williams wisely focuses on the parts of the story that Shakespeare only hinted at-all the years of Prospero's exile on the island-and though he doesn't veer far from his source, he puts a very different spin on events. His prose is lucid and smooth, and his storytelling effortless, but the tale suffers from familiarity; only at the very end, when Caliban debates whether to kill Miranda, does Williams add an original touch of drama to the tale. Still, this version of Caliban's story has charms of its own. Illustrated by the author.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The best-selling author of To Green Angel Tower (1993) offers a fantastical sequel to Shakespeare's The Tempest replete with elements of both Beauty and the Beast and Robinson Crusoe. Twenty years after Prospero and Miranda have departed from their island of exile, Caliban, their scorned and abused former servant, seeks his revenge. Vowing to kill the primary source of his pain and disillusionment, Caliban holds Miranda captive, forcing her to listen to the wrenching tale of his early years on the island both before and after the fateful arrival of the banished duke of Milan and his beautiful daughter. As Caliban prepares to slay the former object of his affections, Miranda's lovely and compassionate daughter, moved by his litany of woe, offers her own freedom in exchange for her mother's life. As Giulietta prepares to leave with Caliban, her selfless act of love completes the circle of desire, rejection, retribution, and renewal begun on the island. A lyrically romantic voyage of discovery charting the mysterious depths of the human heart and soul. Margaret Flanagan

Driven by the twin ghosts of revenge and love, the misshapen creature known as Caliban leaves his island to confront the object of his hatred and his desire: Prospero's daughter, Miranda. The author of To Green Angel Tower (LJ 3/15/93) departs from epic fantasy in this graceful retelling of Shakespeare's The Tempest. Filtered through the perceptions of Caliban, a tale of rescue becomes a story of abandonment, with salvation and atonement for seemingly unattainable goals. Williams has previously demonstrated his ability to craft original fantasy on a large scale; here he reveals his talent for exploring the hidden recesses of one all-too-human heart. Most libraries should consider this for general fiction or fantasy collections.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.