In this ingenious but plodding historical fantasy, a sequel to Ill Met by Moonlight
(2001), in which a young William Shakespeare had to cope with the supernatural, Will has failed to make any mark as a poet, until he is taken up by flamboyantly successful wordsmith Christopher Marlowe. Regrettably, Marlowe is also a frightened secret agent who is desperate enough to save his own neck by implicating naïve Will in a fake plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth. In Fairyland, meanwhile, the spirit of the murderous elf Sylvanus, having escaped captivity, heads for London with a plan to reshape reality under his eternal rule. The elf king, Quicksilver ("Silver" when in his female aspect), also races to London, where he tries to get the help of his/her former lovers, Will and Kit, in averting magical disaster—if the parties involved can trust or even listen to each other. A fine plot, however, suffers from flaws in execution. For one thing, the supernatural machinery is unfamiliar enough to require intrusive explanations that seem improvised for the author's convenience. For another, bland presentation undercuts the supposedly dramatic events. In particular, the frequent Shakespearean quotations, spoken here by Marlowe, make an unfortunate contrast with Hoyt's own serviceable but earthbound prose. Writing about both Shakespeare and the supernatural, as Neil Gaiman does so well in his Sandman saga, requires a bit more magic. Fans of the first book, though, won't be disappointed. (Oct. 1)
