A dark and pessimistic fantasy based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. There is something rotten in Sixth Century Jutland, where prince Amleth cannot make up his mind how to deal with the murderers of his father. This terrific novel guest-stars a rough and ready Arthur of Britain, a brutal and sneering warlord, ineffective against the Saxon invaders, as well as a shrewd but untrustworthy Beowulf, both a far cry from their heroic stereotypes. A superb novel in every way--a cynical, darkly comic and violent tour-de-force.