07/25/2016
North follows up on his previous choose-your-own-adventure Shakespeare, To Be or Not to Be, with another zany tale. North begins by explaining that this is the original work that Shakespeare plagiarized; it was "lost until recently" but that the author found it "just over there... Someone had put a coat over it." The reader can choose to follow Shakespeare's story, which is told in modern teen-speak sprinkled with more classical phrases and occasional extended passages of amazing iambic pentameter. Choosing this path, of course, leads to the untimely death of both protagonists in a crypt in Verona, but other paths lead to "happily ever after in Mantua," patrolling the streets of Verona in giant mechanical suits, or dying at the hands of ninjas and punks. The possibilities are certainly vast and there are great illustrations by a panoply of talented artists to tempt readers down other plot lines. There are even chances to play as other characters, and to choose your own sex scene. This book will provide readers with hours of somewhat twisted Shakespearean fun. (June)
Winner of the American Library Association's Alex Award for the best adult books that appeal to teen audiences
“Shakespeare with even more sex, cryptography, time travel and alternate endings than the original! Ryan North is the only writer I know who's smart enough and funny enough to pull this off.” —Lev Grossman, author of the Magicians trilogy
“[A] ridiculously fun book…Ryan North is awesome…It is as hilarious and funny and strange as you would imagine…so crazy, so much fun…It’s fantastic,” —BookRiot
“This book/game is so entertaining and downright hilarious that I guarantee you will... have an amazing time. In fact, you’ll probably end up buying multiple copies to give to your friends and family.” —Geek & Sundry
“Written with the finest distilled charm and genuine enthusiasm. Entertaining and extremely satisfying.” —Kate Beaton, author of Hark! A Vagrant and Step Aside, Pops
Praise for previous work by Ryan North:
“Reference mixed with irreverence—that's what makes To Be or Not to Be so much fun.”—Slate
“Ryan North's The Best of Dinosaur Comics: 2003-2005 A.D. had me howling with laughter and passing the book around to whomever I could lay hands on to point out particularly good strips. Dinosaur Comics is an unlikely gem of a webcomic.”—Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing
“Machine of Death is a marvelous collection, riddled with intelligence, creative reach, and a frankness that makes the best use of the central gimmick.”—Tasha Robinson, The Onion A.V. Club
“This Is How You Die is a brilliantly addictive book that reads like a series of existential, death-obsessed Twilight Zone episodes. Very highly recommended.”—Seth Grahame-Smith, author of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
02/01/2016
It's not your teacher's Shakespeare—or even, really, the Bard's. New York Times best-selling and Eisner Award-winning author North follows up his first choose-your-own-path Shakespeare book, To Be or Not To Be—Kickstarter's most-funded publishing project—with a new work that takes Romeo and Juliet's famous love story and offers more than 100 possible endings, with countless ways for readers to get there. With two-color line drawings throughout from numerous artists, including the hugely regarded Kate Beaton, Noelle Stevenson, Randall Munroe, and Jon Klassen.
11/01/2016
With Shakespearean and classic romantic literature being introduced in high school, this book seems a perfect fit for teens. After all, Romeo and Juliet are teens, and they're in love—unless they're not. It's up to readers to choose. Maybe Romeo can't get past his lust for the unattainable Rosaline, or he'd rather hang out with his best buds Mercutio and Benvolio. Maybe Juliet follows her parents' advice and marries Tom Paris, or she flees the Capulet household to escape the arranged marriage and become a pirate. If the pair do manage to meet and fall in love, can they escape a tragic end? North has turned Shakespeare's play about star-crossed lovers into a seemingly endless game of choices, with the ability to play as either Romeo or Juliet and a guarantee that any path taken will turn into an outrageously silly adventure. For some threads, North cleverly inserts original passages from Shakespeare's work to heighten the comic effect. Gamers will be attracted to the format, and fans of North's comic book series "The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl" will already be familiar with his signature brand of humor. More than 80 artists have contributed an eclectic mix of original illustrations that highlight the hilarity of many of the possible endings. VERDICT Even incurable romantics are sure to find this a fun parody and a welcome diversion from the required reading list.—Cary Frostick, formerly at Mary Riley Styles Public Library, Falls Church, VA
2016-03-30
Dude! You won't believe this! An interactive novel updates the world's most awesome romance with new characters, plotlines, slang, puzzles, illustrations, and a cookie recipe. The best way to explain how this "choose your own path" rendition of Shakespeare's hoary old play works is to show you. This, for example, is section No. 155: "You look up to the balcony. A light is on inside! 'But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?' you whisper.…A naked old dude steps out from the light onto the balcony.…His naughty bits are dangling in the breeze....'AW GROSS, I THINK THAT'S HER DAD,' you say, moving away to investigate another balcony. 'NICE WEEN THOUGH.' " Then you choose one of these options: "Examine the nearby stone balcony: turn to 109" or "Examine some other balcony instead: turn to 167." If you choose 109, you'll be seeing a wrinkled old lady in a nightgown—her mom. If you choose 167, you'll find the superhot mega-babe you met at that party last night. Then you make another choice, and so it goes, flipping back and forth through the book, until you come to one of more than a hundred different endings, each featuring an illustration by a dream team of cartoonists. You can choose to be Romeo or Juliet—TEAM MONTAGUE or TEAM CAPULET—and depending on your choices, you may go to brunch with Benvolio at The Merchant of Breakfast, visit Ophelia in Denmark, or trade dumb sex puns with Mercutio…and you don't necessarily have to die in the end! One of the options is to actually become Juliet's glove—though sadly, "gloves are not capable of sentient thought." North, who funded the first of these books (To Be or Not To Be, 2013) with a Kickstarter, has scattered the entire text of the play among the 474 numbered sections. "Seems pretty cool!" according to a high school sophomore, surely the target market for these high jinks.
