Review of Hamlet, Prince of Robots by M. Darusha Wehm
M. Darusha Wehm’s Hamlet, Prince of Robots (in potentia press, 2023) is an absolutely brilliant retelling of Hamlet that hits every note of Hamlet while updating the story to a science-fantasy future in which life-like robots are the technological battleground between the Danes and the Norwegians.
In Wehm’s retelling, Hamlet is Hamlet 2.0, the second generation of these life-like robots. When his predecessor, Hamlet 1.0, is found deactivated, Hamlet 2.0 suspects foul play, and he seeks to learn the truth. The usual cast of characters are all present, with some gender-flipping and changes in relationships, but the core of the story remains true to the classic while becoming so much more than the source material.
For someone with a lifelong interest in literature and writing, I loved seeing the ways in which Wehm played with the tropes and made them still just as pertinent in this plausible future as they were in Shakespeare’s day. Hamlet, Prince of Robots would be a wonderful piece to explore in concert with the original play, giving students of English literature another way to understand the themes without the sometimes inaccessible Shakespearean language.
Hamlet, Prince of Robots will be available January 31, 2023, but you can preorder it now!
The author provided me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for review consideration.
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