William Shakespeare Punches a Friggin' Shark and/or Other Stories by Ryan North
Each of Ryan North's "chooseable-path adventure" Shakespeare adaptations came with a bonus electronic adventure. To Be or Not To Be came with the prequel Poor Yorick, while Romeo and/or Juliet came with That Time Samuel Ampson Got His Thumb Bit, which was both a prequel to Romeo and/or Juliet and a sequel to To Be or Not To Be. This small book collects both of them, with a frame story where you play as William Shakespeare. Along the way, you find yourself writing Poor Yorick and Samuel Ampson and thus playing them; you may also elect to punch a friggin' shark.
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| Collection published: 2017 Contents originally published: 2013-17 Acquired: December 2017 Read: June 2023 |
It's basically fine. If you've read North's other Shakespeare adaptations, you know how the joke works by now. I didn't bother to replay Poor Yorick, not having found it terribly exciting the first time, to be honest. The punching a shark joke isn't very interesting to read about, but I did enjoy the bit where Shakespeare is attacked by a robber and pays him off by writing poems. Samuel Ampson was fine, but again, it's jokes you know already if you've read the two full-length Shakespeare books. The best jokes here are the book's spine (seriously!) and some of the sentences in the back of the book, which you can (ostensibly) cut out and paste into other parts of the book to change the narrative even more.
So if you're a Ryan North does Shakespeare completist, pick it up I guess (I did after all), but if not, you're not missing out on much.
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