Master of the Revels

A Return to Neal Stephenson's D.O.D.O.

By: Nicole Galland

Narrated by: Laurence Bouvard, Shelley Atkinson, Allyson Ryan, Laural Merlington, Vaneh Assadourian, Charlie Thurston, Derek Perkins, Ron Butler, Will Damron, Robert Fass, Billie Fulford-Brown, Mike Ortego, Joe Barrett, Tavia Gilbert, Sadie Alexandru

In this brilliant sequel to The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.—an enthralling, history-bending adventure traversing time and space, fact and fiction, magic and science co-written with #1 New York Times bestselling author Neal Stephenson—a daring young time traveler must return to Jacobean England to save the modern world.

This fast-paced sequel to the New York Times bestselling near-future adventure The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. picks up where the original left off, as Tristan Lyons, Mel Stokes, and their fellow outcasts from the Department of Diachronic Operations (D.O.D.O.) fight to stop the powerful Irish witch Gráinne from using time travel to reverse the evolution of all modern technology.

Chief amongst Gráinne’s plots: to encrypt cataclysmic spells into Shakespeare’s “cursed” play, Macbeth. When her fellow rogue agents fall victim to Gráinne’s schemes, Melisande Stokes is forced to send Tristan’s untested, wayward sister Robin back in time to 1606 London, where Edmund Tilney, the king’s Master of Revels, controls all staged performances in London.

And now Gráinne controls Tilney.

While Robin poses as an apprentice in Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Mel travels to the ancient Roman Empire and, with the help of double-agent Chira in Renaissance Florence, untangles the knotted threads of history while the diabolical Gráinne jumps from timeline to timeline, always staying frustratingly one stop ahead—or is it behind?

Historical objects disappear, cities literally rise and fall, and nothing less than the fate of humanity is at stake. As Gráinne sows chaos across time and space, the ragtag team of ex-D.O.D.O. agents must fix the past—in order to save the future.

Critically acclaimed author Nicole Galland brings her deep knowledge of history and signature wit to this gripping romantic adventure.

Not as funny as the first one, but with a better story.

Although it wasn’t quite as laugh out loud funny as the first book (the viking invasion of Walmart was hilarious) this was definitely more engaging in narrative terms. Now that our heroes are no longer working for the US military industrial complex, and now they’re up against a real and terrifying antagonist, they’re much easier to root for. I liked the idea of the ensemble cast. I just wished they’d given a bit more thought to consistency in pronunciation, because the pronunciation was all over the place. In general though, a worthy enough piece of entertainment, with a compelling enough cliffhanger that I’ll probably stick around for the next one.

eeh

Not as good as the first one. poor development of characters. Credit would have been better spent elsewhere

Lots of fun

A mix of satire, adventure and speculative historic fiction. Well performed. I really enjoyed it.

More interesting

I enjoyed this probably more than the first book. This book let a story develop, it didn't get so hung up in the bureaucracy as the first book.

Great book wonderful performances

I enjoyed the first one and this was a good follow up to a fun universe and concept