Though the first two Promethean Age books are set in modern times, the third moves back in time to the early days of the Prometheus Club during the later years of Elizabeth Tudor’s reign. Kit Marley (later Christopher Marlowe) was a spy in the service of Elizabeth and the Prometheus Club, and wove magic into his works that helped strengthen Elizabeth’s rule. After his death, his friend, William Shakespeare, takes his place, but is unable to create the same magic. Except that Kit did not die, but was saved by Morgan le Fae and taken into faerie, where he is healed and becomes involved in a private war between rival factions of the Fae court, and he and Will struggle to maintain a balance between their new professional and personal lives.
You don’t need to have read the first two books to enjoy this one, but I think the perspective of the modern age-what both the fae court and the Promethean Club become-makes it more interesting. Many things assumed before (such as the identity of Kit’s true love) are revealed to be something else, and some characters are shown in a very different light. Bear also plays around more with the idea that fiction shapes reality, and that as legends change, so do the realities of the legends, a theme that I’m pretty fond of, and the end has a very interesting take on sacrifice for love.
Somehow, though, I didn’t like it quite as much as I did the other books by Bear that I’ve read. Which is strange, as I tend to love Elizabethan intrigue. Then again, while I adored the fae court in Blood and Iron and Whiskey and Water, I didn’t find the dynamics there as fascinating here, and preferred the human court. (I suspect I was also subconsciously comparing it to Marie Brennan’s Midnight Never Come, and while that one started more slowly for me, I think I prefer the human/fae warring courts and lovers there. And…well, very honestly, I find explorations of female sexuality more interesting than explorations of male sexuality, though only slightly, and I prefer a balance between them. Blood and Iron and Whiskey and Water had a balance of both, while Ink and Steel is pretty much exclusively male. Then again, New Amsterdam objectively had more focus on male sexuality, too, but I didn’t notice it as much there.)
As usual, I suspect I’m coming across as more critical than I intend to. And (since it can be read independently) I’m deliberately leaving out some details pertaining to the other books in the series to avoid spoilers for those who haven’t read it, and those bits factor into my enjoyment. One other bit that I quite enjoyed is the extremely positive portrayal of Will's wife, Anne. Due to overexposure in high school and college, I haven't sought much fiction on Shakespeare, but most that I have encountered dismisses her or portrays her negatively, and I very much liked Bear's portrayal. The book is very good, and I enjoyed it very much (it’s over 400 pages long, and I only started it yesterday) I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I did Bear’s other books. However, it and its sequel, Hell and Earth are, as I understand it, effectively one large book (though this wraps things up nicely, and doesn’t leave you feeling like you must read more to have the conclusion you want) so I could end up loving the two as a whole more than I do Bear’s other books.
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