This newly revised fictional re-writing of the Hamlet story is set in a time somewhere between the Scandinavian Dark Ages - out of which the original tale of Hamlet came - and the Renaissance society of Shakespeare’s play.

Graham Holderness’s novel provides both a prequel and a sequel to Shakespeare’s Hamlet: beginning with the great duel fought between his father King Amled and Fortinbras’ father Prince Fortenbrasse; and continuing after Hamlet’s death to tell both his story, and that of his invented son.

In the light of this re-imagined history, the conflicts and alliances between ancient Viking chivalry, Renaissance realpolitik and Christian forgiveness are dramatically explored.