Iago
A Novel

Name: Iago
Brand: Macmillan Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: David Snodin
ISBN: 9781427214720

Author: David Snodin

Narrator: John Lee

Unabridged: 15 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Published: 01/03/2012

Categories: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Adaptations, Historical Fiction

Synopsis

An unforgettable adventure beginning where Shakespeare's Othello leaves off

Wounded in love, tormented by his past, Shakespeare's most complex villain is brought magnificently to life in this tale of two adversaries—one an accused killer; the other, one of the most powerful men in Venice. Having escaped from Cyprus, accused of the murders of the governor, known as the Moor, and his lovely young wife, Iago is now locked in battle with Annibale Malipiero, known as Il Terribile, the chief inquisitor of Italy's greatest city.

Malipiero is repelled by the more brutal tasks of the interrogante. His obsession is with the very nature of evil. What makes a man into a murderer, he longs to know? Is Iago a lone psychopath, or does he lie at the heart of a more widespread Ottoman conspiracy? Malipiero knows that torture will not provide him with the answers he seeks. But there is, perhaps, a more audacious and unusual route to the truth . . .

Exuberantly inventive, thrillingly complex, and richly entertaining, Iago will captivate fans already familiar with Shakespeare and appeal to anyone who loves a rich historical novel. Iago marks the emergence of a remarkable new literary voice.

About David Snodin

David Snodin was William Shakespeare's script editor. He worked on the BBC's epic series of Shakespeare's plays, and his award-winning television production credits also include Jane Austen's Persuasion, Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, and Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles. He lives in London and Crete.

About John Lee

John Lee has read more than 100 audiobooks. His work has garnered multiple Earphones Awards and won AudioFile's Best Voice in Fiction & Classics in both 2008 and 2009. Lee narrated the audiobook for A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin, volume four of A Song of Ice and Fire. He has also read for Jack London, John Banville, Charles Dickens, and Barbara Taylor Bradford. In addition, Lee narrates video games, does voice-over work, and writes plays. He is also an accomplished stage actor and has written and co-produced the feature films Breathing Hard and Forfeit. He played Alydon in the 1963–64 Doctor Who serial The Daleks.

Reviews

Goodreads review by C.W.

Tackling Shakespeare's infamous and arguably most mysterious villain is an act of courage; after all, Iago has gone down in literary annals as one of the most heinous of men, responsible for the catastrophe that cost Othello and Desdemona their lives. What we never really find out in Shakespeare's p......more

Goodreads review by Mundi

The blurb says this is "An unforgettable adventure..." and promises that "...Shakespeare's most complex villain is brought magnificently to life..." but I must disagree. This whole story is largely forgettable, and Iago is much less enthralling here than in Shakespear'e Othello. Just go re-read Shake......more

Goodreads review by Ray

The book promises more than it delivers. As the Chief Inquisitor of Venice attempts to delve into the psychology of Shakespeare's notorious villain, Iago, through the first-person narration of Gentile, an impressionable and naive teenager who becomes a pawn in the fast-paced cross-country chase betw......more

Goodreads review by Ron

A thrilling production of “Othello” this winter at the Folger Theatre reminded me just how propulsive that tragedy is. Shorn of the philosophical musings of “Hamlet” or the comic business of “King Lear,” Shakespeare’s story of the Moor and the envious villain who destroys him moves as swiftly as po......more

Quotes

“[A] familiar coming-of-age story with a touch of Elizabethan finery. . . . A likable page-turner about love, war and conspiracy in the early 16th century.” —Kirkus

“Snodin gives readers a closeup of an unforgettable villain: his charm, his strength, his capacity for brutality and manipulation . . . . while simultaneously taking readers on a dark, fast-paced adventure with satisfying moments of humor and romance.” —Publishers Weekly

“Readers won’t need a thorough knowledge of Shakespere’s Othello to enjoy this vivid. . . novel, which is filled with all the drama, intrigue, and violence of Renaissance Italy—and even a little romance on the side.” —Library Journal

“richly cinematic” —AARP

“I thoroughly enjoyed being swept up in the setting; I swam with the characters in the muck of the Venetian canals and ran for shelter in the Paduan monastery where they briefly hid. . . for pure entertainment, Iago hit its mark.” —The Washington Independent Review of Books

“Finely drawn characters inhabit this riveting novel. . . . a many layered story righ in its unfolding. . . Snodin weaves a masterful tale of treachery as various truths and sedition are uncovered in a compelling march to the conclusion.” —About.com

“Iago is back and more deadly than ever. . . . The novel pulls us through one just-missed-him confrontation after another, leaving a slick trail of blood, sleeping throats cut and chests pierced. . . . [Snodin drops] witty allusions as freely as Puck sprinkles love potion around the forest. And the large cast of characters is wonderfully well drawn. . .” —The Washington Post