They're back! Pocket of Dog Snogging along with his sidekick Drool and pet monkey Jeff ... and of course a ghost (hey, "there's always a bloody ghost"). The works of William Shakespeare (The Merchant of Venice and Othello) and Edgar Allan Poe (The Cask of Amontillado) get the Christopher Moore treatment in this continuation of Pocket's adventures from when we last met him in "Fool".
Out on a political mission at the behest of his wife, Queen Cordelia, Pocket walks right into a trap set by Antonio, Montressor Brabantio and Iago. From that torturous captivity unravels a story of great scheming and greater plotting amongst kings and princesses, soldiers and merchants.
There weren't too many laugh-out-loud moments - something I think I have come to associate Moore with. I do have to mention the Chorus: like Shakespearean plays, we see the chorus comment on scenes and characters ... unlike anything I have read ever before, the characters then comment back on what the Chorus says to them, sometimes even threatening them to change what was just said. That was really funny!
Overall however, I did not enjoy this book as much as all the other Moore stories I have read (even "Fool" was much funnier). I can't help feeling though, that Moore wasn't going for just funny this time. The Serpent of Venice is crafted out of tales that are polar opposites in genre, and brings together a vast repertoire of characters you could not imagine in the same world, much less the same room - and that is commendable.
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