My review HERE should give you some idea of what this second volume of The Stratford Man duology by the inimitable Elizabeth Bear is about.

If you're not interested in making with the clicky, let's just say that, if I knew you personally, and your house had just burned down, taking all of your books with it, and if I showed up after you had found a new place to stay, and I knew you a) liked stories about Shakespeare, b) liked stories about Queen Elizabeth, c) liked stories about the sinister Faerie Court of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and d) didn't object to LGBT themes, then this book and its sister would be the books I would give you to restart your collection with.

I simply can't recommend these two books strongly enough. It's a wonderful story, and I did not give it five stars lightly. I promise you won't regret reading it.