William Shakespeare Punches a Friggin' Shark And/Or Other Stories

by Ryan North

This book lets you control William Shakespeare and make him punch a friggin' shark.

No other book in the world can make this claim.

There are over forty endings for you to discover.

Contains the choosable-path-adventure stories "Willaim Shakespeare Punches A Friggin' Shark", "Poor Yorick", and "That Time Samuel Ampson Got His Thumb Bit"

Genres: Humor, Fiction, Shakespeare, Short Stories, Historical Fiction

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Hi, I'm Ryan! I was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in 1980 and since then have written several books. You can read my Wikipedia page for more, or check out my author site at RyanNorth.ca!

I'm the author of the webcomic Dinosaur Comics (that's the comic where the pictures don't change but the words do, it's better than it sounds and I've also done crazy things like turn Shakespeare into a choose-your-own-path adventure, write a comic for Marvel about a girl with all the powers of a squirrel, or mess up walking my dog so badly it made the news.

I'm working on more stuff as we speak, hopefully it's good

Reviews

[Sara G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hated the classic Choose Your Own Adventure series as a kid. The "stories" were not interesting and my need for completion was challenged past the point of annoyance. However, Ryan North's CYAs are creative, funny, intensely meta, and genre-bending in ways that make exploring all the options delightful. They contain books within books, and games within books, too. I did not actually follow all paths in this one due to the game section, where it's way too hard to backtrack and much more satisfying to figure out the puzzle. I've gone through portions of this book before, but didn't go all the way through until tonight. A delight.

[Matt Bohnhoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is well worth a read. It’s clever, humorous, and fun. I read through it a half dozen times and might still go through it a few more.

[Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much fun!
Maybe you are familiar with Ryan North from his webcomic, Dinosaur Comics or his run in Marvel's The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. Or the miniseries The Midas Flesh. Or his previous two Shakespearean chooseable path adventure books, To Be or But To Be and Romeo and/or Juliet.

If you're not aware of any of those books, go check them out. They're so much fun!

Or maybe you just like some good witty humor.

Whatever the case, give this book a try. It is my favorite of his chooseable path books since To Be or Not to Be. Romeo and/or Juliet was fine, but playing as Juliet in that book was nowhere near as much fun as playing Ophelia in the previous.

When I first began reading, I was slightly concerned about the treatment if sharks. I needn't have worried. Mr North gives choices that reward thoughtful and intelligent actions with happier endings.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is fun. Always at least clever and amusing, and often laugh-out-loud hilarious, it does suffer from not being based on anything in particular, and leaves the book unsure of its own purpose. Ryan North's Romeo and/or Juliet and To Be Or Not To Be have clear intent and parody, but William Shakespeare Punches a Friggin' Shark And/Or Other Stories is a bit rudderless. The other books being a sort of fanfiction, this one feels like fanfiction of fanfiction.

Proofing-wise, this needed a few more passes. I found quite a few errors.

It's well worth a read when you need a few laughs and to gape at some pretty illustrations. It just doesn't quite hold up to the other works in this particular series.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this since the Kickstarter but was putting off reading all of North's CYA books (except Poor Yorick) because of length and my own need to be sure I read every page. I finally made a tracking sheet and tackled them all in order.

I'm glad I did because they were excellent and frequently had callbacks. I docked this one a star for being simpler than the others and since it includes Poor Yorick which I'd already read as a standalone. Also of note this is the only one of the 3 with no hidden sections. All pages can be reached organically except 174 which being a meta page doesn't really count.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Amusing little book, but disappointing compared to Ryan North's "Romeo and/or Juliet" and "To Be or Not To Be." The supposed goal of the book -- to be Shakespeare and to punch a shark -- is accomplished far too easily. The second main plot involves Ophelia, bloodthirsty killer of Denmark, on holiday in Verona. The majority of this action is a grid movement puzzle requiring the ability to think spatially. It was easy for me, but perhaps will be more of a challenge and more entertaining to others.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good deal of this book is, in fact, taken up with other books! You, as Shakespeare, can write a choose-your-own-adventure story featuring EITHER Yorick OR Sam Ampson. You can also punch one of SEVERAL sharks! The shark-punching doesn't always go so well, though, and should be approached with caution. Eagle-eyed readers will catch "subtle hints" (blatant plugs) in the text about other books in this vein from this author!

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

It behooves you to read this choose your own path tale. It’s funny and you will die in any number of shocking ways, complete with illustrated endings.

Does Shakespeare write his plays and punch a shark? Does he write his own non-linear choosable path adventure story? Who bites whose thumb? It’s up to you to discover.

[Proflover · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s great. Fun, interesting set of stories related to Shakespeare and his work. The Kickstarter/self-published aspect is slightly more obvious than I would expect from this author - editing things like see/sea, occasional missing words, etc. is why I did not put 5 stars, as the errors took me out of the story periodically.

[Floris Overvelde · Rating 5 out of 5]

A choose your own adventure book in which you are William Shakespeare and he has two goals in life: To become the best British playwright to ever have lived, and to punch a friggin' shark. The synopsis alone should tell you how much I enjoyed this book.

[MH · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that absolutely delivers on its promise, and is genuinely funny - not just "funny for Shakespeare wonks" (although it's that, too), but absolutely a riot. The spine alone makes it worth the purchase.

[Shana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was cool. If you read the other chose your adventure Shakespeare books, you get an extra mini store here. It is a lot smaller then the books too.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

At least I'm PRETTY SURE I've finished the book, but... with so many endings, who can tell?!

[Narrelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enormously silly and very entertaining.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think I will ever tire of choose your own adventure and Shakespeare combined. Wonderful as always.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

[Brock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a fun book. And I found every single path and ending!

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something like 70% of this book--"Poor Yorick" and "The Time Samuel Ampson Got His Thumb Bit"--were content I'd already seen before. They were previously only distributed to backers of the original Kickstarter for To Be or Not to Be , though, so that's forgivable.

Basically, this book has the same strengths and weaknesses as North's other Shakespeare choose-your-own-adventure chooseable-path adventures. It's generally pretty funny, outcomes of choices almost never feel unforeseeable, it's politically correct (almost to a fault), and every character talks like Ryan North talks. This, however, is the only book in the trilogy (assuming he doesn't write more of them) that isn't based off an existing Shakespeare play. The book does end up feeling like it doesn't have a backbone as a result, but at least it takes away the crutch of being able to joke about how dumb everyone's canon decisions are or how sexist Shakespearean times were.

I'd still recommend reading Ryan North's non-chooseable-path writing, like Dinosaur Comics or Machine of Death: A Collection of Stories About People Who Know How They Will Die , but if you were a fan of To Be or Not to Be and Romeo and/or Juliet, this is like the dessert to their main courses. Oh! By the way, as with those books, I mapped this one out (spoilers).