As Puck Would Have It
Reviewed by Tim McCree
April 2006

BOOK: As Puck Would Have It
AUTHOR:  Paul Ruditis
NOTE: This review may contain plot spoilers.

   This book has a rather interesting premise. The story involves the Charmed Ones meeting Puck, the mythological hobgoblin who is probably best known from the Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As the book begins, Puck appears to each of the Halliwell sisters in the form of three different guys, each guy for each sister. He does things that generally annoy them. Later, when Piper, Phoebe, and Paige get together to discuss what had happened, they realize that they’ve all met the same guy. It is at this point that Puck appears and challenges the Charmed Ones to a test. A circus has just come to town, and Puck tells the sisters that there is an Innocent at said circus that needs protecting. However, when pressed for more details, Puck says silent, he will not say anything more. Deciding to find out just what Puck wants, the Halliwells go to the circus and soon find their Innocent. The funny thing is that said Innocent is not human, but is a circus elephant named Tasha. It seems that Tasha has become ill and is dying. As the Charmed Ones investigate further, they find that two other circus animals got sick and died from the same mysterious illness that is now killing poor Tasha. Just who or what is killing these animals? Why is this happening? Finally, just how does Puck fit into all of this?

Now, most of you may know that I have been pretty hard on the show when they borrowed plot lines from myths and fairy tales. I felt they went WAY over the top with that concept. So when I began this book, I admit I did have some reservations about the whole Puck thing. However, as I continued to read the book, I found myself enjoying it a great deal. Puck came across as an entity who is both likeable and annoying at the same time (he reminded me of the Q entity from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager). Although obnoxious and a general pain in the butt, Puck does give subtle clues throughout the story to point the Halliwells in the right direction. It seems that his heart is in the right place after all, he just likes to have fun along the way.

Once again the Halliwell sisters are well written in this book. They come across as the characters I knew and loved years ago. In one scene, the No Magic For Personal Gain rule is discussed and the sisters reaffirm that said rule cannot be broken, not without consequences (unlike on the show these days, where they do it anytime they jolly well please and get away with it). At least the authors of the books seem to care about what the show was originally all about.

Also, the girls care about the Innocent that has been placed under their protection. Tasha may be an elephant, but the girls know she has as much right to live as anyone. Once again I found myself enjoying this aspect that the girls, at least in the books, care about the Innocents they are sworn to protect. As I have said before, this is one aspect in which the show has been sadly lacking these past few seasons.

Some other points:

-once again we have Wyatt, but still no sign of Chris.

-neither Leo nor Daryl appear in this story. Hopefully this is just a one time thing. The show made the moronic decision to drop their characters, but the books don’t have to (of course, I keep wondering why Prue has not shown up in the books, they don’t need to worry about actor availability, after all).

-it seems the author of this book is a bit shaky on his Shakespeare facts. At one point, one of the Halliwells refers to Hamlet’s ghost. Anyone who has read or seen Hamlet (the play or any of the movie versions), knows that the ghost is that of Hamlet’s father, not Hamlet himself.

-there are hidden references to both the Harry Potter book series and Charlie’s Angels in this book. They brought a smile to my face.

-for those of you who hate clowns, and I’m one of those people, let’s just say that events in this book helps justify that hatred.

So in closing I will say that this is another great Charmed book. 
  I give it a 9/10.

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