This young adult, science fiction and fantasy romance book, was written by author Pete Mullineaux, with the cover design by Dave Hill. It was first published back in August 2020, by Matador.

Science fiction meets Shakespeare, an unusual concept yes, but it works. And not only that, this modern classic’s plot stays true to Shakespeare’s original story penned, (or probably quilled) years ago, while being authentic in itself.

In Mullineaux book, the year is 2040, we are dominated by androids in all areas of life. Humans live with social disorders, climate change, environmental issues and technology overuse, causing constant ups and downs in our future world.

Set in a US high school, Kerry a newly qualified human teacher’s first post is with 10^th grade drama students, producing ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Their previous android teacher left due to emotional stress caused by the class, led by Harpur, a teenage troublemaker. Issues progress to more sinister happenings when a murder investigation ensues into a suspicious death. The play Romeo and Juliet, deals with feuds, love and tragedy, and the characters in the book deal with this in their real world too, along with confusion, politics and social disturbance.

We get a sense of how the humans feel, as androids upset their world, over time, questions are evoked about how artificial intelligence think, feel, and their capabilities. What are they capable of? We compare this to the definition of ‘human’. Did the children bully their previous android teacher? Is that possible? So many questions!

Mullineaux juggles lots of themes and knits them together well. Fear, love, prejudice, and consequences are all written into the storyline, while the plot is still Shakespeare’s true idea. This book is available in both paperback and e-book.