Today I have, the book blurb of The Sultan of Monte Cristo by The Holy Ghost Writer for us. Here we go:
It felt sad. It was like saying, 'goodbye' to a dear friend when reading
the last words, 'hope and wait', of the 1200+ page book, The Count of
Monte Cristo.
Did the reader hope and wait to learn what became
of Edmond Dantes, Haydee, Mercedes, the Morels, the Danglars or the
Villeforts after putting down the book?
One's thoughts need not
wander longer, as the Sultan of Monte Cristo unfolds this foresight in
the same spirit of Alexandre Dumas. That spirit creates in its readers a
hunger and thirst to read.
We are in the 1840's when Dumas
becomes an investigative reporter in this first sequel and he publishes
his book as a part of the story, 'The Count of Monte Cristo’, like a
true account of a real life Edmond Dantes, which book serves as points
of reference made by the original and new characters in the ongoing
saga.
That may be one of the reasons the sequel's author calls himself, 'The Holy Ghost Writer.' (The HGW)
While
new characters are introduced in the second chapter, the first new
significant character introduced comes in the 8th chapter in the person
of Raymee.
She is introduced similarly as Vampa was introduced early in the Count of Monte Cristo, but plays a more significant role.
We
recommend first reading the Count of Monte Cristo to completely
understand the references and characters developed, however, the sequel
can be enjoyed without a familiarity with the original work.
The
Count of Monte Cristo is one of history's best known stories, but only
reading or re-familiarizing oneself with the original text or a good
translation thereof will bring about the best result to understanding
its sequel.
Countless readers over many generations have found
the drama of a man unnecessarily imprisoned to emerge unrecognized, only
to stealthily take revenge, is a compelling and relevant story in each
age. Knowledge of a hidden treasure, provided by the elderly,
long-bearded prisoner to the Count of Monte Cristo makes the original a
story for children, however the Sultan of Monte Cristo is a little too
risqué for a very young audience, and is recommended for those at least
18 years of age.
Based on a true story, it's made that much more
compelling in this age when one considers that 65,000,000 Americans,
according to a recent article in US Today, have already been convicted
of crimes. One can easily imagine that some percentage of those were
innocent and suffered equally as did Edmond Dantes while experiencing
their own thoughts and plans of revenge.
In the sequels to
follow, Edmond Dantes, deeply repentant for the unintended consequences
of his revenge in the original story, will realize as the poet Milton
observed, revenge though sweet at first will err long recoil on its
victor.
Our readers may speculate that The HGW qualifies as a
true successor to Dumas, yet concomitantly, and it may be inferred that
he is an individual that has emerged from prison as a type of
adventurous character in his own life, perhaps wishing to conceal his
true identity by writing under the ghostly pen name. The true identity
of the HGW will become known once he interacts under his real name with
fictitious characters in one of the final books leading up to book ten.
The publisher will give a prize to the first person that can discover
from the clues that will be planted throughout the ten books as to his
true identity. To submit your guess, email montecristoprize@hotmail.com
Since
the Count of Monte Cristo saw himself as divine providence we speculate
that the word 'holy' in the Ghost Writer name was inspired by this
fact, yet there are some unexpected twists in this sequel that may also
contribute to the name.
Although those and other plot shifts come
unexpectedly in this sequel, they fit seamlessly and grow out of some
small seeds planted in the original story that never took root therein.
One of those small seeds is the word 'hemp' found in the first chapters
of the original story by Dumas.
