A short and sweet spin on the famous Charles Dickens story A Christmas Carol in the style of William Shakespeare. The themes come through very clearly: common humanity, welfare and compassion over miserly penny-pinching and business-mongering. However, there seems little to be gained from interpreting Dickens' story in the light of Shakespeare; one of the best things about author Ian Doescher's Shakespeare/Star Wars mash-ups was how it illuminated the common thread of storytelling between the two, across mediums and through the ages. But Dickens and Shakespeare are already quite clearly in the same tradition, so absent this aim we are left with just a nice little story. Dickens' plot and themes are strong enough to survive the transition and the Shakespearean style is always magical, but Doescher's story, unlike his previous books, is only reflecting the light of its sources rather than bringing its own sun. ( )