Em X. Liu’s The Death I Gave Him is an interesting beast. Mostly, it’s an exceedingly clever and faithful retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Put simply, if you’re at all familiar with Hamlet, then you’ve got a pretty good idea of what’s going on here. Liu takes the guts of that familiar story and works into something that’s both original and familiar.

Transforming the story into a sci-fi locked-room mystery of sorts adds an extra layer of tension, even if you immediately know who did it. That lack of suspense doesn’t really matter as Liu adds enough other intrigue through all of the added sci-fi elements. The Death I Gave Him is less of a whodunnit and more of a whydunnit and what-is-going-to-be-done-about-it. There’s an overwhelming sense of inevitability to the story, too. One that comes from being familiar with the source material, to be sure. But one that also comes from this dark, overpowering sense of melancholy that permeates the entire story. Don’t come for the mystery, but do stick around for the character-driven revenge.