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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
The note says this started as Sherlock Holmes wingfic, but what it ended as is a smart, fun AU Holmes tribute that is both resoundingly familiar and delightfully strange. I’d love to see more in this world, and even more I would love to see more original adventures with Crow and Doyle.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is my favorite 'Fantasy Sherlock Holmes' adaptation. I listened to the audiobook, and I really enjoyed Imogen Church's narration.
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5*
Let’s start by saying that if you’re expecting something groundbreaking and new, especially after having read the author's previous book, you will be disappointed. Addison instead offers us a re-telling of Sherlock Holmes's most famous adventures - with a few differences, naturally.
If you approach this novel aware of this fact and do not expect anything else, you will enjoy it, quite a bit. I did :O) The changes made were actually pretty good and I appreciated some of the ways this new version set things. Furthermore, I did smile at the ways the original stories were mended into this new mold. However, and I guess this is where most readers will have a problem, there was no truly ‘new’ plot per se.
Let’s start by saying that if you’re expecting something groundbreaking and new, especially after having read the author's previous book, you will be disappointed. Addison instead offers us a re-telling of Sherlock Holmes's most famous adventures - with a few differences, naturally.
If you approach this novel aware of this fact and do not expect anything else, you will enjoy it, quite a bit. I did :O) The changes made were actually pretty good and I appreciated some of the ways this new version set things. Furthermore, I did smile at the ways the original stories were mended into this new mold. However, and I guess this is where most readers will have a problem, there was no truly ‘new’ plot per se.
This had some things going for us, but it's really to slavish to the original Sherlock Holmes. It starts with A Study in Scarlet updated for the world that Addison created. Look, I've seen too many adaptations of A Study in Scarlet as it is (in addition to the original), including some fantastical adaptations. People need to stop doing it. What surprised me even more, is that this book continued on to adapt more of Conan Doyle's stories into this setting. Basically, there are multiple novels in this one novel. It's too much, and not enough originality.
The world building is original, and I think I would have enjoyed this if the author was more inventive instead of borrowing more and more from Conan Doyle. There is a frame story about Jack the Ripper that, as a mystery, felt weaker. There are also character based threads, but it doesn't come together as a strong package.
The world building is original, and I think I would have enjoyed this if the author was more inventive instead of borrowing more and more from Conan Doyle. There is a frame story about Jack the Ripper that, as a mystery, felt weaker. There are also character based threads, but it doesn't come together as a strong package.
i enjoyed this just fine; but it isn’t very original, and it certainly didn’t live up to the standard that the goblin emperor set.
the writing was good but the plot beats are just line for line repeats of extant sherlock stories and a thin string of thread hanging them all together (the jack the ripper plot) that only really came to the forefront for the final twenty five pages.
this is frustrating because i feel like the goblin emperor is so unique and unlike anything else i have ever read, so i know i’m holding all katherine addisons other novels to a borderline unfair standard. but she’s the one who set the bar so high!
and this was so mediocre and lacklustre. i don’t really understand how this developed on arthur conan doyle’s sherlock, and it didn’t feel like a particularly new or shocking perspective. the setting and the cases are identical; as are most of the characters.
it’s well written, and if this is what you want from a sherlock holmes retelling i’m sure you’ll enjoy it, but i’m always looking for an author to take inspiration and spin it in a new direction (which is why i loved robert jackson bennett’s the tainted cup more recently) and not this, which is a beat for beat retelling of the sort that has never interested me.
the writing was good but the plot beats are just line for line repeats of extant sherlock stories and a thin string of thread hanging them all together (the jack the ripper plot) that only really came to the forefront for the final twenty five pages.
this is frustrating because i feel like the goblin emperor is so unique and unlike anything else i have ever read, so i know i’m holding all katherine addisons other novels to a borderline unfair standard. but she’s the one who set the bar so high!
and this was so mediocre and lacklustre. i don’t really understand how this developed on arthur conan doyle’s sherlock, and it didn’t feel like a particularly new or shocking perspective. the setting and the cases are identical; as are most of the characters.
it’s well written, and if this is what you want from a sherlock holmes retelling i’m sure you’ll enjoy it, but i’m always looking for an author to take inspiration and spin it in a new direction (which is why i loved robert jackson bennett’s the tainted cup more recently) and not this, which is a beat for beat retelling of the sort that has never interested me.
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book, Elementary, and Great Mouse Detective are the only valid Sherlock Holmes adaptations.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
A reimagined world of Sherlock Holmes except there’s Angels, vampires, werewolves, hell hounds and other paranormal creatures. This was an interesting read and I liked it a lot.