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spaceman5000's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not much for short story collections but this one was fun and had a lot more hits than misses. The stories are essentially "supernatural Sherlock Holmes" stories and they are all fun in one way or another.
swirls's review against another edition
4.0
This is an absolutely wonderful collection that I felt kept the spirit of the Strand publications, complete with illustrations for each story. The stories were hit or miss, but honestly, this book was just good plain fun.
I shamelessly adore fanfiction. I've loved it ever since I was about 10 and discovered Star Trek novels in Half Priced Books. I can never let characters go completely - I always want more and I want it from other fans who understand. So I was understandably delighted to see Barbara Hambly, one of my favorite TOS writers, as the author of the first story. Holmes, a former Lost Boy? Taking the case to find the missing Darling children? Fighting a mysterious eldritch creature with Peter Pan? Shut up, I'll take it.
I read all of the Sherlock Holmes canon a few years ago and Doyle would sometimes tease the reader with the potential for a supernatural solution, but always kept Holmes firmly in "our" reality - no ghosts or vampires in those stories. But it's a pleasure to see him scoffingly investigate ghostly apparitions with William Hope Hodgson's Carnacki the Ghost-Finder, reluctantly join forces with H. Heron and E. Heron's psychic detective, Flaxman Low, and even, in his old age, nonchalantly fight vampires with a hardboiled gumshoe in LA. In the weakest of the stories, he takes it upon himself to track down Doyle's own dinosaur-hunting Professor Challenger. There's even a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo by Raffles, the "gentleman thief."
Okay, so this is probably not great literature. But who cares? This was a fantastic weird collection. The final two stories, Red Sunset (the hardboiled gumshoe story) and The Red Planet League (a ridiculously depraved Moran describing Professor Moriarty's convoluted revenge against an academic rival) had me giggling hysterically. I still don't know what made me request this volume from the library, but I'm glad to have it. This was a pleasure to read.
I shamelessly adore fanfiction. I've loved it ever since I was about 10 and discovered Star Trek novels in Half Priced Books. I can never let characters go completely - I always want more and I want it from other fans who understand. So I was understandably delighted to see Barbara Hambly, one of my favorite TOS writers, as the author of the first story. Holmes, a former Lost Boy? Taking the case to find the missing Darling children? Fighting a mysterious eldritch creature with Peter Pan? Shut up, I'll take it.
I read all of the Sherlock Holmes canon a few years ago and Doyle would sometimes tease the reader with the potential for a supernatural solution, but always kept Holmes firmly in "our" reality - no ghosts or vampires in those stories. But it's a pleasure to see him scoffingly investigate ghostly apparitions with William Hope Hodgson's Carnacki the Ghost-Finder, reluctantly join forces with H. Heron and E. Heron's psychic detective, Flaxman Low, and even, in his old age, nonchalantly fight vampires with a hardboiled gumshoe in LA. In the weakest of the stories, he takes it upon himself to track down Doyle's own dinosaur-hunting Professor Challenger. There's even a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo by Raffles, the "gentleman thief."
Okay, so this is probably not great literature. But who cares? This was a fantastic weird collection. The final two stories, Red Sunset (the hardboiled gumshoe story) and The Red Planet League (a ridiculously depraved Moran describing Professor Moriarty's convoluted revenge against an academic rival) had me giggling hysterically. I still don't know what made me request this volume from the library, but I'm glad to have it. This was a pleasure to read.
diannel_04's review against another edition
I thought this would be a fun book with a bunch of Sherlock Holmes short stories but I brought it back to the library after reading the first one. I mean really, Sherlock Holmes helping out Peter Pan. PLEASE!
wmhenrymorris's review against another edition
Well-written fan fiction it is, but it's still, essentially fan fiction, and, no offense, to Sherlock Holmes fans, but as much as I love the original stories, I'm not convinced that there's enough complexity to the Holmseian world support this type of effort -- or perhaps these just aren't the right stories to convince me of that (it probably doesn't help that I read this while in the middle of reading a massive Jack Vance festschrif which is totally awesome).
That said, some of these stories are fun. A couple are even quite good. And if you are a major fan of all things Holmes and Watson, you might like this anthology quite a bit.
That said, some of these stories are fun. A couple are even quite good. And if you are a major fan of all things Holmes and Watson, you might like this anthology quite a bit.
kellswitch's review
2.0
I had a really, really hard time reading this book. One or two of the stories were entertaining and one was somewhat creepy but none were really scary or even came close to feeling like a Sherlock Holmes story. There wasn't any story that I felt compelled to read and if I put the book down I had to make myself start to read it again and this has pretty much cooled my interest in the Sherlock Holmes/horror genre mash up idea.
strikingthirteen's review
4.0
Overall: A thoroughly enjoyable mix of the fantastic and the rational world of Sherlock Holmes' London. It's chilling, enthralling, sad, fantastic, shocking, and at all times a fun time. It was really fun to read and I was so very sad when it ended.
You do need to take each story separately however. So here we go:
The Lost Boy (3.5/5): Sherlock Holmes meets Peter Pan, for the first time or no? It's never really said. The interesting thing here is the fact that the narrator is a dying Mary Watson, which immediately throws the whole thing into doubt as much as it does confirms it. It's interesting to see how Peter Pan and Holmes get on and it is a great little story. A bit of an odd choice for a mash up but I enjoyed it.
His Last Arrow (5/5): This comes out of nowhere it starts out like a mystery like any other and then Watson stabs Holmes in the back. Literally. You think OMG WHAT THE HELL but then you are told that Holmes was a Djinn that Watson became indebted to while in Afghanistan. The whole story flips in that one moment. My heart literally stopped when Watson stabbed Holmes and it became worse when you realise what Holmes was and what Watson plans to do now. Heart stopping.
The Things That Shall Come Upon Them (2.5/5): I have never heard of Flaxman Low so I may have lost a bit on that fact. I did however like the two detectives presenting two different approaches, readings, and solutions to the problem. It got genuinely creepy at first but then fell apart when neither Holmes' rational explanation nor Low's supernatural one proved correct. So, it was all a little too open ended for me really. I like that Watson remained unconvinced in either direction but, all in all, the atmosphere up until the 'reveal' was great. It would have been weird if he sided with Low and it would have been too predictable if he sided with Holmes, though he did say he leaned more that way. All build up and no real follow through unfortunately.
The Finishing Stroke (4.5/5): This had a wonderful flair of the gruesome along with a gracious tip of the hat to Dorian Grey. It's gory and fantastic the explanation is so obviously other worldy and Holmes STILL refuses to admit it. It's a great tale of classic horror going on here. No one understands what is happening, I don't think even the villain really does either, and no one can really function. That's sort of how I'd see it happening if Conan Doyle ever had written something like this. Great fun all around.
Sherlock Holmes in the Lost World (3/5): I've never read the Lost World of Conan Doyle but I am familiar enough to understand what's going on. That being said you could probably understand nothing at all and still follow along and enjoy yourself. Our retired crime solvers head off into the Lost World to find Professor Challenger. It's an interesting, jungle adventure, and not too weird considering the presence of Holmes and Watson. It's a great time and unexpected!Moran was an interesting touch, though I really want to know how he escaped the hangman's noose. Rather enjoyable.
The Grantchester Grimoire (3/5): Another detective whom I've never read joins Holmes and Watson in a case involving a man who will not wake. Rather generic creepy story but still enjoyable while you're reading it. It worked better for me than "The Things That Shall Come Upon Them" probably because you were left with the idea that maybe, just maybe, Holmes believes more than he will let anyone see. What you do in the heat of the moment is quite telling.
The Steamship Friesland (3.5/5): This ties in with the death of the client in "The Five Orange Pips" and also features Holmes as a man who can speak to the dead. That last part seems to be a problem but it actually works quite well, especially considering how he must explain to Watson and get Watson to believe him. Holmes and Watson really don't do too much case wise but it's the idea of a ghost whispering Sherlock Holmes that really keeps you reading. Also the implication that Holmes, because of how long he's had to develop his mind, could continue to do work while dead. I also loved the touch that Watson reacted to the ghostly warnings without knowing it - which makes me wonder if Holmes and Watson ever chatted from two separate worlds in this universe.
The Entwined (4.5/5): This is a weirder entry but weird work very well with me. It's a horrifying idea and the mystery of what this world is and what this Brotherhood is and how Catherine became implicated is all up in the air. It's so sensual and wonderful and scary all it once. It's fantastic. I also greatly enjoyed the implication that Watson hid the real story from Holmes. Holmes, I think, knows that Watson is lying but doesn't seem to want to think about uncovering it. Very telling.
Merridew of Abominable Memory (3/5): I think I would have preferred this as simply a straight forward mystery. The octogenarian Watson, who frames the narrative, is an interesting character but it's so sad to think of him away and ill and in no touch with Holmes whatsoever. It just doesn't fit into my imagining of the world but that's no fault to the story. I loved the grizzly description of those 'decorations' and I wish we'd gotten more of that than this strange treatise on memory. It seemed more out of place than anything.
Red Sunset (5/5): Wow, genre detective fiction meets the original consulting detective and they face off against Dracula?! Enough said! It's hilarious ( I love Holmes's impatient mocking about the narrator's poetic turns of phrase), sad (Holmes reminiscing about always calling Watson 'John" and the photo on his desk), and thrilling. Amazing. Loved it. Really loved it!
The Red Planet League (4/5): The longest and maybe the most interesting if only because your narrator is Sebastian Moran, and man is that man deliciously depraved! I could have done without the diary entries in the middle but that's really my only complaint. I love the look at Moriarty's mathematical and scientific nemesis and the references to other characters fictional and real delighted me to no end!
You do need to take each story separately however. So here we go:
The Lost Boy (3.5/5): Sherlock Holmes meets Peter Pan, for the first time or no? It's never really said. The interesting thing here is the fact that the narrator is a dying Mary Watson, which immediately throws the whole thing into doubt as much as it does confirms it. It's interesting to see how Peter Pan and Holmes get on and it is a great little story. A bit of an odd choice for a mash up but I enjoyed it.
His Last Arrow (5/5): This comes out of nowhere it starts out like a mystery like any other and then Watson stabs Holmes in the back. Literally. You think OMG WHAT THE HELL but then you are told that Holmes was a Djinn that Watson became indebted to while in Afghanistan. The whole story flips in that one moment. My heart literally stopped when Watson stabbed Holmes and it became worse when you realise what Holmes was and what Watson plans to do now. Heart stopping.
The Things That Shall Come Upon Them (2.5/5): I have never heard of Flaxman Low so I may have lost a bit on that fact. I did however like the two detectives presenting two different approaches, readings, and solutions to the problem. It got genuinely creepy at first but then fell apart when neither Holmes' rational explanation nor Low's supernatural one proved correct. So, it was all a little too open ended for me really. I like that Watson remained unconvinced in either direction but, all in all, the atmosphere up until the 'reveal' was great. It would have been weird if he sided with Low and it would have been too predictable if he sided with Holmes, though he did say he leaned more that way. All build up and no real follow through unfortunately.
The Finishing Stroke (4.5/5): This had a wonderful flair of the gruesome along with a gracious tip of the hat to Dorian Grey. It's gory and fantastic the explanation is so obviously other worldy and Holmes STILL refuses to admit it. It's a great tale of classic horror going on here. No one understands what is happening, I don't think even the villain really does either, and no one can really function. That's sort of how I'd see it happening if Conan Doyle ever had written something like this. Great fun all around.
Sherlock Holmes in the Lost World (3/5): I've never read the Lost World of Conan Doyle but I am familiar enough to understand what's going on. That being said you could probably understand nothing at all and still follow along and enjoy yourself. Our retired crime solvers head off into the Lost World to find Professor Challenger. It's an interesting, jungle adventure, and not too weird considering the presence of Holmes and Watson. It's a great time and unexpected!Moran was an interesting touch, though I really want to know how he escaped the hangman's noose. Rather enjoyable.
The Grantchester Grimoire (3/5): Another detective whom I've never read joins Holmes and Watson in a case involving a man who will not wake. Rather generic creepy story but still enjoyable while you're reading it. It worked better for me than "The Things That Shall Come Upon Them" probably because you were left with the idea that maybe, just maybe, Holmes believes more than he will let anyone see. What you do in the heat of the moment is quite telling.
The Steamship Friesland (3.5/5): This ties in with the death of the client in "The Five Orange Pips" and also features Holmes as a man who can speak to the dead. That last part seems to be a problem but it actually works quite well, especially considering how he must explain to Watson and get Watson to believe him. Holmes and Watson really don't do too much case wise but it's the idea of a ghost whispering Sherlock Holmes that really keeps you reading. Also the implication that Holmes, because of how long he's had to develop his mind, could continue to do work while dead. I also loved the touch that Watson reacted to the ghostly warnings without knowing it - which makes me wonder if Holmes and Watson ever chatted from two separate worlds in this universe.
The Entwined (4.5/5): This is a weirder entry but weird work very well with me. It's a horrifying idea and the mystery of what this world is and what this Brotherhood is and how Catherine became implicated is all up in the air. It's so sensual and wonderful and scary all it once. It's fantastic. I also greatly enjoyed the implication that Watson hid the real story from Holmes. Holmes, I think, knows that Watson is lying but doesn't seem to want to think about uncovering it. Very telling.
Merridew of Abominable Memory (3/5): I think I would have preferred this as simply a straight forward mystery. The octogenarian Watson, who frames the narrative, is an interesting character but it's so sad to think of him away and ill and in no touch with Holmes whatsoever. It just doesn't fit into my imagining of the world but that's no fault to the story. I loved the grizzly description of those 'decorations' and I wish we'd gotten more of that than this strange treatise on memory. It seemed more out of place than anything.
Red Sunset (5/5): Wow, genre detective fiction meets the original consulting detective and they face off against Dracula?! Enough said! It's hilarious ( I love Holmes's impatient mocking about the narrator's poetic turns of phrase), sad (Holmes reminiscing about always calling Watson 'John" and the photo on his desk), and thrilling. Amazing. Loved it. Really loved it!
The Red Planet League (4/5): The longest and maybe the most interesting if only because your narrator is Sebastian Moran, and man is that man deliciously depraved! I could have done without the diary entries in the middle but that's really my only complaint. I love the look at Moriarty's mathematical and scientific nemesis and the references to other characters fictional and real delighted me to no end!
caidyn's review
4.0
3.5/5
The Lost Boy - 2/5: I liked the idea. Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes, something that ought to be interesting. But it was so jumbled and very out of character for all of them.
His Last Arrow - 3/5: All of the characters were in character and I liked how it plays on the theory that Sherlock and John were real people. Despite that, the ending was a turn that wasn't even hinted to.
The Things That Shall Come Upon Them - 4/5: This was actually in another collection of stories like this, so I've already read it. Not too much of a drag and it was fun reading the two conflicting viewpoints.
The Finishing Stroke - 4/5: It was an interesting case to read and I liked how it was definitely supernatural, but never really said to be. Facts were stated clearly. The characters were well written as well.
Sherlock Holmes in the Lost World - 3/5: Another interesting combination, but I wasn't as intrigued as with the others. I didn't like how Professor Jessica Challenger was portrayed through Watson's eyes.
The Grantchester Grimoire - 3/5: It seemed a bit rushed towards the beginning, but it smoothed out by the end, even though the perpetrator wasn't that shocking, nor was it a hard thing to figure out myself.
The Steamship Friesland - 3/5: I loved the hint of integrating Doyle's case with this one. It was done well, as was the way Sherlock accepted the supernatural going on. It was improbable, but not impossible. Yet, it fell short with how it moved too quickly.
The Entwined - 4/5: Very well written. Very in character. I really enjoyed this one and I would love to have seen this be a further developed case since it would have been interesting to read in something more than a few pages.
Merridrew of Abominable Memory - 4/5: Another that I had read in a similar collection of stories. I loved the linking of the two cases and how it wasn't too supernatural when I recollect it. The best thing was the theories on memory that were brought about.
Red Sunset - 4/5: Old Sherlock Holmes, vampire hunter. I liked the person narrating and that it wasn't horribly done, as it could have gone.
The Red Planet League - 4.5/5: This was the best. Took the top out of all of them. I think what made it really unique was that there was no Sherlock or Watson, only Moriarty and Moran, and Moran was narrating things -- with his own twist of course -- like Watson does.
The Lost Boy - 2/5: I liked the idea. Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes, something that ought to be interesting. But it was so jumbled and very out of character for all of them.
His Last Arrow - 3/5: All of the characters were in character and I liked how it plays on the theory that Sherlock and John were real people. Despite that, the ending was a turn that wasn't even hinted to.
The Things That Shall Come Upon Them - 4/5: This was actually in another collection of stories like this, so I've already read it. Not too much of a drag and it was fun reading the two conflicting viewpoints.
The Finishing Stroke - 4/5: It was an interesting case to read and I liked how it was definitely supernatural, but never really said to be. Facts were stated clearly. The characters were well written as well.
Sherlock Holmes in the Lost World - 3/5: Another interesting combination, but I wasn't as intrigued as with the others. I didn't like how Professor Jessica Challenger was portrayed through Watson's eyes.
The Grantchester Grimoire - 3/5: It seemed a bit rushed towards the beginning, but it smoothed out by the end, even though the perpetrator wasn't that shocking, nor was it a hard thing to figure out myself.
The Steamship Friesland - 3/5: I loved the hint of integrating Doyle's case with this one. It was done well, as was the way Sherlock accepted the supernatural going on. It was improbable, but not impossible. Yet, it fell short with how it moved too quickly.
The Entwined - 4/5: Very well written. Very in character. I really enjoyed this one and I would love to have seen this be a further developed case since it would have been interesting to read in something more than a few pages.
Merridrew of Abominable Memory - 4/5: Another that I had read in a similar collection of stories. I loved the linking of the two cases and how it wasn't too supernatural when I recollect it. The best thing was the theories on memory that were brought about.
Red Sunset - 4/5: Old Sherlock Holmes, vampire hunter. I liked the person narrating and that it wasn't horribly done, as it could have gone.
The Red Planet League - 4.5/5: This was the best. Took the top out of all of them. I think what made it really unique was that there was no Sherlock or Watson, only Moriarty and Moran, and Moran was narrating things -- with his own twist of course -- like Watson does.
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