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A review by macbean221b
Two Hundred and Twenty-One Baker Streets: An Anthology of Holmesian Tales Across Time and Space by David Thomas Moore
4.0
I received TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE BAKER STREETS as an ARC through netgalley.com.
3.5 STARS
I have a confession to make (unless you already know me, in which case, this is common knowledge): I take Sherlock Holmes pretty seriously. Possibly more seriously than it's strictly healthy to take a fictional character. But he's been part of my life since I was very very small, and has shaped my entertainment choices and my personality fairly considerably. I started reading TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE BAKER STREETS at the introduction, and almost instantly had mixed feelings. David Thomas Moore, he editor of the anthology, has some very different opinions than I do, which I thought might mean I wouldn't care for his selections. But I should have thought of the introduction as a whole, rather than its parts, because the authors in this collection delivered exactly what Moore promised at the end of his intro:
"They've all found incredible ways to shed new light on old characters, to show you sides of the great detective and his indefatigable companion that their fusty reputations made obscure. Fun, clever, haunting, sad, scary, strange and weird, here are Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson as they never were...and really are."
I still don't agree with that 100%. But it does make me go back and agree with his opening statement, which is that Sherlock Holmes owes a lot to the revisionists. And as a fanfic reader/writer, this pleases me.
TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE BAKER STREETS includes fourteen stories of Holmes, not quite as he is in the canon. This includes different place settings, different time settings, different genders, different occupations, et cetera. As with almost any anthology, not every story was a hit, in my book. But enough of them were that I would recommend this to Holmes fans who aren't strict purists. Your mileage may vary, but the stories that stood out the most for me were:
- "The Lantern Men." This one is a ghost story, of sorts. It presents Holmes as an architect and Watson as a builder. They've been friends since childhood, and enjoy doing some sleuthing together on the side. The professions fit them, I think, and gave a little insight into their characters, and the ending sent a chill up my spine and left a sad ache in my chest, and that's one of my favorite feelings.
- "The Small World of 221B." This story led my brain in a couple of different directions before the puzzle pieces snapped together for me, and when they did, I found the resulting picture rather delightful. I'll just say, an anthology of Holmes stories is not the only one this story would add some fun to.
- "The Final Conjuring." In which a magician in a fantasy realm conjures "the Sherlock," who is "a demon of investigation." I think I'm going to start calling Holmes this all the time, even out of the context of this story. It also fits into the canon in a place that I found very clever, and a lot of fun.
- "The Innocent Icarus." Imagine a world where most people are born with some kind of mutation/superpower. Herculeans, like Watson, have great strength and/or are impervious to injury. Cassandras, like Mycroft (and Mrs. Hudson, to a lesser degree) can see the future. Icaruses (Icari?) can fly. And so on and so forth. And in this world, imagine Sherlock Holmes ... has none of these things. Sherlock Holmes is what's known as a Typical. I found this concept of basically turning the original canon on its head and having Sherlock's ordinariness be what makes him stand out absolutely fascinating.
There were stories that I flat-out didn't like--one that seemed to just cut off instead of having an ending, and another where (SPOILER) Watson murdered Sherlock, for example--but they were far outnumbered by the stories that I enjoyed.
3.5 STARS
I have a confession to make (unless you already know me, in which case, this is common knowledge): I take Sherlock Holmes pretty seriously. Possibly more seriously than it's strictly healthy to take a fictional character. But he's been part of my life since I was very very small, and has shaped my entertainment choices and my personality fairly considerably. I started reading TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE BAKER STREETS at the introduction, and almost instantly had mixed feelings. David Thomas Moore, he editor of the anthology, has some very different opinions than I do, which I thought might mean I wouldn't care for his selections. But I should have thought of the introduction as a whole, rather than its parts, because the authors in this collection delivered exactly what Moore promised at the end of his intro:
"They've all found incredible ways to shed new light on old characters, to show you sides of the great detective and his indefatigable companion that their fusty reputations made obscure. Fun, clever, haunting, sad, scary, strange and weird, here are Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson as they never were...and really are."
I still don't agree with that 100%. But it does make me go back and agree with his opening statement, which is that Sherlock Holmes owes a lot to the revisionists. And as a fanfic reader/writer, this pleases me.
TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE BAKER STREETS includes fourteen stories of Holmes, not quite as he is in the canon. This includes different place settings, different time settings, different genders, different occupations, et cetera. As with almost any anthology, not every story was a hit, in my book. But enough of them were that I would recommend this to Holmes fans who aren't strict purists. Your mileage may vary, but the stories that stood out the most for me were:
- "The Lantern Men." This one is a ghost story, of sorts. It presents Holmes as an architect and Watson as a builder. They've been friends since childhood, and enjoy doing some sleuthing together on the side. The professions fit them, I think, and gave a little insight into their characters, and the ending sent a chill up my spine and left a sad ache in my chest, and that's one of my favorite feelings.
- "The Small World of 221B." This story led my brain in a couple of different directions before the puzzle pieces snapped together for me, and when they did, I found the resulting picture rather delightful. I'll just say, an anthology of Holmes stories is not the only one this story would add some fun to.
- "The Final Conjuring." In which a magician in a fantasy realm conjures "the Sherlock," who is "a demon of investigation." I think I'm going to start calling Holmes this all the time, even out of the context of this story. It also fits into the canon in a place that I found very clever, and a lot of fun.
- "The Innocent Icarus." Imagine a world where most people are born with some kind of mutation/superpower. Herculeans, like Watson, have great strength and/or are impervious to injury. Cassandras, like Mycroft (and Mrs. Hudson, to a lesser degree) can see the future. Icaruses (Icari?) can fly. And so on and so forth. And in this world, imagine Sherlock Holmes ... has none of these things. Sherlock Holmes is what's known as a Typical. I found this concept of basically turning the original canon on its head and having Sherlock's ordinariness be what makes him stand out absolutely fascinating.
There were stories that I flat-out didn't like--one that seemed to just cut off instead of having an ending, and another where (SPOILER) Watson murdered Sherlock, for example--but they were far outnumbered by the stories that I enjoyed.