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A review by frakalot
The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes: The Adventures of the Great Detective in India and Tibet by Jamyang Norbu
4.0
I can't help myself, I'm going to read as many of the post-Doyle Holmes stories as I can get my hands on. A quick look on wikipedia shows there is no shortage of these, but The Mandala of Holmes struck me as a standout selection on the list. Here we have the account of Holmes' time in hiding, while Arthur Conan Doyle was being harassed by his manic fan base to resurrect the great sleuth.
I really liked the story, there are some problems later into it but for much of the story the writing is familiar and Norbu's Holmes is a good likeness to the original. It's almost as though the book was written for two non overlapping audiences and was split into two parts in an attempt to achieve that purpose.
I think Holmes comes off a tad more chirpy or chipper at times and the departure from the physical into the metaphysical in later chapters doesn't exactly fit well with the man we know.
The idea is great though. I won't give anything away but I think at least the arrival in India and the path to Tibet is very satisfying. The ending is much less so and I suspect that it may pay more homage to other Holmes pastiches than to Arthur Conan Doyle's own continuation of the series.
I really liked the story, there are some problems later into it but for much of the story the writing is familiar and Norbu's Holmes is a good likeness to the original. It's almost as though the book was written for two non overlapping audiences and was split into two parts in an attempt to achieve that purpose.
I think Holmes comes off a tad more chirpy or chipper at times and the departure from the physical into the metaphysical in later chapters doesn't exactly fit well with the man we know.
The idea is great though. I won't give anything away but I think at least the arrival in India and the path to Tibet is very satisfying. The ending is much less so and I suspect that it may pay more homage to other Holmes pastiches than to Arthur Conan Doyle's own continuation of the series.