don't be dull, be fannish

#40 "Renegade" by Gene DeWeese 2 stars (Star Trek: TOS)

#41 "Crying Freeman #1" by Kazuo Koike 4 stars (manga)

#42 "Bleach #14" by Tite Kubo 4 stars (manga)

#43 "Hostile Ground" by Sally Malcolm 5 stars (Stargate SG-1)

#44 "Servant of the Shard" by R. A. Salvatore 4 stars (Forgotten Realms)

#45 "Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine #11" 1 star (Sherlock Holmes)

#46 "The Kill Order" by James Dashner 2 stars (The Maze Runner)

"Holmes and the Ripper" by Brian Clemens

Rating: ♦ ♦

I'm starting to think that Big Finish's Sherlock Holmes audio dramas might not be for me, after all. The cases are interesting, I just don't like the characterization of the main characters in them. Like in this book: Holmes fell for a female psychic and Watson was a boisterous drunk. I actually wondered why this Holmes kept this Watson as a friend because this Watson's low intelligence and desperate need for acknowledgment and praise annoyed even me... But what really bothered me, as mentioned above, was the Sherlock/Kate romantic angle. That was just... pah. Not my cuppa.

"Sherlock Holmes: The Death and Life" by David Stuart Davies

Rating: ♦

4th wall? What 4th wall? I rarely give Sherlock Holmes pastiches the lowest rating because in every book I find something interesting, or at least I try. But this one? I barely finished it. It's not really a story per se, there's no investigation, it's a one-man play, a polemic or an argument between Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, both arrogant pricks in their own way. It's... basically, it's the evolution of the Sherlock Holmes fandom, beginning with Doyle's hate towards his own creation and ending with the character's resurgence after Doyle's death in the pastiches of his avid followers. But, really, when I pick up a Holmes story, I want to read a a mystery, not a philosophical discourse on the nature of the beast. I only got it because I love Big Finish's audio dramas but it was a mistake. Not my cuppa.

I found a really interesting series of steam punk Sherlock Holmes tie-in novels. It's "Sherlock Holmes: The Army of Doctor Moreau", "Sherlock Holmes: The Will of the Dead", "Sherlock Holmes: The Spirit Box" and "Sherlock Holmes: The Stuff of Nightmares". Got my hands on the last one. We will see if it's as good as the summary makes it to be.

SH tie-ins are mostly hit and miss for me. The book needs to focus on both Sherlock Holmes and John Watson and Watson mustn't be portrayed as an idiot with the IQ of a potato for me to enjoy the book. And that's hard to find because the authors tend to insert their own creations into the books and use Holmes and Watson as nothing more than a cushion for their original characters - let's mention here and then quickly forget again Laurie R. King's Mary Russell series - and I hate that. So far, the best... pastiche they are called, aren't they? The best SH pastiche was Anthony Horowitz's "The House of Silk". That book is as close to perfection as it gets, IMHO.

And what about you, dear friends? Do you read Sherlock Holmes' pastiches? Do you have a favorite piece?

"The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes #9)" by Arthur Conan Doyle

Rating: ♣ ♣ ♣

And I'm done with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series. I didn't like this one as much as the previous anthologies, though I loved "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs", one of the few stories where Holmes shows genuine feelings towards Watson, not just friendly tolerance. But with stories like "The Adventure of the Creeping Man" and "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane" whose resolution was less than satisfying... "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane" is also the only story, as far as I know, that doesn't feature Watson at all because it takes place after Holmes' departure to Sussex. Doyle also experimented with the form a bit here, "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane" and "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier" are told entirely from Holmes' POV and "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone" is told from a 3rd person POV.

To sum it up, except for "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs", the stories were mostly forgettable.

"The Valley Of Fear (Sherlock Holmes #7)" by Arthur Conan Doyle

♦ ♦

Well, I liked the part that focused on Holmes and Watson and on their investigation - though the whole thing was fairly obvious from the get-go - and I also loved that it explained why Holmes was so obsessed with catching Moriarty that he sacrificed everything to it. The rest though...

A whole half of the book was set in the past, explaining the background of the secondary/guest characters. And stuff like that is so not my cuppa. I didn't like it in "A Study in Scarlet" and I didn't like it here. It would've made a good short story but in the context of the Sherlock Holmes canon, not so much. I really don't like it when a titular character becomes a guest star in their own book.

To sum it up, it's good to read this to understand Holmes' obsession with Moriarty. Other than that, I have to agree that novels weren't Doyle's strength, his short stories are much better.

"The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Veiled Detective" by David Stuart Davies

♦ ♦ ♦

A very good Sherlock Holmes pastiche. A what-if scenario. What if John Watson wasn't John Watson but John Walker? What if he was dishonorably discharged? What if he was recruited by James Moriarty to spy on Sherlock Holmes?

What an intriguing idea! And the first third of the book is excellent, the set-up, Moriarty pulling all the threads together, weaving a net around Sherlock Holmes. I read it with a bated breath, curious about what would happen next. Unfortunately, Davies then tackles "A Study in Scarlet" in great detail and with that the story falls apart a bit.

"A Study in Scarlet" is, in my humble opinion, the weakest of all Doyle's Sherlock Holmes works. And Davies' version isn't any better. The second third is basically about Holmes and Watson's first case and Watson's courtship of Mary Morstan. Both of which the reader knows by heart, so the book starts to feel tedious.

The last third then leads to Reichenbach - where Holmes' encounter with Moriarty ends in a different way than in Doyle's books. During the last third you also finally start seeing and feeling the friendship between Holmes and Watson. Yet it cannot erase the boring middle.

This is the second book by David Stuart Davies that I read and I'm starting to notice a pattern - he knows how to write a strong beginning and an emotional ending but he flounders terribly in the middle. It's too bad. I would've loved to give the book more stars...

Before you read this post, you must know that I a) LOVE Moffat's Irene Adler and b) find Doyle's Irene Adlere boring as heck. So, if it's the other way around for you, I might harsh your squee, just a fair warning.

Much has been said about both Irenes since A Scandal in Belgravia aired (for the sake of this post, I won't mention Ritchie's Irene who didn't make much impression on me either way) and no opinion has more merit than the other. I can speak only for myself when I compare these two...

Doyle's Irene Adler


Granada's Irene Adler

I never understood why she became The Woman for Sherlock Holmes. She was an actress with a checkered past who used to be the mistress of a wealthy patron. I didn't really understand that part since a) the guy was a jerk and b) he was the heir to the throne. Esp. b) made me wonder what she expected from him. Marriage or what, that she behaved like a woman scorned? And what was her plan when she sent the letter, telling him about the photograph? How could he have thought it was anything but blackmail? And why did she send it when she was in love and about to be married anyway? Revenge? Doyle didn't really bother with logical motives sometimes, did he? Well, I think she was lucky that he wasn't a jerk enough to just send someone to kill her and burn the house down around her, it would've been an easier solution, that's for sure.

But let's talk about Irene and Holmes. So, she figured out who he was and followed him to be sure it really was him and then fled. Wow, good job there. After she had been specifically warned that Holmes would be after her, it was a real hardship to figure out that the one guy she let inside her house was the sneaky detective she was warned against. And what did she do? She packed her bags and fled in the middle of the night like a common thief. Wow, what an accomplishment.

You know what would've made her The Woman in my eyes? If she had stayed and waited for them to show up in the morning, lounging relaxed on her sofa, and then burned the photograph right there, in front of the king's eyes, told him to go and screw a donkey and then left the room with her head held high like a queen. Now THAT would've made me love her. But Doyle's Irene? She just took for the hills. Bravo!

Also, I thought that there were more interesting women in Doyle's stories. Like the daughter in The Speckled Band who finally found the courage to stand up against her abusive step-father and went to Holmes for help. Or the girl in The Solitary Cyclist who, when she realized she was being followed, first tried to ambush her stalker, then tried to chase him and then went to Holmes for help because she would not tolerate this! How awesome was she?

Moffat's Irene Adler


Lara Pulver as Irene Adler

Now here's a woman to my liking. And I don't care what anybody says. Why did she have to be a dominatrix? Moffat's a misogynist for using her sexuality! She had to be rescued by Sherlock in the end! Boohoo, cry me a river! For 80 minutes out of those 90, Irene played Sherlock like a fiddle, she made him dance like a puppet, she used his vanity against him, she used him to destroy Mycroft's anti-terrorist plans and then she threw him away like a used tissue. And let's not forget that she saved his life at the beginning of the episode. And if you think that was an accident, think twice.

So yeah, dear Irene Adler, how I love this incarnation of yours. An aggressively sexual, sensual woman who uses her knowledge of what heterosexual men and lesbian women want against them, to get what she wants. A woman who's not afraid of her sexuality, who considers sexuality pretty much fluid - lesbian yet attracted to Sherlock the way John's straight yet attracted to him too, see the scene in the warehouse! - who's not afraid to experiment and explore any road that opens to her. A woman who, just like Sherlock, doesn't let her feelings get in the way of her getting what she wants. A woman for whom this, the ep's plot, is NOT about a man! A woman who has one flaw - her arrogance.

And it was this arrogance that Sherlock used against her the way Moriarty used Mycroft's arrogance against Mycroft. It was her arrogance that allowed Sherlock to crack the password and destroy her plans. And why did he save her? He beat her, he didn't want her dead! He considered her an opponent worthy enough to go the extra length and keep her alive. Did he do it for anybody else (except for John, that is)? No, because he couldn't be bothered. But she, THIS Irene Adler, made an impact on him because she was smart as heck and knew how to manipulate people. And I don't understand people who disregard the previous 80 minutes for the last 10. Eh.

Also, she didn't work FOR Moriarty, what a nonsense. She was an independent contractor who sold him stuff she got her hands on. She wasn't one of his lackeys. Sheesh. Talk about reaching in your hate for the character!

So, all I can say is, thank you, Mr. Moffat, for introducing me to this exceptional woman. I'm a little bit in love *_*

"The Execution of Sherlock Holmes: And Other New Adventures of the Great Detective" by Donald Thomas

3 stars out of 5

This anthology consisted of 5 stories, all written by Donald Thomas. The first 4 ranged from good to great and I was willing to give this book 4 stars - but then the last one happened, "The Queen of the Night".

In this short story, Sherlock Holmes went against Col. Moriarty, Prof. Moriarty's brother, unfortunately, it was overly complicated and Watson was made an idiot: Holmes was unwilling to tell Watson what exactly was going on and when Watson reacted, based on his incomplete information, Holmes' reaction was rather venomous and honestly, if I were Watson, I would have told Holmes to go to hell. This story undermined all the pleasure I took from reading the previous 4 stories.

Other than that, the first two stories - "The Execution of Sherlock Holmes" and "The Case of the Greek Key" - felt more like spy stories than mysteries. The first one was very MacGyver like, the second one reminded me of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" because Holmes was trying to find a mole.

In "The Case of the Peasenhall Murder" Holmes wasn't looking for a murderer, he was trying to prove that the accused did not do it; the murder itself remained unsolved.

And "The Case of the Phantom Chamberlain" was interesting only because Watson was allowed to actually do something and used his medical knowledge.

So, I'm reading Dr. Sherlock Holmes v Čechách (Dr Sherlock Holmes in Bohemia) by Rudolf Čechura and I'm delighted! It's wonderful! It's hilarious and tongue-in-the-cheeky - just the names: a beekeeper called Beefeater, a mycologist by the name Mushroom! - and Holmes and Watson have such a fantastic relationship in it!

They are both very, very old here - it takes place in the 1950s so they are around 100! - and yes, they are frail and they don't run after the bad guys anymore - usually, Holmes just points at the fleeing suspect and yells "Fetch!" at the constables - but they are still them! Hilarious and snarky and still so... tender with each other. They both live in Sussex, each in his own house, but they visit each other regularly, they take long walks in the country where there are no cars or pollution and when they feel like it, they prance and giggle like little kids much to the confusion of people who see them and who think that they can't be Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, Holmes and Watson are gentlemen! And they have dinners together and Holmes plays the violin for Watson, a lullaby... And Watson is really smart, keeping up with Holmes in almost everything.

It's so, so wonderful! It's exactly the Sherlock Holmes book I always wanted. His Last Bow was rather sad, suggesting that Holmes and Watson never saw each other again, but this! It shows that they spent another 40 years together and they had so much fun! I want to smooch Čechura, the author, silly, seriously!