A Study in Sable (Elemental Masters)
Mercedes Lackey
ISBN: 9780756408725
Germanic opera divas, Sherlock Holmes, and the Watson couple as Elemental Magicians.
So much fun, so fluffy. I'm still bemused by the cover flaps giving the entire storyline away, as they did with the other most recent book with the Native American plotline. Very odd, but that was the one off note in an otherwise quite satisfying read (although the call-backs to the Selkie book were a bit heavy-handed).
Showing posts with label Sherlock Holmes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sherlock Holmes. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Monday, February 23, 2015
Holmes Pastiche: Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King
Dreaming Spies
Laurie R. King
ISBN: 9780345531797
Read February 22, 2015
Holmes & Mary Russell, volume 13
We finally return to the adventure that happens in part between India and San Francisco (in The Game and Locked Rooms, respectively) and in part after the whirlwind mess of The Language of Bees, The God of the Hive, and Garment of Shadows. (Pirate King is sort of elided over...)
I've been waiting for the Japan story for AGES!!!!
... and I have to say, I'm a bit nonplussed. I like the story, I like the idea, and I like the execution, but I really feel like this was a story that could very easily have been about any English upper crust people watching what happens with Emperial entanglements and shinobi exploits.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm gratified and happy that other characters are shown as competent and deadly characters in their own right, especially in a country and environment where our main characters are out of their comfort zones.
Still, despite the well-crafted storyline and the excellent characters, I did feel a bit adrift without more Holmes-and-Russell-driven action. I do understand the logic - Holmes is at least 70something now, and Russell had a rough time of things in at least one of the lead-ups. Still, it's sad to compare how little they are needed for the plotting and the completion of the story, especially in comparison to how active they were in Monstrous Regiment or Language of Bees.
Still a lovely read, and the characters (especially the minor characters - always a real bright spot in these books) are so lively and interesting.
Laurie R. King
ISBN: 9780345531797
Read February 22, 2015
Holmes & Mary Russell, volume 13
We finally return to the adventure that happens in part between India and San Francisco (in The Game and Locked Rooms, respectively) and in part after the whirlwind mess of The Language of Bees, The God of the Hive, and Garment of Shadows. (Pirate King is sort of elided over...)
I've been waiting for the Japan story for AGES!!!!
... and I have to say, I'm a bit nonplussed. I like the story, I like the idea, and I like the execution, but I really feel like this was a story that could very easily have been about any English upper crust people watching what happens with Emperial entanglements and shinobi exploits.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm gratified and happy that other characters are shown as competent and deadly characters in their own right, especially in a country and environment where our main characters are out of their comfort zones.
Still, despite the well-crafted storyline and the excellent characters, I did feel a bit adrift without more Holmes-and-Russell-driven action. I do understand the logic - Holmes is at least 70something now, and Russell had a rough time of things in at least one of the lead-ups. Still, it's sad to compare how little they are needed for the plotting and the completion of the story, especially in comparison to how active they were in Monstrous Regiment or Language of Bees.
Still a lovely read, and the characters (especially the minor characters - always a real bright spot in these books) are so lively and interesting.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
The Revenant of Thraxton Hall, Vaughn Entwistle
The Revenant of Thraxton Hall (the Paranormal Casebooks of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, book 1)
Vaughn Entwistle
ISBN: 9781250035004
Fantasy of Manners: What if the author of Sherlock Holmes lived in a world where the paranormal really did exist?
I liked this quite a lot, except for a few really minor niggles here and there. First off, I adore Wilde, and I hope that we get quite a lot of him enjoying his life before everything goes to shit for him (poor guy). I also like that we get to see a side of Doyle that most people aren't aware of - his worries about his family tendency towards insanity, his grief over his wife, his seething resentment of Sherlock Holmes, and his stubborn determination that he will be remembered for his "serious" writings and his interest in the paranormal. That last bit is actually the most interesting here, because in Entwistle's world (and I really really hope that's a pseudonym) the paranormal is actually real and can interact violently with the world and with living persons.
The story is pretty simple - a locked-room murder mystery, but with one twist; the murder has to be solved before it happens in order to keep it from happening. Doyle is a phlegmatic hero (aided immensely by Wilde's antics whenever the action needs a bit of spice) and the cast of characters is suitably eccentric and mysterious. I feel like this could be an homage to the movie Clue. The Lady of Thraxton Hall is a psychic medium, and she has forseen her death at a meeting of the Society for Psychical Research (yes, a real thing, both then and now) taking place at her ancestral pile. The suspects, er, guests, all assembled per vision, poor Doyle has to work out the mystery to save the young Lady's life, aided only by Wilde, his raging libido, and a ghostly, sardonic Sherlock who mocks him in his dreams.
The characterization was a bit slim at times (with a large cast, nearly impossible to avoid) but the main characters and main villains got handled respectably. I especially appreciated the time spent with George.
Despite knowing that poor Wilde's life is about to go downhill, I'm looking forward to continuing this series.
Vaughn Entwistle
ISBN: 9781250035004
Fantasy of Manners: What if the author of Sherlock Holmes lived in a world where the paranormal really did exist?
I liked this quite a lot, except for a few really minor niggles here and there. First off, I adore Wilde, and I hope that we get quite a lot of him enjoying his life before everything goes to shit for him (poor guy). I also like that we get to see a side of Doyle that most people aren't aware of - his worries about his family tendency towards insanity, his grief over his wife, his seething resentment of Sherlock Holmes, and his stubborn determination that he will be remembered for his "serious" writings and his interest in the paranormal. That last bit is actually the most interesting here, because in Entwistle's world (and I really really hope that's a pseudonym) the paranormal is actually real and can interact violently with the world and with living persons.
The story is pretty simple - a locked-room murder mystery, but with one twist; the murder has to be solved before it happens in order to keep it from happening. Doyle is a phlegmatic hero (aided immensely by Wilde's antics whenever the action needs a bit of spice) and the cast of characters is suitably eccentric and mysterious. I feel like this could be an homage to the movie Clue. The Lady of Thraxton Hall is a psychic medium, and she has forseen her death at a meeting of the Society for Psychical Research (yes, a real thing, both then and now) taking place at her ancestral pile. The suspects, er, guests, all assembled per vision, poor Doyle has to work out the mystery to save the young Lady's life, aided only by Wilde, his raging libido, and a ghostly, sardonic Sherlock who mocks him in his dreams.
The characterization was a bit slim at times (with a large cast, nearly impossible to avoid) but the main characters and main villains got handled respectably. I especially appreciated the time spent with George.
Despite knowing that poor Wilde's life is about to go downhill, I'm looking forward to continuing this series.
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