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alt.sherlock.holmes #2
Alt.Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes and her partner Dr. John Watson have barely set up as consulting detectives in LA before Tinsel Town's finest come calling. Joey Jackson and Tony Antonelli are in trouble: their partner, Cliff Camden, has disappeared without a trace on the eve of filming for a new show. The LAPD don't care and Watson has his own reasons for wanting to stay out of it, but Holmes takes the case. But as she gets to work amidst the neurotic actors, grumbling film crews and low-level sleaze that permeates LA, a fresh murder turns everything on its head...Winter, and the Soggiorno Brothers' Traveling Wonder Show has pulled into its berth in Peru, Indiana. Sanford "Crash" Haus, proprietor and genius, and his friend, the retired soldier-turned-surgeon Jim "Dandy" Walker, are looking forward to a quiet few months. By happy coincidence, just as the Strong Man and the Tattooed Lady announce their betrothal, the Wonder Show's old manager Professor Sylvestri - a minister, no less - rolls into town, with his ward in tow. Preparations for the happy day begin, but violence and misfortune attend on them...Glen Mehn's novella is a drug-fuelled descent into the experimental world of Warhol's Factory. Holmes and Watson are faced with a mystery unlike any other, set against the backdrop of social, cultural and racial issues that rocked society and brought about the fierce (and sometimes violent) changes at the end of the swinging sixties...
320 pages, Paperback
First published April 12, 2016
About the author
Gini Koch
76 books907 followersGini Koch lives in Phoenix, Arizona and writes the bestselling fast, fresh and funny Alien/Katherine “Kitty” Katt series for DAW Books, the Necropolis Enforcement Files series, and the Martian Alliance Chronicles series. Alien in the House, Book 7 in her long-running Alien series, won the RT Book Reviews Reviewer’s Choice Award as the Best Futuristic Romance of 2013. Book 14, Alien Nation, won the Preditors and Editors Reader's Choice Award for Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Novel of 2016. Alien Education releases May 2, 2017, and DAW Books has just contracted through Book 20 in the Alien series.
As G.J. Koch she writes the Alexander Outland series and she’s made the most of multiple personality disorder by writing under a variety of other pen names as well, including Anita Ensal, Jemma Chase, A.E. Stanton, and J.C. Koch.
In addition to her upcoming Alien Series releases, she has stories featured in a variety of anthologies available now and coming soon, writing as Gini Koch, Anita Ensal, J.C. Koch, and Jemma Chase. Writing as A.E. Stanton she will have an audiobook release in 2017, Natural Born Outlaws (The Legend of Belladonna Part 1) coming from Graphic Audio.
For full details on all releases, all the news about Gini's books, signings, events, excerpts, and more, visit her website: http://www.ginikoch.com.
As G.J. Koch she writes the Alexander Outland series and she’s made the most of multiple personality disorder by writing under a variety of other pen names as well, including Anita Ensal, Jemma Chase, A.E. Stanton, and J.C. Koch.
In addition to her upcoming Alien Series releases, she has stories featured in a variety of anthologies available now and coming soon, writing as Gini Koch, Anita Ensal, J.C. Koch, and Jemma Chase. Writing as A.E. Stanton she will have an audiobook release in 2017, Natural Born Outlaws (The Legend of Belladonna Part 1) coming from Graphic Audio.
For full details on all releases, all the news about Gini's books, signings, events, excerpts, and more, visit her website: http://www.ginikoch.com.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 13, 2016
*Not the Kindle version but there's no paperback option at the moment*
(Short stories *re-reads for those* from previous collection included before each novella as bonus content)
Jamie Wyman: 4 stars overall.. in love with the vibe and atmosphere of the Carnival setup:)
Gini Koch: 4.5 stars over all: Her female Sherlock Holmes is so much fun! At first I was worried that this incarnation would be insufferable but thankfully not :).
As usual, she had left me wanting more <3
Actually, I wouldn't mind more of both of these... hint hint!;-P
Glen Mehn: Didn't care for this version of Sherlock.
Not sure why, it isn't badly written and the time period he picked was interesting but just couldn't get into it. *shrugs*
DNF for his portion. Give it a chance though, you may enjoy more than me.
Overall, would recommend... I certainly will be re-reading the first two in the future:)
(Short stories *re-reads for those* from previous collection included before each novella as bonus content)
Jamie Wyman: 4 stars overall.. in love with the vibe and atmosphere of the Carnival setup:)
Gini Koch: 4.5 stars over all: Her female Sherlock Holmes is so much fun! At first I was worried that this incarnation would be insufferable but thankfully not :).
As usual, she had left me wanting more <3
Actually, I wouldn't mind more of both of these... hint hint!;-P
Glen Mehn: Didn't care for this version of Sherlock.
Not sure why, it isn't badly written and the time period he picked was interesting but just couldn't get into it. *shrugs*
DNF for his portion. Give it a chance though, you may enjoy more than me.
Overall, would recommend... I certainly will be re-reading the first two in the future:)
June 5, 2017
Full review to follow!
July 18, 2017
This ambitious anthology re-stages Sherlock Holmes through the vantage point of three different authors. I absolutely adored the first two. Jamie Wyman sets her versions of Holmes and Watson in a 1930s traveling circus. The cast is vivid and the atmosphere of the period is utilized in a wonderful way. Gini Koch moves her great detective to Los Angeles, where she (yes, a gender twist) works to solve crimes in the sordid underworld of reality TV. The approach is fascinating, and I especially love how she rewrote Irene Adler. The last portion of the book lost me in a big way. While Sherlock has always had issues with drug use, immersing him and Watson in the drug culture of late 1960s New York City just didn't set right with me. The writing of the setting itself is fantastic, but the setting and turbulence of the time took over a bit too much, it seemed, as the stories lacked cohesive beginnings, middles, and ends, and became more of overviews of the events of the period through Watson's eyes.
June 9, 2016
first story, Jamie Wyman, Was Awesome!! I want more.
second, great twist!! Gina Koch. Loved it!
third. I finished it. it incorporated a lot of history of the times and .... too much. I really didn't care about the characters.
second, great twist!! Gina Koch. Loved it!
third. I finished it. it incorporated a lot of history of the times and .... too much. I really didn't care about the characters.
May 5, 2017
Really liked it,
Jamie Wyman: 4.5/5
Creative settings, in a carnival? Hell yes, I fell in love with Crash the moment he revealed himself.
Gini Koch: 4/5
As I can say female version of Sherlock (Fem!lock in short from the fandom) is a thing now, and this is a brilliant presentation of it .
Glen Mehn: 4.5/5
To be completely honest, my favourite out of all three. Though I wouldn't like LGBT+ representation to be much of this way seeing both Sherlock and John are junkies. But their relationship at the beginning of the story was steady and I liked that. For the story, it has nice buildups to it.
Jamie Wyman: 4.5/5
Creative settings, in a carnival? Hell yes, I fell in love with Crash the moment he revealed himself.
Gini Koch: 4/5
As I can say female version of Sherlock (Fem!lock in short from the fandom) is a thing now, and this is a brilliant presentation of it .
Glen Mehn: 4.5/5
To be completely honest, my favourite out of all three. Though I wouldn't like LGBT+ representation to be much of this way seeing both Sherlock and John are junkies. But their relationship at the beginning of the story was steady and I liked that. For the story, it has nice buildups to it.
August 14, 2019
Trigger Warning – alt.Sherlock.Holmes contains subject matter and language that some might find disturbing/offensive. While the language and sentiments expressed are appropriate for their respective time periods, there are some who might find it bothersome. As the stories themselves do not come with any kind of warning, I thought it necessary to put one up myself.
Three different authors, three different versions of one of the most well known literary characters. That is the gift we are given in the book alt.Sherlock.Holmes.
Jamie Wyman is first, giving us a Holmes and Watson (though neither by that name) that sees the two working in a carnival setting in the 1930’s. Watson – known in this story as Walker – is an African American man whose leg was taken by the war. He is a Pinkerton agent when he first meets Holmes – known as Haus here – and subsequently joins the circus.
Personally, this was my favorite of the three stories. Not only with the story line but with how the characters felt when compared to their original counterparts. Haus very much felt like a slightly updated version of Doyle’s Holmes with his penchant for drawing people to him regardless of how they might be viewed by outside society. Seeing him in a carnival setting seems quite natural given his penchant for the dramatic. The same can be said for Walker; a dedicated and knowledgeable doctor who still carries traces of the warrior and fighter he used to be.
My only complaint was how the story ended because it left me desperately wanting more. I can only hope Wyman writes more stories of these two in this particular universe.
Second is Gini Koch with an offering that has been seen before – a female Sherlock Holmes. Set in the modern day, Ms. Holmes meets up with Dr. Watson when she is brought in to consult on a case. She eventually decides to stay in the States where she continues to solve cases.
This particular version of Holmes and Watson, though not unique in setting it in modern day, is unique in how it handles other aspects of the characters. Holmes has a bad habit – something that is not new – it is the habit itself that is. Holmes is addicted to reality TV and she is well versed in all of the different kinds that grace TV screens today.
It is also implied (at least this is how I interpret it) that Watson is bi. It is mentioned that he goes out with a male acquaintance for drinks but his head can also be turned by a pretty lady. It is even hinted that he has a crush on Holmes and she in turn possibly likes him. That these feelings were hinted at and not acted upon is lovely to see and adds a touch of realism to the story.
Lastly, comes Glen Mehn taking Holmes and Watson to 1960’s New York City. Both Holmes and Watson are part of the underground scene of the time. Holmes’ reasons are hazy at best but with Watson we come to understand that his serving in the Korean War has left him disillusioned and he now uses his doctor’s degree to make and sell drugs.
I will be honest dear reader and say that this last version was my least favorite of the three. I found it to be too dark and downright depressing at times. Not to mention the fact that BOTH John and Sherlock and junkies. Also, to try and add realism, Mehn sprinkles in well known people and events from the time – such as Andy Warhol. However, much of this feels forced and I found it detracted from the story instead of adding to it.
On the whole, I found alt.Sherlock.Holmes to be fairly enjoyable. If any of my readers are considering picking up this book in either paperback or e-book edition, my advice is to read and enjoy the first two and skip the third. Have fun!
November 19, 2016
Three novellas using versions of Sherlock Holmes. The first tale is set in a 1920's US carnival and it's got some lovely character moments alongside a mystery of mysterious dancing figures. The second is a modern day of Sherlock in LA and her investigation into a TV show set - fast paced and really works well. The final story is set in the US of the Sixties but like the original short story just not quite my cuppa tea. But do think if you enjoy different tales on Holmes give this a go
January 20, 2024
Sherlock Holmes, as we all know but only some admit, is no longer the person created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The name has become associated with every conceivable form of detection, fight against crime, and sheer brilliance. This book contains several such works that re-imagine Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson and have them solve mysteries or resolve situations. They are:
(A) Jamie Wyman's
1. A Scandal in Hobohemia
2. The Case of the Tattooed Bride
In these two works, Holmes (under a different name) is The brother of Head of US Secret Service during the inter-war years. Watson (again, under another name) is a coloured ex-Military Doctor. The tales are gritty, well-researched, very dark, and eventually unfinished. Four stars.
(B) Gini Koch's
3. All the Single Ladies
4. A Study in Starlets
These two tales are the best and the brightest of the lot. They are sharp, smart, modern and hint of darker things while maintaining a brisk pace. Five stars.
(C) Glen Mehn's
5. Half There/All There
6. The Power of Media
These are the worst of the lot that truly drag the book down. The author tries to make the politics and cultural life of late sixties and early seventies America come alive, using Holmes and Watson as tools. Unfortunately, they are very boring, vapid, if not outright vacuous. Two stars maybe.
I would definitely be looking forward towards more of Gini Koch, goes without saying. The rest... not so keen; thank you.
(A) Jamie Wyman's
1. A Scandal in Hobohemia
2. The Case of the Tattooed Bride
In these two works, Holmes (under a different name) is The brother of Head of US Secret Service during the inter-war years. Watson (again, under another name) is a coloured ex-Military Doctor. The tales are gritty, well-researched, very dark, and eventually unfinished. Four stars.
(B) Gini Koch's
3. All the Single Ladies
4. A Study in Starlets
These two tales are the best and the brightest of the lot. They are sharp, smart, modern and hint of darker things while maintaining a brisk pace. Five stars.
(C) Glen Mehn's
5. Half There/All There
6. The Power of Media
These are the worst of the lot that truly drag the book down. The author tries to make the politics and cultural life of late sixties and early seventies America come alive, using Holmes and Watson as tools. Unfortunately, they are very boring, vapid, if not outright vacuous. Two stars maybe.
I would definitely be looking forward towards more of Gini Koch, goes without saying. The rest... not so keen; thank you.
June 20, 2018
Fun, superfluous. I'm a bit of a purist with Holmes stories, and prefer them shrouded in pea soupers, but these are entertaining enough, though with thin plots, or certainly thin climaxes in the main...but they'll keep you going until something better comes along .... There have certainly been much worse. First story prob best, and the quality lessens by degrees.
November 16, 2016
This is a sequel to Two Hundred and Twenty-One Baker Streets: An Anthology of Holmesian Tales Across Time and Space (which I haven't read yet). That book was a collection of short stories about alternate versions of Holmes and Watson, and this book has longer stories (novellas) as sequels to three of them.
I enjoyed this, and some of the settings are quite clever, particularly when they make small changes to names (e.g. "Avenue B" in New York rather than "Baker Street"). For better or worse, these authors also employ the same literary technique as Conan Doyle: they only reveal the clues after Sherlock has made a deduction, e.g. they might refer to a picture hanging on a wall which the reader couldn't possibly have known about.
According to the Abaddon website, the new stories were originally published individually as ebooks, then collected together for the print edition. That explains something which struck me as odd: one of the longer stories includes a recap of the short story, which seemed superfluous when I'd only just re-read it.
Looking at the three iterations:
* "A Scandal in Hobohemia", "The Case of the Tattooed Bride" (Jamie Wyman).
3 stars.
These feature Sanford "Crash" Haus in place of Sherlock Holmes. They're solid stories, but they feel incomplete: they leave a mystery unsolved. I don't know whether this is laying the groundwork for more sequels, or whether it's just intended to make this feel more real as a glimpse into another world (similar to what Kurt Busiek does in "Astro City").
* "All the Single Ladies", "A Study in Starlets" (Gini Koch).
4 stars.
In these stories, Sherlock Holmes is a woman. That's fine by me, and Sherlock is a pretty unique name so it doesn't need to be adapted (as opposed to John Watson becoming Joan Watson in "Elementary").
The longer story has quite a large cast of characters, and by the end of it I was losing track of who was who. However, I think that it will benefit from a re-read, particularly if I get through it all in one sitting (rather than reading it in instalments during train journeys).
* "Half There/All There", "The Power of Media" (Glen Mehn).
2 stars.
I think this was the weakest of the three. It's set in the late 1960s, and it includes several real people as characters. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that; ethically, it's no different to a Robin Hood story, but it seems a bit different when it's so close to the present day. At the same time, I'm not particularly familiar with that period of history, and I think the author assumes that the reader will pick up on references.
Particularly in the longer story, various characters refer to the police as "pigs", which annoyed me. I realise that characters can be flawed, and I don't have to agree with all of their views (e.g. several incarnations of Holmes have been addicted to something). For that matter, the middle stories in this book (with the female Sherlock) were far more sympathetic towards the police. I think the main reason it rankles is because it's lazy thinking. This is the same story where Holmes chastises Watson for being nervous in Harlem after he was robbed on a previous visit. "Not by these people, John. You have got to separate the individual from the class." Apparently this depends on which individual/class you're dealing with...
The writer also made a minor error in chapter 7, which the editor really should have picked up. "There were seven people around the room: Juanita, Bill, Joseph and two other Black Panthers [..] Two Hispanic men were sitting". Then a bit later, Bill introduces everyone: "You've met Juanita. The gentlemen are Paco, Ricardo, and George, and you know Joseph. That was Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther party, and his bodyguard, William." In other words, the text varies between having two or three Hispanic men. This doesn't actually make any difference to the story, but it broke my immersion when I went back and forth trying to keep track of who was in the room.
I enjoyed this, and some of the settings are quite clever, particularly when they make small changes to names (e.g. "Avenue B" in New York rather than "Baker Street"). For better or worse, these authors also employ the same literary technique as Conan Doyle: they only reveal the clues after Sherlock has made a deduction, e.g. they might refer to a picture hanging on a wall which the reader couldn't possibly have known about.
According to the Abaddon website, the new stories were originally published individually as ebooks, then collected together for the print edition. That explains something which struck me as odd: one of the longer stories includes a recap of the short story, which seemed superfluous when I'd only just re-read it.
Looking at the three iterations:
* "A Scandal in Hobohemia", "The Case of the Tattooed Bride" (Jamie Wyman).
3 stars.
These feature Sanford "Crash" Haus in place of Sherlock Holmes. They're solid stories, but they feel incomplete: they leave a mystery unsolved. I don't know whether this is laying the groundwork for more sequels, or whether it's just intended to make this feel more real as a glimpse into another world (similar to what Kurt Busiek does in "Astro City").
* "All the Single Ladies", "A Study in Starlets" (Gini Koch).
4 stars.
In these stories, Sherlock Holmes is a woman. That's fine by me, and Sherlock is a pretty unique name so it doesn't need to be adapted (as opposed to John Watson becoming Joan Watson in "Elementary").
The longer story has quite a large cast of characters, and by the end of it I was losing track of who was who. However, I think that it will benefit from a re-read, particularly if I get through it all in one sitting (rather than reading it in instalments during train journeys).
* "Half There/All There", "The Power of Media" (Glen Mehn).
2 stars.
I think this was the weakest of the three. It's set in the late 1960s, and it includes several real people as characters. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that; ethically, it's no different to a Robin Hood story, but it seems a bit different when it's so close to the present day. At the same time, I'm not particularly familiar with that period of history, and I think the author assumes that the reader will pick up on references.
Particularly in the longer story, various characters refer to the police as "pigs", which annoyed me. I realise that characters can be flawed, and I don't have to agree with all of their views (e.g. several incarnations of Holmes have been addicted to something). For that matter, the middle stories in this book (with the female Sherlock) were far more sympathetic towards the police. I think the main reason it rankles is because it's lazy thinking. This is the same story where Holmes chastises Watson for being nervous in Harlem after he was robbed on a previous visit. "Not by these people, John. You have got to separate the individual from the class." Apparently this depends on which individual/class you're dealing with...
The writer also made a minor error in chapter 7, which the editor really should have picked up. "There were seven people around the room: Juanita, Bill, Joseph and two other Black Panthers [..] Two Hispanic men were sitting". Then a bit later, Bill introduces everyone: "You've met Juanita. The gentlemen are Paco, Ricardo, and George, and you know Joseph. That was Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther party, and his bodyguard, William." In other words, the text varies between having two or three Hispanic men. This doesn't actually make any difference to the story, but it broke my immersion when I went back and forth trying to keep track of who was in the room.
June 17, 2016
Holmesians look out - this is a collection of tales that will delight and amaze, that will tear down your preconceived notions of who Sherlock Holmes and Watson are, and linger long in memory. Each tale features a Holmes who is all you know and love, but at the same time who is far different than you expect. These are the Holmes’s who might have been - and I for one am glad that they are here to be seen and experienced.
Gini Koch’s Holmes is the most familiar. Her playground is Los Angeles where she consults for the LAPD. Rather than suffering from addiction to drugs, she has a more prosaic but almost equally destructive addiction to reality television. With Watson she investigates murder amongst the stars. I especially liked the portrayal of Irene Adler.
The Holmes (Sanford “Crash” Haus) of Jamie Wyman is a carnie and a trickster in the Post WWI United States. For all his brilliance, he runs the Soggiorno Brothers’ Traveling Wonder Show. After meeting Crash during his first case as a Pinkerton, retired soldier and doctor Jim “Dandy” Walker joins the group. The stories are fascinating, as is the commentary on race and class.
The final Holmes was in some ways the most poignant and troubling. Drugs run rampant throughout Glen Mehn’s novella. Dr (Doc) Watson is a drug dealer to the glitterati surrounding Warhol - the artists and the want-to-be’s. As much as he deals to others, both he and Sherlock use. In this part of the 60’s there is violent social upheaval. The civil rights movement is struggling forth and the extreme conservatives of McCarthyism plot in the background to undermine progress. Mehn’s Holmes unravels the how of Kennedy’s assassination, but too late to make a difference. Here is where the surveillance state and the manipulations of Hoover come into clear view. His second case is that of the theft of a physicist’s (a known supporter of the civil rights movement) work and an attempt to discredit him. Mehn’s novella is as much a warning as it is entertainment.
I absolutely loved alt.sherlock.holmes. It is a thrilling departure from tributes that attempt to emulate Arthur Conan Doyle. Rather than emulate, these authors rise to new heights taking inspiration from his classic tales, creating something new and astounding.
5/5
alt.sherlock.holmes is available for preorder and will be released April 12, 2016.
I received a copy of alt.sherlock.holmes from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
—Crittermom
Gini Koch’s Holmes is the most familiar. Her playground is Los Angeles where she consults for the LAPD. Rather than suffering from addiction to drugs, she has a more prosaic but almost equally destructive addiction to reality television. With Watson she investigates murder amongst the stars. I especially liked the portrayal of Irene Adler.
The Holmes (Sanford “Crash” Haus) of Jamie Wyman is a carnie and a trickster in the Post WWI United States. For all his brilliance, he runs the Soggiorno Brothers’ Traveling Wonder Show. After meeting Crash during his first case as a Pinkerton, retired soldier and doctor Jim “Dandy” Walker joins the group. The stories are fascinating, as is the commentary on race and class.
The final Holmes was in some ways the most poignant and troubling. Drugs run rampant throughout Glen Mehn’s novella. Dr (Doc) Watson is a drug dealer to the glitterati surrounding Warhol - the artists and the want-to-be’s. As much as he deals to others, both he and Sherlock use. In this part of the 60’s there is violent social upheaval. The civil rights movement is struggling forth and the extreme conservatives of McCarthyism plot in the background to undermine progress. Mehn’s Holmes unravels the how of Kennedy’s assassination, but too late to make a difference. Here is where the surveillance state and the manipulations of Hoover come into clear view. His second case is that of the theft of a physicist’s (a known supporter of the civil rights movement) work and an attempt to discredit him. Mehn’s novella is as much a warning as it is entertainment.
I absolutely loved alt.sherlock.holmes. It is a thrilling departure from tributes that attempt to emulate Arthur Conan Doyle. Rather than emulate, these authors rise to new heights taking inspiration from his classic tales, creating something new and astounding.
5/5
alt.sherlock.holmes is available for preorder and will be released April 12, 2016.
I received a copy of alt.sherlock.holmes from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
—Crittermom
June 29, 2016
***This book was reviewed for San Francisco Book Review***
alt.sherlock.holmes is a collection of short stories showcasing work from three different authors. The name of this game seems to have been to distill the most essential traits of Sherlock and Watson, and barest essentials from Doyle's stories, throw them in the blender, along with healthy doses of traits/values/morals of the time era in question and see what comes out.
The era in which an individual grew up, and the resources of their relative social class certainly shape what they will become. In the first set of stories, by Jaime Wyman, we meet Sanford Haus, proprietor of a travelling circus. He’s a lanky boy with ginger curls, he loves to play, loves to dress up to observe people. But Sanford, or Crash as he prefers, still has Conan Doyle Sherlock's steely will, and fierce determination. He is, by the by, far more of a flirt than most Sherlocks. Here, Dr Jim Walker, is a soldier returned from the Great War, now a Pinkerton agent. A case brings Walker in contact with Crash, and the partnership formed.
I really enjoyed Wyman’s title choices- Scandal in Hobohemia, Case of the Tattooed Bride. I found them to be a wonderful homage to Doyle’s legacy. I also enjoyed the myriad hidden references to other of Doyle's original stories, like the Speckled Band! Wyman’s stories flowed elegant, yet playful as Crash himself. I was very very disappointed when these stories ended. I want more Crash!
Next up are two stories- All the Single Ladies, A Study in Starlets- by Gina Koch, which takes time and place a step further, with a female Sherlock, which of course, changes the game. Women think very differently from men. Kudos to Koch for finding a believable female Sherlock. She and Watson meet first on a case at the school he was teaching in. Sherlock, rightly guessing Watson’s boredom, offers him a partnership for being consulting detectives. I wasn't as much into Koch’s writing style, but that's personal preference, and this Sherlock and Watson were amusing to read.
Glen Mehn finished out the collection with two stories set in the late 1960s or so- Half There/ All There, The Power of Media. This was probably the most unexpected Sherlock in here. Really, gonna leave this one to the imagination. This is a time era that can, and did, really exacerbate Sherlock’s addictive nature. It’s also an era I don't much enjoy, history or culture-wise. The writing style was okay. Another quick grammar/ spell-checking would not be amiss for these two stories.
alt.sherlock.holmes is a collection of short stories showcasing work from three different authors. The name of this game seems to have been to distill the most essential traits of Sherlock and Watson, and barest essentials from Doyle's stories, throw them in the blender, along with healthy doses of traits/values/morals of the time era in question and see what comes out.
The era in which an individual grew up, and the resources of their relative social class certainly shape what they will become. In the first set of stories, by Jaime Wyman, we meet Sanford Haus, proprietor of a travelling circus. He’s a lanky boy with ginger curls, he loves to play, loves to dress up to observe people. But Sanford, or Crash as he prefers, still has Conan Doyle Sherlock's steely will, and fierce determination. He is, by the by, far more of a flirt than most Sherlocks. Here, Dr Jim Walker, is a soldier returned from the Great War, now a Pinkerton agent. A case brings Walker in contact with Crash, and the partnership formed.
I really enjoyed Wyman’s title choices- Scandal in Hobohemia, Case of the Tattooed Bride. I found them to be a wonderful homage to Doyle’s legacy. I also enjoyed the myriad hidden references to other of Doyle's original stories, like the Speckled Band! Wyman’s stories flowed elegant, yet playful as Crash himself. I was very very disappointed when these stories ended. I want more Crash!
Next up are two stories- All the Single Ladies, A Study in Starlets- by Gina Koch, which takes time and place a step further, with a female Sherlock, which of course, changes the game. Women think very differently from men. Kudos to Koch for finding a believable female Sherlock. She and Watson meet first on a case at the school he was teaching in. Sherlock, rightly guessing Watson’s boredom, offers him a partnership for being consulting detectives. I wasn't as much into Koch’s writing style, but that's personal preference, and this Sherlock and Watson were amusing to read.
Glen Mehn finished out the collection with two stories set in the late 1960s or so- Half There/ All There, The Power of Media. This was probably the most unexpected Sherlock in here. Really, gonna leave this one to the imagination. This is a time era that can, and did, really exacerbate Sherlock’s addictive nature. It’s also an era I don't much enjoy, history or culture-wise. The writing style was okay. Another quick grammar/ spell-checking would not be amiss for these two stories.
July 27, 2016
I really enjoyed the first of the three novellas, read the second, and abandoned the third.
C'est la vie!
C'est la vie!
November 23, 2016
Not very good, in fact, it was a major disappointment for me. I found the writing to be very amateur and not nearly as good as Doyle or even a few of the other Holmes deviations. Very poor overall.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews