Challenge Complete: Baker Street Challenge

Another challenge bites the dust. With my latest read, The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Scroll of the Dead, I have completed my original commitment to the Baker Street Challenge which is sponsored by Ruth at Bookish Ruth. The challenge allowed us to read the original Holmes stories, other writing by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and/or Holmesian pastiches.

There were four reading tiers available
Three Pipe Problem: 3 books
The Sign of Four: 4 books
Five Orange Pips: 5 books
Seven Percent Solution: 7 books

and I decided to go for the Five Orange Pips. Since I have already read the entire canon, I focused on Doyle's other works and the pastiches.
1. The Giant Rat of Sumatra by Richard L Boyer (pastiche) [5/7/11]
2. The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Holmes by Loren D Estleman (pastiche) [8/2/11]3. The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (non-Holmes) [3/29/11]
4. The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Scroll of the Dead by David Stuart Davies (pastiche) [9/7/11]
5. Sir Nigel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (a non-Holmes book by Doyle) [8/21/11]


I hope to see this challenge go up again next year....I still have several Holmes pastiches that I could sign up for another round.

Scroll of the Dead: Review

The Future Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Scroll of the Dead by David Stuart Davies is a much better Holmes pastiche than the previous Davies offering I read last year (The Veiled Detective)--better in the sense that it adheres more strictly to the canon and expectations of those who like their Holmes stories to have a bit of continuity. I don't mind twists--provided the Doyle stories have not already established precedent.

In this outing, Holmes is asked by his brother Mycroft to attend a seance to unmask an impostor posing as a medium, Uriah Hawkshaw. Hawkshaw is busy fleecing wealthy mourners and Mycroft is afraid that while communicating with his deceased son, Sir Robert Hythe, may inadvertently disclose affairs of state. The medium is easily dispatched by Holmes keen eye for fraud. In the course of the evening he meets Sebastian Melmoth, a rich dandy who seems to be following in Oscar Wilde's social footsteps. But Holmes soon learns that Melmoth is a man hell-bent on obtaining immortality and willing to risk all--especially the lives of others--to locate an ancient Egyptian papyrus that is supposed to hold the secret of eternal life. He leaves behind a trail of robbery, death, and deception and it is up to Holmes and Watson to stop him and avert disaster...In this fast-paced adventure, the action moves from London to the picturesque Lake District as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson once more battle with the forces of evil.

Scroll of the Dead shows that Davies does know his Sherlockian lore. He more accurately portrays the relationship between Holmes and Watson. He has the right mixture of action and ratiocination. There are chases across the countryside and nights spent with the pipe and violin. Watson is perhaps a shade too obtuse over a few points and Davies reveals a few too many clues. Holmes normally keeps his clues held more tightly to his chest--it's rare in the original stories for me to figure out the solution before the end. Overall--a very enjoyable read. If you're going to try a Davies pastiche, then go for this one and give The Veiled Detective a miss. Three and a half stars.

Sir Nigel: Review

Set in the middle of the 14th century, Sir Nigel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is what these days is known as a prequel to The White Company. Written fifteen years later, it tells the story of how Nigel Loring, the near-destitute squire of the Manor of Tilford, went off to seek his fortune and win the hand of his lady-love in the early years of the Hundred Years War. Nigel leaves home a squire and returns home as an honorable knight through many brave adventures on the battlefield and abroad. Nigel is equally brave on land or sea. We see Nigel as he tames a horse that no other man can ride, as he battles a French spy aboard a ship headed across the channel, as he beards a feared robber lord in his den, and as he even faces the King of France.

Maybe it was the difference in the edition....Sir Nigel is a standard Wordsworth Classic edition and The White Company was a much earlier edition with very juvenile illustrations....but this novel didn't strike me so much as a Boy's Own Version of History as The White Company did. It is still full of high romance and tales of derring-do, but I took it much more seriously and enjoyed it more. There is still much of the Don Quixote about Nigel, but there is an innocent seriousness to him. I particularly enjoyed the episode where Nigel leads the way in secretly entering the robber lord's castle. A very well-told tale in Doyle's exemplary prose. Four stars.

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Holmes: Review

In The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Holmes, Loren D Estleman has pulled off one of the most successful Holmes pastiches to mix Holmes with other literary characters. The Wellmans' Sherlock Holmes & the War of the Worlds was decent, but disjointed. Estleman manages to blend Holmes and Watson into Stevenson's story of good and evil with great ease. And the story is a familiar one--even if one has not read Stevenson's novel, one knows what the phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" means.

In Estleman's telling of the story, Mr. Utterson consults Sherlock Holmes when he is worried about his friend Dr. Jekyll's odd bequest to the unknown Mr. Edward Hyde. Holmes barely begins to investigate Hyde's movements and what terrible hold he must have on Jekyll before Utterson calls him off the case. It isn't until the Queen herself asks Holmes to investigate the death of Sir Danvers Carew--a murder committed at the hands of Hyde--that Holmes is officially on the case. Holmes continues to be interested in the links between the evil Mr. Hyde and the highly respectable doctor.

Estleman remains faithful to the original Jekyll & Hyde story, having Holmes take the actions of Utterson in some portions and adding logical actions of his own where necessary. Estleman is also very faithful to the Doyle canon. He perfectly portrays the relationship between Holmes and Watson. And he does a very good job at writing in the Doyle style. Holmes fans and Stevenson fans alike should enjoy this story. It is not as action-packed as some Holmes pastiches, but it remains true to the Great Detective's spirit. An engaging story--and one that does not suffer at all from the reader knowing the answer to the mystery from the beginning. One might even say that it's nice to be ahead of Holmes for once. Three and a half stars.

The Giant Rat of Sumatra: Review

Synopsis: Among all the tantalizing mysteris of Sherlock Holmes, none is more famous than the great untold story of The Giant Rat of Sumatra. A tale that according to Richard L. Boyer involes a mysterious ship lying at the London docks with a terrifying beast caged in the hold; a night of fire and terror & a dead sailor who was on his way to consult with Holmes; a beautiful young woman abducted and held for ransom; and Watson captured by a madman with Holmes powerless to help. No wonder the great detective called this "a story for which the world is not yet prepared."

The story of the giant rat, which Holmes alludes to in "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire," is one which has fascinated Holmes fans for decades. Several authors have attempted to the tell the tale in both short story and novel-length versions. This is the third such that I have read. Boyer very nearly had me completely in this pastiche published in 1976. It's an interesting tale and Boyer most definitely knows his Holmes. The action is brisk and he has done a fairly good job in an attempt to mimic Doyle's style. The characters of Holmes, Watson and Lestrade are pretty solid and I was swept along, believing it all until Dr. Watson, as narrator, started throwing way too many "my dear readers" at me. Watson seemed to have suddenly turned into a female protagonist in a Victorian melodramatic novel, rather than the bluff, stalwart companion I had known and loved. And then there's the grand finale....the identity of the mastermind behind the scheme was a bit much to swallow. Putting aside his identity (which was a bit much for me in and of itself), the action seemed to put him on a par with Moriarty, not in scope--there is no large organization involved--but in range. How this character amassed the wealth that must have been necessary is beyond me.

In the end I find myself giving Boyer's effort three stars. This is a good, solid rendering of Holmes. I was interested in the mystery and enjoyed seeing how he pulled off the "giant rat." Had it not been for the "dear readers" and the final scenes, I would have unreservedly raised the rating to four stars.

The White Company: Review

According to the blurb on GoodReads, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle considered The White Company his best work and characterized it as "worth a hundred Sherlock Holmes stories." Um. Okay. Who am I to argue with a knighted author? One of his readers, that's who. And I say give me Holmes any day.

So, The White Company is a tale of knights and squires and derring-do set against the backdrop of the Hundred Year's War. There are adventures and wars and jousting and ladies' honor to be defended and brave men to be welcomed home. But, seriously, it reads like a tale for school boys. For the most part, it's decently told and there are even some scenes that are particularly well-done, but overall the feel is not of a decent work of historical fiction, but that of Boys' Own Medieval Stories. The illustrations that accompany the story, while enjoyable, also give the story a juvenile feel. After reading much about how proud Doyle was of his historical fiction, I was expecting something with a little more depth. Perhaps that's my own fault for having false expectations, but that was what I thought.

I will admit to liking the character of Alleyne, the young man raised in a monastery who finds himself thrust out into the world in his twentieth year per his father's instructions. Before he fully renounces the world, he must live in it so he may have complete information on which to base his decision. I find Alleyne's adjustment to his worldly surroundings to be funny and true to nature (although perhaps he overcomes his confusion a little quickly). And I thoroughly enjoyed his interactions with his newfound friends Hordle John and Samkin Aylward. These three men and their allegience to Sir Nigel Loring saved the book for me. Sir Nigel has a bit of Don Quixote about him....but with far more successful results and a bit more reality to his derring-do.

As a tale of honor and loyalty, it is well-written and perhaps if I had come to it without preconceived notions I would have rated it higher. As it is, I give The White Company three out of five stars.

Baker Street Challenge

I should know better than to try and fight the siren song of a good challenge. Especially when I have books sitting on the TBR piles that will just fit right into the needs of the challenge.

So, I'm signing Baker Street Challenge, an annual reading challenge for one of the most iconic and enigmatic literary figures, Sherlock Holmes. We'll be celebrating Doyle's original stories as well as the rich world of new adventures his works have inspired.

The Rules

1. Choose a goal from the reading tier below and add your name to the sign up page.

2. The challenge will run from January 1 to December 31, 2011. You can sign up for the challenge at any time before December 31, 2011.

2. You do not have to choose your books in advance. You may change your reading list at any point in the challenge.

3. Overlapping with other challenges is fine.

4. Audio books and eBooks are allowed.

5. Feel free to post reviews or general thoughts about your reading to the Baker Street Challenge blog. Please e-mail me at bookishruth [at] gmail [dot] com to be added as a contributor.

Reading Tier

Three Pipe Problem: 3 books
The Sign of Four: 4 books
Five Orange Pips: 5 books
Seven Percent Solution: 7 books


Ready to sign up for the challenge or need more info? Head over to the Main Page or the Sign Up page.

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I'm signing up for the Five Orange Pips. Here are my planned books (since I've read all of the canon, I'll be doing pastiches for the most part):

1. The Giant Rat of Sumatra by Richard L Boyer (pastiche) [5/7/11]
2. The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Holmes by Loren D Estleman (pastiche) [8/2/11]3. The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (non-Holmes) [3/29/11]
4. The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Scroll of the Dead by David Stuart Davies (pastiche) [9/7/11]
5. Sir Nigel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (a non-Holmes book by Doyle) [8/21/11]
6. The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King (pastiche)

Commitment complete: 9/7/11