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Sherlock in Love: A Novel

Sherlock in Love: A Novel

List Price: $13.00
Your Price: $9.75
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: extremely good - though not excellent
Review: A theme I'd like to see tackled more often. Although this effort is an entirely successful book, I could hope that more were made of the possibilities it opened up.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: LAME!!
Review: An elderly Dr. Watson is trying to reconstruct events from his late friend Sherlock Holmes's past. What follows is an absolutely insipid romance(and barely one at that). The object of Holmes' "desire" is one of the more ridiculous characters to be introduced into the world of Holmes pastiches. My God, this book was so confoundingly stupid, I am having trouble finding the words to write this review. If you desperately want to read bad Holmes fiction, read The Last Sherlock Holmes Story, it's horrid, but at least the author had some sense of literary style. If all you really want is a quick, cheap, Holmes with a woman fix, there is a whole world of fanfiction out there, and its all free, baby. But if you want to read about Holmes having a meaningful relationship with a female, have a go at _The Beekeeper's Apprentice_ by Laurie R. King and the novels that follow. And I resent some remarks made by one of the reviewers about the LRK books. You can't just group them with all the other romances out there!!! But this is neither the time nor the place to get into the subtleties of Sherlockian factions.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: LAME!!
Review: An elderly Dr. Watson is trying to reconstruct events from his late friend Sherlock Holmes's past. What follows is an absolutely insipid romance(and barely one at that). The object of Holmes' "desire" is one of the more ridiculous characters to be introduced into the world of Holmes pastiches. My God, this book was so confoundingly stupid, I am having trouble finding the words to write this review. If you desperately want to read bad Holmes fiction, read The Last Sherlock Holmes Story, it's horrid, but at least the author had some sense of literary style. If all you really want is a quick, cheap, Holmes with a woman fix, there is a whole world of fanfiction out there, and its all free, baby. But if you want to read about Holmes having a meaningful relationship with a female, have a go at _The Beekeeper's Apprentice_ by Laurie R. King and the novels that follow. And I resent some remarks made by one of the reviewers about the LRK books. You can't just group them with all the other romances out there!!! But this is neither the time nor the place to get into the subtleties of Sherlockian factions.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Best sherlockian Pastiche so far.
Review: Despite the large number of Holmesian pastiches around these days, not
many have been written by that fair sex which Holmes said was
"your department, Watson." The few around divide into two
main groups, on the one hand, the orthodox pastiches, well worth
reading, by such writers as June Thomson and L. B. Greenwood; and , on
the other hand, the ghastly caricatures by perpetrators such as Laurie
R. King, in which Holmes is "embroiled with women" in a
manner that is both terrifying to contemplate, and absolute death to
any possible Doyleian plots or situations.

The present novel leans
in the latter, not the former, direction. Those looking for Holmesian
deduction and adventure must look elsewhere. This book was originally
published by a small press back in 1993, and has been issued as a
paperback in 2001 I guess to take advantage of a small but noticable
current "boom" in Sherlockian pastiches.

Here a young
Holmes (at the start of his career) becomes infatuated with a female
counterpart who is (very implausibly) not only a violin virtuoso but
also a world-class magician who is somehow able to stage the Water
Torture Escape 50 years before Houdini invented it! Holmes is willing
to chuck his calling and marry the mannish-looking wench, but she, of
course, is Aware that there are Reasons why Such A Love Must Not Be!
(...)

The author has done some research, and it shows; but she
hasn't managed to bring Sherlock to life, nor has she managed to tell
a story. Indeed, the whole fiction is absolutely static, with an
elderly Watson reading over diaries, notebook entries and
(preposterously bad) unpublished stories in an effort to solve the
(not very mysterious) mystery of Violet Sigerson. (...)

If you are looking for mild
soap opera featuring a character named Sherlock Holmes, this is the
book for you. If you are looking for a readable, interesting
Sherlockian pastiche in which the great game is afoot once more, give
this a miss.

Frankie Thomas, himself the author of some worthy
Holmes pastiches, once told me that he chose Holmes for his fictional
efforts because with Holmes you never had to delineate soppy females,
"relationships," and all the depressing like of
that.

Well, if you want the depressing like of that, here it is,
soppy females, "relationships" and all.


Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A feminine misfire....
Review: Despite the large number of Holmesian pastiches around these days, notmany have been written by that fair sex which Holmes said was"your department, Watson." The few around divide into twomain groups, on the one hand, the orthodox pastiches, well worthreading, by such writers as June Thomson and L. B. Greenwood; and , onthe other hand, the ghastly caricatures by perpetrators such as LaurieR. King, in which Holmes is "embroiled with women" in amanner that is both terrifying to contemplate, and absolute death toany possible Doyleian plots or situations.

The present novel leansin the latter, not the former, direction. Those looking for Holmesiandeduction and adventure must look elsewhere. This book was originallypublished by a small press back in 1993, and has been issued as apaperback in 2001 I guess to take advantage of a small but noticablecurrent "boom" in Sherlockian pastiches.

Here a youngHolmes (at the start of his career) becomes infatuated with a femalecounterpart who is (very implausibly) not only a violin virtuoso butalso a world-class magician who is somehow able to stage the WaterTorture Escape 50 years before Houdini invented it! Holmes is willingto chuck his calling and marry the mannish-looking wench, but she, ofcourse, is Aware that there are Reasons why Such A Love Must Not Be!(...)

The author has done some research, and it shows; but shehasn't managed to bring Sherlock to life, nor has she managed to tella story. Indeed, the whole fiction is absolutely static, with anelderly Watson reading over diaries, notebook entries and(preposterously bad) unpublished stories in an effort to solve the(not very mysterious) mystery of Violet Sigerson. (...)

If you are looking for mildsoap opera featuring a character named Sherlock Holmes, this is thebook for you. If you are looking for a readable, interestingSherlockian pastiche in which the great game is afoot once more, givethis a miss.

Frankie Thomas, himself the author of some worthyHolmes pastiches, once told me that he chose Holmes for his fictionalefforts because with Holmes you never had to delineate soppy females,"relationships," and all the depressing like ofthat.

Well, if you want the depressing like of that, here it is,soppy females, "relationships" and all.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Best sherlockian Pastiche so far.
Review: I just got this book yesterday at the bookstore. I thought of putting it back at first. I'm a devoted sherlockian, and I always saw those new Sherlock Holmes books as pathetic, even sacreligious (I know i get carried away, but I once saw one called "Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula." Get my drift?). But I got this anyway, and I must admit it's quite good. Sure, it's not Doyle, but one of the better ones. But, it's still a little to modernly feminist and bizzare.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Sooooo disappointed
Review: Initially, I was excited to read this book. Though not a Sherlock Holmes fan per se, I LOVED Ahab's Wife and am always on the lookout for books that take common "folklore" and look at it from another perspective (e.g. Wicked by Maguire). Anyway, though the beginning dragged, eventually I got into this book and was happy to read along to its conclusion. But at the end (which luckily came quickly - a fast read), I said to myself, "so what?". There were themes of feminism and magic and friendship that weren't well-developed. But I guess that is good - otherwise the book would have been longer and I might have just put it down.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Sooooo disappointed
Review: Initially, I was excited to read this book. Though not a Sherlock Holmes fan per se, I LOVED Ahab's Wife and am always on the lookout for books that take common "folklore" and look at it from another perspective (e.g. Wicked by Maguire). Anyway, though the beginning dragged, eventually I got into this book and was happy to read along to its conclusion. But at the end (which luckily came quickly - a fast read), I said to myself, "so what?". There were themes of feminism and magic and friendship that weren't well-developed. But I guess that is good - otherwise the book would have been longer and I might have just put it down.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Abyssmal, wooden and trite; The Waste of a Grand Premise
Review: Rather than read this book, the prospective reader is advised to re-read The Seven Percent Solution by Nicholas Meyer. "Sherlock in Love" is perhaps the worst Holmsian pastiche that this reviewer has ever read. The author has no feeling for any of the historical periods about which she attempts to write. Unfortunately, the author has not been able to carry any sort of an authorial voice like that of either Conan Doyle or his, wonderful alter ego, Dr. John Watson. This is an extraordinary disappointment. A fine premise is lost in poor execution.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Abyssmal, wooden and trite; The Waste of a Grand Premise
Review: Rather than read this book, the prospective reader is advised to re-read The Seven Percent Solution by Nicholas Meyer. "Sherlock in Love" is perhaps the worst Holmsian pastiche that this reviewer has ever read. The author has no feeling for any of the historical periods about which she attempts to write. Unfortunately, the author has not been able to carry any sort of an authorial voice like that of either Conan Doyle or his, wonderful alter ego, Dr. John Watson. This is an extraordinary disappointment. A fine premise is lost in poor execution.


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