Wildfires, News, & a Sherlockian Pastiche Party, Revisited!

[eldritchhobbit]

* I'd like to give a grateful shout-out to the brave men and women of the fire crews from Macomb, Wanette, Bethel, Tecumseh, McLoud, Shawnee, and Pink, Oklahoma, as well as the Cleveland County Task Force, with fire crews from Norman, Slaughterville, Cedar Country, Moore, and Little Axe, the Pottawatomie County sheriff’s office and tribal police, and the Black Hawk helicopter crews from the Oklahoma National Guard, all of whom worked together along with local landowners yesterday to end a sudden 300-acre wildfire that raged up to the very border of my parents' property. Fortunately, no one was harmed, ranch animals were safely evacuated, and the fire has been contained (although there's an alert for another one now less than ten miles away). Here's hoping for cooler weather and rain for the area this weekend. You can see footage of yesterday's fire from Oklahoma City's KOCO here.

* In general news, I was delighted to see Anthony Letizia of Alterna-tv.com just posted a lovely review of Fringe Science: Parallel Universes, White Tulips, and Mad Scientists.

* Happy early birthday wishes to marthawells, aragornlover, snard, and alii_s! May each of you enjoy a wonderful day and a fantastic year to come.


Now, about those Sherlock Holmes pastiches...

Some months ago, I asked for recommendations of Sherlock Holmes pastiches and received some great replies. (Thank you!) I waited until I'd finished going through all of Arthur Conan Doyle's canonical Holmesian writings in order, but now I've embarked on my pastiche reading. I'm still only "baby steps" into the project, but I thought I'd list the novels I've read thus far, ranked in order from my most favorite to my least favorite. My reviews are general, and though they may contain a few spoilers about the premise of a given work, they don't give away any twist endings or key surprises.

Novels

Most Favorite Novel Thus Far:
Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson by Lyndsay Faye (2009)
Read my review.

The Mycroft Memoranda by Ray Walsh (1985)
Read my review.

The Last Sherlock Holmes Story by Michael Dibdin (1978)
Read my review.

The Whitechapel Horrors by Edward B. Hanna (1992)
Read my review.

The West End Horror: A Posthumous Memoir of John H. Watson, M.D. by Nicholas Meyer (1976)
Read my review.

The Seven-Percent Solution: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D. by Nicholas Meyer (1974)
Read my review.

The Canary Trainer: From the Memoirs of John H. Watson by Nicholas Meyer (1993)
Read my review.

Lestrade and the Ripper by M.J. Trow (1999)
Read my review.

Sherlock Holmes: The Rediscovered Railway Mysteries and Other Stories by John Taylor (2010)
Read my review.


I had difficulty ranking The West End Horror and The Seven-Percent Solution, as they were rather neck-and-neck for me. I'd recommend all of these except Trow's and Taylor's to fans of Holmes in general, but I'd still recommend Taylor's to those specifically who are fans of Benedict Cumberbatch.


Collections

The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes edited by John Joseph Adams (2009)
Read my review.


Other

In the novella/novelette category, I've read and thoroughly enjoyed "The Adventure of the Elusive Emeralds" (a poignant mystery with terrific Watson characterization, in particular, in Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine #4) and "The Adventure of the Haunted Bagpipes" (a truly chilling mystery with a very real and disturbing threat to Holmes and Watson in Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine #5), both by Carla Coupe (aka beledibabe). I highly recommend them.


Next up in my pastiche reading: the novel Sherlock Holmes and the Apocalypse Murders by Barry Day (2001) and the collection Sherlock Holmes in Orbit edited by Mike Resnick and Martin H. Greenberg (1995).


"My patronus is yo mama."
- seen on t-shirt

Comments

[marthawells.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :)

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

You're most welcome! I hope you have a great one.

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, glad your parents (and their animals) are OK!

Totally unrelated, but I thought of you when I saw a promo on PBS for the next Miss Marple, costarring Benedict Cumberbatch! :D

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! Me, too.

Aw! Now that makes me smile. :)

[tunes84.livejournal.com]

Really glad your parents are okay, as well as their land and animals. I hope that other fire doesn't touch them.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much, my friend! Me, too. I do hope the weather conditions change for them out there. It looks like the firefighters are getting the upper hand on this new fire, but it's already destroyed 33 homes. The weather conditions out there are so conducive to fires right now. Here's hoping it changes this weekend! There's possible rain the forecast.

[beledibabe.livejournal.com]

So glad your parents are okay -- hope the fires die quickly. ::hugs::

Ooooh, there are a few books I need to acquire -- thank you for the brief synposes!

And thank you for the shout-out! (And "The Book of Tobit" will be available in the next few days, in Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine 6. I'll let you know when it's available.)

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! ::hugs you back::

I'm so glad the mini-reviews are useful!

This is fantastic news about your next story. Thanks for updating us when Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine 6 is available. It shall be mine! :)

[eveningblue.livejournal.com]

I actually happened to meet Lyndsay Faye at a NYC Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes meeting recently. I had no idea who she was. People were fawning over her--she was definitely the center of attention. Later I was told who she was and how great the book was.

So I'm glad to hear you liked it. Sometimes it's hard to gauge the accuracy of raves when the ravers know the ravee (?) personally. I am re-reading HotB right now in preparation for Series Two, but perhaps after that I'll give it a try. (Just recently finished reading the canon, too!)

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

How interesting! I didn't know much about Faye's book going into it, but it really did impress me a great deal, between the character development (great Holmes-Watson interaction, great Lestrade, non-annoying OCs), historical detail, and mystery. I see she's the latest interviewee on the Baker Street Babes podcast, too; I'll have to check that out. I did just buy the collection Sherlock Holmes in America, seeing that she had a short story in it.

If you read it, I'd be very interested to know what you think!

I can't wait for Series Two! :)

[eveningblue.livejournal.com]

Me either! The wait already feels interminable, and I hear it won't be on till December at the earliest.

Do you mind if I friend you on Goodreads? My real-life name is Gail, just so you know.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

I know! Thank heavens for DVDs, books, and fan fiction in the meantime.

Please do! :)

[peadarog.livejournal.com]

I'm going to assume that somebody already recommended Neil Gaiman's Holmes/Cthulu crossover, "A Study in Emerald"?

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Oh gosh, I should've made a separate entry for that. ::headdesk:: Thanks! It was included in The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and so I took the opportunity to reread it (because it bears many, many rereadings), but I'd read it many times before. It may be one of my favorite short stories of all time, in fact. I saw even more subtle little details in it this time, having reread Doyle's canon so recently. That's Gaiman at his best (which is saying something). Thank you so much for mentioning it!

[peadarog.livejournal.com]

I knew you must have read it :)

[agentxpndble.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad your parents escaped unsinged! As if they didn't have enough trouble right now. :-(

I can't believe that after this many decades of being a SH fan, I have been completely incapable of submerging myself into the fandom with you this past year. I miss our squee-fests and feel vaguely jealous that you've been so absorbed by it, without me. Even though it's totally MY fault for not joining in. I'm petty that way. ;-) Any day now...

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much!

Hey, it's never too late. I'd love to squee with you anytime, my friend. I'm not going anywhere. *hugs*

[ghislainem70.livejournal.com]

I have an inappropriate fondness for Sherlock Holmes vs Dracula, Loren Estleman I know, I knowXD
Not a pastiche, but a rather well done modern day homage, The Sherlockian, Graham Moore.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Ooh, The Sherlockian was on my "to read" list, based on reviews I'd read. Now I'll move it to the top of the pile! I appreciate the suggestion.

I haven't made it to the Holmes vs. Dracula works yet (didn't Saberhagen do several of those, too?), but I'll get there... and I'll remember to look for Estleman. :)

Thanks so much for the recs!

[ghislainem70.livejournal.com]

I went to last year's Bouchercon (World Mystery Convention) and Graham Moore was on the Sherlock panel and was charming, and very witty. I think the book is headed for film, now. (Laurie King was also on the panel, and though I greatly admire her work, it doesn't always click with me for some reason.)
Yes, Saberhagen did do something in that line perhaps back in the 70s . . .Holmes v Dracula is sheer foolishness, but strangely pleasing to me.
Also, the popup novel "The Crimes of Dr. Watson" is fun.

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