Book review September & October 2013

Australian Ghost Stories

(Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural)

selected by and includes an exclusive Introduction by James Doig.

ISBN-13: 978-1840226416

A collection of short stories with an Australian connection, whether by settlers or their decedents. Across this collection there are a couple of stories that draw on mythology for Australia, like The Bunyip, but the others are very general and do not draw on what could have been offered by the history and culture of the island. . For the low cover price on these books it is worth a read.

Titan Books

Sherlock Holmes - The Stuff of Nightmares

James Lovegrove

ISBN-13: 978-1781165416

In the autumn of 1890 a strange figure haunts the streets of London, this strange figure is the scourge of the crime world, but Holmes does not believe he is all that he seems, so when he is called in by Mycroft to investigate a series of bombings in the capital Sherlock's attention is directed at the new apparent champion of the people. A story more in the steam puck nature of the Rodney Downey Jr style Holmes than the Jeremy Brett TV adaptations of the original Conan Doyle stories.

Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural 

- Wordsworth Editions Ltd

The Tangled Skein

By David Stuart Davies

ISBN-13: 978-1840225273

I usually have some doubts when there is a merging of different characters from different works come together but fortunately this does keep the voice of Dr Watson. Holmes takes a lot of convincing when Van Helsing arrives with an account that Dracular is on the prowl. Holmes's investigations return him then to Dartmoor, the setting for Hound of the Baskervilles. An enjoyable read.

Sherlock Holmes and the Hentzau Affair

By David Stuart Davies

ISBN-13: 978-1840225488

This one is the Sherlock Holmes equivalent of the Prisoner of Zenda with Holmes pulled into a story of  royal inheritance, love and betrayal in the Ruritanian court. A pacy and exciting tale one Dr Watson would have been proud of. 

Book review March / April 2013

Bone Quill

John & Carole E. Barrowman

Published by: Buster

978-1-78055-031-2

The second the in the series of Hollow Earth books aimed at a younger audience from the Barrowman family. Having enjoyed the first I was eager to know whether the children’s missing mother would finally turn up again. I’m not going to say, but the adventure continues well as they try to go behind the adult’s backs to find their mother landing them in all sorts of bother and unleashing something from the past that should really have stayed there. The sortie to Victorian England felt slightly drawn out, but over all a fun read and I’m looking forward to the next installment.

http://www.johnbarrowman.com/fanzone/books/bonequill.shtml

 Doctor Who - The Coming of the Terraphiles

Michael Moorcock

Published by: BBC Books                             

978-1-849-90140-6

I’ve had this one on the book shelf for some time, and finally got round to reading it. I had been warned off by several people, so it struggled to find its place at the top of the ‘to read’ pile.  But if I’m to maintain my goal of having read all Doctor Who novels it had to be done.

Unfortunately the warnings were correct, and I found it nothing but a load of over indulgent twaddle.  Very little happened in the story, the Doctor and Amy play some abysmal mashed up version of sorts and games whilst trying to find out who had attempted to steal a hat.

The wittering tangents that drifted from the narrative left me gasping for sanity.

Sherlock Holmes - The Army of Dr Moreau

Guy Adams

Published by: Titan Books

978-0-8576-8937-7

This was light relief after the Terraphiles, and the second of Guy Adams’ new Sherlock Holmes adventures that I have read. Like before there is a slight over loading of characters taken from other literature including Conan Doyle’s own Professor Challenger. The story unfolds with mutilated bodies turning up in the river, and the suspicion from Mycroft Holmes that work of the late Dr Moreau has been resurrected.

A good extension to the world of the detective from 221B Baker Street.

 

Doctor Who - The Silurian Gift

Mike Tucker

Published by: Quick Reads

978-1-849-90558-9

One of the regular releases aimed to encourage the less frequent reader to pick up a book.  This time the Silurians are back, and offering mankind a super energy, but it takes the Doctor to realise all is not well with the deal. 

A fun read that will help pass a train journey.

Moon Boots & Dinner Suits

Jon Pertwee

Published by: Fantom Films Limited

978-1-78196-079-0

A book I’ve wanted to read for years, but it has been out of print for so long. Finally the boys at Fantom Films have returned this gem to circulation, with a new ‘Forward’ from Ingeborg Pertwee written specially for this edition.

This is Jon Pertwee in his own words, telling the early years of his life and career from being expelled from drama school to waking up in a morgue during the war. It covers a period up to the Navy Lark so does not cover anything to do with Time Lords or scarecrows, but was well worth waiting for.

http://fantomfilms.co.uk/books/jon_pertwee.htm

Book Review May / June

Not so much reading these last couple of months, been a bit otherwise occupied.

Hollow Earth     

by John & Carole E. Barrowman

978-1-907-15164-4

Published by Buster, £6.99

Further Details, The Hollow Earth website

Aimed at the slightly younger reader, this is the first book in a series, a fact which I was not aware of when I started it but at the end I really did want to know what was going to happen next and I'm eagerly awaiting the next instalment. An interesting concept about a group of people who are able to animate artwork, and the resulting notorious power struggles which inevitably surround a group of gifted people. This shows how the politics of a group of adults can have dire consequences for the children dragged into their power struggles. Well worth a read.

   

Sherlock Holmes & The Titanic Tragedy        

by William Seli

978-0-857-68710-4          

Titan Books £6.99

Further Details - Titan Books

Sherlock Holmes & The Adventure of the Perfidious Mariner
by Jonathan Barnes
Audio Book, Staring Nicholas Briggs & Richard Earl
Big Finish Productions.
http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-adventure-of-the-perfidious-mariner-693

Just when you thought there was only ever one going to be one Titanic Holmes adventure, they arrive in pairs. My first Holmes and the Titantic encounter came with the Big Finish audio book 'Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of the Perfidious Mariner', here Holmes does not actually get on board the ship but instead the owner of the White Star line comes seeking his help after the tragedy. This story takes the form of a suspected supernatural entity plaguing his life, and with Holmes setting out to solve the mystery. These stories work well for Holmes and this is a very enjoyable original Sherlock Holmes story. 

The second encounter actually put Holmes on board to guard secret government documents, although it was entertaining it did smack too much of trying to copy previous original Holmes adventures, you'll see what I mean if you read it. I don't want to give too much plot away but there weren't really many surprises you hadn't already began to suspect just by certain players being introduced to the plot. The book also has to handle the 'how do we get Holmes off the sinking ship' scenario which in their CD extras Big Finish said they wanted to avoid because it wouldn't work satisfactorily for the Holmes and Watson characters and I think I agree with them.

               

The Leaping

by Tom Fletcher

978-1-84916-135-0          

Quercus £7.99

I selected this as I fancied a werewolf story, but the wolf antics didn't really occur until quite late in the book. The story is presented from two first person scenarios, Jack and Francis, alternating between the two. They work in a call centre and the first part of the book is really about how crap their lives are and their jobs are. There also seems to be some attempt at demanding pity for call centre workers - I find myself wondering if the author ever worked in one. Although a long time is taken setting up the characters, we can believe in them even if we are not one hundred percent sympathetic to them.

The promise of mystery that is set around fell House only starts to occur in the second part of the story. For me it was a bit slow to start and the end seemed to try and pack in too much. I would have liked the mystery to have started sooner and have interwoven a bit more into the earlier part of the story. The title of the book 'The Leaping' again only comes into play at the very end and felt like a bit of an anticlimax. 

The Sookie Stackhouse Novels (True Blood)

Dead to the World

by Charlaine Harris

978-0-575-08942-6

Orion Books £6.99

http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/books/dead-to-the-world-paperback2

As I've said previously I am only going to read the Sookie books after I've seen the True Blood series that gets made based on the book. Series 4 is based on 'Dead to the World', where Jason vanishes at the start and returns at the end, almost as if he has been written out for the sake of it. In the series where we follow more than just Sookie's POV we know what has happened to him as we experience his misery and suffering.

This one introduces the witches, and we are told they are really nasty, being shifter witches stoked up on vamp blood, intent on taking over the businesses of the supernatural residents of Bon Temps and surrounding areas. There is no mention of the history of witch burning, the possession and depth that was written into the tv series. Instead these witches really seem a pale imitation of their TV counterparts.