The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

There have been innumerable Sherlock Holmes theme compendiums out there, and most of them have been "one trick ponies" with 2 or 3 good stories in them combined with many lame and / or inept pieces padding things out. The talened anthologist Mr. Adams has cherry picked what would generally be considered the finest pieces from various themed anthologies and presented a uniformly excellent mix herein.

Three caveats: first, not all stories necessarily feature SF, fantasy, or horror elements. Some stories start out with seemingly paranormal events that are eventually explained (a la "straight up" Conan Doyle... or Scooby Doo!)and some are "merely" conventional mysteries. All are credibly written, and the variety makes things reasonably interesting. Anthologies of entirely supernatural Holmesian themes can quickly grate on the reader (e.g. "Shadows Over Baker Street") and the Adams approach is a better solution.

Second, though there is a brief "intro to Holmes" article kicking things off, if you are unfamiliar and / or hostile to Holmes and his typical literary appearances, this book will do little to enlighten you or change your mind. Adams suggests one can use this volume as an intro to Holmes, but realistically this would be a stretch. If you've never read Conan Doyle at all, start there first and then come here.

Third, as with the original stories, you can't read these in big sequential chunks. Read one or two then come back a few days later and read some more. If you read them all back to back, you will find characters and details blurring into one big mess. Follow a course of moderation and you will enjoy this anthology more. Assuming you are not taking this book to a brief desert island stay, this should not be a problem for most.

As with any anthology, you may personally loathe some stories (Valentine for me), feel others are too long (IMO the Baxter piece here) and may feel others are just right (for me Hambly, Gaiman, King). All in all, lots of great pieces here, few bombs, and admirable editorial discretion shown by Mr. Adams.

If you like Holmes and would like to see him explore some new ground, I think you will enjoy this book very much. Novices to the Baker Street world and Holmes-ophobes need not apply.

Inevitably every fan of Sherlock Holmes will reach the final story and sadly realize that there will be no more trips to 221B Baker Street from Arthur Conan Doyle's pen. The tantalizing hints dropped by Watson of other adventures seem to be destined to be forever untold. Happily others have taken up the task of chronicling these and other adventures of Holmes and/or Watson. Some have produced tales worthy of being included in the 'Canon' of Doyle's stories and others....well others make the reader appreciate Doyle's work even more. These works have appeared in various forms, full length novels, screen and stage plays and short stories - many, many short stories which have appeared in various publications. There are quite a few collections of these stories, often selected in a particular theme.

This particular anthology features stories that share a fantasy or science fiction slant, in some the stories are set in an alternative universe, in others the stories fit in with the original canon almost seamlessly. Many of these stories are meant to be taken seriously, others are strictly for fun. The quality of these selections also varies, many are page turners equal to Doyle's own stories, others are surprisingly amateurish, and a few a just boring.

This is a worthwhile read for fans, although it is not a place to begin reading the Holmes' stories. The gems found in this collection are wonderful additions to the canon, well worth wading through the lesser selections. Dedicated fans may have run across some of these stories before, most have been published elsewhere.

This fascinating collection of pastiches represent both extremes of apocryphal Sherlockiana: some of them place Holmes in pretty outre situations that are bound to be considered as plain improbable (and hence not to be considered even with a few sacks of salt for anything apart from 'fun'), and some are so realistically (that is in the style of Sir ACD, and not of some pompous pretender) created that they could have walked into the canon. Unfortunately, there are also quite a few stories (as are bound to slip in such a hefty tome) that are neither realistic nor 'fun'. But let me recount the stories one-by-one: -

(*) Introduction by J.J.Adams: a frank confession regarding his editorial ambition, as well as clarification that this book consists of almost entirely reprints.

(*) A Sherlockiana Primer: a very good introduction to the Gaslit world of Holmes & Watson for the novice and the naive.

1) "THE DOCTOR'S CASE" by Stephen King: a stunning story, which could have been very much probable.
2) "The Horror of the Many Faces" by Tim Lebbon: a sharp decline after the high of the first story, this one is improbable (with all its Lovecraftian under/over-tones) as well as rather unwarrantably long.
3) "The Case of the Bloodless Sock" by Anne Perry: a very good story, and nothing 'improbable' as such in the story or the characters.
4) "THE ADVENTURE OF THE OTHER DETECTIVE" by Bradley H. Sinor: improbability strikes with a vengeance as Dr. Watson (and the reader) visits an alternate reality where Professor Moriarty occupies 221B Baker Street, accompanied by Sergeant Murray, and the inevitable happens, er..., inevitably.
5) "A Scandal in Montreal" by Edward D. Hoch: unfortunately, this is one of the poorer stories, taking Holmes to Canada, involving Irene Adler (the lady must have taken serious offense at such a poor portrayal as happens in this story), despite originating from the pen of one of the most prolific & consistent mystery-writers.
6) "THE ADVENTURE OF FIELD THEOREMS" by Vonda N. McIntyre: a superb fun' ride, and after the stories in No. 1 & 4, this one lightens up the reading substantially.
7) "The Adventure of the Death-Fetch" by Darrell Schweitzer: an enjoyable story, totally improbable, but not bad.
8) "The Shocking Affair of the Dutch Steamship Friesland" by Mary Robinette Kowal: neither that shocking, nor that enjoyable, merely readable.
9) "The Adventure of the Mummy's Curse" by H.Paul Jeffers: improbable because it claims Watson to be a Master Mason, a mediocre story that involved a mystery which could have been easily solved by Inspector Lestrade had the case been brought to him.
10) "THE THINGS THAT SHALL COME UPON THEM" by Barbara Roden: a brilliant and dazzlingly competent story that brings together the pioneer Consulting & Occult detectives (Sherlock Holmes & Flaxman Low, respectively) to solve a mystery that had begun with one of the greatest horror stories in literature ("Casting The Runes") written by the greatest ghost-story writer (M.R.James) and solves the story without disrespecting anybody, and yet with just enough ambivalence at the end to challenge the reader to draw the conclusion.
11) "Murder to Music" by Anthony Burges: another sensationalist drama involving Watson treating obscure East Asian diseases in London (according to "The Dying Detective" he literally knew nothing about them), attempted assassination of the Spanish Monarch inside a train in London by using bombs that would explode at certain musical pitch, and Holmes learning about Spanish-inter-feuds during his stay at Marrakesh(???)and later publicly insulting Watson, four improbable things in a pretty mediocre story, which in itself is a feat!
12) "The Adventure of the Inertial Adjustor" by Stephen Baxter: a 'fun' story, completely improbable, but enjoyable in an off-hand manner.
13) "MRS. HUDSON'S CASE" by Laurie R. King: a jewel-like story where the long-suffering Mrs. Hudson steals the thunder in her own style.
14) "THE SINGULAR HABITS OF WASPS" by Geoffrey A. Landis: science-fiction, mystery, horror, Holmes and Jack The Ripper, and all in less than 20 pages! You really can't have any more 'fun'.
15) "The Affair of the 46th Birthday" by Amy Myers: another mediocre story involving attempted assassination, Medici Ring, Russia and Italy (at least it spared France or Germany, or were they 'covered' in story no. 11, not sure, really).
16) "The Specter of Tullyfane Abbey" by Peter Tremayne: an average story, definitely improbable (Holmes falling in love with a villainous girl, who, after killing her father [THE James Philimore, who, after returning to his home to collect his umbrella, was never seen again], marries Professor Moriarty, and allows all the property to pass on to the Professor), definitely NOT re-readable.
17) "THE VALE OF THE WHITE HORSE" by Sharyn McCrumb: a superlative and gothic story involving family-curses and murder most heinous.
18) "The Adventure of the Dorset Street Lodger" by Michael Moorcock: good, readable, but the end could have been predicted by any Sherlockian long-long ago.
19) "The Adventure of the Lost World" by Dominic Green: a 'fun' story, with adequate mixture of humour and gore, throwing couple of Allosaurus in-between!
20) "The Adventure of the Antiquarian's Niece" by Barbara Hambly: this story is a classic example of British cuisine, where several good ingredients (Holmes & Carnaki) mixed with a lot of labour (almost 20 pages) and good intent (to spice up Lovecraftian horror with several shades of 'The Great Beast' incorporated for effect, nothing less), end up in a pathetically tasteless food, simply because the author didn't know when to stop and where to allow the readers to draw their own conclusion, unlike the one written by Barbara Roden, which is a study in restraint.
21) "Dynamics of a Hanging" by Tony Pi: this is a vile story which is completely improbable, and devoid of any redeeming feature, despite involving Dr. Watson, Professor Moriarty, Arthur Conan Doyle who has been murdered by Moriarty to ensure the secrecy of Moriarty's cipher, and Lewis Carroll, who gets Moriarty evicted from University without any proof and simply by spreading vile rumours. See now why I am so eager to bring a blunt instrument in immediate contact with Mr. Pi on a priority basis?
22) "Merridew of Abominable Memory" by Chris Roberson: improbable, and not-so-much fun.
23) "Commonplaces" by Naomi Novik: hmmm..... Holmes loves Watson (never expressed, but expected to be reciprocated nevertheless, leading to their "estrangement" during the hiatus since the good Doctor had got married), Irene Norton locates Holmes with a minimum of search, Holmes makes love with Irene, and Irene rediscovers herself. Really, how damnably improbable can a pastiche be? Greater men (& women) have already commented that stupidity has no limits, etc. etc.
24) "The Adventure of the Pirates of Devil's Cape" by Rob Rogers: a solid, enjoyable, and improbable story. Big relief after that ****** **** from Ms. Novik.
25) "The Adventure of the Green Skull" by Mark Valentine: a readable, poignant story without much of mystery or improbability.
26) "The Human Mystery" by Tanith Lee: yes, a masterly touch in this story, although I doubt even a misogynist like Holmes could have understood things after such a long time, perhaps that's what makes this story improbable.
27) "A STUDY IN EMERALD" by Neil Gaiman: a classic, and if you are yet to encounter this take on alternate universe, then I would recommend you to purchase the book and plunge head-first in this story.
28) "You See But You Do Not Observe" by Robert J. Sawyer: a very good story with a very strong dosage of science-fiction, if not science, and with a certain pathos.

Overall, out of 28 stories there are 8 superlative stories (a staggering percentage, let me state), 11 enjoyable stories, 3 moderately good stories, 4 clunkers, and 2 worthy of consigning their creators to some particular literary hell). To sum up, quite good. Recommended.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 16 reviews  3.8 out of 5 stars