Gaslight Grimoire: Fantastic Tales of Sherlock Holmes | 
 enlarge | Authors: Barbara Hambly, Kim Newman, Barbara Roden, Bob Madison, Christopher Sequeira, Chris Roberson, Peter Calamai
Creators: David Stuart Davies, Jeff Campbell, Charles Prepolec
Publisher: EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing
Category: Book
Avg. Customer Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 396962
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.9
ISBN: 1894063171
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781894063173
ASIN: 1894063171
Publication Date: October 1, 2008
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Product Description
The fabled tin dispatch box of Dr. John H. Watson opens to reveal eleven all new tales of mystery and dark fantasy. Sherlock Holmes, master of deductive reasoning, confronts the irrational, the unexpected and the fantastic in the weird worlds of the Gaslight Grimoire.
"A wonderful addition to the bookshelf of any fan of
Sherlock Holmes or of the supernatural. Terrific stories, great variety, genuine
chills: it's all here."
- Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of HOMINIDS
"This book contains eleven of the most ingenious, imaginative and inspired
exploits yet committed to paper. Wonderful stuff!"
- Roger Johnson, BSI, Editor, The Sherlock Holmes Journal
Contributors:
Barbara Hambly
Christopher Sequeira
Barbara Roden
M. J. Elliott
Martin Powell
Chico Kidd & Rick Kennett
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| Customer Reviews:
Ghosts May Apply! November 11, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a collection of Sherlockian tales in which, to quote David Stuart Davies' Forward, "Ghosts may apply." Each of the tales involves some `supernatural' element, a Djinn, a Vampire, a painting, quite a variety of individuals and items. In fact, Chico Kidd and Rick Kennett's "The Grantchester Grimoire" is only the second pastiche I know of that pairs Holmes and Hodgson's Carnacki the Ghost Finder in a single tale. Further, each tale is written by one who knows Holmes and Watson intimately, which makes them disturbing at the very least.
The stage is set by the opening tale, "The Lost Boy," by Barbara Hambly. When the Darling children disappear, Mr. Darling consults Sherlock Holmes and Mrs. Darling goes to an old friend who, like her, knew Peter Pan from her youth. At the end of this sad and lovely story, one is left wondering who, exactly, was "The Lost Boy" of the title.
Each of the tales has its own context and viewpoint. Nothing carries across from one to the next except the certainty that things will be not quite what they seem. The sheer nastiness of the villain in Christopher Sequeira's "His Last Arrow" is balanced by the delight of an aged Holmes in his (2nd?) meeting with Count Dracula in Bob Madison's "Red Sunset." Martin Powell's "Sherlock Holmes in the Lost World" gives new meaning to `Non-stop Adventure' with a surprise villain thrown in as an extra. Strictly speaking, Chris Roberson's "Merridew of Abominable Memory' has no supernatural element, but it is a true horror story and it fits right in with the rest of the collection.
As is true with most anthologies, some tales appeal to one taste and some to another. This group seems well mixed, with a variety of approaches and themes. I have mostly commented on those stories that appealed to me. There was, however, one perfectly marvelous tale by Kim Newman called "The Red Planet League" that deserves special attention. It is told by "...your humble narrator - Colonel Sebastian `Basher' Moran ..." and it is worth the reading if only for the delicious villainies of `Basher.' Of the eleven tales included, all are worth reading and several will stand up to re-reading. The only bad feature I found was the quality of the binding on my copy, which seems to induce cover curl.
Reviewed by: Philip K. Jones, October, 2008.
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