10/08/2018
King and Klinger’s entertaining fourth Holmes-themed anthology (after 2016’s Echoes of Sherlock Holmes) features well-known authors representing genres ranging from cozy to horror. The 14 selections include a poem, Peter S. Beagle’s “Dr. Watson’s Song,” which provides a deeper look at the doctor’s emotional life, and a comic, William Kotzwinkle and Joe Servello’s “The Case of the Naked Butterfly,” which continues the exploits of insects Inspector Mantis and Dr. Hopper. Fans of the BBC’s Sherlock will appreciate Alan Gordon’s take on Holmes’s relationship with Mycroft in “The Case of the Missing Case.” Reed Farrel Coleman weighs in with one of the more memorable contributions, the metaphysical “A Study in Absence,” in which a book editor asks for help tracing an author using the pseudonym of I.M. Knott. The best light entry is Harley Jane Kozak’s “The Walk-in,” featuring a Sherlockian British intelligence agent, which opens with the tantalizing line “It’s not every day that you walk into your apartment and find that your cat has turned into a dog.” This volume contains something for every fan of the Baker Street sleuth. (Dec.)
For the Sake of the Game: Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon
Narrated by Various Narrators
Laurie R. KingUnabridged — 9 hours, 33 minutes
For the Sake of the Game: Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon
Narrated by Various Narrators
Laurie R. KingUnabridged — 9 hours, 33 minutes
Audiobook (Digital)
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Overview
In a sensational follow-up to Echoes of Sherlock Holmes and In the Company of Sherlock Holmes, a brand-new anthology of stories inspired by the Arthur Conan Doyle canon
For the Sake of the Game is the latest volume in the award-winning series from New York Times bestselling editors Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger, with stories of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, and friends in a variety of eras and forms. King and Klinger have a simple formula: ask some of the world's greatest writers-regardless of genre-to be inspired by the stories of Arthur Conan Doyle.
The results are surprising and joyous. Some tales are pastiches, featuring the recognizable figures of Holmes and Watson; others step away in time or place to describe characters and stories influenced by the Holmes world. Some of the authors spin whimsical tales of fancy; others tell hardcore thrillers or puzzling mysteries. One beloved author writes a song; two others craft a melancholy tale of insectoid analysis.
This is not a volume for listeners who crave a steady diet of stories about Holmes and Watson on Baker Street. Rather, it is for the generations of people who were themselves inspired by the classic tales, and who are prepared to let their imaginations roam freely.
Features stories by Peter S. Beagle, Rhys Bowen, Reed Farrel Coleman, Jamie Freveletti, Alan Gordon, Gregg Hurwitz, Toni L. P. Kelner, William Kotzwinkle and Joe Servello, Harley Jane Kozak, D. P. Lyle, Weston Ochse, Zoe Sharp, Duane Swierczynski, and F. Paul Wilson
Editorial Reviews
"An amazing array of stories. This collection is a must for Sherlock Holmes devotees this holiday season."
"Many of the stories are fascinating in their inventiveness. There’s plenty of mystery, of course, but there are also elements of fantasy and sci-fi, as well as a comic strip with an insectoid Holmes."
"Laurie R. King and Leslie Klinger continue to breathe new life into Sherlockian tales."
A sharp, affectionate, light-footed collection.
Winter 2018
This energetic and offbeat anthology of Sherlock Holmes–inspired works charmingly leans into 21st-century fandom. The 14 unique entries include cozy and noir mysteries, with the occasional speculative twist, and a short graphic novel and a song. Teens familiar with the surplus of Holmes online fan fiction will especially enjoy seeing the figure reinvented as the insect "Inspector Mantis" in a comic by William Kotzwinkle and Joe Servello, as well as the multitude of Holmes cosplayers in Toni L.P. Kelner's "The Adventure of the Six Sherlocks." Rhys Bowen's "Sherlocked," featuring a robot Holmes that resembles a vacuum cleaner, is another quirky standout. This is the third in a series curated by King and Klinger; one hopes the next volume will focus even more on the weirder and more speculative tales that are particular highlights here. VERDICT A strong optional purchase for YA collections for libraries with teen patrons already familiar with the Sherlockian fandom.—Ann Foster, Saskatoon Public Library, Sask.
2018-09-18
Following their three earlier co-edited collections exploring farther and farther reaches of the universe of Sherlock Holmes pastiches (Echoes of Sherlock Holmes, 2016, etc.), King and Klinger have commissioned 14 new stories that make up their wildest, weirdest crop yet.
The goal not to write a straightforward period pastiche but to produce something more loosely inspired by the canon suggests at least three criteria by which the entries might be judged: their success as mysteries, the fidelity or ingenuity with which they replicate or transform notable thematic or stylistic devices of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories, and the originality of the concepts that link them to the sacred writings. Virtually none of this year's crop succeeds in all three of these areas. The strongest mysteries are Harley Jane Kozak's breathlessly overplotted contemporary search for a missing twin, D.P. Lyle's exposure of a modern fake suicide by recourse to "The Reigate Squires," Weston Ochse's encounter between a hot dog seller and a psychic prostitute in LA, and Jamie Freveletti's elaborately worked-out tale of vanishings, ghosts, and counterterrorists. The most obviously Holmes-ian are F. Paul Wilson's period tale of Holmes' encounter with a woman nearly as impressive as Irene Adler, Alan Gordon's droll account of young Sherlock's apprenticeship to his sorely tried brother, Mycroft, and Zoë Sharp's surprisingly detailed update of The Hound of the Baskervilles. The most original in their concepts are Peter S. Beagle's poem in which Watson complains about Holmes even as he salutes him, Rhys Bowen's reimagining of Holmes as a robot programmed with deductive powers, and William Kotzwinkle and Joe Servello's comic-book saga of Inspector [Praying] Mantis and Dr. [Grass] Hopper. Despite their varied provocations, the contributions by Reed Farrel Coleman, Gregg Hurwitz, and Duane Swierczynski escape Holmes' gravitational pull so completely that they float out into other universes.
Only "The Adventure of the Six Sherlocks," Toni L.P. Kelner's inventive, amusing story of a fatal poisoning at a Baker Street Con, hits the mark in every category. Fans will argue endlessly about which others are the real keepers.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940169916041 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Blackstone Audio, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 12/04/2018 |
| Series: | The Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon Series |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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