The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

by John Joseph Adams, John Joseph Adams (Editor), Simon Vance (Read by), Anne Flosnik (Read by)

Overview

“Once you elminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”

Twenty-eight tales of mystery and imagination detailing the further exploits of the world’s most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, as told by today’s greatest storytellers:

“A Sherlockiana Primer” by Christopher Roden
“The Horror of the Many Faces” by Tim Lebbon
“The Case of the Bloodless Sock” by Anne Perry
“The Adventure of the Other Detective” by Bradley H. Sinor
“A Scandal in Montreal” by Edward D. Hoch
”The Adventure of the Field Theorems” by Vonda N. McIntyre
“The Adventure of the Death-Fetch” by Darrell Schweitzer
“The Shocking Affair of the Dutch Steamship Friesland” by Mary Robinette Kowal
“The Adventure of the Mummy’s Curse” by H. Paul Jeffers
“The Things That Shall Come Upon Them” by Barbara Roden
“Murder to Music” by Anthony Burgesss
“The Adventure of the Inertial Adjustor” by Stephen Baxter
“Mrs. Hudson’s Case” by Laurie R. King
“The Singular Habits of Wasps” by Geoffrey A. Landis
“The Affair of the 46th Birthday” by Amy Myers
“The Specter of Tullyfane Abbey” by Peter Tremayne
“The Vale of the White Horse” by Sharyn McCrumb
“The Adventure of the Dorset Street Lodger” by Michael Moorcock
“The Adventure of the Lost World” by Dominic Green
“The Adventure of the Antiquarian’s Niece” by Barbara Hambly
“Dynamics of a Hanging” by Tony Pi
“Merridew of Abominable Memory” by Chris Roberson
“Commonplaces” by Naomi Novik
“The Adventure of the Pirates of Devil’s Cape” by Rob Rogers
“The Adventure of the Green Skull” by Mark Valentine
“The Human Mystery” by Tanith Lee
“A Study in Emerald” by Neil Gaiman
“You See But You Do Not Observe” by Robert J. Sawyer

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441839077
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	01/19/2010
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

John Joseph Adams is the editor of the anthologies By Blood We Live, Federations, The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Living Dead, Seeds of Change, and Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse. He is also the assistant editor at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. His non-fiction has also appeared in: Amazing Stories, The Internet Review of Science Fiction, Locus Magazine, Novel & Short Story Writers Market, Science Fiction Weekly, SCI FI Wire, Shimmer, Strange Horizons, Subterranean Magazine, and Writer s Digest. He currently lives in New Jersey.

Editorial Reviews

For the most part, this volume of short Sherlock Holmes pastiches—a mix of straightforward imitations and parodies—delivers on its goal of presenting the best of such work from the last 30 years. All but one of the 28 entries is a reprint, largely from such recent anthologies as Gaslight Grimoire and Shadows Over Baker Street, and many introduce the supernatural into the rational sleuth's world. Stephen King does a solid job of giving Dr. Watson a chance to show his own detective skills in “The Good Doctor.” Barbara Roden's “The Things That Shall Come Upon Them” riffs cleverly on M.R. James's “Casting the Runes.” Perhaps the highlight is Peter Tremayne's “The Specter of Tullyfane Abbey,” which offers a plausible explanation for a classic untold tale in which a man disappears from the face of the earth after returning home to fetch an umbrella. Holmes authority Christopher Roden provides an introduction. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Adult/High School—These 28 short stories are impressive in their variety and quality, as well as in the inclusion of authors with established young adult appeal such as Stephen King, Tanith Lee, and Neil Gaiman. Adams's goal was to highlight the best Sherlock Holmes stories of the last 30 years, emphasizing those that feature the fantastic. Readers may begin with a refresher course on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's world in Christopher Roden's "A Sherlockiana Primer." The mysteries themselves range from supernatural to political to domestic. They feature pirates, aliens, dinosaurs, and H. P. Lovecraft's horrific creatures. Readers meet H. G. Wells, Lewis Carroll, and Jack the Ripper, and will enjoy a story told by Laurie King's Mary Russell. Of course, most of the tales are narrated by Dr. Watson, and Mrs. Hudson, Inspector Lestrade, Mycroft, Irene Adler, and James Moriarty (who turns up in several cases) are all here. Entries not to be missed include Naomi Novik's moving, personal "Commonplaces," Peter Tremayne's chilling Moriarty story, the unexpected twist in Sharyn McCrumb's "The Vale of the White Horse," and the outrageous silliness of Dominic Green's "The Adventure of the Lost World." The final story, by Robert J. Sawyer, gives Holmes and his popularity among the reading public a truly universal significance. This is a substantial collection that will entertain teen fans for hours, and may well seduce them to seek out the original.—Angela Carstensen, Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City

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