“The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes”, edited by John Joseph Adams

 

350 pages, Night Shade, ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1597801607

It’s sad but true that, inevitably, all Sherlockians will read the last of Conan Doyle’s tales and be left bereft in a world in which the game is no longer afoot for the denizen of 221B Baker Street, and that all of those tantalizing hints dropped by Watson throughout all of the other adventures will be forever untold. *gasp!* *sigh!* *choke!* But fear not, Gentle Reader, for many other writers have taken up the task of chronicling these and other adventures of Holmes and/or Watson, some of which are chronicled here in The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, edited by John Joseph Adams.

Some of the tales collected herein are, in my very ‘umble opinion, worthy enough to be included in the regular Canon of Conan Doyle stories, while others…are not. As should be expected in any compilation work such as this, all of these stories have been published before – sometimes decades ago – and have appeared in any number of other sources under a number of themes; in this case, the theme is one in which science fiction and fantasy invade the world of the ever-rational Holmes. While many of these stories are meant to be taken seriously, others look to have been written strictly for fun. The quality of these selections also varies, with many page turners equal to Doyle’s own stories interspersed with some that are surprisingly amateurish and others that are, well, shitty.

• The Doctor’s Case • (1987) • novelette by Stephen King
• The Horror of the Many Faces • (2003) • novelette by Tim Lebbon
• The Case of the Bloodless Sock • (2001) • short fiction by Anne Perry
• The Adventure of the Other Detective • (2001) • novelette by Bradley H. Sinor
• A Scandal in Montreal • (2008) • short fiction by Edward D. Hoch
• The Adventure of the Field Theorems • (1995) • novelette by Vonda N. McIntyre
• The Adventure of the Death-Fetch • (1994) • short story by Darrell Schweitzer
• The Shocking Affair of the Dutch Steamship Friesland • (2005) • short story by Mary Robinette Kowal
• The Adventure of the Mummy’s Curse • (2006) • short fiction by H. Paul Jeffers
• The Things That Shall Come Upon Them • (2008) • short fiction by Barbara Roden
• Murder to Music • non-genre • (1989) • short story by Anthony Burgess
• The Adventure of the Inertial Adjustor • (1997) • novelette by Stephen Baxter
• Mrs Hudson’s Case • (1997) • short fiction by Laurie R. King
• The Singular Habits of Wasps • (1994) • novelette by Geoffrey A. Landis
• The Affair of the 46^th Birthday • short fiction by Amy Myers
• The Specter of Tullyfane Abbey • (2001) • novelette by Peter Tremayne
• The Vale of the White Horse • (2003) • short fiction by Sharyn McCrumb
• The Adventure of the Dorset Street Lodger • (1995) • novelette by Michael Moorcock
• The Adventure of the Lost World • (2004) • short fiction by Dominic Green
• The Adventure of the Antiquarian’s Niece • (2003) • novelette by Barbara Hambly
• Dynamics of a Hanging • (2005) • short fiction by Tony Pi
• Merridew of Abominable Memory • (2008) • short fiction by Chris Roberson
• Commonplaces • short fiction by Naomi Novik
• The Adventure of the Pirates of Devil's Cape • short fiction by Rob Rogers
• The Adventure of the Green Skull • (2008) • short fiction by Mark Valentine
• The Human Mystery • non-genre • (1999) • short fiction by Tanith Lee
• A Study in Emerald • (2003) • novelette by Neil Gaiman
• You See But You Do Not Observe • (1995) • short story by Robert J. Sawyer

I got my edition cheap at 2^nd & Charles, and I would advise that you pick up a cheap copy yourself for, as stated above, while many of the tales are top notch all are not pearls. Still, for a change of pace to entertain any Sherlockian worth his salt, Improbable Adventures was alright.