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Holmes and Challenger
Professor Challenger: The Island of Terror
Strange lights on the moors, weird noises in the night, cattle disappearing; these things alone are more than enought to
prompt Malone's newspaper to send him to investigate. And when his old companion Professor Challenger also goes missing, the
hunt is on.
The trail leads Malone to the British military, and to a research station in the Bristol Channel, where an old terror proves, once
again, that some things are not meant to be contained.
prompt Malone's newspaper to send him to investigate. And when his old companion Professor Challenger also goes missing, the
hunt is on.
The trail leads Malone to the British military, and to a research station in the Bristol Channel, where an old terror proves, once
again, that some things are not meant to be contained.
- GenresAdventureScience Fiction
129 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
37 people are currently reading
215 people want to read
About the author
William Meikle
409 books1,849 followersI'm a Scottish writer, now living in Canada, with more than thirty novels published in the genre press and over 300 short story credits in thirteen countries.
My work has appeared in a number of professional anthologies and I have recent short story sales to NATURE Futures and Galaxy's Edge. When I'm not writing I play guitar, drink beer and dream of fortune and glory.
For an intro to me, my writing and my accent see my Youtube channel
My work has appeared in a number of professional anthologies and I have recent short story sales to NATURE Futures and Galaxy's Edge. When I'm not writing I play guitar, drink beer and dream of fortune and glory.
For an intro to me, my writing and my accent see my Youtube channel
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
March 6, 2024
Entertaining horror listening 🎉🎧
This kindle e-book novella is from my Kindle Unlimited account a stand alone book.
Professor Challenger and friend are involved in a British government cover up. What a horror story with interesting characters lots of action, misdirection, and violence leading to the conclusion.
I would recommend this novella and author to readers of haunting horror British stories. 2024
This kindle e-book novella is from my Kindle Unlimited account a stand alone book.
Professor Challenger and friend are involved in a British government cover up. What a horror story with interesting characters lots of action, misdirection, and violence leading to the conclusion.
I would recommend this novella and author to readers of haunting horror British stories. 2024
December 21, 2014
This novella serves as an homage and as a sequel to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World. In addition to literature's most famous detective, Doyle created an irascible beast of a manly adventurer known as Professor Challenger.
Here's how he's described in The Lost World:
While Meikle did an excellent job of telling this story with the same flavor and style of Doyle's writing, I don't feel that he did enough with Challenger's character. Sure, the Professor is featured prominently in the narrative but not prominently enough for a man who, from what I understand, is like a force of nature. I wanted more rude, bombastic behavior, more displays of brute strength, more bravado, more cunning intellect.
Perhaps Meikle will write another piece featuring Challenger. If he does, I'll read it. This was action-packed and fun to read. Some of the scenes inside the lighthouse in the end are especially fine.
Recommended to fans of Doyle and/or Challenger.
Here's how he's described in The Lost World:
"His appearance made me gasp. I was prepared for something strange, but not for so overpowering a personality as this. It was his size, which took one's breath away – his size and his imposing presence. His head was enormous, the largest I have ever seen upon a human being. I am sure that his top hat, had I ventured to don it, would have slipped over me entirely and rested on my shoulders. He had the face and beard, which I associate with an Assyrian bull; the former florid, the latter so black as almost to have a suspicion of blue, spade-shaped and rippling down over his chest. The hair was peculiar, plastered down in front in a long, curving wisp over his massive forehead. The eyes were blue-grey under great black tufts, very clear, very critical, and very masterful. A huge spread of shoulders and a chest like a barrel were the other parts of him which appeared above the table, save for two enormous hands covered with long black hair. This and a bellowing, roaring, rumbling voice made up my first impression of the notorious Professor Challenger."
While Meikle did an excellent job of telling this story with the same flavor and style of Doyle's writing, I don't feel that he did enough with Challenger's character. Sure, the Professor is featured prominently in the narrative but not prominently enough for a man who, from what I understand, is like a force of nature. I wanted more rude, bombastic behavior, more displays of brute strength, more bravado, more cunning intellect.
Perhaps Meikle will write another piece featuring Challenger. If he does, I'll read it. This was action-packed and fun to read. Some of the scenes inside the lighthouse in the end are especially fine.
Recommended to fans of Doyle and/or Challenger.
January 9, 2014
You would swear that Doyle wrote it right after he finished the Lost World. I loved it and any pulp fiction fan should buy William's books.
This was a quick rousing tale that I thoroughly enjoyed. I did do a review at Amazon as well.
If you like the genre, buy this and read it tonight.
This was a quick rousing tale that I thoroughly enjoyed. I did do a review at Amazon as well.
If you like the genre, buy this and read it tonight.
September 11, 2024
Entertaining horror listening
This kindle e-book novella is from my Kindle Unlimited account
They are on an island where an experiment is being conducted which has gotten out of control.
I would recommend this novella to readers of fantasy horror novels. 2024
This kindle e-book novella is from my Kindle Unlimited account
They are on an island where an experiment is being conducted which has gotten out of control.
I would recommend this novella to readers of fantasy horror novels. 2024
April 7, 2013
This novella read like a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Jurassic Park--with the added bonus of William Meikle's narrative style! A fun, old-fashioned style story that I really enjoyed! :)
October 18, 2013
Meikle brings back Arthur Conan Doyle's Professor Challenger for a Jurassic Park style adventure following a military experiment gone wrong.
4 STARS
4 STARS
April 26, 2014
Phenomenal follow up to Arthur Conan Doyle's Professor Challenger stories. Meikle has managed to capture Doyle's voice without slavishly aping it, and to seamlessly merge it with his own highly-charged style. Highly enjoyable.
October 21, 2013
I love William Meikle's period works which feature specific classic characters in original adventures. Of all that I have read, this is among the best. After all, Professor Challenger + dinosaurs =a rockin good time! Highly recommended.
October 7, 2013
Great fun adventure and written in a style that captures the feeling of the original Challenger stories perfectly. Well done Mr Meikle.
December 12, 2025
This is AWFUL
Generally I like this author. But this was absolute garbage. The characterization of Challenger, Malone, and Lord Roxton is 1000% wrong. Why call this a sequel to the Lost World? It's PBS Jurassic Park with characters who should be called Larry, Curly, and Moe. The author has another Challenger book but this was so bad I removed it from reading it free on Kindle unlimited.
Generally I like this author. But this was absolute garbage. The characterization of Challenger, Malone, and Lord Roxton is 1000% wrong. Why call this a sequel to the Lost World? It's PBS Jurassic Park with characters who should be called Larry, Curly, and Moe. The author has another Challenger book but this was so bad I removed it from reading it free on Kindle unlimited.
September 5, 2024
A fine sequel
You need not have read the original novel. The films adopting it also made changes.
Picking up after the events in the first novel, Meikle gives the reader enough so that they aren’t completely lost. It seems that the dangers Challenger faced years before could now threaten post-WWI Britain
You need not have read the original novel. The films adopting it also made changes.
Picking up after the events in the first novel, Meikle gives the reader enough so that they aren’t completely lost. It seems that the dangers Challenger faced years before could now threaten post-WWI Britain
July 6, 2019
I will admit to having been a bit reticent to read PROFESSOR CHALLENGER: THE ISLAND OF TERROR. Having slugged my way through a number of pastiches of the Sherlock Holmes adventures, I wasn’t looking forward to encountering a “fan fiction” version of Professor Challenger.
I needn’t have been concerned.
The writer obviously has an appreciation for what made the Professor Challenger adventures so much fun (and thought-provoking). And for those Readers who may think of the plot, “Aw, that’s stretching credibility,” I would suggest a reading of another Challenger story by the original author, WHEN THE WORLD SCREAMED. Professor Challenger waded into the fantastic head-on, and part of the fun was confronting those things that seemed like they couldn’t happen.
PROFESSOR CHALLENGER: THE ISLAND OF TERROR is a direct sequel to THE LOST WORLD. It brings the Reader back into contact with the original’s main characters some years later. Particularly well-developed is the intrepid reporter, Edward Malone, who has had the horrifying experiences of war during the intervening years.
Not unlike Dr. John Watson jumping at the opportunity to participate in another of the Great Detective’s cases after being apart for awhile, Malone fairly leaps at the opportunity to engage in another adventure with Professor Challenger ... and it’s a doozy.
The main element that works against PROFESSOR CHALLENGER: THE ISLAND OF TERROR is the proliferation of the “Jurassic Park” movies, rendering this story into something of a “Cretaceous Island.” That is not because the writer has copied those elements. It is just that the images from the movies remain so vivid in the mind, especially the vicious attacks of the raptors.
If the Reader will leave those comparisons behind, the result is a crackling good adventure tale similar to the strengths found in THE LOST WORLD. This is the type of story I would have savored over the summer months, allowing my imagination to run wild while the events unfolded.
The sole flaw for me was the return of the character, Lord Roxton. Now, I readily admit that my memory of THE LOST WORLD may be playing tricks on me, and that the changes may have been built upon clues found in the original novel. If so, I apologize for my digression. All I can say is that the changes in him seemed too extreme from what I had remembered.
It is a shame that Professor Challenger has lived so long in the shadow of Sherlock Holmes. His stories were quite enjoyable and contained themes that invited reflection. I do hope that the writer will provide us with additional glimpses into the Professor Challenger saga.
I needn’t have been concerned.
The writer obviously has an appreciation for what made the Professor Challenger adventures so much fun (and thought-provoking). And for those Readers who may think of the plot, “Aw, that’s stretching credibility,” I would suggest a reading of another Challenger story by the original author, WHEN THE WORLD SCREAMED. Professor Challenger waded into the fantastic head-on, and part of the fun was confronting those things that seemed like they couldn’t happen.
PROFESSOR CHALLENGER: THE ISLAND OF TERROR is a direct sequel to THE LOST WORLD. It brings the Reader back into contact with the original’s main characters some years later. Particularly well-developed is the intrepid reporter, Edward Malone, who has had the horrifying experiences of war during the intervening years.
Not unlike Dr. John Watson jumping at the opportunity to participate in another of the Great Detective’s cases after being apart for awhile, Malone fairly leaps at the opportunity to engage in another adventure with Professor Challenger ... and it’s a doozy.
The main element that works against PROFESSOR CHALLENGER: THE ISLAND OF TERROR is the proliferation of the “Jurassic Park” movies, rendering this story into something of a “Cretaceous Island.” That is not because the writer has copied those elements. It is just that the images from the movies remain so vivid in the mind, especially the vicious attacks of the raptors.
If the Reader will leave those comparisons behind, the result is a crackling good adventure tale similar to the strengths found in THE LOST WORLD. This is the type of story I would have savored over the summer months, allowing my imagination to run wild while the events unfolded.
The sole flaw for me was the return of the character, Lord Roxton. Now, I readily admit that my memory of THE LOST WORLD may be playing tricks on me, and that the changes may have been built upon clues found in the original novel. If so, I apologize for my digression. All I can say is that the changes in him seemed too extreme from what I had remembered.
It is a shame that Professor Challenger has lived so long in the shadow of Sherlock Holmes. His stories were quite enjoyable and contained themes that invited reflection. I do hope that the writer will provide us with additional glimpses into the Professor Challenger saga.
May 5, 2017
THIS is the Professor Challenger story, which we had expected Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write, rather than the horrible ‘The Land of Mist’.
It involves everything: Dartmoor, strange lights, mutilations, deaths, military secrets, experiments, high adventure, pure horror, Lord Roxton (albeit in a very shoddy state, slightly improved at the last), Melon’s heroics, non-stop action, and DINOSAURS!
And it is one damn good yarn which you just can’t leave midway.
If you haven’t read it already, please rectify the mistake ASAP.
Highly Recommended.
It involves everything: Dartmoor, strange lights, mutilations, deaths, military secrets, experiments, high adventure, pure horror, Lord Roxton (albeit in a very shoddy state, slightly improved at the last), Melon’s heroics, non-stop action, and DINOSAURS!
And it is one damn good yarn which you just can’t leave midway.
If you haven’t read it already, please rectify the mistake ASAP.
Highly Recommended.
September 26, 2023
Given the premise of this story, people are inevitably going to think "Jurassic Park/World in the 1920s", and they’d be pretty much right. Don’t let that put you off though, it’s a great fun little story that never lets up, featuring characters that we know and love.
One last thing, I know they were supposed to be the soulless antagonists, but I did feel a little sorry for the lizards at the end.
One last thing, I know they were supposed to be the soulless antagonists, but I did feel a little sorry for the lizards at the end.
January 19, 2022
Fast paced adventure
Mr. Meikle writing has yet to disappoint me .
In The Island of Terror he has continued the exploits of Doyle's Professor Challenger with a sequel to The Lost World that reads as if it was actually written by Doyle.
Mr. Meikle writing has yet to disappoint me .
In The Island of Terror he has continued the exploits of Doyle's Professor Challenger with a sequel to The Lost World that reads as if it was actually written by Doyle.
April 12, 2022
Update to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's series, sees Challenger, Malone and Roxton up against ancient reptiles being used by the government to control the world. Good story, told by Malone and an interesting update to the original series
February 8, 2022
Disappointly bad!
Really, you should be thanking me that I read this for you.
Really, you should be thanking me that I read this for you.
September 12, 2024
Great escape short story. Domesticated dinosaurs trained to kill on an island in southwest England. Takes place after WWII? I just can't get enough dinosaur mayhem. C. 2024
June 4, 2025
It's always nice to see other authors classic and modern writing new Challenger stories. That being said, I'll always compare Challenger pastiches (don't like this moniker that much but that's literally what they are) to the story that introduced Challenger to me, Sherlock Holmes's War of The Worlds (despite its flaws). And while this particular story is fun and it does feature Challenger, it feels more interested in having fun with everything but Challenger himself, and that makes it a shadow of what a Challenger book could truly be.
Since the book's cover spoils the premise I won't worry about bringing them up--the velociraptors, that is (and that's what they definitely are despite never being called that). And it's inevitable to compare this story to the Jurassic Park stories, since it's impossible to have a story written in 2013 about attacking dinosaurs on an island not be influenced by the dino franchise. In that sense the influence is very palpable, and the only diverging idea being that the dinosaurs are being trained for war. But inevitably (and Jurassic Park-ly), the raptors escape and unleash their wrath on their keepers, as they do.
But while that premise in a vacuum works well enough, this is a story with Challenger characters in it, and that's a whole other can of early 20th century beans. I'll come out and say that Challenger is... barely featured in this Challenger story (once again... yes, even other authors seem to disrespect my boy Challenger in their own books!). The first third of the story consists of Malone trying to find Challenger who disappeared while investigating the dino project. But then when he finds him, his actions are limited by the military having him restrained. Then, when they release him they immediately go back into military supervision. And THEN, before he finally gets the chance to do ANYTHING, he gets mauled by a raptor and gets bed-ridden! Or to be more exact, he does get up soon after but he can barely move or act and barely manages to DO anything other than run away carried by the others. He barely speaks throughout the whole thing, and at most he does one major thing of genius (involving whistling to control the beasts). But that's it!! The story is much more interested in Malone, then eventually Roxton, and army officials. Challenger is effectively a side character, an afterthought, and that is a cardinal sin in a CHALLENGER book.
So here we are once more. While I appreciate any and all Challenger stories written (since they are few and far between), and this is a decent story on its own if you like dinos, it's not a great Challenger story. It could have had way more Challenger being Challenger, and it would have been much better off for it. Alas, once again my boy Challenger gets shafted, and frankly as a fan I'm used to it by now.
Since the book's cover spoils the premise I won't worry about bringing them up--the velociraptors, that is (and that's what they definitely are despite never being called that). And it's inevitable to compare this story to the Jurassic Park stories, since it's impossible to have a story written in 2013 about attacking dinosaurs on an island not be influenced by the dino franchise. In that sense the influence is very palpable, and the only diverging idea being that the dinosaurs are being trained for war. But inevitably (and Jurassic Park-ly), the raptors escape and unleash their wrath on their keepers, as they do.
But while that premise in a vacuum works well enough, this is a story with Challenger characters in it, and that's a whole other can of early 20th century beans. I'll come out and say that Challenger is... barely featured in this Challenger story (once again... yes, even other authors seem to disrespect my boy Challenger in their own books!). The first third of the story consists of Malone trying to find Challenger who disappeared while investigating the dino project. But then when he finds him, his actions are limited by the military having him restrained. Then, when they release him they immediately go back into military supervision. And THEN, before he finally gets the chance to do ANYTHING, he gets mauled by a raptor and gets bed-ridden! Or to be more exact, he does get up soon after but he can barely move or act and barely manages to DO anything other than run away carried by the others. He barely speaks throughout the whole thing, and at most he does one major thing of genius (involving whistling to control the beasts). But that's it!! The story is much more interested in Malone, then eventually Roxton, and army officials. Challenger is effectively a side character, an afterthought, and that is a cardinal sin in a CHALLENGER book.
So here we are once more. While I appreciate any and all Challenger stories written (since they are few and far between), and this is a decent story on its own if you like dinos, it's not a great Challenger story. It could have had way more Challenger being Challenger, and it would have been much better off for it. Alas, once again my boy Challenger gets shafted, and frankly as a fan I'm used to it by now.
Read
September 21, 2024If you’re familiar with William Meikle’s work, you’ll know he enjoys repurposing characters (and creatures) from other sources, with Sherlock Holmes being one example. This adventure features another character of Conan Doyle’s: Professor Challenger. As with Great Men and sidekicks, the story’s narrated (in first person) by Malone, a reporter who we also associate with Challenger.
As we’ve reliably come to expect, it’s a fast-paced and fun adventure. I note here that although I generally stay away from horror, the gruesome elements in this author’s books have all been fine for me. There’s more to the plot than “travel somewhere new and fend off peculiar creatures”, although Malone and Challenger are more observers/victims of the underlying scheme, rather than investigators.
Overall, another enjoyable creature feature with hints of more to come.
As we’ve reliably come to expect, it’s a fast-paced and fun adventure. I note here that although I generally stay away from horror, the gruesome elements in this author’s books have all been fine for me. There’s more to the plot than “travel somewhere new and fend off peculiar creatures”, although Malone and Challenger are more observers/victims of the underlying scheme, rather than investigators.
Overall, another enjoyable creature feature with hints of more to come.
September 30, 2024
Exciting sequel
It has been a while since I read Conan Doyle’s “The Lost World”, but Meikle does an excellent job of capturing the spirit and the tone of that book in this sequel.
The wonderful Professor Challenger is in this book. He’s such a great character. Louder and larger than life, he never runs from a difficult situation.
The plot is inventive and exciting. There are plenty of dinosaurs and I loved how the author incorporated them into the story. It’s very different to “The Lost World”, but fits in with the source material even as it caters for modern tastes in regards the type of dinosaurs featured.
A highly enjoyable adventure. I look forward to reading more by this author.
It has been a while since I read Conan Doyle’s “The Lost World”, but Meikle does an excellent job of capturing the spirit and the tone of that book in this sequel.
The wonderful Professor Challenger is in this book. He’s such a great character. Louder and larger than life, he never runs from a difficult situation.
The plot is inventive and exciting. There are plenty of dinosaurs and I loved how the author incorporated them into the story. It’s very different to “The Lost World”, but fits in with the source material even as it caters for modern tastes in regards the type of dinosaurs featured.
A highly enjoyable adventure. I look forward to reading more by this author.
September 11, 2015
Every time I read a book or short story by the gifted and talented William Meikle, I am reminded just how much I enjoy his stories. Inasmuch as I am also a fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original "Professor Challenger" stories, "The Island of Terror" was a particularly enjoyable read for me. Doyle would be proud, I am sure.
If you are unfamiliar with Meikle's writing, you do yourself a disservice. I urge you to get this book now, or any other of Meikle's stories, and add this very capable author to your personal list of favorites. I think you'll be glad you did!
If you are unfamiliar with Meikle's writing, you do yourself a disservice. I urge you to get this book now, or any other of Meikle's stories, and add this very capable author to your personal list of favorites. I think you'll be glad you did!
March 11, 2014
I’m a big fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World so I was very wary to read another writer take on the famous heroes. Professor Challenger - The Island of Terror is a confident adventure story taking the characters into a new dangerous world full of British agents, soldiers and mysterious goings on in this splendid romp. The story confidently lays the narrative foundations before springing into a faced paced adventure with splashes of Jurassic Park. Although not as classic as the original book this is still a fine story in its own right and I would highly recommend the novel.
November 15, 2024
Review of this book.
This was a great book. It was full of action and drama. Not for the squeamish or faint of heart! Well written and fast paced. Lots of action and drama. Very descriptive, so I would place it in the adult section of the library because of the violence and death contained in the book. The story was well written and the continuity was spot on. The author knows how to put it all together to make a fantastic book. Well worth the time it takes to read it.
This was a great book. It was full of action and drama. Not for the squeamish or faint of heart! Well written and fast paced. Lots of action and drama. Very descriptive, so I would place it in the adult section of the library because of the violence and death contained in the book. The story was well written and the continuity was spot on. The author knows how to put it all together to make a fantastic book. Well worth the time it takes to read it.
September 18, 2014
Lots of action adventure. The Moors of England are as frightening as ever. our heros go there to investigate strange sightings and mutilations.
I really enjoyed reading this book. although it has a lot of english countryside type of language.
I really enjoyed reading this book. although it has a lot of english countryside type of language.
March 15, 2015
A clever return of Challenger - though physically he's not as I remember from the original. The plot is a good one and there are one or two amusing bits - the 'Men in Black Trenchcoats' for instance...
August 10, 2015
This does not break any new ground but it was a fun read. Hopefully Meikle will revisit Professor Challenger in the future.
May 25, 2015
Just finished PROFESSOR CHALLENGER: The Island of Terror a novella by William Meikle. It's a great old fashioned English weird fiction action adventure. Five stars. Recommended!
August 3, 2024
Good story but it's not new
I've read it before. Good if you haven't but it's certainly not a new story.
I felt slightly cheated but it's ok.
I've read it before. Good if you haven't but it's certainly not a new story.
I felt slightly cheated but it's ok.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews