Professor Challenger: New Worlds, Lost Places

by J.R. Campbell (Editor), Charles Prepolec (Editor), Joshua Reynolds

"Science seeks knowledge! Let the knowledge lead us where it will, we still must seek it! To know once for all what we are, why we are, where we are, is that not in itself the greatest of all human aspirations?" - Professor G. E. Challenger, When the World Screamed Brilliant, belligerent and bearded in equal measure, incapable of suffering fools, or journalists, gladly, the greatest scientific mind of his generation - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Professor George Edward Challenger - returns in ten all-new tales of scientific adventure and wonder. He is the discoverer of The Lost World, the prophet of The Poison Belt, the destroyer of The Disintegration Machine, and the man who made the World Scream! Who can deliver mankind from the shackles of ignorance? Who else but that great self-proclaimed champion of science? We give you, ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, the one, the only, Professor George Edward Challenger! This original anthology, from the authors and editors who brought you the Gaslight Sherlock Holmes series, sees Challenger and his stalwart company including the reporter Malone, big game hunter Lord John Roxton and the skeptical colleague Professor Summerlee, travel across space and witness the ravages of time, narrowly eluding a dinosaur's bite only to battle against the invasive red bloom of alien foliage, then plunge deep into the mysteries hidden within the Earth and reach out to the moon and into the heart of the unknown. Strap yourself in for chills, thrills and challenges to the unknown in exciting new worlds and lost places with literature's foremost scientific adventurer. "The whole matter is very fully and lucidly discussed in my forthcoming volume upon the earth, which I may describe with all due modesty as one of the epoch-making books of the world's history." - Professor G. E. Challenger, When the World Screamed

Genres: Fantasy, Steampunk, Science Fiction

260 pages, Paperback

First published June 10, 2015

Reviews

[Karl]

Contents:


Foreword by Christopher Roden
001- Introduction by Charles Prepolec
005 - "Hind and Horn" by Wendy N. Wagner
023 - "The Shug Monkey" by Stephen Volk
050 - "The Crystal Minders" by John Takis
066 - "King of the Moon" by Lawrence C. Connolly
080 - "To One Table" by J. R. Campbell
101 - "The Fool's Sea" by Simon Kurt Unsworth
122 - "The Eye of the Devil" by Mark Morris
164 - "Professor Challenger & the Crimson Wonder" by Guy Adams (with James Goss)
187 - "Time's Black Gulf by Josh Reynolds
208 - "Out of the Depths" by Andrew J. Wilson

Cover art by by Dave Elsey

[J.w. Schnarr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this anthology was a lot like meeting someone and getting off to a really bad start, and then getting a chance to know that person through friends and coming to realize your first impressions were totally wrong.

Actually, it's not like that at all. That's exactly what this collection of short stories did to me for Professor Challenger. I remember hearing about this anthology when it was first being put together a couple years ago. Not the biggest Author Conan Doyle fan (as in, I simply haven't read a lot of his work), I had no idea who Challenger was. I downloaded a copy of "The Poison Belt" off Gutenberg and met this illustrious professor.

I have to be honest here. I hated the character. I found him to be a pompous, insufferable bull of a man. The worst kind of self-righteous jerk.

And I couldn't have been more wrong, but it took an anthology such as "Professor Challenger: Professor Challenger: New Worlds, Lost Places" to show me the error of my ways.

The anthology is edited by J.R. Campbell and Charles Prepolec, a couple guys who know a thing or two about the work of Arthur Conan Doyle. It features 10 stories that place Challenger against an array of fantastic enemies, and involves characters culled straight from the Challenger stories and from the minds of the grandfathers of science fiction themselves -- including a fascinating take on the infamous Dr. Moreau.

More than that, though, these stories serve as a filter to allow the reader to see Challenger as those closest to him do. That insufferable brute of a man (with the mind of a genius) is also a loyal, understanding, and compassionate man. One who would just as soon toss you out a window as look at you... unless he calls you friend, in which case, he would move Heaven and earth for you.
And this, to me, is what makes Prepolec and Campbell's vision of Challenger truly great.

I hope they come back and do another one of these anthologies. There is so much more for Challenger to do. I found myself thinking of the stories which could be mined from the collective world built in this anthology. A world of science, but also a world of dinosaurs, aliens, body thieves, lunar insect kingdoms, crypto zoology, time travel, genetic manipulation... and, of course, Nazis.

Also, I feel I owe Professor Challenger an apology. I simply didn't know him as well as his friends do, and now, after reading "Professor Challenger: New Worlds, Lost Places," I can see why they love him.

[MKF · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book from goodreads firstreads giveaway.

When I first started this book I was captivated and was enjoying. But after a few stories I started getting bored. The stories were good but they all started sounding the same. Some stories seemed rushed while others felt drawn out without depth.

[David H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book via LibraryThing as part of their monthly Early Reviewer program. I should start by saying that I do not enjoy short story anthologies, and rarely read them. But I was interested in this anthology because it contained stories about Professor Challenger, a favourite character of mine, and I had read JR Campbells 'Gaslight Grotesque: Nightmare Tales of Sherlock Holmes'.

This anthology contains 10 stories from a mix of British, American and Canadian authors and overall I enjoyed it. However, one thing which irritated me was all the stories re-used Challengers character traits of abrasiveness, rudeness, etc. In some of the stories this was helpful in story setup but in others it seemed to be the only way the author could describe him, Stephen Volk's Shug Money being an example.

My favourite stories were To One Table, The Fool's Sea, and Time's Black Gulf. Josh Reynolds novel 'Phileas Fogg and the War of Shadows' is on my wishlist, so I was delighted to have the opportunity to read something of his in Time's Black Gulf. It borrowed creatures from HP Lovecraft's world, which now seems to be a given in this genre of anthologies, but as a fan of Lovecraft I find that bonus. Also, Reynolds did not reiterate those Challenger characther traits which plagued the other stories, but then Challenger was "not himself" for most of the story.

To One Table, by JR Campbell, brought us back to the effects of Challenger's discovery of the Lost World with an idea that reflects our modern understanding of the dangers inherent in discovering new species. The Fool's Sea by Simon Kurt Unsworth takes us out onto the high seas, where Challenger and Malone face-off against the perils awakened by man's technology.

My least favourite stories were Hind & Horn and King of the Moon. King of the Moon borrows from HG Wells and his The First Men in the Moon, and was my least favourite story as it seemed like it was written in a rush. To make it worse it had two characters, Jimmy Major and Jimmy Minor, who reminded me of the Thing One and Thing Two characters from the Dr Seuss book. I found nothing redeeming in this story at all.

Hind & Horn started well for me as it was set in Ireland, my home and it had a refreshingly different story device than the other collected stories. But it felt weak and, to be fair to it, I came back and reread it after finishing the anthology, concerned that it was dislike of short stories that was colouring my opinion. But on the second read it did not get any better.

The remaining stories were all enjoyable. Professor Challenger and the Crimson Wonder by Guy Adams & James Goss reminded me of HG Well's War of the Worlds. The story used telegrams between the characters to tell the story, which worked well. Out of the Depths by Andrew J Wilson put me in mind of an Indiana Jones adventure, only because it included Nazi's and a jungle setting, although it also pitched in Jules Verne's 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' as well as a famous villain from a HG Wells novel. The Shug Monkey by Stephen Volk I found the worst for using the abrasiveness, rudeness character trait, but despite this irritation I enjoyed the story. The plot examines what the future holds and finishes with an open ending inviting further stories. The Eye of the Devil by Mark Morris brings us to dangers emanating from a mine that put me in mind of Professor Quatermass in 'Quatermass and the Pit' for some reason. The Crystal Minders by John Takis was a neatly written story that I very much enjoyed for that reason, and is retold by Professor Summerlee to Malone.

As mentioned by Charles Perpolec in the anthologies Introduction Professor Challenger is not as well known as many other fictional characters that came from novels of the time, or from the early days of science fiction. But he has so much potential to be exciting and engaging in his adventures, as is shown in this anthology. Hopefully we will see him return again.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had been quite indignant about the fame of Sherlock Holmes eclipsing all his other creations. Anybody who has come across Professor George Edward Challenger in “The Lost World” or any of his subsequent adventures (except the spiritualist nonsense that ACD had written when he had gone ‘soft’) would share the feeling, and would seek the return of the character in the form of newer adventures. J.R. Campbell and Charles Prepolec have done all those readers a world of good when they have brought together this wonderful anthology under review.

The book opens with an erudite ‘Foreword’ from reputed Holmesian Christopher Roden, followed by an ‘Introduction’ from Charles Prepolec. Then we plunge headlong into adventure-after-adventure!

1. “Hind and Horn” by Wendy N. Wagner: Set in the Irish bogs, this story read more like a Holmesian pastiche (with Challenger never ever being described as ‘Professor’ or ‘Doctor’, and his companion behaving in a distinctly Watson-ish manner, with wound and all other associated aspects like being ‘a better judge & admirer of women’) which has been customized for this anthology rather hastily. As a piece for one of the ‘Gaslight’ anthologies where Holmes used to take on supernatural, this would have been a great piece. Here it’s quite jarring. Nevertheless, 3 *
2. “The Shug Monkey” by Stephen Volk: One of the best stories of this collection, this is one story that is absolutely suffocating, hair-rising in its implications, and executed with sheer brilliance. 5 *
3. “The Crystal Minders” by John Takis: Good story, but rather unconvincingly told, with too many loose ends making the story read like an unsatisfactory episode of the ‘X Files’. 3 *
4. “King of The Moon” by Lawrence C. Connolly: The weakest piece in this anthology, this campy take on ‘The First Men on the Moon’ reads like a caricature after the first few pieces. 1 *
5. “To One Table” by J.R. Campbell: I had read only one story earlier from the author, in one of the ‘Gaslight’ anthologies (Mr. Other’s Children), which had been a very good horror story. This one is not THAT good, but good enough, and gripping enough. 4 *
6. “The Fool’s Sea” by Simon Kurt Unsworth: Another brilliant story, which is not only a rousing adventure, but is also a moody piece narrated with consummate skill. 5 *
7. “The Eye of The Devil” by Mark Morris: As an adventure, it’s very good. Unfortunately, too many things have been attempted in this story, diminishing its impact substantially. 3 *
8. “Professor Challenger & The Crimson Wonder” by Guy Adams and James Goss: THE BEST STORY OF THE BOOK. Period. 5 *
9. “Time’s Black Gulf” by Josh Reynolds: A very good story, but the Carnacki presented by the author seemed to be rather ‘under the weather’ all along. Also, the Professor Challenger we know was practically absent except in the last paragraph. Not entirely satisfactory. 3 *
10. “Out of The Depths” by Andrew J. Wilson: Another overlong effort that tried to mix & match too many things together, while trying to give us James Rollins and Ira Levin as well! Disappointing, but thought-provoking. 3 *

Overall, ten (10) stories have pooled together 35 points, giving the book an overall rating of 3.5, which, with the addition of Roden’s brief piece, gives the book a cool four (4)-star grading.

Recommended.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I really must admit I do not usually read short stories but I did read this and I am glad I did. There were about 10 stories from various writers and what a great mix they were. Professor Challenger was overlooked but an old favorite of mine and he is done well!

[Kirstin Morrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book sets out to recreate the style and literary world of The Lost World's indomitable Professor Challenger, in a style that is in keeping with the style of the original Arthur Conan Doyle portrayal. It succeeds in that goal.

This is an anthology of short stories featuring Prof. Challenger and other Doyle characters. The quality isn't perfectly even, though none of the stories was bad, and a couple were excellent.

If you want an experience with the feel of authenticity that comes when people who really know an author's body of work come together to write for and to edit such a book, with only some of the language smoothed out to be slightly less jarring to the modern reader, then this is the book for you.

[Linden · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new anthology of short stories featuring the eponymous Professor Challenger, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's irascible scientist/adventurer first encountered along with his various friends in The Lost World. A disarming introduction by co-editor Charles Prepolec readily admits that the good Professor has very much played second fiddle to Sherlock Holmes (and maybe even third fiddle to Brigadier Gerard). Nonetheless Prepolec makes a convincing case for Challenger to be better known, citing his influence on science fiction and his undoubted longevity. A lengthy foreward by Christopher Roden expands on these themes as well as comprehensively examining Challenger and Co's origins, both real life and fictional.

I have admit to having some reservations about many of the stories in this anthology – there seemed to be a few too many borrowings from other authors such as HG Wells, Algernon Blackwood, HP Lovecraft and William Hope Hodgson. This kind of literary name dropping has been pretty much done to death by the likes of Kim Newman whose near obsessive recycling of other people's work has yielded ever decreasing returns in the Anno Dracula series. Never mind the story just check out those references! In the main though this anthology's use of other authors' creations is well done: Josh Reynold's Time's Black Gulf rather gratuitously adds Blackwood's John Silence and Hope Hodgson's Carnicki the Ghost Finder to the cast of Conan Doyle regulars yet redeems itself by making excellent use of two of the Cthulhu Mythos's time travelling entities to wrong foot the reader with a just-when-you-think-it's-all-over false climax.

The Cthulhu Mythos also rears its ugly head in Simon Kurt Unsworth's “The Fool's Sea” as Challenger takes on HPL's most infamous creation (or possibly just one of its spawn). Although action packed Unsworth's story is subtle in the way it avoids what Lovecraft himself jokingly termed “Yog-Sothery”, nary a mention of Great Old Ones, forbidden books, or nameless cults.

HG Wells' influence makes itself felt in a number of stories, most notably in King of the Moon by Lawrence G Connolly which sees Challenger and a motley band of lunar explorers engage in a bout of Selenite baiting. It's a slight tale but enjoyable for its sheer breakneck pace and raucous humour. Professor Challenger and the Crimson Wonder is humorous in a different way, a clever pastiche of the epistolary novel by Guy Adams and James Goss, featuring a wry thread of proto-feminist wit.


Not all of the stories are a success: Hind and Horn by Wendy Wager is bafflingly opaque while Out of the Depths by Andrew J Wilson is a sprawling mess. Yet even they're not without interest. Hind and Horn has an atmospheric Irish post WW1 setting which I'd like to have seen explored in more detail. Out of the Depths is overwhelmed by the sheer number of ideas it tries to shoehorn into its relatively short narrative. I suspect it would make a highly entertaining novel where its multifarious outlandish concepts and globetrotting storyline would get more room to breathe.

Realistically this collection isn't going to see Professor Challenger topple Sherlock Holmes from his position at the head of the Conan Doyle pantheon. It is though a justified and mostly worthwhile tribute to a character who deserves more recognition.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did more than just create the character of Sherlock Holmes. He also created Professor George Edward Challenger, a hulking, bombastic man of science (think "bull in a china shop"). He doesn't take any nonsense from anyone, and is not afraid to say so. He also frequently remarks that he is the smartest man in England, which is usually correct. Here is a bunch of brand-new Professor Challenger stories.

An investigation into what looks like a prehistoric man menacing rural England reveals something a lot more horrifying. Challenger and one of his companions, a newspaperman named Malone, find themselves on a derelict sea vessel that is under attack by a real kraken. The British authorities want Challenger to control the beast, and weaponize it, so that it can be used against German ships, an idea that Challenger considers beyond idiotic. A wealthy man serves real dinosaur meat to his dinner party guests, meat that contains a really unique parasite.

There is a trip to the Moon, which has a breathable atmosphere. Challenger and his companions are taken prisoner by the Selenites. There is a tale about growing human brains out of a sort of malleable crystal. It may be able to keep a person alive, but can a person's personality be transferred into the crystal brain?

I totally enjoyed these tales. They are all well done, with enough and weird stuff for anyone. I guess I shall have to read Challenger's most prominent previous appearance, in Doyle's novel "The Lost World." This book is highly recommended.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

** Full disclosure: I received this book in exchange for an honest review**

A collection of short stories inspired by Professor George Edward Challenger from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's “The Lost World”.

First up, I have never read The Lost World, so I can't really say if the authors in this anthology have captured the spirit of the character or not, I initially didn't think it would be a problem but after struggling with some of these stories, perhaps it was.

I got a sense that some of the authors were trying to imitate the writing style of the original story, but again I'm not sure. For me those stories just came across and cartoonishly flat. That does not mean the collection as a whole was bad, I enjoyed several of the stories, though the ones that seemed to work the best for me were the ones that either focused the least on the Challenger character, or who wrote in a more modern style...I especially liked the ones that mashed up other authors works, such as Lovecraft or H. G. Wells.

Not the strongest collection of stories I've read, many started to blur into each other as they started to feel repetitive but there were standouts such as Out Of The Depths by Andrew J Wilson or Time's Black Gulf by Josh Reynolds just to name two. I would say that this is a good collection to read with time in between each story rather than one after another as that adds to the sense of repetition and the blurring together.

[Edwin Downward · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found Professor Challenger to be a wholly unlikeable man I'd want nothing to do with. The views given to us by his closest companions are the only reason I kept reading. They made the stories.

Honourable mention goes to Professor Chalkenger and the Crimsom Wonder.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Professor George Edward Challenger, the more I read stories about him the more I get to like the character.
Enjoyed them to various degrees but not really sure I liked "King of the Moon", for me the story felt too rushed.