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Sherlock Holmes vs. Cthulhu #1
The Adventure of the Deadly Dimensions
A series of grisly murders rocks London. At each location, only a jumble of bones remains, along with a bizarre bone sphere covered in arcane symbols. The son of the latest victim seeks the help of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, who discover a common thread that ties together the murders--and the persons responsible.
Bizarre geometries--based on ancient schematics--point to members of a secluded cult. These men and women build strange constructs that will enable other-worldly creatures to enter our dimension, seeking sustenance. They are gaining so much power that even Moriarty fears that his empire is at risk—to the point that he seeks an unholy alliance with his eternal foe.
Bizarre geometries--based on ancient schematics--point to members of a secluded cult. These men and women build strange constructs that will enable other-worldly creatures to enter our dimension, seeking sustenance. They are gaining so much power that even Moriarty fears that his empire is at risk—to the point that he seeks an unholy alliance with his eternal foe.
437 pages, Paperback
First published April 11, 2017
About the author
Lois H. Gresh
74 books140 followersLOIS H. GRESH is the New York Times Bestselling Author (6 times) and USA Today Bestselling Author (thrillers) of 30 books and more than 65 short stories. Look for SHERLOCK HOLMES VS. CTHULHU #1: THE ADVENTURE OF THE DEADLY DIMENSIONS (Titan Books, April 2017), the first in a new trilogy of Sherlock Holmes thrillers from England's premier publisher of all things Holmes, with Random House distribution in the USA. Lois’ books have been published in 22 languages. For five years, Lois was a staff book reviewer at scifi.com (now SYFY.com, the Science Fiction Cable Channel), and her work has been on national/international award ballots eight times. She is a frequent Guest of Honor Author at large fan conventions and has appeared on television series such as The History Channel’s Ancient Aliens and Batman Tech.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 175 reviews
September 2, 2018
Interesting. A series of bizarre deaths draws Holmes and Watson into the case of a lifetime. Horribly mutilated bodies, stacks of bones arranged in bizarre figures, buildings and furniture constructed with unnatural angles and carved with strange symbols ... You know things are bad when a certain someone appeals to Holmes for help ... This is the first book of a projected trilogy, so don't start it expecting a nice, tidy resolution.
First of all, Cthulhu--though referred to--does not actually appear in this book. That's probably for the best. If the two of them faced off literally on page one, there wouldn't be much of a novel, let alone a trilogy (Book 2: 101 More Ways in Which Sherlock's Soul is Mangled in Agonizing Tortures.) Pretty much this entire book exists to bring Holmes around to the point of considering that the supernatural entities of the Cthulhu mythos may just possibly exist. It's actually rather dreary, which is not the sort of reaction you want to have to Book 1 of 3. This book just seems a little long for what it is. Holmes and Watson spend way too much time denying what they see happening, and I found myself wishing they'd just get on with it already.
The book is at its best with the Lovecraftian bits. Lois Gresh really has a way of describing the indescribable. Her nameless horrors and sinister constructs are vivid and properly unnerving. In general, she does a better job of channeling Lovecraft than Conan Doyle. There is promise and good ideas in this book, but it's ultimately not as cool as the Holmes/Cthulhu showdown you're imagining.
First of all, Cthulhu--though referred to--does not actually appear in this book. That's probably for the best. If the two of them faced off literally on page one, there wouldn't be much of a novel, let alone a trilogy (Book 2: 101 More Ways in Which Sherlock's Soul is Mangled in Agonizing Tortures.) Pretty much this entire book exists to bring Holmes around to the point of considering that the supernatural entities of the Cthulhu mythos may just possibly exist. It's actually rather dreary, which is not the sort of reaction you want to have to Book 1 of 3. This book just seems a little long for what it is. Holmes and Watson spend way too much time denying what they see happening, and I found myself wishing they'd just get on with it already.
The book is at its best with the Lovecraftian bits. Lois Gresh really has a way of describing the indescribable. Her nameless horrors and sinister constructs are vivid and properly unnerving. In general, she does a better job of channeling Lovecraft than Conan Doyle. There is promise and good ideas in this book, but it's ultimately not as cool as the Holmes/Cthulhu showdown you're imagining.
January 1, 2018
This is a good book, a lot of fun to read, an interesting story with some fun details, and all in all a fine read.
But it has some problems.
The first and foremost is right there in the title. Sherlock Holmes vs. Cthulhu. That absolutely sets the reader up to enjoy Holmes diving into the Lovecraftian Mythos. Cults. Elder Gods. Monsters beyond description. Supernatural nastiness. We know before we read page one that there are other worldly things at play here. Things beyond time and space. The title tells us this in no uncertain terms.
But Holmes takes forever to believe.
Totally impossible things happen, like a machine coming alive and killing people, and we--the reader--know that it is "From Beyond" as it were. But Holmes refuses to believe that. He is told that some police saw something impossible, and he says the police are obviously mistaken, or they were drunk, or they mistook something for something else. Which is all fine and good, deductive reasoning, but WE KNOW HE'S WRONG. So we spend most of the book smarter than Sherlock Holmes.
That ain't right.
Had the title been something else, maybe just Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Deadly Dimensions, then we might also be curious. What will Holmes discover? There are plenty of Sherlock Holmes stories where Holmes proves that something everyone assumed was supernatural was actually perfectly ordinary. Science proves all. So we could have read this book on the fence. Is it a trick? Or is it something else?
But no. We know what it is 300 pages before Holmes.
Another problem I had with the book was visualizing everything. I never got a good idea of what this massive machine looked like. No clue as to the geography of some of the places Holmes and Watson visit. The final, climactic scene is very difficult to visualize, and I just sort of let Gresh go on and figured I'd catch up at some point.
Finally, I want to point out a rather tiresome reliance on the language of Dagon used throughout the book. I don't care if it is authentic or anything. I have no idea. In the Acknowledgements, Gresh says she took pains to model the language off of a mixture of old South Pacific dialects and words created and used by Lovecraft and others in the Mythos. Fine. Well done. The thing is, it is all gibberish to me. In fact, it is all gibberish to everyone. So when it comes up again and again and again, my eyes just glaze over or I'd even just skip that and jump down to the next bit that was in English. A little of the weird language is fine, but this is way too much and it became distracting.
All that being said, if you've gotten this far, you should know that it is otherwise well-written. It dragged a bit around page 100 or so, but by page 250 or so, it kicked into overdrive and I could not put it down.
And I'll be getting the sequel when it comes out next year.
But it has some problems.
The first and foremost is right there in the title. Sherlock Holmes vs. Cthulhu. That absolutely sets the reader up to enjoy Holmes diving into the Lovecraftian Mythos. Cults. Elder Gods. Monsters beyond description. Supernatural nastiness. We know before we read page one that there are other worldly things at play here. Things beyond time and space. The title tells us this in no uncertain terms.
But Holmes takes forever to believe.
Totally impossible things happen, like a machine coming alive and killing people, and we--the reader--know that it is "From Beyond" as it were. But Holmes refuses to believe that. He is told that some police saw something impossible, and he says the police are obviously mistaken, or they were drunk, or they mistook something for something else. Which is all fine and good, deductive reasoning, but WE KNOW HE'S WRONG. So we spend most of the book smarter than Sherlock Holmes.
That ain't right.
Had the title been something else, maybe just Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Deadly Dimensions, then we might also be curious. What will Holmes discover? There are plenty of Sherlock Holmes stories where Holmes proves that something everyone assumed was supernatural was actually perfectly ordinary. Science proves all. So we could have read this book on the fence. Is it a trick? Or is it something else?
But no. We know what it is 300 pages before Holmes.
Another problem I had with the book was visualizing everything. I never got a good idea of what this massive machine looked like. No clue as to the geography of some of the places Holmes and Watson visit. The final, climactic scene is very difficult to visualize, and I just sort of let Gresh go on and figured I'd catch up at some point.
Finally, I want to point out a rather tiresome reliance on the language of Dagon used throughout the book. I don't care if it is authentic or anything. I have no idea. In the Acknowledgements, Gresh says she took pains to model the language off of a mixture of old South Pacific dialects and words created and used by Lovecraft and others in the Mythos. Fine. Well done. The thing is, it is all gibberish to me. In fact, it is all gibberish to everyone. So when it comes up again and again and again, my eyes just glaze over or I'd even just skip that and jump down to the next bit that was in English. A little of the weird language is fine, but this is way too much and it became distracting.
All that being said, if you've gotten this far, you should know that it is otherwise well-written. It dragged a bit around page 100 or so, but by page 250 or so, it kicked into overdrive and I could not put it down.
And I'll be getting the sequel when it comes out next year.
July 25, 2026
Note finale : 2.5/5
C'est rigolo comme je m'étais déjà fait la réflexion que Sherlock Holmes serait dépourvu devant le fantastique sauf s'il arrive à mettre à jour son "logiciel" à temps et en particulier, devant les horreurs Lovecraftienne. Le champion de la raison face aux horreurs qui font sombrer dans la folie. Donc j'étais content de voir qu'il existait déjà des sagas qui exploraient cette rencontre. Mais il y a un lien entre les deux univers que je n'avais jamais fait : les horreurs de Lovecraft et les aventures de Holmes sont des nouvelles. Ce livre est TRÈS long. 470 pages, ressenties 1500.
Et pendant l'essentiel de ce roman, nous avons un monsieur qui s'appelle Sherlock Holmes, qui a un biographe qui s'appelle Dr Watson qui a une épouse qui s'appelle Mary, ils officient à Londres, avec Lestrade, l'addiction, les Irréguliers, toute la panoplie y est et pourtant, c'est vraiment, vraiment pas Sherlock Holmes. Dès le départ, il déduit (évidemment) que Watson vient de rater une opération chirurgicale. Watson lui demande comment, Holmes expose les preuves et Watson lui demande "Comment vous savez que je l'ai ratée ?" et Holmes répond, je cite, "Vous voyez, mon cher ami, je vous connais bien. Vous êtes généralement de bonne humeur et rarement aussi mélancolique." Je sais que ton patient est mort parce que tu fais la gueule. Nickel.
Pour la moitié Lovecraftienne de l'histoire, je pense que l'autrice a mieux géré mais je suis beaucoup moins sensible aux charmes de la littérature de Lovecraft donc d'une part, j'ai trouvé les (nombreux) passages où on suit des cultistes, des Dagonistes, des Profonds, des trucs dégueulasses faire des trucs dégueulasses vraiment très longs. Et je ne suis même pas sûr que ces adaptations soient bonnes. Pour l'enquête, Holmes est largué tout du long... on en sait plus que lui, ce qui est l'exact inverse de l'écriture d'une enquête classique de Holmes (généralement, il a une longueur d'avance sur Watson et sur nous (et sur tout le monde, c'est Sherlock Holmes)). La rencontre entre la rationalité et le surnaturel se fait de façon très malheureuse. Et ce qui est frustrant, c'est qu'il y a beaucoup de bonnes idées mal exécutées.
Genre l'idée de faire se rencontrer l'univers de Holmes et celui de Lovecraft (au passage, c'est rigolo comme c'est toujours le personnage d'un côté et l'auteur de l'autre mais vraiment, c'est pas un "univers Arthur Conan Doyle", c'est Sherlock Holmes), l'idée de les faire se rencontrer autour de l'alchimie, c'est une très bonne idée : la manipulation chimique ésotérique, c'est parfait. Mais, sans spoiler, la façon dont ça se fait, pour moi, ça ne marche pas du tout. À plusieurs reprises, Watson a des réflexions que j'imaginerais plus Holmes avoir et inversement. Watson dit des trucs genre "Vous devez admettre que des choses qui nous échappent existent" et Holmes répond "Non, la science peut tout expliquer", la science observe et déduit, ducon, alors observe et déduit que c'est magique ce que tu as sous le pif. Une fois éliminé l'impossible, tout ça...
Bref, une rencontre raté en ce qui me concerne, si je devais le conseiller à quelqu'un, ce serait aux amateurs de Lovecraft et encore, aux amateurs des adaptations un peu trash et pop de Lovecraft, aux amateurs du jeu de rôle quoi, plutôt.
C'est rigolo comme je m'étais déjà fait la réflexion que Sherlock Holmes serait dépourvu devant le fantastique sauf s'il arrive à mettre à jour son "logiciel" à temps et en particulier, devant les horreurs Lovecraftienne. Le champion de la raison face aux horreurs qui font sombrer dans la folie. Donc j'étais content de voir qu'il existait déjà des sagas qui exploraient cette rencontre. Mais il y a un lien entre les deux univers que je n'avais jamais fait : les horreurs de Lovecraft et les aventures de Holmes sont des nouvelles. Ce livre est TRÈS long. 470 pages, ressenties 1500.
Et pendant l'essentiel de ce roman, nous avons un monsieur qui s'appelle Sherlock Holmes, qui a un biographe qui s'appelle Dr Watson qui a une épouse qui s'appelle Mary, ils officient à Londres, avec Lestrade, l'addiction, les Irréguliers, toute la panoplie y est et pourtant, c'est vraiment, vraiment pas Sherlock Holmes. Dès le départ, il déduit (évidemment) que Watson vient de rater une opération chirurgicale. Watson lui demande comment, Holmes expose les preuves et Watson lui demande "Comment vous savez que je l'ai ratée ?" et Holmes répond, je cite, "Vous voyez, mon cher ami, je vous connais bien. Vous êtes généralement de bonne humeur et rarement aussi mélancolique." Je sais que ton patient est mort parce que tu fais la gueule. Nickel.
Pour la moitié Lovecraftienne de l'histoire, je pense que l'autrice a mieux géré mais je suis beaucoup moins sensible aux charmes de la littérature de Lovecraft donc d'une part, j'ai trouvé les (nombreux) passages où on suit des cultistes, des Dagonistes, des Profonds, des trucs dégueulasses faire des trucs dégueulasses vraiment très longs. Et je ne suis même pas sûr que ces adaptations soient bonnes. Pour l'enquête, Holmes est largué tout du long... on en sait plus que lui, ce qui est l'exact inverse de l'écriture d'une enquête classique de Holmes (généralement, il a une longueur d'avance sur Watson et sur nous (et sur tout le monde, c'est Sherlock Holmes)). La rencontre entre la rationalité et le surnaturel se fait de façon très malheureuse. Et ce qui est frustrant, c'est qu'il y a beaucoup de bonnes idées mal exécutées.
Genre l'idée de faire se rencontrer l'univers de Holmes et celui de Lovecraft (au passage, c'est rigolo comme c'est toujours le personnage d'un côté et l'auteur de l'autre mais vraiment, c'est pas un "univers Arthur Conan Doyle", c'est Sherlock Holmes), l'idée de les faire se rencontrer autour de l'alchimie, c'est une très bonne idée : la manipulation chimique ésotérique, c'est parfait. Mais, sans spoiler, la façon dont ça se fait, pour moi, ça ne marche pas du tout. À plusieurs reprises, Watson a des réflexions que j'imaginerais plus Holmes avoir et inversement. Watson dit des trucs genre "Vous devez admettre que des choses qui nous échappent existent" et Holmes répond "Non, la science peut tout expliquer", la science observe et déduit, ducon, alors observe et déduit que c'est magique ce que tu as sous le pif. Une fois éliminé l'impossible, tout ça...
Bref, une rencontre raté en ce qui me concerne, si je devais le conseiller à quelqu'un, ce serait aux amateurs de Lovecraft et encore, aux amateurs des adaptations un peu trash et pop de Lovecraft, aux amateurs du jeu de rôle quoi, plutôt.
February 9, 2019
What happens when the king of logic, Sherlock meets the completely balmy world of Lovecraft filled with Elder Gods, frog-like humans and ample orgies?
We get a strange pastiche like this, of course! The writing is not that bad, but Lois Gresh forgot the old Sherlock quip: “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” That's the reason we have a 300+ page book in which we the readers spend the majority of the time being more smarter than Sherlock.
My advice: Stay away from this book like how you should from Cthulhu!
My Rating - 2/5
We get a strange pastiche like this, of course! The writing is not that bad, but Lois Gresh forgot the old Sherlock quip: “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” That's the reason we have a 300+ page book in which we the readers spend the majority of the time being more smarter than Sherlock.
My advice: Stay away from this book like how you should from Cthulhu!
My Rating - 2/5
December 19, 2019
Oh dear... Can I say this was disturbing in many levels? And not even the good distributing.
The idea is good, and I know the concept can actually work despite the fact Lovecraft lore doesn't tie in much with Sherlock, but it's doable... just maybe not as a huge novel. This was way too big. All the middle part felt useless, overly descriptive, terribly long, and nothing much happened. Yes I get this Dagon people want cosmic monsters back, yes I know they're all crazy lunatics, yes I get they all go through sacred rituals. But do I need to get that repeated over and over?
The thing with Sherlock mysteries is that you can't drag them on forever. Sherlock works fast, so a huge novel like this gets exhausting after 200 pages because by then even your Sherlock has stopped being realistic.
I didn't like his character, he was rude and meaner than usual. And I understand he's all for science, but he's also the first to say "once the probable has been ruled out all that remains is the improbable" so I don't see why he'd have troubles believing in supernatural cosmic creatures. Specially after the events in part three.
And then Moriarty. Was there even a need to include him in the books? He doesn't do anything, he doesn't even takes part in the criminal activities, hell he doesn't even seem interested at all. Moriarty doesn't make it in many of the original stories because there was never a need. He wasn't always the mastermind behind things, and it was clear from the start, he wasn't involved in this either, so why mention him? Just because he's part of Sherlock's lore? It added nothing to the plot
I don't think I'll read more from this series. They feel so disconnected, it's hard to keep track and the plot diverts too often.
The idea is good, and I know the concept can actually work despite the fact Lovecraft lore doesn't tie in much with Sherlock, but it's doable... just maybe not as a huge novel. This was way too big. All the middle part felt useless, overly descriptive, terribly long, and nothing much happened. Yes I get this Dagon people want cosmic monsters back, yes I know they're all crazy lunatics, yes I get they all go through sacred rituals. But do I need to get that repeated over and over?
The thing with Sherlock mysteries is that you can't drag them on forever. Sherlock works fast, so a huge novel like this gets exhausting after 200 pages because by then even your Sherlock has stopped being realistic.
I didn't like his character, he was rude and meaner than usual. And I understand he's all for science, but he's also the first to say "once the probable has been ruled out all that remains is the improbable" so I don't see why he'd have troubles believing in supernatural cosmic creatures. Specially after the events in part three.
And then Moriarty. Was there even a need to include him in the books? He doesn't do anything, he doesn't even takes part in the criminal activities, hell he doesn't even seem interested at all. Moriarty doesn't make it in many of the original stories because there was never a need. He wasn't always the mastermind behind things, and it was clear from the start, he wasn't involved in this either, so why mention him? Just because he's part of Sherlock's lore? It added nothing to the plot
I don't think I'll read more from this series. They feel so disconnected, it's hard to keep track and the plot diverts too often.
May 22, 2022
It seems that more and more authors are anxious to pit Sherlock Holmes against the elder gods. I thought this one started out stronger than most because it focused not on eldritch creatures but on a perplexing impossible machine that seems like it should be explainable (it is, after all, a machine built by a man in London) but that doesn’t seem to work according to any rules that Holmes can understand.
That was a cool problem. In investigating it, Holmes comes across a cult that leads towards what I think of as more typical Cthulhu-esq problems. Holmes always felt like Holmes, and Gresh gives Watson some serious problems with his wife and son that added some depth to the character. I wasn’t particularly enthralled with the villains, but overall I enjoyed the story.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilberstack.com/reviews.
That was a cool problem. In investigating it, Holmes comes across a cult that leads towards what I think of as more typical Cthulhu-esq problems. Holmes always felt like Holmes, and Gresh gives Watson some serious problems with his wife and son that added some depth to the character. I wasn’t particularly enthralled with the villains, but overall I enjoyed the story.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilberstack.com/reviews.
October 26, 2017
I couldn't finish it, but may return to it one day. The style just wasn't my cup of tea, and also I did not find the characters of Holmes and Watson to be recognizable.
May 15, 2019
Disclosure: I haven't ever read HP Lovecraft. If I were an HPL fan, maybe my review would be different.
This book is chaotic, nonsensical, messy, and super gross. (I don't think I've ever read a book that features pus so prominently.) I could not get a handle on the Holmes/Watson relationship. Watson alternately freaks out because he's abandoning his family to run off with Holmes, but seems to forget his wife and son pretty easily when even the tiniest thing distracts him. Holmes is...uh...kind of dumb? Also, early in the book, the two discuss how mathematicians aren't ever criminals. Yeah...except Moriarty is a mathematician. And he's mentioned several times in this book.
I did want to finish the book because of my driving curiosity about how it would wrap up. But it does not. Because the author would like me to read the next book. But I'm not going to.
This book is chaotic, nonsensical, messy, and super gross. (I don't think I've ever read a book that features pus so prominently.) I could not get a handle on the Holmes/Watson relationship. Watson alternately freaks out because he's abandoning his family to run off with Holmes, but seems to forget his wife and son pretty easily when even the tiniest thing distracts him. Holmes is...uh...kind of dumb? Also, early in the book, the two discuss how mathematicians aren't ever criminals. Yeah...except Moriarty is a mathematician. And he's mentioned several times in this book.
I did want to finish the book because of my driving curiosity about how it would wrap up. But it does not. Because the author would like me to read the next book. But I'm not going to.
April 4, 2019
Sherlock Holmes vs. Cthulhu: The Adventure of Deadly Dimensions by Lois H. Gresh is the showdown that you never thought possible for a man like Sherlock Holmes who does not believe in the supernatural. Gresh has a really clever quote for this instance. "Superstition has no place in the world, Watson, only science. What we perceive today as otherworldly, we will know as science tomorrow. I am certain of it." This book mixes the writing of two literary masters Lovecraft and Cohan Doyle, and has joy playing at themes they both never tackled. The Lovecraftian part is vicious brutal and outright otherworldly, where the Sherlockian is smart and witty. These two worlds don't fit in as seamlessly as I would have liked but the mystery angle works, and is quite compelling. From the Sherlock world we get Moriarty, Inspector Lestrade, Mrs. Hudson, Mary Morstan, Mycroft Holmes is mentioned, and of course Watson as the Narrator of this Holmes adventure. From the Lovecraft world we some of the otherworldly creatures, the Order of the Dagon, and corpses in piles.
The Plot: Sherlock is called out on a strange case of a furniture makers death, this is not an ordinary death the skeletal remains are stacked in a stack with some weird skeletal orb on top. Holmes can't seem to find a logical reason for this happening. Then Holmes and Watson investigate a another murder with the same MO, only the worker who is accused of the murder swear the machine did it. Murder's keep happing with few clues and all point to something otherworldly Cthulhu and do not fit into Holmes' logic. Can he stop these murders before the call to Cthulhu goes out?
What I Liked: The relationship of Watson and Holmes is there and really good, Holmes shows great concern when Watson is in trouble. I liked the word describing the gore, make you picture it and feel the horror in your soul. The Watson and Mary relationship is cool to see since he's married in this and was only ever engaged in the Cohan Doyle books. The machine was descried well and I loved the mystery behind it. I liked the final twist, it really makes me want to check out the next one. I like how Moriarty was involved in the story.
What I Disliked: This novel tells different the story mainly through Watson, but once and a while it will tell you the story from others point of view that the reader and Sherlock and Watson have never met before. This is a horrible way to tell the story and really throws you out of the story as you have to figure out who they are and what they look like. This book has some boring parts you have to power through to get to the next part of the mystery. The chanting in a language you can't understand fills like 4 pages total it's way too much. I thought the two worlds meshed okay when it was just the body parts, but when the Order of Dagon is involved it didn't gel right.
Recommendations: I would recommend this to Lovecraft readers more than Doyle readers. There's more Sherlock than Lovecraftian but I feel it nails this and the style of his writing more than Doyle's. If you like crazy mash ups this this is for you. This book is the first in a trilogy and it ends in a pretty good little cliffhanger. I rated this book 3 out of 5 stars, this is one of the better candidates for a 3.5 stars because there were parts I really enjoyed and parts that didn't.
The Plot: Sherlock is called out on a strange case of a furniture makers death, this is not an ordinary death the skeletal remains are stacked in a stack with some weird skeletal orb on top. Holmes can't seem to find a logical reason for this happening. Then Holmes and Watson investigate a another murder with the same MO, only the worker who is accused of the murder swear the machine did it. Murder's keep happing with few clues and all point to something otherworldly Cthulhu and do not fit into Holmes' logic. Can he stop these murders before the call to Cthulhu goes out?
What I Liked: The relationship of Watson and Holmes is there and really good, Holmes shows great concern when Watson is in trouble. I liked the word describing the gore, make you picture it and feel the horror in your soul. The Watson and Mary relationship is cool to see since he's married in this and was only ever engaged in the Cohan Doyle books. The machine was descried well and I loved the mystery behind it. I liked the final twist, it really makes me want to check out the next one. I like how Moriarty was involved in the story.
What I Disliked: This novel tells different the story mainly through Watson, but once and a while it will tell you the story from others point of view that the reader and Sherlock and Watson have never met before. This is a horrible way to tell the story and really throws you out of the story as you have to figure out who they are and what they look like. This book has some boring parts you have to power through to get to the next part of the mystery. The chanting in a language you can't understand fills like 4 pages total it's way too much. I thought the two worlds meshed okay when it was just the body parts, but when the Order of Dagon is involved it didn't gel right.
Recommendations: I would recommend this to Lovecraft readers more than Doyle readers. There's more Sherlock than Lovecraftian but I feel it nails this and the style of his writing more than Doyle's. If you like crazy mash ups this this is for you. This book is the first in a trilogy and it ends in a pretty good little cliffhanger. I rated this book 3 out of 5 stars, this is one of the better candidates for a 3.5 stars because there were parts I really enjoyed and parts that didn't.
July 4, 2019
A confession-I see a lot of people on bookstagram, a lot of authors whom I greatly admire ,talking about the debt of honour that the modern horror /fantasy genre owes to HP Lovecraft . But I just don't get it.
So when I was offered a copy of this book to review, being a HUGE Sherlock fan,this seemed like a good way to try and understand the attraction of the Cthulhu mythos.
First off, spoiler alert!
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Still here?Ok!
Sherlock does not face off with Cthulhu here. It is the first in a trilogy , and sets up the implacable Holmes, with his absolute , resolute steadfastness on believing the truth of his own scientific mind against the inconceivable notions of otherworldy beings.
However, the facts of the matter are that mangled, decimated corpses are turning up all over London, bones arranged in strategic formations accompnaied by odd symbologies. In a city reeling from Jack The Ripper's exploits, this is causing panic and unease. The details are gruesome and perhaps not strictly Holmesian, and I feel that dedicated fans may object to the rough handling of the character by Gresh.
Some of the tropes remain but the overwhelming feeling whilst reading the book is that it is an American interpretation of the Holmes/Watson relationship. That sounds elitist and snobby, I don't mean to create that impression, but if you read the book I think you'll understand where I am coming from (think the propaganda movies of 'Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror' and you'll get where I am going with this)
As a self confessed Holmesian-whore, I will happily read pretty much any interpretation of this character, I love how this era and the characters of Holmes and Watson, especially when dealing with the supernatural .
He steadfastly refuses to believe in the supernatural (see the short story 'The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire') so in this tale, he has to rationalise the Order of Dagon and their attempts to open portals to other worlds. This is done through scientific methodology and the appliance of physics and maths to the problem.
It works as a stand alone novel,and as a reader who is unfamiliar with Cthulhu , I appreciate that I may not have picked up things that other readers may have-I am here for the Holmes/Watson partnership-but as series opener it is interesting, accessible,possibly a bit over long,however, I am looking forward to reading Books 2 and 3! And I might pick up some of HP Lovecraft afterwards...
So when I was offered a copy of this book to review, being a HUGE Sherlock fan,this seemed like a good way to try and understand the attraction of the Cthulhu mythos.
First off, spoiler alert!
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Still here?Ok!
Sherlock does not face off with Cthulhu here. It is the first in a trilogy , and sets up the implacable Holmes, with his absolute , resolute steadfastness on believing the truth of his own scientific mind against the inconceivable notions of otherworldy beings.
However, the facts of the matter are that mangled, decimated corpses are turning up all over London, bones arranged in strategic formations accompnaied by odd symbologies. In a city reeling from Jack The Ripper's exploits, this is causing panic and unease. The details are gruesome and perhaps not strictly Holmesian, and I feel that dedicated fans may object to the rough handling of the character by Gresh.
Some of the tropes remain but the overwhelming feeling whilst reading the book is that it is an American interpretation of the Holmes/Watson relationship. That sounds elitist and snobby, I don't mean to create that impression, but if you read the book I think you'll understand where I am coming from (think the propaganda movies of 'Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror' and you'll get where I am going with this)
As a self confessed Holmesian-whore, I will happily read pretty much any interpretation of this character, I love how this era and the characters of Holmes and Watson, especially when dealing with the supernatural .
He steadfastly refuses to believe in the supernatural (see the short story 'The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire') so in this tale, he has to rationalise the Order of Dagon and their attempts to open portals to other worlds. This is done through scientific methodology and the appliance of physics and maths to the problem.
It works as a stand alone novel,and as a reader who is unfamiliar with Cthulhu , I appreciate that I may not have picked up things that other readers may have-I am here for the Holmes/Watson partnership-but as series opener it is interesting, accessible,possibly a bit over long,however, I am looking forward to reading Books 2 and 3! And I might pick up some of HP Lovecraft afterwards...
July 9, 2019
This could have easily been a bit shorter, for a Sherlock story it felt slow and a Lovecraft it felt good, I admire the idea of fusing this two very different titles and the idea was super appealing, it took it without any doubt from the book shop; it took me a while to finally finish it and sometimes the story felt slow, at Lovecraft slow burn steps but for a Sherlock it felt like he was taking too much time, I would have loved a format like a Sherlock Novel with three parts one for the Lovecraftian one for the Sherlock and one final conflict between those two. The last part is good and confronts the characters really well and it nicely opens for the next book. I’m looking forward to reading the next one, but I hope that the format feels better.
June 1, 2019
Such a tantalizing premise executed oh so poorly. The writing is clumsy throughout, Holmes and Watson remain nigh unrecognizable and the bog-standard plot feels ripped from the dreadfuls. This one was hard to get through.
April 1, 2020
I love Sherlock Holmes. I love Cthulhu. I was so so excited to see how and if the two different worlds would work together. I was not disappointed. Science vs elder cult magic. Watch how a man of science deals with experiences he can't explain or imagine.
So much fun, can't wait to read the other books in this series 😁
So much fun, can't wait to read the other books in this series 😁
October 15, 2022
I usually like Holmes stories and retellings but this one just wasn't quite working for me.
December 9, 2022
Sapete perché Dylan Dog mi ha sempre fatto cacarissimo? Per due ragioni, sostanzialmente: la prima è sicuramente Groucho; un comic relief che fa battute idiote la cui unica funzione è demolire la sospensione dell'incredulità non appena entra in scena. Che ideona, signor Tiziano Sclavi... secondo, perché il secondo personaggio più inutile di Dylan Dog è Dylan Dog stesso. Ora, io non leggo il fumetto da anni e non so se le cose siano migliorate nel frattempo, ma la sostanza di ogni albo è sempre stata che il cosiddetto indagatore dell'incubo non ha mai veramente indagato una sega. In ogni storia l'andazzo più o meno è (o era, non ho idea di come sia adesso): mistero con morto ammazzato, arriva Dylan Dog, non fa nulla o al massimo scopa, momento della verità con rivelazione del mostro/mistero/assassino, fine, a volte con finale aperto, a volte no. Zero indagine. Zero investigazione. Nelle sue storie Dylan Dog è più uno spettatore degli eventi che reale attore in scena. E questo essere un elemento fondamentalmente accessorio alle sue stesse storie me lo ha sempre restituito come un personaggio insapore, bidimensionale, "da edicola" nella sua peggiore accezione di prodotto di mero consumo senza alcuna pretesa al di là del farti leggere una storiella nera in viaggio in treno.
Invece, sapete chi è l'esatto opposto di Dylan Dog? Sherlock Holmes. L'investigatore londinese impersonifica la chiave di volta di tutte le sue storie, oltre a possedere, of course, un'intera flotta di bastimenti transoceanici carichi all'orlo di carisma. Ci invade le russie, Sherlock Holmes, con il suo carisma, e gliene rimane. Il tutto senza bisogno di portarsi a letto nessuno.
E la sua spalla? John H. Watson, un medico scrittore amatoriale, che aggiunge quel poco di empatia talvolta necessaria alla freddezza clinica con cui il buon Sherlock attraversa gli eventi. Ogni volta che penso alla potenza assoluta di questi due mi viene voglia di infilarmi nel mio mantello, afferrare il bastone da passeggio e correre a risolvere un qualche mistero prima che Moriarty faccia qualche casino. Ma di che parliamo, per la miseria? Ho la pelle d'oca.
Insomma, Sherlock Holmes per me è il numero uno assoluto, e credo lo resterà per sempre. Peccato per i recenti adattamenti televisivi che lo hanno reso un mezzo effeminato innamorato di sé accompagnato da un mentecatto isterico con la balbuzie.
Mi piace pensare che un giorno il genere umano si sarà evoluto a sufficienza per guardare al duo Gatiss & Moffatt come a una macchia, uno spiacevole equivoco in un minuscolo angolo nascosto del canone lasciatoci da sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Anyway.
Che vi devo dire, sono un fanboy dello Sherlock Holmes originale, quello vero, non edulcorato dalle stronzate modaiole contemporanee.
È per questo motivo che ho iniziato la lettura di questo "Sherlock Holmes e la minaccia di Cthulhu" con una sarabanda di riserve. Perché da un lato c'è Sherlock Holmes, che per me è come un ayatollah per un iraniano, mentre dall'altro abbiamo il pazzesco immaginario di quell'altro mostro sacro che risponde al nome di Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
In effetti, se ci pensiamo, unire un personaggio semplicemente definitivo a un'ambientazione di quella profondità è un'idea talmente blasfema e perversa da risultare... intrigante. Insomma, è un po' come andare a cena con una bella ragazza che a un certo punto ti sussurra che sotto ha le autoreggenti e niente mutandine. Ti si apre tutto un mondo, no?
Voglio innanzitutto far mettere agli atti che ho usufruito della versione in audiolibro e la lettura di Marco Quaglia purtroppo fa fatica a carburare, a volte è cantilenante e fuori registro e non riesce a dare il giusto ritmo alle situazioni. A un certo punto la voce gli diventa perfino nasale, tanto che sembra sia raffreddato. Nella seconda metà per fortuna migliora, ma la frittata ormai è fatta.
Parliamo del libro. Parte con una catena di inspiegabili, efferati omicidi e il conseguente coinvolgimento di Holmes & Watson, in breve veniamo a sapere dell'esistenza di un non meglio specificato macchinario misterioso che sembra quasi animato da vita propria... la prima parte, quella che ha diciamo il compito di presentarci personaggi ed eventi, fa fatica a decollare, probabilmente perché troppo lunga. Gli eventi vengono raccontati sia dal punto di vista del solito dottor Watson, sia dal punto di vista di altri personaggi, alcuni dei quali non ci vengono nemmeno presentati. Da un lato questo escamotage ha il pregio di allargare la visione del lettore, dall'altro di rendere più difficoltosa la comprensione di quello che sta accadendo, soprattutto perché qui e là ci stanno pagine e pagine di tizi che attaccano a cantare in lingue indecifrabili (non vi dico il LOL quando Marco Quaglia comincia a cantare "AHOA DAGON DAGON DAGON AHOA AHOA AHOA" che pare savonese).
L'autrice, Lois H. Gresh, è del mestiere e si sente: quando la storia si imballa un po' non esita a infarcire le pagine di tell per togliere le castagne dal fuoco e si esibisce in descrizioni lunghe e articolate (cosa che può piacere e non piacere; a me non piace), con notevole dovizia di particolari soprattutto nelle (numerose) scene truculente, caratteristica questa che ha fatto storcere il naso a una discreta fetta di pubblico (Sherlock Holmes + sbudellamenti forse è un binomio ancora più forte rispetto a Lovecraft, un po' come se la ragazza di prima con cui siete a cena vi rivelasse che nella borsa ha anche manette e bavaglio - cosa che magari può non incontrare il gusto di tutti). A me personalmente i particolari splatter non hanno disturbato affatto, ma avrei volentieri dato una bella sforbiciata generale, forse anche un cento pagine di meno non avrebbe fatto male. Una cosa che va notata è che nonostante spesso le descrizioni siano accurate, in altri casi si fa fatica a visualizzare luoghi e oggetti (per esempio, non si capisce esattamente come sia fatto il macchinario, ma forse in questo caso è anche voluto). La leggera spruzzata di steampunk con cui è stata contaminata la storia forse a tratti stona un po': sto' macchinario sembra un po' messo lì per forza (dovrebbe essere una citazione da un racconto di Lovecraft che però non ricordo minimamente di aver letto).
I personaggi: tra i comprimari ce ne sono alcuni particolarmente tragici e repellenti che contribuiscono a creare il clima da horror vittoriano. Sherlock Holmes fa le sue solite, geniali deduzioni e mostra empatia solo quando Watson è in pericolo (e poi quando gli eventi soprannaturali fanno vacillare l'incrollabile fortezza della sua logica), come è giusto che sia. Insomma, l'Holmes della Gresh è familiare, riconoscibile, ma soprattutto l'autrice è stata brava a restituire la chimica tra Holmes e Watson. Loro due insieme funzionano. Quindi, signora Gresh, pollice su, e grazie per non aver sbranato uno dei miei personaggi preferiti con ridicole rivisitazioni millennial.
Dicevo che la narrazione all'inizio stenta a decollare. Verso metà ascolto devo confessare che stavo per gettare la spugna perché la storia si stava trascinando un bel po', però proprio sul filo del rasoio sono arrivati gli uomini pesce, le geometrie non euclidee, i sacrifici umani, gli accoppiamenti rituali, l'ordine di Dagon, i grandi antichi, insomma è arrivata l'intera cavalleria Lovecraft a salvare la baracca e di colpo la seconda metà del libro è diventata molto più dinamica, godibile e coinvolgente. Si sente che la Gresh ha fatto un ottimo lavoro di ricerca e documentazione e ha integrato le due "lore" il più possibile.
Ad ascolto appena concluso non sono ancora certo che il metodo scientifico deduttivo di Sherlock Holmes possa sposarsi davvero bene con il sovrannaturale di Cthulhu & c. (comunque l'incontro tra l'investigatore e le forze di un altro mondo avviene per pochissimo), per stabilirlo con certezza non resta che acquistare gli altri due volumi della trilogia e completare la lettura, ma in generale secondo me questo libro è un ottimo prodotto che espleta il suo compito egregiamente, ovvero intrattiene e convince.
Voto: 3.666/5
P.S.: dimenticavo, in questa storia c'è anche un pizzico di bel Paese, rappresentato dalla Norma di Vincenzo Bellini come tema ricorrente 🇮🇹
Invece, sapete chi è l'esatto opposto di Dylan Dog? Sherlock Holmes. L'investigatore londinese impersonifica la chiave di volta di tutte le sue storie, oltre a possedere, of course, un'intera flotta di bastimenti transoceanici carichi all'orlo di carisma. Ci invade le russie, Sherlock Holmes, con il suo carisma, e gliene rimane. Il tutto senza bisogno di portarsi a letto nessuno.
E la sua spalla? John H. Watson, un medico scrittore amatoriale, che aggiunge quel poco di empatia talvolta necessaria alla freddezza clinica con cui il buon Sherlock attraversa gli eventi. Ogni volta che penso alla potenza assoluta di questi due mi viene voglia di infilarmi nel mio mantello, afferrare il bastone da passeggio e correre a risolvere un qualche mistero prima che Moriarty faccia qualche casino. Ma di che parliamo, per la miseria? Ho la pelle d'oca.
Insomma, Sherlock Holmes per me è il numero uno assoluto, e credo lo resterà per sempre. Peccato per i recenti adattamenti televisivi che lo hanno reso un mezzo effeminato innamorato di sé accompagnato da un mentecatto isterico con la balbuzie.
Mi piace pensare che un giorno il genere umano si sarà evoluto a sufficienza per guardare al duo Gatiss & Moffatt come a una macchia, uno spiacevole equivoco in un minuscolo angolo nascosto del canone lasciatoci da sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Anyway.
Che vi devo dire, sono un fanboy dello Sherlock Holmes originale, quello vero, non edulcorato dalle stronzate modaiole contemporanee.
È per questo motivo che ho iniziato la lettura di questo "Sherlock Holmes e la minaccia di Cthulhu" con una sarabanda di riserve. Perché da un lato c'è Sherlock Holmes, che per me è come un ayatollah per un iraniano, mentre dall'altro abbiamo il pazzesco immaginario di quell'altro mostro sacro che risponde al nome di Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
In effetti, se ci pensiamo, unire un personaggio semplicemente definitivo a un'ambientazione di quella profondità è un'idea talmente blasfema e perversa da risultare... intrigante. Insomma, è un po' come andare a cena con una bella ragazza che a un certo punto ti sussurra che sotto ha le autoreggenti e niente mutandine. Ti si apre tutto un mondo, no?
Voglio innanzitutto far mettere agli atti che ho usufruito della versione in audiolibro e la lettura di Marco Quaglia purtroppo fa fatica a carburare, a volte è cantilenante e fuori registro e non riesce a dare il giusto ritmo alle situazioni. A un certo punto la voce gli diventa perfino nasale, tanto che sembra sia raffreddato. Nella seconda metà per fortuna migliora, ma la frittata ormai è fatta.
Parliamo del libro. Parte con una catena di inspiegabili, efferati omicidi e il conseguente coinvolgimento di Holmes & Watson, in breve veniamo a sapere dell'esistenza di un non meglio specificato macchinario misterioso che sembra quasi animato da vita propria... la prima parte, quella che ha diciamo il compito di presentarci personaggi ed eventi, fa fatica a decollare, probabilmente perché troppo lunga. Gli eventi vengono raccontati sia dal punto di vista del solito dottor Watson, sia dal punto di vista di altri personaggi, alcuni dei quali non ci vengono nemmeno presentati. Da un lato questo escamotage ha il pregio di allargare la visione del lettore, dall'altro di rendere più difficoltosa la comprensione di quello che sta accadendo, soprattutto perché qui e là ci stanno pagine e pagine di tizi che attaccano a cantare in lingue indecifrabili (non vi dico il LOL quando Marco Quaglia comincia a cantare "AHOA DAGON DAGON DAGON AHOA AHOA AHOA" che pare savonese).
L'autrice, Lois H. Gresh, è del mestiere e si sente: quando la storia si imballa un po' non esita a infarcire le pagine di tell per togliere le castagne dal fuoco e si esibisce in descrizioni lunghe e articolate (cosa che può piacere e non piacere; a me non piace), con notevole dovizia di particolari soprattutto nelle (numerose) scene truculente, caratteristica questa che ha fatto storcere il naso a una discreta fetta di pubblico (Sherlock Holmes + sbudellamenti forse è un binomio ancora più forte rispetto a Lovecraft, un po' come se la ragazza di prima con cui siete a cena vi rivelasse che nella borsa ha anche manette e bavaglio - cosa che magari può non incontrare il gusto di tutti). A me personalmente i particolari splatter non hanno disturbato affatto, ma avrei volentieri dato una bella sforbiciata generale, forse anche un cento pagine di meno non avrebbe fatto male. Una cosa che va notata è che nonostante spesso le descrizioni siano accurate, in altri casi si fa fatica a visualizzare luoghi e oggetti (per esempio, non si capisce esattamente come sia fatto il macchinario, ma forse in questo caso è anche voluto). La leggera spruzzata di steampunk con cui è stata contaminata la storia forse a tratti stona un po': sto' macchinario sembra un po' messo lì per forza (dovrebbe essere una citazione da un racconto di Lovecraft che però non ricordo minimamente di aver letto).
I personaggi: tra i comprimari ce ne sono alcuni particolarmente tragici e repellenti che contribuiscono a creare il clima da horror vittoriano. Sherlock Holmes fa le sue solite, geniali deduzioni e mostra empatia solo quando Watson è in pericolo (e poi quando gli eventi soprannaturali fanno vacillare l'incrollabile fortezza della sua logica), come è giusto che sia. Insomma, l'Holmes della Gresh è familiare, riconoscibile, ma soprattutto l'autrice è stata brava a restituire la chimica tra Holmes e Watson. Loro due insieme funzionano. Quindi, signora Gresh, pollice su, e grazie per non aver sbranato uno dei miei personaggi preferiti con ridicole rivisitazioni millennial.
Dicevo che la narrazione all'inizio stenta a decollare. Verso metà ascolto devo confessare che stavo per gettare la spugna perché la storia si stava trascinando un bel po', però proprio sul filo del rasoio sono arrivati gli uomini pesce, le geometrie non euclidee, i sacrifici umani, gli accoppiamenti rituali, l'ordine di Dagon, i grandi antichi, insomma è arrivata l'intera cavalleria Lovecraft a salvare la baracca e di colpo la seconda metà del libro è diventata molto più dinamica, godibile e coinvolgente. Si sente che la Gresh ha fatto un ottimo lavoro di ricerca e documentazione e ha integrato le due "lore" il più possibile.
Ad ascolto appena concluso non sono ancora certo che il metodo scientifico deduttivo di Sherlock Holmes possa sposarsi davvero bene con il sovrannaturale di Cthulhu & c. (comunque l'incontro tra l'investigatore e le forze di un altro mondo avviene per pochissimo), per stabilirlo con certezza non resta che acquistare gli altri due volumi della trilogia e completare la lettura, ma in generale secondo me questo libro è un ottimo prodotto che espleta il suo compito egregiamente, ovvero intrattiene e convince.
Voto: 3.666/5
P.S.: dimenticavo, in questa storia c'è anche un pizzico di bel Paese, rappresentato dalla Norma di Vincenzo Bellini come tema ricorrente 🇮🇹
February 14, 2025
There’s a lot to like in this book if you enjoy Sherlock Holmes and don’t mind mixing him up with cultists and things-that-should-not-be. Most of the book, as you might expect, is meant to be the account of Watson chronicling Holmes’s investigation of some mysterious murders that seem to be linked by strangely designed furniture and machines that have a strange geometry in common.
Periodically we get POV chapters from various persons of interest who are conducting nefarious rituals and what not. They serve to add flavor, I suspect, for the people who feel there isn’t enough mythos-type inclusion. I think I would have preferred to have less of the cultist talk because it removes any doubt about there being strange business going on. Holmes is already playing a proto-Scully by denying any sort of supernatural element despite the ever-increasing mountains of evidence; I don’t think the story benefits from revealing more about the mythos and behavior of the cultists. I believe the best parts of this book are where Holmes is trying to figure out what the hell these people are doing and to what end.
From a mythology standpoint, the author makes the decision to lump Dagon and Cthulhu worship together. I’ve always seen them as being distinctly different things but I accept that’s really nerdy and it’s all good if an author wants to make them more closely linked. I see Dagon and Mother Hydra as being related heavily to the Deep Ones and given the motivations of the cultists in the book, I see no reason the worshippers would feel the need to branch out to Cthulhu-worship. I know they’re all insane, but if you’re going to go to the trouble of explaining why they worship Dagon, why not make that jump and explain why you keep bringing Cthulhu into it? This is a minor point I have spent too much time on, but I suspect that the answer lies with the title being “versus Cthulhu” sells better than “versus the Order of Dagon.”
Anyway, this is a fast and fun read. I could have done without any Moriarty stuff, but that’s where the focus is nowadays with the TV show and all so I get why he’s included.
Periodically we get POV chapters from various persons of interest who are conducting nefarious rituals and what not. They serve to add flavor, I suspect, for the people who feel there isn’t enough mythos-type inclusion. I think I would have preferred to have less of the cultist talk because it removes any doubt about there being strange business going on. Holmes is already playing a proto-Scully by denying any sort of supernatural element despite the ever-increasing mountains of evidence; I don’t think the story benefits from revealing more about the mythos and behavior of the cultists. I believe the best parts of this book are where Holmes is trying to figure out what the hell these people are doing and to what end.
From a mythology standpoint, the author makes the decision to lump Dagon and Cthulhu worship together. I’ve always seen them as being distinctly different things but I accept that’s really nerdy and it’s all good if an author wants to make them more closely linked. I see Dagon and Mother Hydra as being related heavily to the Deep Ones and given the motivations of the cultists in the book, I see no reason the worshippers would feel the need to branch out to Cthulhu-worship. I know they’re all insane, but if you’re going to go to the trouble of explaining why they worship Dagon, why not make that jump and explain why you keep bringing Cthulhu into it? This is a minor point I have spent too much time on, but I suspect that the answer lies with the title being “versus Cthulhu” sells better than “versus the Order of Dagon.”
Anyway, this is a fast and fun read. I could have done without any Moriarty stuff, but that’s where the focus is nowadays with the TV show and all so I get why he’s included.
October 8, 2017
A thoroughly rolicing read as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson take on the Order of Dagon, which is masquerading as a Druidic religion.
Involving as it does Elder Gods, Druidic themes, opera, living machines, it is surprising just how well Ms Gresh has managed to meld the worlds of Doyle and Lovecraft.
Holmes first gets involved when a distraught man comes to him after the infernal machine that his father created killed his father. It becomes increasingly obivous to everyone except Holmes that the machine is a living creature. Can they stop it before it kills again and again and again?
The scene shifts mostly between London and Avebury. With a truly revolting scene inside West Kennett Long Barrow. Be warned. This scene could easily make you lose your lunch!
This is the first of a trilogy, so am really looking forward to the second book which is released next year.
Highly recommended.
Involving as it does Elder Gods, Druidic themes, opera, living machines, it is surprising just how well Ms Gresh has managed to meld the worlds of Doyle and Lovecraft.
Holmes first gets involved when a distraught man comes to him after the infernal machine that his father created killed his father. It becomes increasingly obivous to everyone except Holmes that the machine is a living creature. Can they stop it before it kills again and again and again?
The scene shifts mostly between London and Avebury. With a truly revolting scene inside West Kennett Long Barrow. Be warned. This scene could easily make you lose your lunch!
This is the first of a trilogy, so am really looking forward to the second book which is released next year.
Highly recommended.
August 6, 2017
Started off really, really great. But Gresh screwed up in the end. The cultish nonsense gibberish kinda gets old after a couple of hundred pages.
If there's anything I can't stand, it's the complete lack of closure.
If there's anything I can't stand, it's the complete lack of closure.
October 31, 2018
This was a fun read. I enjoyed the Holmes/Mythos mashup, particularly Holmes' steadfast denial of the existence of anything supernatural. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series.
May 9, 2023
Very well abstracted and melded both franchises. But, ultimately, because it wasn't from either original author, it makes it less interesting to me. Once again, it was very well executed.
April 13, 2020
Well that turned dark
Normally I enjoy takes on Sherlock Holmes, he's intriguing, troubled but brilliant, stalwart but flawed, almost like a real person. Also, I've enjoyed the few Lovecraftian stories I've read over the years, and even done so in the face of their overt nihilism, finding their utter strangeness attractive. I thought together, Holmes and Lovecraft would be a winning combo, that Holmes would exert a lighthearted pull on Lovecraft; I did not expect the opposite to occur, a Holmesian take would turn into a bloodbath, but that is exactly what happened. The story is dark and bloody, and at times outright confusing (apparently more than a passing familiarity with HP Lovecraft is required to follow the many, names and references to that world employed by the author). Also, I also know that Holmes is a scientific materialist, but found his clinging to that philosophy, in the face of actual monsters from another dimension, laughable. Not sure I want to read more, but I am still intrigued to see where the story goes... Not sure this dark Holmes tale is that enjoyable.
Normally I enjoy takes on Sherlock Holmes, he's intriguing, troubled but brilliant, stalwart but flawed, almost like a real person. Also, I've enjoyed the few Lovecraftian stories I've read over the years, and even done so in the face of their overt nihilism, finding their utter strangeness attractive. I thought together, Holmes and Lovecraft would be a winning combo, that Holmes would exert a lighthearted pull on Lovecraft; I did not expect the opposite to occur, a Holmesian take would turn into a bloodbath, but that is exactly what happened. The story is dark and bloody, and at times outright confusing (apparently more than a passing familiarity with HP Lovecraft is required to follow the many, names and references to that world employed by the author). Also, I also know that Holmes is a scientific materialist, but found his clinging to that philosophy, in the face of actual monsters from another dimension, laughable. Not sure I want to read more, but I am still intrigued to see where the story goes... Not sure this dark Holmes tale is that enjoyable.
October 6, 2021
all reviews in one place:
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About the Book: A strange machine, burning an even stranger mix of chemicals, is turning lead into gold. Whispers of budding or possibly even very active Cult of Dagon. Deaths attributed to the machine, and very frightened workers who are too afraid to even get close for an attempt to turn it off. All of that peaks the curiosity of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes who doesn’t believe in supernatural, but seems to be just bored enough to see what’s with the ruckus.
My Opinion: It’s a bit more than just dull, the way we’re led through the tale, jumping between the good guys, and the bad guys between the chapters, all while Watson peppers everything with hefty dose of whining about his family life, and addiction he has to Sherlock. Lots of talks, and even actions, that go no where and add nothing to the story. But it’s just good enough for me to give second book a shot, in case this was the first floppy pancake.
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About the Book: A strange machine, burning an even stranger mix of chemicals, is turning lead into gold. Whispers of budding or possibly even very active Cult of Dagon. Deaths attributed to the machine, and very frightened workers who are too afraid to even get close for an attempt to turn it off. All of that peaks the curiosity of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes who doesn’t believe in supernatural, but seems to be just bored enough to see what’s with the ruckus.
My Opinion: It’s a bit more than just dull, the way we’re led through the tale, jumping between the good guys, and the bad guys between the chapters, all while Watson peppers everything with hefty dose of whining about his family life, and addiction he has to Sherlock. Lots of talks, and even actions, that go no where and add nothing to the story. But it’s just good enough for me to give second book a shot, in case this was the first floppy pancake.
May 15, 2026
A enjoyable mashup of Arthur Conan Doyle and HP Lovecraft. While being generally true to both genres, I feel like the author does a better job of storytelling the Mythos than she does with Sherlock Holmes. The madness associated with the cultists and beings from beyond spacetime is very well done. As with Doyle's stories, Dr. Watson is the primary narrator, but a number of chapters are told from the point of view of various cultists from the Esoteric Order of Dagon, all of whom are varying degrees of barking mad. Despite the name of the series, Cthulhu is almost never mentioned in the story; the primary Old One is Dagon (from Lovecraft's '"The Shadow Over Innsmouth")*. I was disappointed to find that while Professor Moriarty does appear in the story, he is a relatively minor character. 3 stars.
* Since THE ADVENTURE OF THE DEADLY DIMENSIONS is set in 1890, it takes place well before the events of "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" (1927).
* Since THE ADVENTURE OF THE DEADLY DIMENSIONS is set in 1890, it takes place well before the events of "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" (1927).
May 15, 2021
Curious story about Holmes and Watson investigating an infernal machine and the Cult of Dagon. It was a fun story, but overall, I wish it was better. I can't quite put my finger on why I feel that way. Maybe the "mystery" was a forgone conclusion for the reader since it's clearly a rascally eldritch cult causing all the chaos, so while Homes and Watson needed to figure it out, the reader was "in on" the mystery?
Also, one thing that was odd was when you are reading Lovecraft and seeing the chants in another language, like: "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" and such, it looks creepy and badassed in print, but when spoken, it ends up sounding silly.... Hearing stuff like that read out loud really took me out of the story. Admittedly, a pedantic and minor quibble, but it made a difference to me.
Also, one thing that was odd was when you are reading Lovecraft and seeing the chants in another language, like: "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" and such, it looks creepy and badassed in print, but when spoken, it ends up sounding silly.... Hearing stuff like that read out loud really took me out of the story. Admittedly, a pedantic and minor quibble, but it made a difference to me.
June 18, 2023
An absolute mess! Lovecraft-wise and Holmes-wise... I'm giving the next book a chance tho, hopefully the plot would be tighter, less meandering and with less (unintended?) red-herrings.
Edit: I've read the blurbs of the 2nd and 3rd vols and they sound way worse than the first one. I'm not continuing this amateurish, unsatisfying nonsense...
Edit: I've read the blurbs of the 2nd and 3rd vols and they sound way worse than the first one. I'm not continuing this amateurish, unsatisfying nonsense...
July 7, 2024
brilliant read
December 30, 2024
boring, out of character, and uninspired.
January 26, 2021
Il problema con il leggere storie ambientate nel mondo Lovecraftiano, avendo letto tutto di Lovecraft, è che quando i miti appaiono, anche solo accennati, non è mai una novità od un colpo di scena. E subito si riconsocono i "sintomi" che identificano i Miti ed loro seguaci.
La storia però è molto ben fatta, e i personaggio molto ben delineati che rispecchiano bene i loro ruoli.
La seria merita ed attendo l'uscita del secondo volume in italiano.
La storia però è molto ben fatta, e i personaggio molto ben delineati che rispecchiano bene i loro ruoli.
La seria merita ed attendo l'uscita del secondo volume in italiano.
September 30, 2020
L'amore che nutro per Sherlock deriva dalla mia impostazione mentale che mi fa adorare, in modo anche eccessivo la logica.
Tutto alla fine riceve la sua scientifica spiegazione, tanto che anche la materia nebulosa, passata ai posteri sotto il nome di esoterismo, riceve nella mia fertile mente lo stesso trattamento.
Essa non è che scienza non ancora dimostrata, scienza embrionale, scienza che attende soltanto l'Einstein di turno per essere rivelata.
O svelata.
Iside, dunque non è altro che l'energia che solo adesso, grazie alla fisica quantistica possiamo iniziare a osservare.
Prima era coperta dal manto chiamato superstizione e oggi noi possiamo iniziare a farci amicizia.
Ecco perché il mio interesse si riversa sopratutto su generi che abbracciano questa visione, a volte pionieristica ma totalmente razionale.
Penso al thriller laddove è la scienza della mente e sopratutto dell'ombra a farla da padrone.
Lo steampunk per esempio o il più rassicurante mondo fantascientifico, laddove l'avveniristico teletrasporto potrebbe, un domani, essere dimostrabile e attuabile.
Anche l'horror ha una sua scientificità: attraverso archetipi spesso mostruosi noi possiamo raccontare le ataviche paure umane, quelle che in fondo dci hanno permesso di essere la civiltà evoluta che siamo oggi.
Pertanto è Sherlock, cosi come il famigerato suo discendente Poirot a stuzzicare il mio lato affettivo; il buon investigatore è per me un amico fraterno, fruitore dei miei arguti pensieri filosofici totalmente improntati alla logica.
E' il tutto ha una sua spiegazione che mi spinge a fare le domande.
Su fatti considerati assurdi, il mio interesse ha un brusco stop.
Ma ognuno di noi ha anche un lato nascosto, un lato soffocato dalla luminosa luce del sole, che si rivela la notte, quando tutto tace e i rumori sinistri del silenzio diventano una cacofonia capace di suscitare brividi.
E' alla luce della luna che l'ignoto si manifesta e il buon Sherlock lascia il posto al mio amato Cappellaio Matto con i suoi assurdi e inesplicabili quesiti: allora non è più la scienza a dominare ma l'impossibile che diventa il mio mantra notturno.
Ecco perché ho trovato letteralmente geniale il libro di Lois H. Gresh.
Mettere assieme il buon Doyle con il suo personaggio ingombrante e il visionario pazzo di Providence, con i suoi tentacolari mostri, i grandi antichi che sembrano dominare il lato oscuro della nostra mente.
Sherlock in questo testo incontra...Cthulhu.
Ed è un incontro devastante per lui e per me.
Vissuto in maniera sicuramente diversa: il nostro amabile ( insomma) Holmes e il prode Watson impegnati a mantenere salde le proprie certezze, tutte rette sulla scienza.
Il lettore, in questo caso me, diviso tra l'allarmismo di chi condivide con i protagonisti la stessa mentalità quindi la comprende e la sposa e quel lato folle che lo fa sorridere, seppur un sorriso invisibile ai più, nel leggere quando in fondo la famigerata scienza non può e forse non potrà spiegare tutto.
Ne la voglia dell'essere umano di risvegliare gli incubi, persuasi di poterli addomesticare per i propri scopi, ne la convinzione che le certezze non siano altro che solide fondamenta di un sistema intoccabile.
Nella Londra piena si di contraddizioni ma tutta fieramente protesa al futuro ci sono questi strani esseri, queste entità che appartengono al regno della fantasia.
Sono gli altri, quelli di fuori che ci ricordano come siamo cosi fragili davanti a un universo che resta muto dinanzi alle nostre infantili richieste di dialogo.
Ci regale sprazzi facendoci sentire evoluti.
Ci dona l'illusione di poterlo rendere intellegibile con macchine sempre più potenti che dal vapore andranno verso il nucleare.
Ci lasciano essere tronfi, arroganti e orgogliosi per poi disilluderci brutalmente mostrandoci cosa davvero cela il velo che copre Iside: entità non spiegabili.
Incubi da cui è difficile svegliarci.
Lati oscuri fatti di viscidi urticanti tentacoli che lasicano una scia bruciante nella nostra coscienza.
E anche Sherlock Holmes cadrà nonostante la sua cultura, la sua strabiliante e invidiabile logica, davanti alla minaccia di Cthulhu.
Due mondi che si urtano e che forse non possono sopravvivere senza riportare danni a questo strano incontro.
Come direbbe la Rowling: uno dei due dovrà soccombere.
Una lettura indimenticabile, coinvolgente capace di ingabbiarvi in un incubo che diventerà sempre più reale.
E che anche alla parola fine, non vi lascerà mai.
Tutto alla fine riceve la sua scientifica spiegazione, tanto che anche la materia nebulosa, passata ai posteri sotto il nome di esoterismo, riceve nella mia fertile mente lo stesso trattamento.
Essa non è che scienza non ancora dimostrata, scienza embrionale, scienza che attende soltanto l'Einstein di turno per essere rivelata.
O svelata.
Iside, dunque non è altro che l'energia che solo adesso, grazie alla fisica quantistica possiamo iniziare a osservare.
Prima era coperta dal manto chiamato superstizione e oggi noi possiamo iniziare a farci amicizia.
Ecco perché il mio interesse si riversa sopratutto su generi che abbracciano questa visione, a volte pionieristica ma totalmente razionale.
Penso al thriller laddove è la scienza della mente e sopratutto dell'ombra a farla da padrone.
Lo steampunk per esempio o il più rassicurante mondo fantascientifico, laddove l'avveniristico teletrasporto potrebbe, un domani, essere dimostrabile e attuabile.
Anche l'horror ha una sua scientificità: attraverso archetipi spesso mostruosi noi possiamo raccontare le ataviche paure umane, quelle che in fondo dci hanno permesso di essere la civiltà evoluta che siamo oggi.
Pertanto è Sherlock, cosi come il famigerato suo discendente Poirot a stuzzicare il mio lato affettivo; il buon investigatore è per me un amico fraterno, fruitore dei miei arguti pensieri filosofici totalmente improntati alla logica.
E' il tutto ha una sua spiegazione che mi spinge a fare le domande.
Su fatti considerati assurdi, il mio interesse ha un brusco stop.
Ma ognuno di noi ha anche un lato nascosto, un lato soffocato dalla luminosa luce del sole, che si rivela la notte, quando tutto tace e i rumori sinistri del silenzio diventano una cacofonia capace di suscitare brividi.
E' alla luce della luna che l'ignoto si manifesta e il buon Sherlock lascia il posto al mio amato Cappellaio Matto con i suoi assurdi e inesplicabili quesiti: allora non è più la scienza a dominare ma l'impossibile che diventa il mio mantra notturno.
Ecco perché ho trovato letteralmente geniale il libro di Lois H. Gresh.
Mettere assieme il buon Doyle con il suo personaggio ingombrante e il visionario pazzo di Providence, con i suoi tentacolari mostri, i grandi antichi che sembrano dominare il lato oscuro della nostra mente.
Sherlock in questo testo incontra...Cthulhu.
Ed è un incontro devastante per lui e per me.
Vissuto in maniera sicuramente diversa: il nostro amabile ( insomma) Holmes e il prode Watson impegnati a mantenere salde le proprie certezze, tutte rette sulla scienza.
Il lettore, in questo caso me, diviso tra l'allarmismo di chi condivide con i protagonisti la stessa mentalità quindi la comprende e la sposa e quel lato folle che lo fa sorridere, seppur un sorriso invisibile ai più, nel leggere quando in fondo la famigerata scienza non può e forse non potrà spiegare tutto.
Ne la voglia dell'essere umano di risvegliare gli incubi, persuasi di poterli addomesticare per i propri scopi, ne la convinzione che le certezze non siano altro che solide fondamenta di un sistema intoccabile.
Nella Londra piena si di contraddizioni ma tutta fieramente protesa al futuro ci sono questi strani esseri, queste entità che appartengono al regno della fantasia.
Sono gli altri, quelli di fuori che ci ricordano come siamo cosi fragili davanti a un universo che resta muto dinanzi alle nostre infantili richieste di dialogo.
Ci regale sprazzi facendoci sentire evoluti.
Ci dona l'illusione di poterlo rendere intellegibile con macchine sempre più potenti che dal vapore andranno verso il nucleare.
Ci lasciano essere tronfi, arroganti e orgogliosi per poi disilluderci brutalmente mostrandoci cosa davvero cela il velo che copre Iside: entità non spiegabili.
Incubi da cui è difficile svegliarci.
Lati oscuri fatti di viscidi urticanti tentacoli che lasicano una scia bruciante nella nostra coscienza.
E anche Sherlock Holmes cadrà nonostante la sua cultura, la sua strabiliante e invidiabile logica, davanti alla minaccia di Cthulhu.
Due mondi che si urtano e che forse non possono sopravvivere senza riportare danni a questo strano incontro.
Come direbbe la Rowling: uno dei due dovrà soccombere.
Una lettura indimenticabile, coinvolgente capace di ingabbiarvi in un incubo che diventerà sempre più reale.
E che anche alla parola fine, non vi lascerà mai.
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