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Mycroft Holmes #1
Mycroft Holmes and the Adventure of the Desert Wind
Sherlock Holmes is missing. Dr. Watson receives a cursed note, summoning him to the city of Milan. In his plight, he turns to the one person who can help him: Mycroft Holmes, secret agent and eternally concerned elder brother. Mycroft has to team up with Dr. Watson and fellow agent Victoria Trevor to follow Sherlock’s trail and stand against the dark forces that threaten his life.
316 pages, Paperback
Published December 6, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 31, 2017
I have to start with a disclaimer.
I haven't read any Sherlock Holmes canon yet - obviously a gross oversight on my side.
Mycroft Holmes struck me as something of an antihero. His conflicted emotions in regards to his younger brother and the seemingly painful history around the character of fellow secret agent Victoria Trevor add depth to the story and a layer of intrigue that keeps you turning pages. His motivations are not always entirely clear, as Mycroft seems to be in the habit of concealing his innermost self from even his closest associates. That makes sense in view of his work as a secret agent, but is even more easily understood in view of a sexual orientation that would, if known, lead to significant problems in those days.
Overall I think that Mycroft Holmes and the Adventure of the Desert Wind is a must-read for any Sherlock Holmes fan. For someone who isn't familiar with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work it might be a bit of a challenge, yet no less enjoyable for it.
I haven't read any Sherlock Holmes canon yet - obviously a gross oversight on my side.
Mycroft Holmes struck me as something of an antihero. His conflicted emotions in regards to his younger brother and the seemingly painful history around the character of fellow secret agent Victoria Trevor add depth to the story and a layer of intrigue that keeps you turning pages. His motivations are not always entirely clear, as Mycroft seems to be in the habit of concealing his innermost self from even his closest associates. That makes sense in view of his work as a secret agent, but is even more easily understood in view of a sexual orientation that would, if known, lead to significant problems in those days.
Overall I think that Mycroft Holmes and the Adventure of the Desert Wind is a must-read for any Sherlock Holmes fan. For someone who isn't familiar with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work it might be a bit of a challenge, yet no less enjoyable for it.
December 25, 2017
*Actual rating 4.5*
This book had me surprised in more than one way.
First off, Mycroft's character feels so incredibly real and true to the original, i'm deeply impressed. The characters overall feel genuine and well rounded. I think Gregorio was my unexpected favourite, and the epilogue was made so much better because of that.
Now the description is where this book really shines in my opinion. I could imagine everything so well, it was written so vividly and just detailed enough to not get boring. Usually I'm not a huge fan of description (I'm all about that dialogue), but this book did a fantastic job at immersing me in its world. The fact that I love travel in books had me enjoy this journey so much, and the description of the different countries made me feel like i was actually there.
TL;DR Janina Woods did a fantastic job with this book and even included lgbt characters, which is just the icing on top of the cake that is this book. I recommend it to everyone who does and does not enjoy Holmes stories.
This book had me surprised in more than one way.
First off, Mycroft's character feels so incredibly real and true to the original, i'm deeply impressed. The characters overall feel genuine and well rounded. I think Gregorio was my unexpected favourite, and the epilogue was made so much better because of that.
Now the description is where this book really shines in my opinion. I could imagine everything so well, it was written so vividly and just detailed enough to not get boring. Usually I'm not a huge fan of description (I'm all about that dialogue), but this book did a fantastic job at immersing me in its world. The fact that I love travel in books had me enjoy this journey so much, and the description of the different countries made me feel like i was actually there.
TL;DR Janina Woods did a fantastic job with this book and even included lgbt characters, which is just the icing on top of the cake that is this book. I recommend it to everyone who does and does not enjoy Holmes stories.
November 24, 2017
Enjoyable and fun, with characters that feel original, fresh and real within the Sherlock Holmes setting. (To be honest I am not a huge fan of the detective fiction genre, but this was a pleasure to read).
January 9, 2018
Mycroft Holmes and the Adventure of the Desert Wind starts out at a fast pace and never really slows down, all without feeling rushed. The main characters tumble from one tight situation to the next, with any downtime in between being acknowledged, but not drawn out, which I appreciated.
Mycroft, a smugly confident action hero in this book, is a bit of a bastard, but not irredeemably so, and the two other main characters - Dr. John Watson and Secret Agent Victoria Trevor - get their own chances to shine and demonstrate competence despite Mycroft's initial conviction that any company will only slow him down.
I must admit that apart from seeing a few film and TV adaptations, I am largely unfamiliar with the Sherlock Holmes stories.
This didn't impair my enjoyment of the story as far as I can tell, although I'm sure fans of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories will recognize a character more here and there.
At the same time, The Adventure of the Desert Wind deviates from the originals (as far as I'm aware) both in terms of Mycroft Holmes' character traits as well as in its treatment of supernatural powers.
Whether you consider this blasphemy or a welcome change of pace depends on your relationship to the original story, I suppose.
Very mild/vauge spoiler: Personally, I appreciated some of the changes, but was left a bit wanting in terms of receiving an "aaah" moment where strange occurrences suddenly start making sense.
Narration (Audiobook):
The narrator does a very good job at evoking a sense of stress during the action scenes, but it took me a moment to get used to his voice and style of speaking - I had a little bit of trouble understanding every word in the beginning.
He also doesn't distinguish very clearly between different speaking voices, making it sometimes difficult to determine the speaker or to guess whether something is said out loud or part of the main character's inner monologue.
I also must admit that I didn't particularly like the slightly cliched Italian accents for Italian characters.
In conclusion: Mycroft Holmes and the Adventure of the Desert Wind is a quick, enjoyable and entertaining read not without its flaws.
For transparency's sake: the book's author is a friend of mine.
Mycroft, a smugly confident action hero in this book, is a bit of a bastard, but not irredeemably so, and the two other main characters - Dr. John Watson and Secret Agent Victoria Trevor - get their own chances to shine and demonstrate competence despite Mycroft's initial conviction that any company will only slow him down.
I must admit that apart from seeing a few film and TV adaptations, I am largely unfamiliar with the Sherlock Holmes stories.
This didn't impair my enjoyment of the story as far as I can tell, although I'm sure fans of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories will recognize a character more here and there.
At the same time, The Adventure of the Desert Wind deviates from the originals (as far as I'm aware) both in terms of Mycroft Holmes' character traits as well as in its treatment of supernatural powers.
Whether you consider this blasphemy or a welcome change of pace depends on your relationship to the original story, I suppose.
Very mild/vauge spoiler: Personally, I appreciated some of the changes, but was left a bit wanting in terms of receiving an "aaah" moment where strange occurrences suddenly start making sense.
Narration (Audiobook):
The narrator does a very good job at evoking a sense of stress during the action scenes, but it took me a moment to get used to his voice and style of speaking - I had a little bit of trouble understanding every word in the beginning.
He also doesn't distinguish very clearly between different speaking voices, making it sometimes difficult to determine the speaker or to guess whether something is said out loud or part of the main character's inner monologue.
I also must admit that I didn't particularly like the slightly cliched Italian accents for Italian characters.
In conclusion: Mycroft Holmes and the Adventure of the Desert Wind is a quick, enjoyable and entertaining read not without its flaws.
For transparency's sake: the book's author is a friend of mine.
November 12, 2017
In this novel, Janina Woods has turned the side character of Mycroft Holmes, only a little fleshed out in the original works, into a compelling (anti)hero. Reluctantly compelled by his inconvenient brotherly affection for Sherlock onto a quest across Europe and Egypt to rescue him from shadowy forces, Mycroft is forced to cooperate with the quavering John Watson and confront relationships from his past that he might have preferred to leave there. We follow him through a Grand Tour of mysterious cities, where modern treachery threads through the ancient foundations and the true stakes only slowly become clear.
Throughout the journey, Woods's set-pieces consistently hit the right notes, whether with action, drama or humour (for example, ). It's an absolute joy to spend time with Woods's secret agent Mycroft: crafty, sarcastic, ultra-competent and yet, at times, suprisingly vulnerable. I can't wait for the sequel.
Throughout the journey, Woods's set-pieces consistently hit the right notes, whether with action, drama or humour (for example, ). It's an absolute joy to spend time with Woods's secret agent Mycroft: crafty, sarcastic, ultra-competent and yet, at times, suprisingly vulnerable. I can't wait for the sequel.
December 24, 2017
This book purrs on like a well-oiled little machine. It is so tightly plotted, you cannot even imagine getting bored in a few pages‘ time — before that happens, the characters have already been whisked away and Mycroft needs to save the day. Again.
It’s a nice little romp through Europe, more akin to James Bond than Sherlock Holmes novels. Most entertaining.
It’s a nice little romp through Europe, more akin to James Bond than Sherlock Holmes novels. Most entertaining.
January 3, 2018
Thrilling story, interesting characters- I swallowed up this book in just a few days. Great read!
January 1, 2018
Janina Woods not only captured Mycroft's voice, but sustained its authenticity for the whole novel. The Victorian English was spot on and listening to the audio version was totally engaging. The descriptions of places and action are so visual that this adventure has a cinematic quality. I'm very much looking forward to the next instalment.
December 16, 2017
Seriously fucking awesome. Read it in one go. I'm obsessed with it.
May 30, 2023
It's finally done. Mycroft Holmes and the Adventure of the Desert Wind falls solidly into the category of books 'effort was made, but it's still very bad.'
The Adventure of the Desert kicks off with Watson asking Mycroft for help: Sherlock, who was investigating some unknown case abroad, is overdue and now strange correspondence that appears to be him asking for help has arrived. Without waiting for permission from his agency (Mycroft works in some badly defined intelligence/security capacity), he and Watson simply take off, intending to rescue him. At various points, they are set upon by enemies that seem to be part of some plot involving something nefarious meant for Sherlock, have to deal with other branches/agents of the intelligence/security department Mycroft works for, and deal with apparently magical traps that they don't actually bother to investigate before moving on.
So, why didn't I like this book? Mostly, because characterization for the POV character, Mycroft Holmes, is all off. Fanworks, especially fanworks that center on a POV that canon material doesn't touch, get some leeway for characterization. The same goes for fanworks that alter genre and place the characters in an entirely different setting with different rules. But I've read other Sherlockian fanworks that do both that are much better written than the Adventure of the Desert Wind. Alexis Hall's The Affair of the Mysterious Letter, for example, completely alters genre and some parts of the character that one might consider fundamental (it's a mystery in an SFF setting with a genderflipped Holmes) and James Lovegrove's Cthulhu Casebooks genre shifts to horror-fantasy (it's basically 'what if Holmes were in a lovecraftian universe and knew it?'). Both of these are some of my favorite Sherlockian fanworks, in large part because they compensate for alterations by doubling down on other major pieces of characterization. In Affair, where magic is a known and accepted part of daily life and Shaharazad Haas/Sherlock Holmes is a sorceress, the author flanderizes the character's well known, perpetual state of simultaneous boredom and curiosity. In the Cthulhu Casebooks, which starts off like normal historical mystery fiction, Sherlock comes across a strange case but pursues it as he would usually, eliminating all possible explanations - even the vanishingly unlikely ones - before even considering magic (and doesn't even accept that until he sees incontrovertible proof himself). Both versions of Sherlock are very in-character either because they dodge a potential issue entirely (as did Affair, in making magic a known part of the setting; something that was just baked in) or by making acceptance through the character's known way of viewing the world part of the story (as did the Cthulhu Casebooks, in making Sherlock puzzle over how the apparently impossible things he found could be happening in a way that is well established for him in canon).
With that being said, this is my major complaint about The Adventure of the Desert Wind: Mycroft, a character established as being very similar to Sherlock (because Sherlock learned his way of looking at the world from Mycroft), encounters a weird thing in the very beginning of the book, jumps to the conclusion of 'supernatural causes' for no apparent reason and with no further investigation or even contemplation of other more likely causes, and keeps insisting that other weird things are supernatural in cause for the rest of the book without bothering to actually look for more likely causes and eliminate those as possibilities. That he's actually right is heavy-handed, clumsy writing and a symptom of him channeling knowledge from the author, nothing more. There are ways to genre shift Sherlockian fanworks, but this is not it. The fact that Mycroft's characterization is so wrong and there's no way to ignore it because he's the fucking POV character just makes this intolerable, which is a shame because the actual story (about a cult of Seth that thinks Sherlock and Moriarty are the incarnations of Horus and Seth) is is a really interesting idea, if a ham-handedly executed one.
All in all, this book was terrible and a waste of both my time to read it and the audible credit once used to purchase it. I have book two, the Edinburgh Affair (it was gifted to me at the same time as The Adventure of the Desert Wind), and am highly unlikely to read it. I would not recommend The Adventure of the Desert Wind to anyone interested in Sherlock Holmes pastiches; instead, I would recommend The Affair of the Mysterious Letter or the Cthulhu Casebooks to anyone who was interested in genre shifted works, and James Lovegrove's other Sherlockian books - such as Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Demon - to anyone interested in works that more closely align with ACD's canon.
The Adventure of the Desert kicks off with Watson asking Mycroft for help: Sherlock, who was investigating some unknown case abroad, is overdue and now strange correspondence that appears to be him asking for help has arrived. Without waiting for permission from his agency (Mycroft works in some badly defined intelligence/security capacity), he and Watson simply take off, intending to rescue him. At various points, they are set upon by enemies that seem to be part of some plot involving something nefarious meant for Sherlock, have to deal with other branches/agents of the intelligence/security department Mycroft works for, and deal with apparently magical traps that they don't actually bother to investigate before moving on.
So, why didn't I like this book? Mostly, because characterization for the POV character, Mycroft Holmes, is all off. Fanworks, especially fanworks that center on a POV that canon material doesn't touch, get some leeway for characterization. The same goes for fanworks that alter genre and place the characters in an entirely different setting with different rules. But I've read other Sherlockian fanworks that do both that are much better written than the Adventure of the Desert Wind. Alexis Hall's The Affair of the Mysterious Letter, for example, completely alters genre and some parts of the character that one might consider fundamental (it's a mystery in an SFF setting with a genderflipped Holmes) and James Lovegrove's Cthulhu Casebooks genre shifts to horror-fantasy (it's basically 'what if Holmes were in a lovecraftian universe and knew it?'). Both of these are some of my favorite Sherlockian fanworks, in large part because they compensate for alterations by doubling down on other major pieces of characterization. In Affair, where magic is a known and accepted part of daily life and Shaharazad Haas/Sherlock Holmes is a sorceress, the author flanderizes the character's well known, perpetual state of simultaneous boredom and curiosity. In the Cthulhu Casebooks, which starts off like normal historical mystery fiction, Sherlock comes across a strange case but pursues it as he would usually, eliminating all possible explanations - even the vanishingly unlikely ones - before even considering magic (and doesn't even accept that until he sees incontrovertible proof himself). Both versions of Sherlock are very in-character either because they dodge a potential issue entirely (as did Affair, in making magic a known part of the setting; something that was just baked in) or by making acceptance through the character's known way of viewing the world part of the story (as did the Cthulhu Casebooks, in making Sherlock puzzle over how the apparently impossible things he found could be happening in a way that is well established for him in canon).
With that being said, this is my major complaint about The Adventure of the Desert Wind: Mycroft, a character established as being very similar to Sherlock (because Sherlock learned his way of looking at the world from Mycroft), encounters a weird thing in the very beginning of the book, jumps to the conclusion of 'supernatural causes' for no apparent reason and with no further investigation or even contemplation of other more likely causes, and keeps insisting that other weird things are supernatural in cause for the rest of the book without bothering to actually look for more likely causes and eliminate those as possibilities. That he's actually right is heavy-handed, clumsy writing and a symptom of him channeling knowledge from the author, nothing more. There are ways to genre shift Sherlockian fanworks, but this is not it. The fact that Mycroft's characterization is so wrong and there's no way to ignore it because he's the fucking POV character just makes this intolerable, which is a shame because the actual story (about a cult of Seth that thinks Sherlock and Moriarty are the incarnations of Horus and Seth) is is a really interesting idea, if a ham-handedly executed one.
All in all, this book was terrible and a waste of both my time to read it and the audible credit once used to purchase it. I have book two, the Edinburgh Affair (it was gifted to me at the same time as The Adventure of the Desert Wind), and am highly unlikely to read it. I would not recommend The Adventure of the Desert Wind to anyone interested in Sherlock Holmes pastiches; instead, I would recommend The Affair of the Mysterious Letter or the Cthulhu Casebooks to anyone who was interested in genre shifted works, and James Lovegrove's other Sherlockian books - such as Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Demon - to anyone interested in works that more closely align with ACD's canon.
January 21, 2018
The overall plot is quite intriguing, and the inclusion of LGBT rep is great. The execution of it all is where I found it lacking, mostly in the “as you know, Bob”-style dialogue at times, where you can feel the mechanism of the dialogue being pressed into the service of the plot, and just some clunky phrasing that took away from my immersion (and in some cases added to confusion as to what exactly was going on). My biggest issue, however, was the copyediting or lack thereof. Not sure if it’s just in the ebook version I read or if it’s in the paperback as well, but the use of commas in particular was really nonstandard to my (trained) American eyes, to the point of distraction. For example:
“Mycroft! I thank you for responding so quickly,” Watson appeared on top of the stairs.
I would always punctuate this as
“Mycroft! I thank you for responding so quickly.” Watson appeared on top of the stairs.
This continues throughout. I don’t know if it’s European standard to punctuate dialogue followed by action (as opposed to dialogue tags) that way or not, but with this and a few other copyediting issues, I couldn’t really immerse myself in the text.
“Mycroft! I thank you for responding so quickly,” Watson appeared on top of the stairs.
I would always punctuate this as
“Mycroft! I thank you for responding so quickly.” Watson appeared on top of the stairs.
This continues throughout. I don’t know if it’s European standard to punctuate dialogue followed by action (as opposed to dialogue tags) that way or not, but with this and a few other copyediting issues, I couldn’t really immerse myself in the text.
January 13, 2018
I enjoyed this book! I especially loved the refreshing Mycroft's POV, his shameless superior snark was on point. The dialogue was witty and realistic and even had me laughing out loud at parts. This novel read more like an adventure story to me, reminding me a bit of Indiana Jones, and I loved this combined with the detective story. The pacing was swift and the characters were fun, and overall, a great read.
June 26, 2020
Found this title when I was looking for the one authored by Kareem Abdul-Jabar. I like Kareem's better. For such an intelligent, accomplished agent, Mycroft failed to fall for each trap. The ending was too confused and resolved in a way that didn't seem to fit what had been described earlier.
Oh, and the editing was atrocious. Too many errors that should have been caught.
Oh, and the editing was atrocious. Too many errors that should have been caught.
March 18, 2025
Mycroft Holmes and Victoria Trevor are secret agents and have teemed up with Doctor Watson in order to find Sherlock Holmes; who has been captured by the cult known as “The Desert Wind”. Lots of fun!!!
November 20, 2021
A wonderful adventure full of twists and turns. Mycroft Holmes is not only a man of thought but a man of action. What fun it is to see him in action.
December 13, 2025
Mycroft Holmes: I don't believe in that... unless...
December 6, 2017
I'm a huge lover of all things Mycroft Holmes. I've been intrigued by him as a character since reading The Greek Interpreter, in which Sherlock rates him as his intellectual superior - who doesn't want to know more about a man who can outsmart Sherlock Holmes? Personally I've always been particularly interested in works that explore Mycroft working in intelligence, given that the description of his job in the Sherlock Holmes canon sounds not dissimilar to that of a (albeit a sort of "god mode") intelligence agent/analyst in modern times.
All of the above in mind, I was absolutely delighted with this book. It combines an impressive exploration of Mycroft as both an individual and as a working intelligence agent. It fleshes out Arthur Conan Doyle's character to reveal a man of quick wit, bravery, loyalty and emotional depth. Even if you're not a fan of Holmesian writing this book is a fantastic cross-continental period adventure - it features some truly gripping drama, seat-of-the-pants action scenes and some fantastic humour.
It also has possibly the best epilogue I could have ever wished for - both a surprise and totally not a surprise (if you've read this book already you'll know exactly what I'm referring to!)
I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves either Mycroft Holmes, Holmesian pastiche, or just a good old fashioned spy/adventure novel. Woods's Mycroft is now my favourite Mycroft, and I can't wait for more!
All of the above in mind, I was absolutely delighted with this book. It combines an impressive exploration of Mycroft as both an individual and as a working intelligence agent. It fleshes out Arthur Conan Doyle's character to reveal a man of quick wit, bravery, loyalty and emotional depth. Even if you're not a fan of Holmesian writing this book is a fantastic cross-continental period adventure - it features some truly gripping drama, seat-of-the-pants action scenes and some fantastic humour.
It also has possibly the best epilogue I could have ever wished for - both a surprise and totally not a surprise (if you've read this book already you'll know exactly what I'm referring to!)
I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves either Mycroft Holmes, Holmesian pastiche, or just a good old fashioned spy/adventure novel. Woods's Mycroft is now my favourite Mycroft, and I can't wait for more!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews