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A Question of Time
Sherlock Holmes
whether he's a grimy student in 1980, a consulting detective in 47BCE, or a smitten neighbour in 1969, will always find his...
John Watson
whether he is a military doctor in 1917, an angry Saxon with an axe in 1086, or a priest in 1603.
A Question of Time is an illustrated journey through the ages told by our heroes, by their friends, and by a scorched manuscript.
whether he's a grimy student in 1980, a consulting detective in 47BCE, or a smitten neighbour in 1969, will always find his...
John Watson
whether he is a military doctor in 1917, an angry Saxon with an axe in 1086, or a priest in 1603.
A Question of Time is an illustrated journey through the ages told by our heroes, by their friends, and by a scorched manuscript.
- GenresRomanceHistorical
124 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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March 24, 2020This is the second book I read from Improbable Press, and I have to say the 221B format of the stories (221 words with the last word starting with the letter "b") began to wear thin after the third story or so. I was really excited for this concept: Holmes and Watson in different places and times throughout history. I didn't realize going in that almost every single story would be only 221 words and then the next story would begin in a completely different time period. Points for cool concept but the execution was dizzying, confusing, and I again felt like the characterization was way off.
October 14, 2019
A Question of Time is the third in Improbable Press’s 221B series (which began with my own A Dream to Build a Kiss On and then K. Caine’s A Study in Velvet and Leather) and continues the theme of writing Holmes/Watson love stories a succinct 221 words at a time. (The last word of each short story begins with ‘B’, hence the 221B name for the form.)
This new collection begins with 221 words set in 2085, a bittersweet eulogy for two men who loved each other all their lives, delivered by their child. There is so much love and humour in these words you feel like you’ve known the three of them. The illustration of the twined elm trees is a lovely, evocative symbol of the emotion of this window into their story.
The remaining 49 stories flit about through time, from 19,873 BCE (what heartstring can be tugged in 221 words about ochred hand paintings!) through the disco years [and two world wars and molly houses and Jack the Ripper’s London] to a lovely two-parter in 2019 where an appreciative and babbling Watson meets a busking Holmes.
Each is a delicious little tale, woven into history yet standing alone as a snippet of a time and place. Huge amounts of personality, delicious wickedness and humour are part of the weave; as are darker moments during the black plague and its 20th century counterpart during the 1980s with the AIDS crisis.
All the cleverness, compassion, giggle-out-loud-at-the-cafe quirks are turned into double delights with Janet Anderton’s illustration: the orchids, bees, coins, singed manuscripts and strange paraphernalia, and glimpses of hands, mouths, eyes in each setting highlighting elements of and adding dimensions to each story.
In short, A Question of Time is small and perfectly formed, the delights of the text enhanced by the charms of the illustrations, and if you like your Holmes and Watson to be in love, no matter where in time they exist, you’ll get 50 little hits of joy.
This new collection begins with 221 words set in 2085, a bittersweet eulogy for two men who loved each other all their lives, delivered by their child. There is so much love and humour in these words you feel like you’ve known the three of them. The illustration of the twined elm trees is a lovely, evocative symbol of the emotion of this window into their story.
The remaining 49 stories flit about through time, from 19,873 BCE (what heartstring can be tugged in 221 words about ochred hand paintings!) through the disco years [and two world wars and molly houses and Jack the Ripper’s London] to a lovely two-parter in 2019 where an appreciative and babbling Watson meets a busking Holmes.
Each is a delicious little tale, woven into history yet standing alone as a snippet of a time and place. Huge amounts of personality, delicious wickedness and humour are part of the weave; as are darker moments during the black plague and its 20th century counterpart during the 1980s with the AIDS crisis.
All the cleverness, compassion, giggle-out-loud-at-the-cafe quirks are turned into double delights with Janet Anderton’s illustration: the orchids, bees, coins, singed manuscripts and strange paraphernalia, and glimpses of hands, mouths, eyes in each setting highlighting elements of and adding dimensions to each story.
In short, A Question of Time is small and perfectly formed, the delights of the text enhanced by the charms of the illustrations, and if you like your Holmes and Watson to be in love, no matter where in time they exist, you’ll get 50 little hits of joy.
February 7, 2023
Clever idea, and creative to see all the many ways Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson can be reinvented throughout history, but ultimately I found this frustrating. Each "chapter" is in 221B format (221 words, with the last one beginning with B), which means that, with the exception of the very few multi-chapter scenes, we barely see the characters before it's on to another era of time. That made the whole thing, read in one sitting, feel shallow, like flipping through someone else's photograph album.
The illustrations never show us the figures; instead, they are pencil drawings of extreme closeups of something that was mentioned in the corresponding chapter. They're closer to decorative dingbats heading a page turn than they are actual illustrations.
I enjoyed the concept, but the execution I found wearying. Perhaps I would have been more involved with more modern versions, as the ideas of cavemen or the two in the 1600s or the like weren't particularly interesting to me. There are some author's notes in the back, explaining details of some of the historical eras; I would have preferred to see those next to the chapters where they were relevant.
The illustrations never show us the figures; instead, they are pencil drawings of extreme closeups of something that was mentioned in the corresponding chapter. They're closer to decorative dingbats heading a page turn than they are actual illustrations.
I enjoyed the concept, but the execution I found wearying. Perhaps I would have been more involved with more modern versions, as the ideas of cavemen or the two in the 1600s or the like weren't particularly interesting to me. There are some author's notes in the back, explaining details of some of the historical eras; I would have preferred to see those next to the chapters where they were relevant.
April 4, 2020
When I read the description for this book, 221B stories (each 221 words and ending with a word starting with a B) of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson meeting, working together, and madly loving each other across different centuries, I thought it would be a fun read. I grossly underestimated the level of imagination and artistry that went into this book. Author Jamie Ashbird and and illustrator Janet Anderton created something beautiful and special when they collaborated on this collection. My favorites were the one with the ghost, the ones set during the bubonic plague, and the one set in 19,873 BCE.
February 2, 2020
This is one of Improbable Press's '221B' publications, where each chapter or story is exactly 221 words long with the final word beginning with the letter B. It's a clever format which hones the text nicely, a hard but rewarding discipline for any writer! And Jamie Ashbird's stories are fascinating, each one featuring Holmes and Watson in a different time zone - they make their earliest appearance in 19,873 BCE and their latest in 2085, and the stories are not presented in date order but mixed up, which really keeps the reader on their toes.
So we have John and Sherlock involved in the Great Fire of London in 1666, shivering in rented digs in the Great Freeze of 1962, subjects of a question put to the Delphic Oracle in 190 BCE, quizzed by assessors for the Domesday Book in 1086, surviving the Blitz in 1940, facing the Black Death in 1348, getting married in a Molly House in 1710, planning marriage again in 2014 … you get the picture. They get to chase the odd villain and solve the odd crime along the way, but their activities are many and varied, and they manage to enjoy a lot of sex. With one another, natch.
Each story features an illustration by Janet Anderton, and they're both detailed and subtle - a string of beads, the embroidery on a waistcoat, a bee - beautifully setting the scene of the 221-word narrative. Read and enjoy!
So we have John and Sherlock involved in the Great Fire of London in 1666, shivering in rented digs in the Great Freeze of 1962, subjects of a question put to the Delphic Oracle in 190 BCE, quizzed by assessors for the Domesday Book in 1086, surviving the Blitz in 1940, facing the Black Death in 1348, getting married in a Molly House in 1710, planning marriage again in 2014 … you get the picture. They get to chase the odd villain and solve the odd crime along the way, but their activities are many and varied, and they manage to enjoy a lot of sex. With one another, natch.
Each story features an illustration by Janet Anderton, and they're both detailed and subtle - a string of beads, the embroidery on a waistcoat, a bee - beautifully setting the scene of the 221-word narrative. Read and enjoy!
September 11, 2019
I love all these mini-stories and the accompanying drawings that are an integral part of them. They are in turn sweet and funny and hot. Well done to the authors!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews