The Story Never Stops

Reviews and ratings of Sherlock Holmes stories that I find. Notes will be made not just on how good the story is and how well the characters are written but whether or not Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are both or either involved. 

[itsc]

if youre fat and queer i hope youre having a really good day

[incarnationsofholmesandwatson]

So it’s been a while but I had to post about this one. I have avoided reading it because of several reasons including but not limited to Holmes being a girl, the two of them being descendants of the original pair, and the just general fear of it being an excuse to make a oh we’re instantly in love as a heterosexual pair destined to be because of our ancestors.

I am genuinely shocked by how much I loved this book, though. The author has a wonderful Watson voice, plots amazingly well and managed to capture the feel of the holmes/watson dynamic. There is no one instantly in love with one another. Everything between this Holmes and Watson is everything I’d expect from a teenage we just met Holmes and Watson. The confusion. The excitement. The reluctance to just be what everyone expects.

There is real character development here and real mystery all founded in a love of these stories that usually isn’t present in these types of books. I cannot wait to read the next one and regret its taken me so long to try it.

[incarnationsofholmesandwatson]

I admit to putting off watching this despite the great reviews I’d heard from others because it did not sound like something I would enjoy. I don’t like the idea of seeing Sherlock struggling with loosing his memory, I could find nothing that said how much John Watson was involved in the story, (one reason I started this blog was to have a resource that mentioned this in particular in reviews) and just didn’t like much the idea of this movie.

But I have enjoyed things told beautifully, if sadly, before and decided to give it a chance today.

All the acting is good. Ian Mckellan is, of course, fantastic. The way the story unfolds, the sets of memories trickling in a bit at a time, was very well done.

The story itself was completely not to my taste at all. This Sherlock is a man full of regrets, struggling with dementia, and abandoned by his friends. He is lonely and says he always has been. This is cannot stand. I cannot enjoy. I will add my biggest problem with the story at the end under a read more, but let’s just finish this with one of my main points. There is little, practically no John Watson in this story. Sherlock I would say is out of character to me and what is done with John Watson out of character as well. I will read way too much fanfic to make this up to myself tonight.

I know that in the original stories Sherlock moves to Sussex and it’s often said John isn’t with him or around but this movie has John married, moved away, leaving Sherlock after rescuing him from his own depression and then dying before they can make up or say goodbye. I don’t care if these things happen in real life. I understand these are not the way I read Sherlock and John’s relationship. This is so abhorrent to me as to put me off the entire movie.

[incarnationsofholmesandwatson]

It is my great pleasure to make The Unlikely Death by Niko Ford the first review on this blog. Here is the synopsis real quick if you’ve never seen it;

Fifteen months ago, a bombardment by Mimetic forces against a frontline fleet left Captain John Watson, a military surgeon, wounded and nearly dead. Healed but judged unfit to return to duty, John is forced to resort to contracting out on a mining vessel as part of the accompanying medical personnel. It’s boring work but it keeps him in space, one ambush away from adventure again with no real consideration to the terrors of war. Anything is better than boredom. Anything is better than a normal life. Anything—including homicide? When Sherlock Holmes is found to be the victim of a gruesome murder aboard the ship, John becomes the only likely suspect despite having no memory of the deed. Now he must face confinement, therapy, and the constant companionship of a hologram of his alleged victim to aid in his rehabilitation—a hologram who is only too happy to engage in the mystery of his own murder to try and discover why he died and how events set his path to cross with the war ravaged stranger he is now posthumously bound to.

When I came across this book in a desperate need of more Sherlock stories after the 4th season of BBC’s Sherlock I couldn’t have been more excited. I literally didn’t shut up about it until it came in, then read it in one night. (And haven’t really shut up about it since.)

It is an absolutely excellent book; very in character, tons of fun, full of adventure. The idea of Sherlock Holmes in space seems to put a lot of people off (by the reactions of people I’ve talked to about it) and they don’t know what they’re missing. There’s nothing odd about having Sherlock and John in space, the relationship, the mystery, the same sense of story is all still there and I ADORE it.

I could keep talking about it forever and cannot wait to see what Niko Ford does next.

Most important to me is that this story is about Sherlock and John. She wrote the characters individually and together wonderfully which is the most important thing to me in any Sherlock story. They’re both involved throughout the story which has an intriguing mystery and a very exciting ending. I absolutely recommend.

Find the book here:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25977212-the-unlikely-death-vol-1

And find Niko Ford’s site here: https://www.nikoford.com/

Had I the means I’d pass this book to everyone I meet. Go check it out!