Akiva Reads

by John Joseph Adams

This is a free selection of stories from a larger anthology. And okay, I'll bite, I'm going to have to go find the original. This one didn't have any steampunk (which, come on!) but maybe the larger anthology does?

"The Horror of the Many Faces" (*) Definitely the creepiest and possibly my favorite. Lovecraft and Doyle work very nicely together. Unfortunately, this and the next one made me think all the stories were going to be horror/supernatural, which would have been awesome, and I was slightly disappointed.

"The Adventure of the Death-Fetch" (*) Even if I'm charitable and assume the author is trying to mock colonialist camp instead of just gleefully indulging in it, this one doesn't do much for me. The framing story, about Watson needing to get an unpublished case off his chest, is actually more interesting than the 'mystery,' which is pretty sad.

"The Adventure of the Lost World" (***) Very silly, but I did laugh.

"Dynamics of a Hanging" (****) Creepy for very different reasons than "Many Faces" but also very good.

"Merridew of Abominable Memory" (**) Not terribly interesting, or improbable either.

"The Adventure of the Green Skull" (****) Yessssss, love it. A counterpoint to "Death-Fetch," it punches up instead of down. A lot of the original stories have ugly racist and misogynist elements, so it's a relief that you can fit justice into a Sherlock Holmes story without forcing it. And I liked that criminals get ideas from Watson's publications too!

"You See But You Do Not Observe" (****) Didn't get to me emotionally as much as I would have liked/expected, but it's a great idea.