Elemental and elementary
Author:
Guy Adams
What They Say
Dead bodies are found on the streets of London with wounds that can only be explained as the work of ferocious creatures not native to the city.
Sherlock Holmes is visited by his brother, Mycroft, who is only too aware that the bodies are the calling card of Dr. Moreau, a vivisectionist who was working for the British Government, following in the footsteps of Charles Darwin, before his experiments attracted negative attention and the work was halted. Mycroft believes that Moreau’s experiments continue and he charges his brother with tracking the scientist down before matters escalate any further.
The Review:
It seems like pastiche is coming back into popularity. There are plenty of novels and movies out there predicated on the premise of two fictional franchises or genres meeting. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies obviously mixes Jane Austen with the zombie genre, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter mixes history with the supernatural, and books like Sherlock Holmes: The Army of Dr. Moreau brings together characters and concepts from several different books, most notably H.G. Wells’ The Island of Doctor Moreau, but also Wells’ First Men on the Moon, Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ At the Earth’s Core, and another character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Professor Challenger.
Two seemingly unrelated incidents bring Holmes’ brother, Mycroft, to 221B Baker Street. Two mutilated bodies turn up on one of London’s seedier sections: tortured and bearing the marks of attacks by multiple, seemingly impossible animals. Meanwhile, in the country not too far outside of the city, Edward Prendick kills himself in one of the most horrible ways imaginable: by drinking acid. Prendick was the sole survivor of the horrors chronicled in H.G. Wells’ The Island of Doctor Moreau, and Mycroft believes that the murders and Prendick’s suicide point to one of two possible truths: that Moreau is alive and continuing his work, or someone has taken up the doctor’s scalpel and continuing on in his stead. This poses a problem because, not only is his hybrids dangerous by themselves, but the doctor’s procedures could be used to create super-soldiers able to adapt to any environment. Holmes takes the case, bringing him into contact with science gone horribly wrong and a collection of incredibly colorful characters taken from other classic science novels of that time.
Part of the fun of pastiche comes from the juxtaposition of elements that should not be brought together. The character of Sherlock Holmes and everything that comes with him—Dr. Watson, Professor Moriarty, the London that Doyle portrayed—is typically treated as a separate universe in-and-of itself. Holmes does not walk the same streets as Phileas Fogg or live in the same world as Tarzan, so when his universe is brought into contact with another, there is a synergy between what is familiar (the characters, setting, and theme) and what is new (the way that the characters, settings, and themes interact with each other).
This synergy only works if the author understands what makes each fictional universe work, and fortunately, Adams does. He does a great job of capturing the tone and characters from these different works and merging them into a cohesive whole. It’s been a while since I’ve read the original Doyle stories, but it seems that Adams has done well adapting the original author’s voice while at the same time avoiding the pitfalls of Doyle’s style.
The only area where the narrative falls flat occurs during the climax. Up to that point the novel is written in the standard Holmes’s style, with Dr. Watson relating the events after the fact. However, the story abruptly changes point of view and suddenly we are treated to Holmes’s viewpoint, and later the perceptions of other characters. This is not to say that these passages aren’t well written—the chapters written as Holmes are quite entertaining—but they break the narrative rules that had been in play throughout 75% of the book, creating a jarring, distracting effect. I suppose it wouldn’t bother me if I felt that it were necessary, but I don’t see why Adams decided to do this. The reader is already aware that Watson is telling this after the fact, so it’s not like he would be telling any information he shouldn’t be privy to. It also does not highlight any particular aspects of the characters or the plot. It also ruins the conceit of the story given that Watson is writing this for posthumous publication, so even if he did need to include information from other sources, why would he allow them to write it instead of himself? It’s almost like they all took turns breaking into his office and adding little bits to the manuscript. It breaks the narrative cohesion of the book.
Regardless of this misstep at the end, this is still a highly enjoyable book. It’s simply fun to see Sherlock Holmes battle the bizarre, tragic experiments of Dr. Moreau, and the insertion of characters from similar science fiction stories of the time provides a nice nod to those familiar with those works, but at the same time stand alone within this story.
In Summary:
Sherlock Holmes: The Army of Dr. Moreau is a lot of fun to read. It pits the famous detective against the ferocious experiments of H.G. Well’s mad vivisectionist and includes nice additions from other famous science fiction stories of the time. The only place where the narrative stumbles is the climax when the novel abruptly switches point of views for no particular reason. However, the strength of the idea and the quality of the rest of the novel make up for this odd turn and make this worth reading. Recommended.
Content Grade: B-
Published By: Titan Books
Release Date: August 7, 2012
MSRP: $12.95
