Round the Fire Stories

Rating:
Summary: Okay, but not great. Mainly interesting as a look at Doyle
Review: We all know Sir Arthur Conan Doyle from his Sherlock Holmes stories, and a few of us know him from Professor Challenger. This books shows an entirely different side of Doyle. They are interesting as a look at him, and a look at his time. Most of the characters are ordinary Englishmen (no women protagonists, and certainly nobody who isn't a Caucasian from Europe or North America! We do get a look inside the head of some of them, and see what motivates them.

As horror and suspense stories, these are okay, but not brilliant. There's not a single stinker in the book--I read every story to the end without regrets. On the other hand, none of the stories are brilliant, or even tremendously horrifying nowadays. The one that disturbed me most was probably "The Pot of Caviare", which has not even the slightest touch of the supernatural (and which was very predictable, even though disturbing). A couple of the stories touch on Doyle's supernatural interests.

If you want to see more of Doyle's non-Baker Street side, check out the stories of Brigadier Gerard. Or if you want to see the works of which Doyle was proudest, check his historical novels of The White Company.