All-Consuming Fire (Doctor Who-The New Adventures)

Rating:
Summary: Doctor Who & Sherlock Holmes vs. the Cthulhu Mythos
Review: As a fan and writer of Lovecraftian fiction as well as a Sherlock Holes fan (not to mention one of Doctor Who), I was very pleased with this novel. The author was well versed on the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and it sounds exactly like one of Watson's writings. Of course the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Benny are themselves and they team up very well with Holmes and Watson. My only grip is that Azathoth (who is supposed to be "the blind idiot god at the center of chaos" seemed too intellegent to me. But, hey it's no worse than what August Derleth did to the Mythos. A superb novel and shows that a literary crossover can't always be bad.

Rating:
Summary: Time consuming!
Review: I feel I must comment upon possibly the best book Andy Lane has ever written. This novel proved to be a wonderful narrative, told expertly from the viewpoint of Dr. Watson. The idea of the Great Detective having actually existed, and entered into such an adventure was awe-inspiring. Quite how Mr. Mobile could even begin to call this book Tripe is beyond my comprehension. The fate of Mrs. Prendersley should fall upon Mr. Mobile as soon as is humanly possible. Full Marks to Andy Lane, and I hope to see more of this sort of work again!

Rating:
Summary: I Burned my Copy
Review: Stated off bearable and made it to the latter stages of the book before I thought about burning it. Once they go to India following the mysterious 'cult', it becomes a load of tripe. Unoriginal, uninteesting, and uninspired. And, what happened to the SCIENCE? I remember when Dcotor Who was SCIENCE FICTION. Now, they have characters muttering magic words to make things happen! Give me a break, I like SCIENCE in my SCIENCE FICTION. Also, it is a disgrace what they have done to a fine character like Ace in the NAs. Some really bad lines in here as well. I also wonder why the NA authors find it necessary to put silly references to modern culture in these books by mentioning Sonic the Hedgehog and Blue Peter to name a couple. Tripe.

Rating:
Summary: Elementary, my dear Benny
Review: What an idea. Putting Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson and chunks of the Lovecraft universe into a Doctor Who book is a concept that seems ripe for disaster. Too many incompatibilities, too many elements to draw on, and a question of where the focus should be. And yet ALL-CONSUMING FIRE manages to be one of my favorite NAs despite the handful of minor flaws that appear. Holmes and Watson are effortlessly inserted into an imaginative Doctor Who story, giving the book a unique flavor. It's a dark and occasionally grim story, but strangely enough it somehow succeeds at being a whole lot of fun.

The tale starts in typical Holmesian fashion. During the beginning, Watson gets to play second fiddle while Holmes makes several detailed (though irrelevant) observations and deductions purely to demonstrate how clever he is. This sort of thing will be very familiar to fans of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Their involvement in this case begins with an important client hiring them to discover the whereabouts of several books that have been stolen from a strange and secretive library. During the course of their investigation, their travels intersect with the path of that mysterious and eccentric gentleman -- the Doctor (portrayed here as alternatively goofy and cynical). The two fictional juggernauts actually interact quite well. I was hugely entertained by their initial meetings; there's a very amusing sequence in which Holmes is totally unable to determine much of the Doctor's origins from telltale bits of dust and dirt. What could have gone so poorly ends up feeling really right.

The trail leads them first to India, and then to an alien world known as Ry'leh. The reactions of the two Victorians as their surroundings become more and more bizarre are handled realistically (or as realistically as possible) without being over the top. The conclusion to the story is satisfying, though the book suffers from having a beginning that is so wonderful that even an extraordinary ending would seem vaguely inadequate.

The story is told primarily from the journals/diaries of Dr. John Watson and Professor Bernice Summerfield. Andy Lane is excellent at recreating Arthur Conan Doyle's prose style without appearing to be doing a mere cut'n'paste job. The process of the investigation of missing books is very much in keeping with the flavor of the Holmes stories. The Library of St. John The Beheaded is a fantastic creation, and its description is pure Holmesian. A wonderful combination of concepts and prose.

The Lovecraftian additions near the conclusion are not quite as well handled as the Holmes portions. I am, of course, not the first reviewer to note this, and I'm afraid that I cannot break with conventional thinking here. Lovecraft succeeded by keeping his baddies just out of the corner of one's eye, where one wasn't quite sure what was there or what was going on. While this story does eventually come up with a good reason why it's breaking with the formula, the explanation doesn't make up for the fact that it simply isn't executed as pleasingly. This portion at times seems as if it was hastily bolted on to the main plot. Apart from some fairly superficial name-checks, the Lovecraft villains could have been almost any great evil.

The first time I read this book, I did feel that Holmes was horribly underused during the later series of events. While rereading the story, I was mentally prepared for this, and to my surprise, Lane didn't quite sideline Holmes as much as I had remembered. The great detective certainly doesn't have the same forceful impact on the story that he does in the beginning, but my memory had only retained the portions dealing with his shock and bewilderment. There are in fact several moments where Holmes does arrive at plot-advancing conclusions despite his unfamiliarity with the environment. On the other hand, Benny does seem to enjoy taking the mickey out of the famous sleuth at times and while those who take the detective very seriously may not be entirely pleased with that approach, I couldn't help but giggle. A slight mocking of Sherlock Holmes, perhaps, but one that allows him to come through the story with his dignity intact.

There are just too many little things that the book does well to mention them all. I was greatly amused by Watson's infatuation with Benny, perfectly in keeping with his enchantment for seemingly all of his female clients. The descriptions of the Holmes style of Victorian London are excellent. The delightful puns and jokes in the chapter titles are delightful, and had me flipping back to the beginning of the chapter after I had read it in order to get the joke. Too many fun things to recommend about this one.

Rating:
Summary: Elementary, my dear Benny
Review: What an idea. Putting Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson and chunks of the Lovecraft universe into a Doctor Who book is a concept that seems ripe for disaster. Too many incompatibilities, too many elements to draw on, and a question of where the focus should be. And yet ALL-CONSUMING FIRE manages to be one of my favorite NAs despite the handful of minor flaws that appear. Holmes and Watson are effortlessly inserted into an imaginative Doctor Who story, giving the book a unique flavor. It's a dark and occasionally grim story, but strangely enough it somehow succeeds at being a whole lot of fun.

The tale starts in typical Holmesian fashion. During the beginning, Watson gets to play second fiddle while Holmes makes several detailed (though irrelevant) observations and deductions purely to demonstrate how clever he is. This sort of thing will be very familiar to fans of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Their involvement in this case begins with an important client hiring them to discover the whereabouts of several books that have been stolen from a strange and secretive library. During the course of their investigation, their travels intersect with the path of that mysterious and eccentric gentleman -- the Doctor (portrayed here as alternatively goofy and cynical). The two fictional juggernauts actually interact quite well. I was hugely entertained by their initial meetings; there's a very amusing sequence in which Holmes is totally unable to determine much of the Doctor's origins from telltale bits of dust and dirt. What could have gone so poorly ends up feeling really right.

The trail leads them first to India, and then to an alien world known as Ry'leh. The reactions of the two Victorians as their surroundings become more and more bizarre are handled realistically (or as realistically as possible) without being over the top. The conclusion to the story is satisfying, though the book suffers from having a beginning that is so wonderful that even an extraordinary ending would seem vaguely inadequate.

The story is told primarily from the journals/diaries of Dr. John Watson and Professor Bernice Summerfield. Andy Lane is excellent at recreating Arthur Conan Doyle's prose style without appearing to be doing a mere cut'n'paste job. The process of the investigation of missing books is very much in keeping with the flavor of the Holmes stories. The Library of St. John The Beheaded is a fantastic creation, and its description is pure Holmesian. A wonderful combination of concepts and prose.

The Lovecraftian additions near the conclusion are not quite as well handled as the Holmes portions. I am, of course, not the first reviewer to note this, and I'm afraid that I cannot break with conventional thinking here. Lovecraft succeeded by keeping his baddies just out of the corner of one's eye, where one wasn't quite sure what was there or what was going on. While this story does eventually come up with a good reason why it's breaking with the formula, the explanation doesn't make up for the fact that it simply isn't executed as pleasingly. This portion at times seems as if it was hastily bolted on to the main plot. Apart from some fairly superficial name-checks, the Lovecraft villains could have been almost any great evil.

The first time I read this book, I did feel that Holmes was horribly underused during the later series of events. While rereading the story, I was mentally prepared for this, and to my surprise, Lane didn't quite sideline Holmes as much as I had remembered. The great detective certainly doesn't have the same forceful impact on the story that he does in the beginning, but my memory had only retained the portions dealing with his shock and bewilderment. There are in fact several moments where Holmes does arrive at plot-advancing conclusions despite his unfamiliarity with the environment. On the other hand, Benny does seem to enjoy taking the mickey out of the famous sleuth at times and while those who take the detective very seriously may not be entirely pleased with that approach, I couldn't help but giggle. A slight mocking of Sherlock Holmes, perhaps, but one that allows him to come through the story with his dignity intact.

There are just too many little things that the book does well to mention them all. I was greatly amused by Watson's infatuation with Benny, perfectly in keeping with his enchantment for seemingly all of his female clients. The descriptions of the Holmes style of Victorian London are excellent. The delightful puns and jokes in the chapter titles are delightful, and had me flipping back to the beginning of the chapter after I had read it in order to get the joke. Too many fun things to recommend about this one.

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite "New Adventure"
Review: You cannot deny the wonderful quality that this book has. Judging from the very negative review the person below gave, I'd have to say they were looking for your traditional Aliens-n-spaceships story, and wasn't prepared for this type of storytelling. It's really a shame, because if you're open to it, this is one of the most entertaining, exciting and humorous New Adventures ever. There are even illustrations in the book to further the mood. Solid grip on the characterizations of the TARDIS crew, as well as Holmes and Watson. True fans of Doctor Who know that Doctor Who isn't all about aliens and technobabble, and in fact that's the quality that seperates it from the other sci-fi series... the humanity, the charm, humor, style, intelligence... this book has it all. (It also has aliens in it) It's facinating to see Holmes out of his environment in the scenes set on the alien world... There is even an appearance from the 2ndary Console Room (the wooden one), that fits the style of the book. This book is a good read, and a good RE-Read, which really says something about it.

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite "New Adventure"
Review: You cannot deny the wonderful quality that this book has. Judging from the very negative review the person below gave, I'd have to say they were looking for your traditional Aliens-n-spaceships story, and wasn't prepared for this type of storytelling. It's really a shame, because if you're open to it, this is one of the most entertaining, exciting and humorous New Adventures ever. There are even illustrations in the book to further the mood. Solid grip on the characterizations of the TARDIS crew, as well as Holmes and Watson. True fans of Doctor Who know that Doctor Who isn't all about aliens and technobabble, and in fact that's the quality that seperates it from the other sci-fi series... the humanity, the charm, humor, style, intelligence... this book has it all. (It also has aliens in it) It's facinating to see Holmes out of his environment in the scenes set on the alien world... There is even an appearance from the 2ndary Console Room (the wooden one), that fits the style of the book. This book is a good read, and a good RE-Read, which really says something about it.