All-Consuming Fire

Summary: 8/10 In this series from The New Sherlock Holmes Adventures, recently discovered by Andy Lane. Dr. Watson and and Sherlock Holmes have been called upon by the Pope to find some stolen forbidden books. They encounter someone who has much in common with Mr. Holmes, the time traveler known as the Doctor. The action-packed adventure story that follows is quite fun, and the story, told through the diaries of Dr. Watson and Prof. Summerfield, is an appropriate style for this story.

Sherlock Holmes is certainly an influential character when it came to working out the character of the Doctor, as any regular viewer of the Talons of Weng Chiang would be able to tell you. So, it's a natural subject to try to write in a cross-over novel, and Andy Lane, clearly a fan of both Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who, does an admirable job.

It has been too long since I've read through any of my Sherlock Holmes stories, but the book's style was close to what I remembered it. If there was a flaw, it was the occasional descent into Sherlock Holmes fanboyishness -- more than once I felt that there was an attempt to throw in every single possible Holmes riff in the book. It's cute, perhaps, but I don't think it's any better than if someone who isn't Terrance Dicks adding Daleks, Cybermen, and eight Doctors into one single story.

The book was even better, however, when the book switched between Bernice's and Dr. Watson's journals. While it isn't quite Bernice without the post-it notes covering up the worst passages, it's also fun to see how both companions view their adventure. It's one way to compare the Doctor and Holmes, and while I think the book ends up being a little harsh on Holmes, it works fairly well.

Most of the characters were well written -- it was fun to see Bernice and Ace through nineteenth century eyes, especially as both are two that would tend to be quite different from the women of the time, and not quite as able to slip comfortably in.

Without going into a spoiler, I think that the book sometimes doesn't go the way it should have. There were a couple places where I thought there was a potential to go for a few interesting twists that turned out not quite as much fun as they first appeared.

To keep it short, this book is certainly recommended to Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who fans. I don't think it's one of the best New Adventures, but it succeeds as a crossover story, and is an enjoyable read. 8/10