As I normally review Obverse’s fiction, but won’t be doing so with this as I’m in it, and the book’s out now, I thought I’d set up a post in which people can comment on the book once they’ve read it (I know a few people have already bought it). If anyone wants to know anything about my own story, feel free to ask.
(Proper posts with content resume tomorrow)
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I’m not sure about the bit where Irene Adler went back in time and hid under baby Sherlock’s bed. Why did you do that?
But seriously, I’ve just finished reading the book and I’m very impressed. The Piltdown Prelate is excellent: you’ve blended original ideas with very accurate pastiche, and made good use of Doyle’s biography and City of the Saved technology. Teaming up original Watson with Nigel Bruce is very funny. The other stories are all great too: lots of different styles and ideas, but they fit together very well. And the last story is beautiful without being too sentimental.
Thanks. Yeah, I think PPH has put together a pretty great set of stories here — his anthologies for Obverse are consistently among the best books of the years they come out.
Obviously I read the whole book in manuscript form, but reading it in book format makes a big difference – and I have to say that you should be particularly proud of your story, Andrew. Really nicely judged pastiche, and an excellent central idea.
Thanks a lot. Phil’s editing helped a lot; the initial draft had a really poor last third — the basic resolution was the same, but it had no real drama to it — and he made a couple of suggestions which really helped.