Monday, December 5, 2022

Sherlock Holmes - The War Of The Worlds!


I first read this wonderful pastiche two decades ago when I stumbled across the Warner paperback edition in my local library. I was just thumbing through the rather sparse paperback science fiction section and there it was. I knocked out to find two of my favorite things (Sherlock Holmes and War of the Worlds) had been blended together in what seemed a delightful brew. 


A story blending two of my favorite yarns was irresistible. I snatched it up, raced home and read it almost immediately. I confess I contemplated keeping it, but honesty prevailed, and I returned it to the library. But my good deed was not rewarded as alas that library copy, I enjoyed went missing and I was unable to find another until some years ago Titan Books started to reprint some of the more memorable Sherlock Holmes pastiches.


The saga began in 1969 in the pages of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction when Wade Wellman assisted by his famous father Manly W. Wellman wrote "The Adventure of the Martian Client". The younger Wellman had been inspired by the movie A Study in Terror which had the Baker Street sleuth tackling Jack the Ripper. 


Several years later in 1972 they revisited the concept in another issue of TMoFandSF with the story "Venus, Mars, and Baker Street".

The idea seemed too good to let go and so they worked up a few more installments and created the patchwork "novel" Sherlock Holmes - The War of the Worlds which came out from Avon in 1975. This is the edition I first read.

The story reveals its origins in its construction. We first meet Sherlock Holmes when in partnership with Professor Edward Challenger he locates and plumbs the depths of a mysterious crystal egg found in an out of the way curio shop. The pair realize they are seeing a distant location, another world in fact, the world of Mars.

Soon enough the world becomes award of the Martians when the cylinders begin to drop. We follow first Holmes and then later Challenger in separate adventures as try to survive the onslaught of the Martian machines. But all the while they plot what might work to defeat the invaders.

Watson joins the team as the inevitable end of the invasion becomes evident. There are lots of fun bits of business calling back to the classic H.G. Wells story which spawned the fun, but the Wellmans seem to want to present in Holmes and the braggart Challenger a more defiant humanity than does Wells, a humanity who doesn't shrink in times of war but rises to face the challenge.

If you're a fan of either Sherlock Holmes or The War of the Worlds, or like me both, you must read this wonderful saga. It will offer up fascinating insights into both.

And I haven't even mentioned Sherlock's fascinating relationship with Mrs. Hudson. Hoo Boy!

NOTE: This is a Dojo Revised Classic Post. 

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8 comments:

  1. I share your delight with this particular Holmes pastiche. During the flood of such Holmes pastiche in the mid-1970s, following the success of Nicholas Meyer's The Seven-Percent Solution this is one of the best to be published then. And it holds up beautifully to this day.

    I'd also recommend Exit Sherlock Holmes, by Robert Lee Hall, which is also from that period. It takes an unexpected science-fiction approach to Holmes that's utterly satisfying by the end of the story. Watson shines in this one!

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    1. Thanks for the recommendation. I'm surprised that one has not to my knowledge been reprinted, since Titan was putting almost all that stuff back into print.

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  2. I'm a fan of Holmes and an even bigger fan of War of the Worlds but these are totally new to me They sound great and I will be looking for these. Sounds like hey could name a great film as well.

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    1. This title should still be available from Titan Books. There's another Sherlock Holmes book with him dealing with the Martian invasion, but I just go it a few hours ago and plan to read it this week to report on Friday. Wish me luck.

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    2. Rip, that second Holmes book sounds like something new to me, so I look forward to reading your review of it!

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    3. It was new to me too. It has a 2020 date, so it's not been around all that long.

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  3. Very interesting. I generally avoid pastiche's of work by other authors, but this one has me intrigued, particularly by the involvement of Manly Wade Wellman, who of course was one of Mort Weisinger's coterie of Science Fiction authors who turned their hands to comic writing.

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    1. True, the name always gets my attention. A veteran master.

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