Where Sherlock Fights the Martians. For Reals

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - The Martian Menace by Eric Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a fun Sherlock/War of the Worlds crossover, and I really enjoyed it. It's a couple decades after the first failed invasion, and supposedly the Martians are trying to make up for their ill-advised attack. The truth, though, is they are still at it (which is kind of a spoiler except that it's in the title) and they want to remove Sherlock (older here) from the picture. It's silly, of course; the science fiction part, with a thriving civilization on Mars, is impossible, as we know, but the story still works, IMO.

Watson and Sherlock are still the men we know, and so this is still sufficiently plausible in their world to make the plot hold together. We get only a couple new minor characters and a couple call-backs from vintage stories, but it's enough, with the action plot, to make it a fun read. In fact, I almost gave it all 5 stars (which for me means "enjoyed reading," not necessarily "our grandchildren will read this book"), except there are a couple slower parts that dragged it down just a bit. Overall, though, it's clever and entertaining, and the conclusion is satisfying. I would definitely look for other books penned by this author.

I wouldn't recommend this for Sherlock readers who prefer traditional stories, as they'd likely find it too silly to enjoy. Honestly, they're not likely to read past the title anyway. But Sherlock readers who are intrigued by the premise and enjoy pulp fiction would probably find a lot to like here.

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