The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

By: John Joseph Adams - editor

Narrated by: Simon Vance, Anne Flosnik

Length: 21 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

A modern short-story collection featuring the great detective. Stories included:

"A Sherlockiana Primer", © 2009 by Christopher Roden
"The Horror of the Many Faces", © 2003 by Tim Lebbon
"The Case of the Bloodless Sock", © 2001 by Anne Perry
"The Adventure of the Other Detective", © 2003 by Bradley H. Sinor
"A Scandal in Montreal", © 2008 by Edward D. Hoch
"The Adventure of the Field Theorems"; © 1995 Vonda N. McIntyre
"The Adventure of the Death-Fetch", © 1994 by Darrell Schweitzer
"The Shocking Affair of the Dutch Steamship Friesland", © 2005 by Mary Robinette Kowal
"The Adventure of the Mummy's Curse", © 2006 by H. Paul Jeffers
"The Things That Shall Come Upon Them", © 2008 by Barbara Roden
"Murder to Music", © 1989 by Anthony Burgess
"The Adventure of the Inertial Adjustor", © 1997 Stephen Baxter
"Mrs. Hudson's Case", © 1997 Laurie R. King
"The Singular Habits of Wasps", © 1994 by Geoffrey A. Landis
"The Affair of the 46th Birthday"; © 2009 by Amy Myers
"The Specter of Tullyfane Abbey", © 2001 by Peter Tremayne
"The Vale of the White Horse"; © 2003 by Sharyn McCrumb
"The Adventure of the Dorset Street Lodger", © 1993 by Michael Moorcock
"The Adventure of the Lost World", © 2004 by Dominic Green
"The Adventure of the Antiquarian's Niece"; © 2003 by Barbara Hambly
"Dynamics of a Hanging", © 2005 by Tony Pi
"Merridew of Abominable Memory" © 2008 by Monkeybrain, Inc.
"Commonplaces" © 2008-2009 by Naomi Novik
"The Adventure of the Pirates of Devil's Cape", © 2009 by Rob Rogers
"The Adventure of the Green Skull", © 2008 by Mark Valentine
"The Human Mystery", © 1999 by Tanith Lee
"A Study in Emerald", © 2003 by Neil Gaiman
"You See But You Do Not Observe", © 1995 by Robert J. Sawyer.

©2010 John Joseph Adams (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"For the most part, this volume of short Sherlock Holmes pastiches - a mix of straightforward imitations and parodies - delivers on its goal of presenting the best of such work from the last 30 years....Barbara Roden's "The Things That Shall Come Upon Them" riffs cleverly on M.R. James's "Casting the Runes". Perhaps the highlight is Peter Tremayne's "The Specter of Tullyfane Abbey", which offers a plausible explanation for a classic untold tale in which a man disappears from the face of the earth after returning home to fetch an umbrella." ( Publishers Weekly)

Good when good, bad when bad

In a sentence this book is waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy too long. It really could have used a tougher editor. Some of these stories are as good as short stories get. Yet, sadly, others reek of ham handed Fan Fiction. It's as if they simply included every story they received without review.
But you can't argue with value. At 30+ hours it's well worth the one credit. Just keep the skip button handy.
Oh, and where is the Stephen King story? I could not find it either.

EDITING where is it?

This book is tooooo long and mixes genres from sheer fantasy to mystery. About half the stories are hack stories with little or no point to them. There are some great stories in this book though. Although, the description of the actual book claims to include a story from Stephen King. It is not included in this story - so it can't be called "unabridged".

Naration is 4.5 stars. 5 Stars for Simon and 4 for Ms. Flosnik. Simon plays an excellent Dr. Watson. Anne had some trouble in her first couple of stories. Her accents were a little off, but she did an overall good job. Her last story was well done.

Simply Brilliant Writing

I was skeptical at first, but I was hooked after the american stopped talking and the Brit started reading about Sherlock Holmes and Cthulhu. Such brilliant stories!

very enjoyable

while it is quite rare for all of the stories in an anthology to be good, by and large, the stories in this volume are fun to read.

Captivating

Some of the best from the genre of 'non-Conan Doyle', Sherlock Holmes stories. Well represented. Simon Vance's narration is terrific. He creates a consistency to the portfolio with interpretations, and timing, that bring Holmes and Watson to life. Nicely done Simon!

A mixed bag: with agonising introductions!

I have to say, first off, that I found John Joseph Adams' introductions excruciating. Amiable fellow he may be, but I really don't enjoy being told what I'm about to think of something, or how many obscure SF awards a particular writer has received, and convenient chapters allowing the introductions to each piece to be easily skipped would have been a real plus from my perspective.

Simon Vance, on the other hand, is a consistently outstanding Watson, and where he is the narrator his efforts really help to lift the material; in some cases this is certainly required, as some stories fall well short of the original mark.

The tales are indeed a mixed bag, with many showing Science Fiction and Fantasy leanings, and some even outright Horror. Most manage to capture the 'Sherlockian' tone well enough, but some manage to combine 'dull' with 'faithful'.

However, there's more good than bad, and the collection as a whole constitutes agreeable entertainment.

While I prefer more straightforward detective narratives with the typical rationalist flavour of the original, I found Neil Gaiman's effort the most appealing, despite its reliance on the whole gamut of SF, Fantasy, and even Horror. I don't know that my namesake would have approved, but I'm sure that Gaiman has placed his two characters exactly where he would have wanted them to be in this nightmarish alternate past.

My recommendation? If you're a Holmes fan, and have enjoyed respectful pastiches such as Bert Coules' 'Further Adventures...' radio plays for the BBC, AND you have a credit to spare, I reckon you'll be happy enough!

Very Entertaining

As a lover of the Sherlock Holmes stories, I really enjoyed the unique approach offered in having Holmes solve these Sci-fi mysteries . The stories are well written and the editor (John Joseph Adams) does a fantastic job of maintaining the continuity of the narrating form used of Watson throughout the book.

Simon Vance is a great narrator and he does a particularly good job in his portrayal of all the English characters in this book, but especially Holmes and Watson. Very Entertaining in deed,.

Elementary...Brilliant!

If you enjoy "Holmes" then this is MUST reading/listening. IF you are not or have little exposure to Holmes, give it a try and I believe you will gain a new appreciation of thees beloved characters. The different authors takes on Holmes in each of these adventures is unique, refreshing and insightful, and true to his nature and that of Watson's as well. Narration is superb by Simon Vance and very good by Anne Flosnik who has the lighter share of the duties here. I canNOT recommend this highly enough!

Skip the story intros

Loved the narration, but HATED the disruptive author bios and teasers at the beginning of each story that gave away plot points I would have preferred not to hear. I had to fast forward and miss the beginning of some stories, or put my fingers in my ears yelling LA LA LA until it was over. Stories were enjoyable - I especially liked Mrs Hudson’s Case and Study in Emerald.

Interesting presmise, not always executed well

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I don't know. Some of the authors did really well with the subject matter of Sherlock Holmes. Some of the authors went a little weird. I did like quite a few of the stories, but it didn't overshadow the ones that were bad. I don't think I will revisit this book

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I would edit out the authors that took crazy train to 221B Baker St

Which scene was your favorite?

I didn't have one

Could you see The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No. None of the short stories has enough substance to carry off a movie.

Any additional comments?

If you are a Sherlock Holmes super fan and are extremely open minded, you may like this. I think I am a little too much of a purist and I want my Sherlock to be a certain way. Others may like this, but its not my cup of tea.