All Consuming Fire (New Doctor Who Adventures) [Paperback]

The tale starts in typical Holmesian fashion. During the beginning, Watson gets to play second fiddle while Holmes makes several detailed (though irrelevant) observations and deductions purely to demonstrate how clever he is. This sort of thing will be very familiar to fans of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Their involvement in this case begins with an important client hiring them to discover the whereabouts of several books that have been stolen from a strange and secretive library. During the course of their investigation, their travels intersect with the path of that mysterious and eccentric gentleman -- the Doctor (portrayed here as alternatively goofy and cynical). The two fictional juggernauts actually interact quite well. I was hugely entertained by their initial meetings; there's a very amusing sequence in which Holmes is totally unable to determine much of the Doctor's origins from telltale bits of dust and dirt. What could have gone so poorly ends up feeling really right.

The trail leads them first to India, and then to an alien world known as Ry'leh. The reactions of the two Victorians as their surroundings become more and more bizarre are handled realistically (or as realistically as possible) without being over the top. The conclusion to the story is satisfying, though the book suffers from having a beginning that is so wonderful that even an extraordinary ending would seem vaguely inadequate.

The story is told primarily from the journals/diaries of Dr. John Watson and Professor Bernice Summerfield. Andy Lane is excellent at recreating Arthur Conan Doyle's prose style without appearing to be doing a mere cut'n'paste job. The process of the investigation of missing books is very much in keeping with the flavor of the Holmes stories. The Library of St. John The Beheaded is a fantastic creation, and its description is pure Holmesian. A wonderful combination of concepts and prose.

The Lovecraftian additions near the conclusion are not quite as well handled as the Holmes portions. I am, of course, not the first reviewer to note this, and I'm afraid that I cannot break with conventional thinking here. Lovecraft succeeded by keeping his baddies just out of the corner of one's eye, where one wasn't quite sure what was there or what was going on. While this story does eventually come up with a good reason why it's breaking with the formula, the explanation doesn't make up for the fact that it simply isn't executed as pleasingly. This portion at times seems as if it was hastily bolted on to the main plot. Apart from some fairly superficial name-checks, the Lovecraft villains could have been almost any great evil.

The first time I read this book, I did feel that Holmes was horribly underused during the later series of events. While rereading the story, I was mentally prepared for this, and to my surprise, Lane didn't quite sideline Holmes as much as I had remembered. The great detective certainly doesn't have the same forceful impact on the story that he does in the beginning, but my memory had only retained the portions dealing with his shock and bewilderment. There are in fact several moments where Holmes does arrive at plot-advancing conclusions despite his unfamiliarity with the environment. On the other hand, Benny does seem to enjoy taking the mickey out of the famous sleuth at times and while those who take the detective very seriously may not be entirely pleased with that approach, I couldn't help but giggle. A slight mocking of Sherlock Holmes, perhaps, but one that allows him to come through the story with his dignity intact.

There are just too many little things that the book does well to mention them all. I was greatly amused by Watson's infatuation with Benny, perfectly in keeping with his enchantment for seemingly all of his female clients. The descriptions of the Holmes style of Victorian London are excellent. The delightful puns and jokes in the chapter titles are delightful, and had me flipping back to the beginning of the chapter after I had read it in order to get the joke. Too many fun things to recommend about this one.