Review: A nice read, but I wanted more from it.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 3, 2012
Book Review: Sherlock Holmes and the Alien Abduction by Phillip DukeReviewed by J Bryden LloydWriting Style - 3.0/5.0 (Okay)As someone who grew up reading Conan Doyle's original stories, I felt that the writing lacked some of the structure and atmosphere of the original author. In fairness, you have to take into account the completely different style of speech and writing in the modern world, and in doing so I feel it unfair to condemn what is a reasonable reinvention of the A.C.D. style.I didn't really come to terms with the `semi-accurate' and sometimes un-Holmes-like phrasings of the dialogue, however that did not make this unreadable, just occasionally awkward.In other parts - especially the deductive reasoning elements - the writing is very good and flows as it should, and it made me wonder whether perhaps the author missed a trick in making this a `re-written memoir' interpreted from the supposed original text.Character Development - 3.0/5.0 (Okay)As a short story, this was always going to struggle with any development on a pair of long-established characters and a limited extended cast with equally limited parts to play. As it was, I think it is safe to say the characters of Holmes and Watson were `confirmed' within the story, rather than allowed to develop along with it. Indeed there were times when I genuinely felt that the main characters need not have been these particular two, and that the freedom from these characters would have allowed the whole story a little more freedom.Descriptive - 4.0/5.0 (Very Good)One thing the author did get right for me, was the balance between the descriptive and the action of the storyline. The work there is vivid and works very well within the scope of the plot. If anything, this saved the read as far as I was concerned, and made this a more enjoyable experience.Language & Grammar - 3.5/5.0 (Good)This is grammatically well written and edited, and the authors use and knowledge of the language is good, but at times where the text calls for older phrasings, more in keeping with the original works, it does seem a little shaky. Again this brought me to thinking that perhaps the `reinvention' idea would have served to make this the book the author clearly wanted to produce.Plot - 4.0/5.0 (Very Good) *NO SPOILERS*The archetypal Holmes ingredients; the mysterious invitation with an ulterior motive, kicks off what is essentially an engaging and well thought out plot. Unfortunately, the story is far too brief to have any significant sub-plot or secondary twist to it.As it happens, what is here is executed competently and adequately to make this worth the effort to read it.General - 3.0/5.0 (Okay)This was alright for a short read to fill in a gap, but for a Holmes purist it will probably feel very disappointing. Although the characters fit into the storyline, for me it was only just a comfortable fit and I personally felt the nicest touch was the ending where Holmes declared his belief with regards to the solvability of the case.In a way, there really wasn't a mystery to solve here. Yes this was something entirely `new' in the realms of experience of Holmes and Watson, but in reality, the title sort of gave up the gig before they were out of the blocks.I would like to read more from this author, hopefully in a genre where he feels free enough to write in his own style. Based upon some of what I read in this work, I'm sure there is a great deal to look forward to.Not `disappointing', more `not-what-I'd-hoped'.3 stars.