All-Consuming Fire

All-Consuming Fire is a Doctor Who novel by Andy Lane. It was published in 1994 as part of the franchise's New Adventures series. Serving as a three-way crossover between the world of Doctor Who, the Sherlock Holmes series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Cthulhu Mythos, All-Consuming Fire sees the Doctor and his companions Bernice Summerfield and Ace teaming up with Holmes and Watson to battle against a cult of Azathoth worshipers and their minions.
In addition to several references to the lore of all three franchises, the novel also mentions characters from other works that likewise exist as real people in-universe, including Sax Rohmer's infamous Dr. Fu Manchu, Kim Newman's Charles Beauregard of the Diogenes Club, and Doyle's own Prof. Challenger and Lord John Roxton from The Lost World and its sequels.
==Frame story==
The bulk of the narrative is presented as a journal written by Dr. John Watson, and edited into a novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is stated that "Sherlock Holmes" and "John Watson" are not the actual names of the detectives, but merely pseudonyms ascribed by Doyle to protect their real identities. Some chapters are taken from Bernice Summerfield's journal instead of Watson's, and some brief interludes are narrated by Ace. In the epilogue, Bernice quips that either Watson or Doyle took a lot of liberties with the story, thus casting doubts about the veracity of some of the events narrated.
==Synopsis==
In 1887, the detective Sherlock Holmes and his friend and roommate Dr. John Watson are hired by the Pope to investigate the disappearance of certain books in the secret Library of St John the Beheaded in London: a repository of tomes and documents banned by the Catholic Church and other authorities. Provided with a list of the library's most recent visitors, which include a mysterious man without address who presents himself as "the Doctor", Holmes examines the crime scene and tests the library's rigid security system by unsuccessfully attempting to steal a rare copy of De Vermis Mysteriis, by Ludvig Prinn.
Back in their apartment on Baker Street, Holmes and Watson are visited by the Doctor, who proves to be an eccentric, but also a shrewd and resourceful man who, although aware of his own status as a suspect, is willing to assist in the investigation.
Watson and the Doctor visit the first suspect, Kate Prendersly, who went to the library to investigate the death of her husband, as she believes he was assassinated after learning something from the occult books he had been consulting. While in the library, she claims to have seen the shadow of a man swallowing a book whole, shedding light on how the theft might have been accomplished. Shockingly, Prendersly dies, as her body spontaneously bursts into flames before the incredulous eyes of Watson and the Doctor.
Meanwhile, Holmes is investigating the men employed to guard the library, which takes him to the criminal underworld of London. There he witnesses an arena fight between three bulldogs and an alien creature resembling a giant three-legged rat, which the ringmaster introduces as a beast from Sumatra.
On the next day, a visit to Holmes' brother Mycroft in the Diogenes Club puts the detectives in contact with another suspect named on the list: the Baron Maupertuis, who owns the Netherlands-Sumatra company. Holmes and Watson follow Maupertuis using a secret underground railroad that Mycroft reveals to them. Unbeknownst to them, they are in turn followed by some kind of alien creature, as well as by the Doctor. The detectives are discovered and manage to evade Maupertuis' bodyguard, Surd, but not before witnessing how Surd is able to spontaneously incinerate people with his mind.
Holmes and Watson reunite with the Doctor and head to the Library, where Mycroft is waiting them, along with Sherringford Holmes, the older brother of Sherlock and Mycroft, who is researching the history of the Holmes family. For reasons unknown to the Holmes brothers, some of the journals of their father, Siger, were kept in the Library, and figure among the books that have been stolen. At this point, the Doctor reveals himself as a time traveler who has met Siger Holmes in India, where the latter had learned about a gateway that could give one access to other worlds.
Sherlock gives Sherringford the journals, which he had managed to confiscate from Maupertuis before fleeing. However, the rest of the stolen books are still missing, and Maupertuis is already on his way to India. By this point, the heroes agree that Maupertuis took the books to prevent the Doctor from reading them, and that he plans to use the gateway to invade other worlds in the name of the British Empire. As a final shock for the Victorian characters, the alien who has been following them reveals itself: a creature named K'tcar'ch, with five spindly legs and a sac-shaped body, who comes from a world named Ry'leh and humbly asks for help.
Determined to stop Maupertuis, Holmes, Watson and the Doctor travel in a ship called Matilda Briggs and arrive in India, where they are joined by the Doctor's companion, Prof. Bernice Summerfield. One night, the Doctor is abducted by a winged crustacean-like creature called a rakshassa.
Realizing that the Doctor's kidnapping must be part of Maupertuis' plot, Bernice, Holmes and Watson catch the train to Jabalhabad, where they stay with Watson's old acquaintance, Colonel Warburton, who happens to be the British representative of the area. During a dinner with Tir Ram, the local Nizam, Watson is attacked by Surd and finds out that Maupertuis is in league with both Tir Ram and Warburton. Holmes is kidnapped along with two other men: big game hunter Lord Roxton, and criminal mastermind Prof. Moriarty, both of whom had independently tried to oppose Maupertuis. Roxton reveals himself as an agent of the Diogenes Club, whereas Moriarty merely saw Maupertuis as an undesired rival who built his army by recruiting hundreds of British criminals, thus weakening Moriarty's own organization.
Watson and Bernice watch while Tir Ram's men open up the dimensional gateway to Ry'leh by chanting words in a mysterious language and mentioning an entity named Azathoth. With the gate opened, Maupertuis' army marches through, commanded by Warburton. Meanwhile, Maupertuis unleashes the rakshassi on the Doctor, Holmes, Roxton and Moriarty. The four men fight the alien creatures, with the help of Watson and Bernice, whose lives are saved by Roxton when he kills Surd.
Determined to reopen the gate and pursue the criminals, the Doctor, Bernice, Holmes and Watson chant the words and find themselves on Ry'leh: an icy planet inhabited by strange flora and fauna, including three-legged rat-creatures like the one Holmes had previously seen in London. Questioned by Bernice, the Doctor reveals that Azathoth is an avatar of one of the Great Old Ones: mighty creatures from another universe which have transported themselves to our own, and have been worshiped as gods by several civilisations throughout history.
When the heroes locate Maupertuis' army, they notice that the latter is being ambushed by a legion of native Ry'lehans armed with weapons, proving that the Ry'lehans are not the defenseless pacifists that K'tcar'ch had claimed them to be. Watson decides to spy on the enemy camp to see what he can learn, but the Ry'lehans attack while he's there, and Maupertuis' forces are decimated. Infuriated by his failure, Maupertuis kills Warburton and is about to shoot Watson as well, but is himself shot by a young woman named Ace. Watson correctly deduces that she's another associate of the Doctor, who has been left on the planet to gather information. With Maupertuis and Warburton dead, it remains to find the man the two had been taking orders from.
When they return to camp, Watson and Ace discover that Holmes, Bernice and the Doctor have all been abducted. They follow their trail through the mountains and find the enormous caravans in which their friends are being kept, along with Tir Ram and his men, all captured by the rakshassi while the Ry'lehans were attacking the invaders. Tir Ram admits to Bernice that he was a fool for trusting Maupertuis, who promised him that Jabalhabad would benefit from the opening of trade between worlds.
Soon, the Doctor, Bernice and Holmes meet with the man behind the whole operation: none other than Holmes' brother Sherringford. He explains that Maupertuis himself was also a pawn, and that the real plan is not the invasion of Ry'leh, but of Earth. In reality, Ry'leh is an uninhabited world that serves as a prison for Azathoth. The "Ry'lehans" are actually a mercenary species known as the Shlangii, employed to guard Azathoth and prevent her escape, but some ended up converted and brainwashed into worshiping her, as was Sherringford, who made contact with the goddess after reading the transcription of the Indian chants in his father's journals. The winged rakshassi are the transformed followers of Azathoth. K'tcar'ch has already transformed into a rakshassa, and Sherringford follows soon, much to his brother's horror.
Watson and Ace sneak inside the largest caravan and find themselves face to face with Azathoth, a massive slug-like creature who calls to them telepathically, posing herself as a benevolent goddess and promising love. Ace resists it, but has to forcibly drag Watson away. They also find Tir Ram, already converted and partially transformed into a rakshassa.
Meanwhile, Sherringford and the other rakshassi escort the Doctor, Bernice and Holmes to see Azathoth. Sherringford explains that the invasion by Maupertuis served merely as a distraction, to keep the Shlangii guards occupied while the rakshassi transported Azathoth to the Plain of Leng: the only part of Ry'leh from which the goddess could escape to Earth once the gate was opened again. Brought to Azathoth's presence, the Doctor comes to the conclusion that the slug-like creature is just using the name "Azathoth" to try to pose as a far more powerful being. Nevertheless, the alien does have the psychic ability to mesmerize people, and could pose a serious threat to Earth if allowed to escape.
Watson and Ace join the others after fooling Sherringford into believing they had already been converted. Ace uses a robotic missile to threaten the false Azathoth into ordering Sherringford to leave them alone, so the heroes can think of a plan. "Azathoth" uses her mental abilities on the missile, which is a sapient creature and therefore susceptible, and nearly kills the Doctor as a result, but he and the others manage to escape. While Tir Ram's men start to chant to open the gate, Ace asks if there's a way to change the destination. The Doctor calculates a variant of the chant that will divert the gate, so it will open up in the midst of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, rather than 1887 Jabalhabad. The plan works, and the heroes and villains both find themselves transported to 1906, in the middle of a fire that started after the tremors. "Azathoth" perishes, and an enraged Sherringford attacks Watson. Holmes is forced to kill his brother in order to save his friend.
The Doctor retrieves his time machine and asks Holmes and Watson if they would like to travel with him. While Holmes is tempted by the prospect to see other worlds, he and Watson both agree that the adventure has taken a toll on them, and that they would rather be back in 1887 London for the moment, but would be willing to go on other adventures in the future. The Doctor understands and takes the detectives home.
==Characters==
*Sherlock Holmes, a renowned British detective. The novel's frame story claims that "Sherlock Holmes" is not his actual name, but an alias. He first appeared in A Study in Scarlet, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
*Dr. John Watson, a physician, Holmes' best friend and roommate, who has traveled to many parts of the world, and writes down his adventures with Holmes. The frame story claims that "John Watson" is not his actual name, but an alias. He first appeared in A Study in Scarlet, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
*Colonel Warburton, a British military man and friend of Holmes and Watson, but secretly in league with Baron Maupertuis. He was first mentioned in "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb", by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
*Gloria Warburton, the Colonel's wife.
*Pope Leo XIII, the head of the Catholic Church, who hires Holmes to investigate the theft of books from the Library of St John the Beheaded.
**Cardinal Ruffo-Scilla and Cardinal Tosca, who accompany the Pope. Cardinal Tosca was first mentioned in "The Adventure of Black Peter", by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
*Mrs. Hudson, Holmes and Watson's landlady. She first appeared in The Sign of the Four, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
*Billy, a young boy who helps Holmes and Watson in some cases. He first appeared in the stage play Sherlock Holmes, by William Gillette and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
*Mr. Ambrose, the chief librarian of the Library of St John the Beheaded.
*The Doctor, an eccentric time traveler from the planet Gallifrey. He first appeared in the 1963 TV serial An Unearthly Child.
**Susan Foreman, the Doctor's granddaughter, only seen in flashbacks. She first appeared in the 1963 TV serial An Unearthly Child.
**The TARDIS, the Doctor's time machine, which is a sapient, biomechanical living being, and therefore technically a character. She first appeared in the 1963 TV serial An Unearthly Child.
*Mr. Jitter and Mack "The Knife" Yeovil, the leaders of two rival gangs of London criminals, who are both employed to guard the entrance of the Library of St John the Beheaded. Yeovil might be intended to be the same character as Macheath, a.k.a. Mack the Knife, from Bertolt Brecht's stage play The Threepenny Opera (himself loosely based on Captain Macheath from John Gay's The Beggar's Opera).
*Kate Prendersly, a woman who went to the Library of St John the Beheaded to see the books that her late husband had been reading, as she suspects they have something to do with his death.
*Inspector MacDonald, a Scotland Yard officer who investigates the abrupt death of Mrs. Prendersly. He first appeared in The Valley of Fear, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
*Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's older brother who works for the British intelligence. He first appeared in "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter", by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
*Baron Maupertuis, a Dutch-British merchant and owner of the Netherlands-Sumatra Company, who wants to use the gateway to invade other worlds and conquer them in the name of the British Empire. He was first mentioned in "The Adventure of the Reigate Squire", by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
**Surd, Maupertuis' servant and bodyguard, who was surgically altered and displays extraordinary abilities, such as to incinerate people with his mind and swallow large objects to be stored safely in a hollow space inside his body.
*Madame Sosostris, a fortune teller in league with Maupertuis. She first appeared in The Waste Land, by T. S. Eliot, and might also be the same as the similarly named Madame Sesostris from Crome Yellow, by Aldous Huxley.
*Sherringford Holmes, the older brother of Sherlock and Mycroft, who tends to the family's lands.
*K'tcar'ch, an alien creature who comes from the planet Ry'leh.
*Prof. Bernice Summerfield, a 26th century archaeologist who travels through time and space with the Doctor. She first appeared in Love and War, by Paul Cornell.
*Smithee, Colonel Warburton's secretary.
*Lord John Roxton, an adventurer and big game hunter. He first appeared in The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
*Prof. Moriarty, a renowned mathematician and criminal mastermind, regarded by Holmes as his nemesis. He first appeared in "The Final Problem", by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
*Tir Ram, the Nizam of Jabalhabad.
**Ghulam Haidar, the Nizam's servant.
*Ace, a young woman who travels through time and space with the Doctor. She first appeared in the 1987 TV serial Dragonfire.
*"Azathoth", a massive alien creature, who has been imprisoned on the planet Ry'leth. She is named after the sultan of the Outer Gods, who first appeared in the sonnet "Azathoth", part of the Fungi from Yuggoth cycle, by H. P. Lovecraft. However, the Doctor denies that she's the real Azathoth, and claims that she's merely appropriating the name of a far more powerful being.
**The rakshassi, winged crustacean-like alien creatures who serve the false Azathoth. While named after a creature from Hindu mythology, the rakshassi in the novel also share a few traits in common with the Mi-Go from H. P. Lovecraft's The Whisperer in Darkness.
==Behind the Mythos==
Elements from the Cthulhu Mythos had previously been incorporated into the Doctor Who universe in the novel White Darkness, by David A. McIntee. However, All-Consuming Fire is notable for identifying several monsters from the original TV series as classic Mythos entities. For instance, the Animus from the serial The Web Planet is implied to be Lloigor, whereas Fenric from the serial The Curse of Fenric is identified as Hastur the Unspeakable, and the Doctor's recurring enemy, the Great Intelligence, is identified as Yog-Sothoth. Additionally, the unnamed Great Old One that the Doctor faced in White Darkness is retroactively identified as Cthulhu. Other entities referred to as Great Old Ones in the novel include Nyarlathotep, Dagon, and the Gods of Ragnarok (from The Greatest Show in the Galaxy). The Silurians from Doctor Who and the Silurians and the Shobogans from The Deadly Assassin are mentioned among the groups that worship the Great Old Ones, whereas the Sea Devils from the eponymous serial are stated to worship Dagon specifically.
De Vermis Mysteriis is featured in the novel as one of the books kept in the Library of St John the Beheaded. The city in which the false Azathoth is imprisoned is called Kadath in the Cold Wastes, and is located on the icy planet Ry'leh, a name almost identical to the city of R'lyeh, where Cthulhu is imprisoned in the Mythos. Another part of the planet is called the Plain of Leng, which is where a a gate can be opened to Earth (specifically to Jabalhabad, India). In the Mythos, the Plateau of Leng is heavily implied to be a place where different worlds converge, and is stated in some stories to be located in central Asia.
In addition to the Cthulhu Mythos, All-Consuming Fire also contains numerous references to the original Sherlock Holmes stories, particularly attempting to provide context for some of the untold cases of Holmes' career: adventures that Watson only alluded to, but never wrote down. These include "Colonel Warburton's madness", "the colossal schemes of Baron Maupertuis", and "the case of Matilda Briggs", which is associated with "the giant rat of Sumatra" ("a story for which the world is not yet prepared"). Conversely, All-Consuming Fire introduces a new untold case called "the affair of the walking ventriloquist's dummy", the implication being that Holmes was involved in investigating the events of the classic Doctor Who serial The Talons of Weng-Chiang. This is one of multiple references to this same serial in the novel, as the Doctor also reveals that he is lodging with his old friend, Prof. Litefoot, and Holmes at one point quips that "sleep is for tortoises", a line originally spoken by the Doctor.
The depiction of Sherlock Holmes on the cover art, by Jeff Cummins, is based on the character's portrayal in the 1939 film The Hound of the Baskervilles, played by actor Basil Rathbone.
==Adaptations==
An audio play adaptation of the novel was released in 2015 by Big Finish productions, featuring Nicholas Briggs as Sherlock Holmes, Richard Earl as Dr. Watson, Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield, Sophie Aldred as Ace, and Hugh Fraser as Sherringford Holmes. It omits all of the overt Mythos references of the novel and changes Azathoth's name to Azazoth.
==External links==
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Category:Expanded Mythos Works
Category:Andy Lane works
Category:Crossovers
Category:Novels