Not a bad Sherlock Holmes novel, but it gets tiring the way every single historical novel feels compelled to drop names incessantly, like every trip taken to Austria would naturally have you run into Rudolf Rassendyll fresh from Ruritania. The ending struck me as a bit preposterous, too. ( )

I know Nicholas Meyer mainly because he directed the second and sixth Star Trek films, by far the best two of the bunch. And, having come over the past two or three years to appreciate the tales of Sherlock Holmes's exploits, I, like many I'm sure, craved more stories after having finished the last. Thus I picked up a copy of Meyer's The Seven-Per-Cent Solution because it is generally considered among the best of the post-Doyle pastiches.

First, his foreword is plausible enough and "Watson's" introductory is great as it claims that the lesser works of the canon, namely "The Lion's Mane," "The Mazarin Stone," "The Creeping Man," and "The Three Gables," are forgeries. Excellent.

Second, Meyer writes like Doyle, I never found an instance where I said to myself: "This doesn't read like other Holmes stories!" Meyer does pepper the book with passing references to the canonical cases, but, since "Watson" apologizes for this in the introductory, it is not intrusive, and quite okay. The story is interesting and fun, though the whole train chase was certainly geared toward late-twentieth-century readers and the sword duel on top of a speeding train is a bit far-fetched. One has to ask, when Holmes jumps into the car and shoots the Baron's butler, why didn't he shoot the Baron too? Instead, the Baron and Holmes, guns in hand, each grab swords from the wall, exit the car, climb to the top of the following car, and then proceed to fence with one another. Huh?

The most satisfying aspect of the work is the rampant tying up of loose ends by Meyer. We get explanations on Moriarty's identity, the reason for the Hiatus, the cessation of references to cocaine in the canon, Holmes's awkwardness with women, and confirmation that Watson probably has two wounds and one wife, et cetera. I think Meyer's theories are as good as any others - except Trevor Hall's. (For instance, Trevor Hall explains why Moriarty was not Holmes's tutor.)

Lastly, there is Holmes's explanation for the reason the Duke's clothes in Shakespeare's Tempest remain dry after going through a hurricane: nothing special, in the real world the actors did not want to ruin their expensive Elizabethan costumes with water - thus a line on how they remained dry. It is noteworthy to point out that this parallels the all-too-easy explanation for the Great Hiatus: Arthur Conan Doyle tired of the character and killed him off, but had to resurrect him for various reasons. ( )

Book Club Edition

One of the best example of another author taking over an existing character I have ever read. I think Meyer does a wonderful job of sounding like Doyle, and of maintain the believability of the characters while putting them into new situations. The main "plot" of the store is perhaps the weakest element, including as it does the modern fiction requirement if a "chase". Where the book is strongest is in the relationships described, and in the exploration of the characters. It is a wonderful idea to match up Sherlock Homes and Sigmund Freud. I just wish the relationship was explored even more. ( )

Liked it, though the ending seemed out-of-character with the rest of the book. ( )