The Holmes-Dracula File

Fred Saberhagen (1930-2007) fue una figura fundamental en la consolidación de la ciencia ficción y la fantasía moderna estadounidense. Aunque alcanzó la fama con su serie Berserker, donde exploró el horror cósmico de máquinas autoconscientes programadas para destruir la vida, su contribución más original fue la humanización del mito del vampiro. Con su saga de Drácula, de la cual "Sherlock Holmes-Drácula: el encuentro" (The Holmes-Dracula File, 1978) es una pieza clave, Saberhagen rescató al personaje de Bram Stoker de la caricatura maligna, dotándolo de un código de honor caballeresco y una voz melancólica y sofisticada que prefiguró el auge del vampiro moderno.

Londres, 1897. La capital del Imperio se ve sacudida por show more una serie de crímenes atroces que evocan el fantasma de Jack el Destripador. Sin embargo, la amenaza es mucho más insidiosa: una conspiración de chantaje masivo que utiliza ratas infectadas con una cepa letal de peste negra para poner de rodillas a la metrópoli. En el centro del torbellino se encuentra Sherlock Holmes, cuyo comportamiento es más errático que nunca. Paralelamente, un anciano caballero extranjero despierta amnésico y encadenado en un hospital clandestino, dándose cuenta pronto de que posee una fuerza inhumana y una sed que el agua no puede saciar. Las vidas del detective y el Conde Drácula se entrelazan en una investigación donde las identidades se confunden, literal y metafóricamente, para detener una catástrofe biológica.

Escribir un pastiche literario es un ejercicio de equilibrismo que suele subestimarse; requiere no solo replicar una voz ajena, sino hacerlo sin caer en la parodia. En esta obra, Saberhagen asume un riesgo doble al intentar amalgamar dos universos tan codificados y dispares como el canon de Sherlock Holmes y la mitología de Drácula. No se trata meramente de un cruce de personajes, sino de la convivencia de dos estructuras narrativas: el racionalismo deductivo de Conan Doyle frente al horror gótico de Stoker.

Desde un punto de vista objetivo, la novela logra integrar ambas facetas mediante un recurso técnico eficaz: el uso de perspectivas alternas entre Watson y el propio Conde. Si bien la trama detectivesca sobre el chantaje biológico cumple con los estándares del género, es en la caracterización donde el autor muestra mayor oficio. Saberhagen evita el enfrentamiento previsible y opta por una cooperación pragmática que, aunque funcional, puede resultar forzada para los puristas de ambos cánones. El ritmo es constante, pero la resolución de ciertos conflictos se apoya en una conveniencia entre los protagonistas que bordea lo inverosímil. En definitiva, es un trabajo técnico sólido que demuestra las dificultades de gestionar dos mitos literarios bajo un mismo arco argumental. show less

At least it was a quick read. Yeah. I'm a sucker for gothic horror and mix that with some gaslight detective shenanigans and I'm there. This came suggested over social media after I posted my review of Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula by Loren D. Estleman. However, to be honest, I definitely liked that one better than this one. Not to say that I disliked this one, I definitely liked it but it kind of put Dracula more forward than the detective and presented a familial connection between them that I thought was unnecessary and kind of stupid. Although, I liked the twins born of vampire love affairs with human women idea where one is a savage monster in-waiting and the other fully human, poor J.Harker.
I would rather have had holmes facing off show more with the count rather than Dracula be primarily and somewhat personally involved in the plot which eventually brings together the great detective and the ancient fiend as awkward allies. I didn't buy that part of it at all. The plot to ransom London or unleash plague rats into its sewers was cheesy goodness but seemed to me that maybe a higher-caliber villain (not sure about Moriarty though) rather than a character from Bram Stoker's Dracula would have been more fitting. The plot also involves (however briefly) a monster plague-carrying rat from abroad with a penchant for human flesh. That one is gold mind you and should have had some more to do with the story than it did. I have to tell you, that I was supremely disappointed that a book involving Dracula and a plague-rat plot did not feature a swarm of hideous rats overwhelming some poor clod and munching them down to a bloody skeleton. Ah, what could have been?
Overall, it wasn't bad, I did like it but as to checking out the rest of this 'series' of books, probably not though I do have The Dracula Tape in my to-read stack, so there's that. Would I suggest it? Well, if you've already read Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula and are looking for something similar then - yes. Otherwise, I would steer you to that book before this one. show less

An old man who has been knocked unconscious comes to in a room where he is bound with metal restraints to a hospital gurney. He doesn't know who he is or where he is. What his captors don't know is that this is no ordinary elderly man; in fact this isn't a man at all. Later, down by the docks, a woman is found dead, drained of blood. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson just happen to be in the neighborhood working on a case when they are approached by Lieutenant Lestrade. Sherlock examines the crime scene and discovers more peculiarities than just the sanguinated body. One clue is a dressing gown used in hospital wards with bullet holes. The Great Detective tells Lestrade to have divers search the water around the pier where the body was show more found. They find an oil cloth bag with closed metal restraints. Can the captive old man be related the bloodless corpse?

This is the second novel in "The Dracula Sequence" written by Fred Saberhagen. If you are a fan of Sherlockiana, as I am, and you have read or know Bram Stockers "Dracula", then you can read this book as a stand alone story.

Saberhagen characterizes Dracula as a man of honor who only kills when he or someone he is sworn to protect is threatened. He normally does not feed on people, but on vermin. When he bites a woman it is a sexual encounter to him and he does not kill the woman. The characterization of Holmes and Watson is pitch perfect. Holmes is frantic and intelligent. Watson is loyal and courageous. The best thing is that Watson is not described as a bumbling fool.

This book caught me by surprise. The description of the opening scene sets the pass for the entire novel. The chapters jump from Dracula's point of view to Watson's and back. This was an entertaining well written story that will not disappoint Dracula or Sherlock Holmes fans. show less

Count Dracula and Sherlock Holmes meet over a case where a deadly plague is about to be released in London.

I enjoyed this book. I like how the narrator is always present and is not the same person throughout the book. I loved how Dracula was setting the record straight as well as how he references Bram Stoker's telling of his story. I enjoyed the suspense of the story and never realized who the villain was until the end of the story. I liked the world building of this Dracula and Holmes world. Both characters were well developed and thought out.

I look forward to getting the rest of the series. Very entertaining.

From Tor to the Jim Rigney/Robert Jordan Library and from there to chez czuk.

An amusing addition to the Sherlock Holmes and Dracula Lexicons. Pretty well done, though though towards the end there was some stuff about Sherlock's mother and brother I found hard to add to my Holmes facts, even with a willing suspension of disbelief.

Good reading for a rainy day, though.

Both Dracula and Sherlock Holmes are after the same dastardly villains, but for different reasons. Dracula is on a path of brutal vengeance, leaving bodies the police believe are the result of an insanity-strengthened killer, while Holmes is working for the Crown in a case of blackmail that threatens the lives of all who live in London.

The two are destined to crash together.

Fun, adventure, mystery, and a handful of familiar characters, to those who know the original Holmes and Dracula stories.

Sherlock Holmes has a new client, a young American woman who has come to England in search of her fiance. Her fiance, a doctor, had been in the south seas where he was doing some medical research involving plague. The reason she came to England was that recently he had been sighted there, and a shipment of equipment that he was supposed to have picked up had arrived and been stolen. So this puts Holmes on the case. Meanwhile, a gang of crooks down at the waterfront has chosen a victim for its own nefarious purposes, but they picked the wrong guy to mess with, because the victim turns out to be Count Dracula. He has, at the beginning of the story, lost his memory and so has no vampire awareness nor does he know who he is.

Eventually the show more two storylines intertwine and Count Dracula and Sherlock Holmes form an uneasy partnership.

Very fun story. However, you might want to read The Dracula Tape before you read this one so that Count Dracula's story makes more sense to you. show less