Sherlock Holmes's War of the Worlds
by Manly Wade Wellman, Wade Wellman
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In 1897, the world changed forever when our planet came under attack from Martian invaders. The world's greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes, along with his friend Professor Challenger embark on one of their most dangerous adventures to date... to discover the nature and intent of their extra-terrestrial attackers.
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While investigating the theft of a priceless ring Sherlock Holmes buys a crystal egg in a curios shop. While examining it he discovers a view of an alien landscape. He brings the egg to his associate Professor Challenge who also sees a foreign panorama. A few days later they read in the newspaper that astronomers have noticed gaseous explosions on Mars. The view in the crystal egg has changed to aliens in a cylindrical room. Holmes and Challenger are witnessing an alien invasion. Can these two great minds save England from hostile visitors from another world?
This is a retelling of H. G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds” through the eyes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s characters; Sherlock Holmes and Professor Challenger. Sherlock spends show more the invasion quietly observing while Challenger bulls his way through war torn England almost getting abducted by the aliens in the process. Sherlock is the first one to realize that the invaders consider humans to be below them on the evolutionary scale and there for edible. He also discovers that they are not immune to human bacterial disease. Challenger believes they are not from Mars, but used Mars as a jumping off point for invading Earth which contradicts H. G. Wells’ account. In fact John Watson, who takes turns writing the story along with Challenger’s journalist friend Edward Dunn Malone, dislikes Wells and writes him a letter printed at the end of the novel calling him out on his “fabrications.”
I read the Professor Challenger stories last year and that helped me to appreciate this novel. It’s funny to have these two characters together because it accentuates their differences. The authors did a very good job writing in the style of Conan Doyle. I have not read “The War of the Worlds”, but I was still able to enjoy this book. I do suggest that you be familiar with one of the plot elements: Sherlock, Challenger or Wells, before reading it. show less
This is a retelling of H. G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds” through the eyes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s characters; Sherlock Holmes and Professor Challenger. Sherlock spends show more the invasion quietly observing while Challenger bulls his way through war torn England almost getting abducted by the aliens in the process. Sherlock is the first one to realize that the invaders consider humans to be below them on the evolutionary scale and there for edible. He also discovers that they are not immune to human bacterial disease. Challenger believes they are not from Mars, but used Mars as a jumping off point for invading Earth which contradicts H. G. Wells’ account. In fact John Watson, who takes turns writing the story along with Challenger’s journalist friend Edward Dunn Malone, dislikes Wells and writes him a letter printed at the end of the novel calling him out on his “fabrications.”
I read the Professor Challenger stories last year and that helped me to appreciate this novel. It’s funny to have these two characters together because it accentuates their differences. The authors did a very good job writing in the style of Conan Doyle. I have not read “The War of the Worlds”, but I was still able to enjoy this book. I do suggest that you be familiar with one of the plot elements: Sherlock, Challenger or Wells, before reading it. show less
Divertente contaminazione che mostra Sherlock Holmes alle prese con La guerra dei mondi di Wells, a discapito di quest'ultimo che fa la figura del giornalista da strapazzo. Un piccolo libro piacevolmente sorprendente.
This is a pastiche crossover novel featuring Arthur Conan Doyle's two characters Sherlock Holmes and Professor Challenger, and H.G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds. The stories within were published separately in magazines in the late 1960s, and were afterwards brought together into this single volume in 1975. The stories work well together because they recount the same events from three different perspectives, namely those of Sherlock Holmes, Professor Challenger and Doctor Watson. Eventually, these three come together to deal with the alien menace.
I was prepared to be disappointed when I started this book. However, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the execution. Although the story intentionally departs from some of show more what Doyle and Wells wrote, this is done in a way that makes the reader feel like they are gaining insights into previously undisclosed details regarding what occurred during the alien invasion. Having said that, I thought the Holmes character was a little weaker than the other two, and I am pretty sure Sherlock Holmes purists would find him a little hard to swallow.
If the reader comes to this novel without any knowledge of the stories it is based on, they will probably miss many of the finer points. It would therefore be a good idea at least to read the short story The Crystal Egg and the novel The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells before starting on this one. Other reading could include a couple of the original Sherlock Holmes adventures, and a story or two featuring Professor Challenger.
Although a few Americanisms present in the text were not spotted by the editors, the narrative is nevertheless a largely successful attempt to write in the style of late nineteenth-century England. And while the novel is not deep or introspective, it is certainly a well-told and enjoyable tale of deduction and adventure. show less
I was prepared to be disappointed when I started this book. However, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the execution. Although the story intentionally departs from some of show more what Doyle and Wells wrote, this is done in a way that makes the reader feel like they are gaining insights into previously undisclosed details regarding what occurred during the alien invasion. Having said that, I thought the Holmes character was a little weaker than the other two, and I am pretty sure Sherlock Holmes purists would find him a little hard to swallow.
If the reader comes to this novel without any knowledge of the stories it is based on, they will probably miss many of the finer points. It would therefore be a good idea at least to read the short story The Crystal Egg and the novel The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells before starting on this one. Other reading could include a couple of the original Sherlock Holmes adventures, and a story or two featuring Professor Challenger.
Although a few Americanisms present in the text were not spotted by the editors, the narrative is nevertheless a largely successful attempt to write in the style of late nineteenth-century England. And while the novel is not deep or introspective, it is certainly a well-told and enjoyable tale of deduction and adventure. show less
Manly Wade Wellman y su hijo Wade Wellman nos ofrecen un pastiche holmesiano mezclado con la genial obra de H.G. Wells ‘La guerra de los mundos’. Más que una continuación, se trata de una revisión de la invasión marciana desde diferentes puntos de vista, los de unos personajes muy especiales: Sherlock Holmes, el profesor Challenger y el doctor Watson. A esto hay que añadir el suplemento de un par de obras de Wells, el relato ‘El huevo de cristal’, que sirve de prólogo a la invasión, y el ensayo ‘Los habitantes de Marte’. Personalmente, la novela me ha parecido interesante y poco más.
I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. I'll admit that I got further into this than I did into Dune, but it's bad fanfic and I couldn't do it. I mean, if it had been better written and more in character, I would have eaten it up with a spoon, but seriously? Unless you get it for free, don't bother. It's best as a curio.
I'm a big fan of Manly Wade Wellman, but this pastiche is lifeless. I read it when it came out 30 years ago, and didn't remember it so I tried it again. It's only for a completist.
Well, why not? The Martians invaded Earth while Holmes was alive (and before Orson Welles fooled the world with his radio broadcast).
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- Canonical title
- Sherlock Holmes's War of the Worlds
- Original title
- Sherlock Holmes's War of the Worlds
- Alternate titles
- The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The War of the Worlds
- Original publication date
- 1975
- People/Characters
- Sherlock Holmes; John H. Watson; George Edward Challenger; Austin; Billy (in Sherlock Holmes); Jessie Challenger (show all 25); Inspector Stanley Hopkins; Mrs. Hudson (Martha Hudson); Violet Hunter; John Roxton; Howard Blake; Fordham; Henderson; Fairdale Hobbs; Morse Hudson; Moran; Murray; Ogilvy; Percy Phelps; Stent; Templeton; Luke Tovey; Victor Trevor; Jacoby Wace; Patrick Waring
- Important places
- London, England, UK; Mars; 221B Baker Street, London, England, UK; Chelmsford, Essex, England, UK; Donnithorpe, Norfolk, England, UK; Tillingham, Essex, England, UK (show all 9); Ware, Hertfordshire, England, UK; Woking, Surrey, England, UK; Venus
- Important events
- Alien Invasion
- First words
- The distinguished career of Sir Edward Dunn Malone in journalism and literature, as well as his brilliantly heroic service in both World Wars, is too well known to need review here.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)If you ignore this letter, I will have it published. Yours sincerely, John H. Watson, M.D.
- Original language
- English
- Disambiguation notice
- That's not a typo under Other Authors. This book is a collaboration between Manly Wade Wellman and his son Manly Wade Wellman Jr, who was known as simply 'Wade Wellman'.
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- Reviews
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- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
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