The Holmes-Dracula File

Dracula #2

by Fred Saberhagen

1887, London, Victoria’s Jubilee -- criminals threaten to release thousands of plague infested rats on the day of celebration. The extraordinary powers of the Count and sharp mind of the Master Detective team up to avert a catastrophic public disaster. (And, the reader discovers more than a deerstalker hat and an Invernes Cape in Holmes’ family closet.)

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Vampires, Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Paranormal

249 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Fred Saberhagen was an American science fiction and fantasy author most famous for his ''Beserker'' and Dracula stories.

Saberhagen also wrote a series of a series of post-apocalyptic mytho-magical novels beginning with his popular ''Empire of the East'' and continuing through a long series of ''Swords'' and ''Lost Swords'' novels. Saberhagen died of cancer, in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Saberhagen was born in and grew up in the area of Chicago, Illinois. Saberhagen served in the [[U.S. Air Force]] during the Korean War while he was in his early twenties. Back in civilian life, Saberhagen worked as an It was while he was working for Motorola (after his military service) that Saberhagen started writing fiction seriously at the age of about 30. "Fortress Ship", his first "Berserker" short shory, was published in 1963. Then, in 1964, Saberhagen saw the publication of his first novel, ''The Golden People''.

From 1967 to 1973, he worked as an editor for the Chemistry articles in the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' as well as writing its article on science fiction. He then quit and took up writing full-time. In 1975, he moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

He married fellow writer Joan Spicci in 1968. They had two sons and a daughter.

Reviews

[Grady Hendrix · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you're reading a book that posits Dracula and Sherlock Holmes are identical twins then you know you're reading quality literature.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Will Sherlock Holmes find the missing fiancee? What about the mysterious experiments on human beings about? Why is the empire blackmailed with a disease? And what is it with Dracula all about? This was a very entertaining horror light story set in the end of the 19th century with famous literary characters. Dracula was a bit too human for my taste but Saberhagen did a great pastiche of the Sherlock Holmes stories here. Was it horror? Well, there were some horror elements in here but overall it is more adventure meets crime and pulp horror than a thoroughbred horror novel. Especially liked the story set in London. Recommended!

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 1 out of 5]

My goodness, I read this back in the dark ages...I'm not sure it wasn't in Victorian London. What? The book wasn't published then? Oh, well, okay, maybe it was in the late 1970s?

Mostly this book annoyed me as do/did Saberhagen's general take on Dracula. If you've read many of my other reviews you know a couple of things. First, I believe that writers have the right to their own stories and versions of folklore. Second, I also believe these reviews are for the "take" of the given reviewer, so if I don't like the take on something, the plot, or the characterizations then I rate the story low while trying to make clear that it's my opinion and others may think/feel differently.

Here we get an early "sympathetic" vampire...a re-characterization of Dracula himself of all things. The premiere blood sucker of all times is re-written as the (sort-of) hero of the seven Saberhagen Dracula novels...up to and including ANOTHER or possibly an early love affair with Mrs. Harker.

Saberhagen is a pretty fair writer I liked some of his work...well a little. The Swords books were pretty good, but these I didn't care for and this one I didn't care for. I wonder if I would have enjoyed it more if it had been written better or more absorbingly? I don't know. Taking THE CLASSIC villain of all time and re-writing the entire story just rubs me the wrong way, not to mention deciding you can also re-write Sherlock Holmes (or elsewhere Merlin).

I really can't rate this book highly, though I know many love it. That's them, this is me and to give a book I don't like a high rating is dishonest. So, one (1) star and suppose it goes without saying I don't own it anymore. If you like it, enjoy. Not for me.

[Werner · Rating 3 out of 5]

In "The Sussex Vampire," Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has Holmes refer to the case of "the giant rat of Sumatra," "a tale for which the world is not yet ready." Here, Saberhagen blends a Holmes pastiche which purports to present that tale into his Dracula series, set after the events of Stoker's Dracula and premised on the assumptions that Dracula wasn't really destroyed at the end of that book (despite its clear statement that he was), and that he was a much more human and less evil figure than Stoker portrayed him as. (Saberhagen --a Roman Catholic-- has Dracula at one point expressing indignation at those who try to use crosses to repel vampires, "as if a vampire were not as much a child of God as they are!") His re -interpretation of other Dracula characters, especially Dr. Seward, is equally drastic. Purist readers, who appreciate more fidelity to original novels if they're going to be used as take-off points for other people's sequels (a group that includes me), will not view this as a plus. On the other hand, Saberhagen's fidelity to the Holmes canon is impeccable (save for the fact that Doyle always excluded anything actually supernatural from the Holmes stories), and he manages a good imitation of Dr. Watson's narrative voice.

If you take the book on its own terms, as if you'd never read Stoker's original novel (or perhaps actually haven't), it does succeed well as a suspenseful entertainment. Saberhagen does a good job, in the main, of dovetailing Watson's and Dracula's parallel and alternating narratives. (He trips up once, though, near the end of the book when he has Mina Harker place a phone call to Holmes --no mean feat, considering that it was mentioned near the beginning of the book that the great detective doesn't have a telephone.)

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked Dracula & the various adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I rarely like pastiches. In the first of this series, Saberhagen tells the story of Dracula from his point of view & it was really good. In this book, Dracula's story continues & he alternates chapters with Dr. Watson telling his & Sherlock's side of the story. Again, really well done, surprisingly so. He really captured Doyle's style. Better than that, he set up some really good bits for future books. On to An Old Friend of the Family!

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Crossover de dos personajes icónicos en sus respectivos géneros.-

Género. Narrativa Fantástica.

Lo que nos cuenta. En el Londres de finales del siglo XIX, un anciano es golpeado y secuestrado para usarlo en algún tipo de experimento en cuyos captores parecen tener mucho interés. Aunque el anciano ha perdido la memoria a consecuencia del golpe, va recordando cosas poco a poco mientras muestra algunas habilidades poco comunes. El doctor Watson, ayudante del investigador Sherlock Holmes, recuerda una de las investigaciones en las que ambos se vieron involucrados, un caso más extraño e inquietante de los que la pareja acostumbraba a enfrentar. Primer libro de la serie La Voz de Drácula en español, aunque en su edición original es el segundo.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a ton of 'fake' Sherlock Holmes in high school and this was one of my favorites.
It's very well written, but it also blew my 16 year old mind because it was the first time I'd read a book where characters from other books showed up.
That was amazing! Real writers were coming up with stories doing the kind of thing my friends and I did while reading comic books.
It was genius and lead to a life long obsession with team up stories and the kind of literary mix and match which is pretty common these days.

Saberhagen and Farmer were two of the only people doing it at the time and both became two of my favorite writers for it, and are still two of the best at it.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have looked (in my own haphazard way) for a copy of Fred Saberhagen's The Holmes-Dracula File for nearly four decades. Such a delight to find a copy at last, and at a time in my life when I am much more able to appreciate it than I would have been at thirteen. Fascinating to see two (literary) giants like Sherlock Holmes and Count Dracula square off. This novel's genesis can be found in the Holmes adventure of the Giant Rat of Sumatra, which is hinted at in The Sussex Vampire. The actual story is never told in the Holmes canon by Conan Doyle, and a lot of authors have used it as a starting point for various "untold" Holmes stories. Saberhagen does a good job of telling this tale from the perspective of both John Watson and Count Dracula. I had a hard time swallowing some of the revelations about Holmes' past but in the end it is all in good fun, and no more annoying than the Holmes/Russell novels of Laurie King.

[Martel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't seem to get enough of Saberhagen's rewriting of Dracula. Here, even better, you get two for the price of one with the addition of another myth, the famous Baker Street detective. The author makes an interesting parallel between the two figures in an original story narrated by Watson and Vlad Tepes himself.
In the first installment of this series, Saberhagen had to cope with Bram Stoker's novel, respecting each step of the original story. So we had some weak parts, and some difficulties to stay in character with the formidable figure he created. No such thing here. The story is clever, believable (in its own fantastic way of course) and trough and trough solid. I enjoyed myself immensely :)

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 2 in Saberhagen's Dracula series. This one was somewhat better than the first. For one thing, it didn't follow the storyline of Bram Stoker's Dracula so I didn't know what was about to happen. It also had more dramatization than the first one, which was almost all telling and very little showing. This one still had a fair amount of telling but showed more. Enjoyed it and will read more in this series.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sherlock Holmes and Dracula are both trying to stop a group that is experimenting with the plague. But they don't actually connect until the end of the book. The story switches point of view from Dracula to Watson. It was enjoyable and the plot was intriguing but I sill felt something was missing. Individual parts of the story are great, but it didn't add up for me.

Written in 1978, I remember reading this author when I was a teen.

[Eric Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have had to reduce my rating of this book from 4 to 3 stars thanks to my recollection of it at the time when I rated it originally apparently being clouded by time and nostalgia. I read this for the first time as a teenager and remembered it with fondness and it had two of my idolized fictional characters of the time as lead characters so understandably upon looking back I gave it a higher rating than I think it deserves. In fact I have to say that I still teeter on the edge of giving it a 2.5 rating but my love for the characters and enjoyment of certain aspects of the tale and the period allow me to reast easy with its 3 star rating.
My complaints are not so much as to what is wrong but more of what is missing or just awkward. The narrative feels disjointed and not just because of the style of jumping between two narrators. The characters do not seem quite like them selves both in regards to Holmes and Watson and the Count himself. There is just something off in Holmes reactions to the situation, Watson's reactions to Holmes, and the way that the Count approaches the whole matter once the plot gets moving. Now this just may be my perceptions influenced by how I typically see these characters but I cannot get over how they seem slightly tilted from what I would expect.
The story is only lightly fleshed out and other than a couple of nice scenes there is little of Holmes deductive reasoning presented and the Count is more of a force of nature moving about London and reacting to situations than his normal methodical and deliberate self. Add in the reveal of the villain being rather underwhelming and to my mind rather self serving and it just does not hit the notes where it should. There are a couple rather good character moments for Vlad and another couple of places where there is a good haunted and hunted feeling going on but its really not enough to do more than keep it moving along just enough to keep my interest.
I will say the section where snatches of articles and headlines from the newspaper are quoted were interesting and I caught myself wondering if Mr. Saberhagen had actually looked up old London news sheets of the time for ideas or took some actual articles from those records.
Either way while it was a rather fast read I cannot say it was a wonderful one. I liked it fine is the best praise I can give it.

[Mary JL · Rating 3 out of 5]

The original "Dracula" by Stoker stands out in my mind as the very first book I ever left unfinished. That was back in high school; before that I felt I should finish any book I started.

I have read Sherlock Holmes; though I am not a purist where every single detail much match the originals.

These two factor result in my rating of this book. It is a fun, fast easy read told by Dracula and Dr. Watson in alternating chapters. I am not a big vampire fan; I read it more for the Holmes side--but both narrative voices I found equally interesting.

I found the period details of that century interesting and the story interesting--a bit improbable, but still worthwhile.

Well suited for a light afternoon of reading for either vampire fans or Holmes fans.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

The year is 1887 and Queen Victoria’s Jubilee is scheduled for late June. Meanwhile, a mad scientist prepares to unleash thousands of plague infected rats on the British public if his obscenely huge ransom demands aren't met. There is also a bizarre killer leaving a trail of bloodless and bloodied corpses--a killer who seems to be a madman of enormous strength. Count Dracula joins the World’s Greatest Detective in an effort to avert the impending crisis and take revenge on an enemy. The story is told alternately by Watson and the Count--in a document released long after Holmes and Watson are dead. In 1916 Holmes tells Watson that it is time to tell the true story which had been referenced in "The Sussex Vampire" as “a story for which the world is not yet prepared.” But still the world was not ready and the tale of the Giant Rat of Sumatra is not given to the public until its caretaker releases it for publication in the 1970s.

It's amazing how many fictional people didn't really die--even when their creators said they did. I've now read Holmes pastiches where Moriarty survived his plunge down the Reichenbach Falls and Stapleton didn't really drown in the Grimpen Mire. Bringing back characters from the dead seems to be the thing to do if you're going to write a Holmes story. Or if you're not into that, then just mix Holmes up with some famous person...fictional or real, it doesn't really matter. We've got Holmes and Teddy Roosevelt; Holmes vs. the Phantom of the Opera; Holmes vs. Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde; Holmes and H.G. Wells and his martians; Holmes and Jack the Ripper...just to name a few. In the 1970s, Fred Saberhagen gave us a double-whammy--not only did he bring someone back from the dead; he brought back someone from the undead and then brought him into a Holmes story. Bram Stoker went to a great deal of trouble to tell us how Count Dracula was killed once and for all. Apparently, that was all stuff and nonsense. In his first book in the Dracula series (The Dracula Tape--which I haven't read, by the way), the Count tells all about how his supposed demise was a big fake to fool Van Helsing.

So....provided you can swallow that particularly large and gaudy fly, you can settle down for an interesting look at Victorian London with Dracula and Holmes working together (for different purposes) to prevent an evil doctor and his minions from unleashing those plague-ridden rats on the people of England. Holmes is, of course, working for Queen and country. Dracula is bent on a personal revenge--after all, these imbecile mortals dared to cosh him on the head with wood (one of his rare weaknesses) and experiment on him in their efforts to reintroduce the plague. Holmes is his usual brilliant self--pointing Lestrade in the right direction for the mad killer portion of the story and foreseeing the moves of the mad scientist. He works out a clever strategy with the Count to foil the evil doctor's plans.

Having gotten over the hurdle of Dracula not having been destroyed, I actually enjoyed this one very much. It doesn't do to hold on too dearly to the actual Stoker story...or to mind if Saberhagen comes up with a somewhat bizarre connection between Dracula and Holmes (beyond the whole wipe out the evil-doers thing). He does provide an intriguing explanation for why Holmes (and Mycroft) hasn't married and doesn't hold women or romantic relationships in high regard. The explanation also touches on Holmes's unconventional and, perhaps, unhappy childhood and relationship with his mother. An interesting take to say the least. Overall, Saberhagen does well with the characters--staying true to Holmes's and Watson's personalities--though Watson is a little quick to doubt Holmes's sanity when he starts talking about vampires. He also gives Dracula an interesting voice--with just enough snark when referencing the incidents with Van Helsing and company. 3.75 stars (rounded up here)

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting content. Thanks.

[Vakaris the Nosferatu · Rating 4 out of 5]

all reviews in one place:
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu

About the Book: Vlad Dracula wakes a hostage in a very strange place, held captive by strange people, and, seemingly, yes, seemingly being tortured in some strange ways. His captives don’t seem to know who they’re dealing with, but… Without a chance to rest on his native soil, Prince of the Darkness doesn’t fully know who they’re dealing with either.

Meantime, led by a few cases that likely connect in his mind, Sherlock Holmes prowls the streets. The main motive being a missing man…

My Opinion: As I suspected, the combo of Dracula and Sherlock wasn’t as good as their separate tales tend to be. A curse of some kind. But it’s an easy to read book, entertaining as fiction like this often is, so I can’t really complain all that much.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Criminals are threatening to set loose thousands of plague carrying rats and a there is a killer who leaves a trail of bloodless corpses in his wake. Who is the killer and what, if any, is the connection?

In this fun book by Fred Saberhagen Sir Arthur Conan Doyle meets Bram Stoker in a truly delightful mash-up.

Holmes and Watson are kept as much in traditional character as possible, given the subject matter.

The story is fast paced and exciting, keeping the reader breathless from page to page. A truly ripping yarn and one in which Holmes and Dracula have much more in common than you would think.

The book was first published in 1978 so physical copies may be hard to obtain. Though the book is still available on Kindle format.

Recommended.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super fun! As a lover of Dracula AND Sherlock Holmes, I found this book hit all the right notes. Very entertaining to see two of the biggest names in Victorian literature (or, indeed, literature in general) using their wits and wiles in tandem.

Side note: the audiobook narrator for these books has a pitch-perfect inflection for the characters, even if his European accents are fighting for their lives.

[James Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dangerous terrorist plot makes unlikely bedfellows of Sherlock Holmes and Count Dracula when a ransom demand of one million pounds is demanded to prevent an outbreak of plague in London.

With Dracula's narration intertwined with Watson's, Saberhagen deftly creates a tense mystery that is easily read but rewarding.

[Jay Rothermel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable once first 20 pages are behind you. Alternating chapters of first-person narration are are a bit too much, however. Still... a villainous plot to infect London with plague from a giant Sumatran rat is an entertaining one-pipe-problem.

[Katrine Engelhardt Thomsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magnificent entertainment!
Sure, it can sound preposterous to have Dracula and Sherlock Holmes join forces. But to to quote the great detective himself “so does life”.

A great escapist read for anyone who has ever wondered what these two great figures of literature would make if each other.

[Honor · Rating 2 out of 5]

while this book is not “technically” good and has god awful prose, i truly respect the boldness of having a book that says on the very first page that its gonna be about a giant rat AND ALSO dracula.

[Mari · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this take on Dracula. From the first time I read the original as a kid, i always thought that the Victorian age humans were a bit too hysterical for their own good, and figured that thew story was a gross bigoted account from their small minded point of view. First of all, obviously anyone that walks, talks, and has a way with girls is not a lot like dead. Apparently undead=alive. Dead people don't do anything at all. Second idea was that immortality sounded like a blast. I figure being a night person wasn't so bad. And poor Lucy! They obviously killed her by giving her several transfusions of unmatched blood. Whatever Dracula did was probably to give her a chance at some kind of life! Anyhow, I haven't really seen much to change my mind. As if never seeing the sun would be such a problem? Hardly. Sherlock Holmes is such a grand idea. But Doyle really lost it on the result. His writing ios so sloppy and his research non existent that his stories are funny. I especially loved "the Specled Band" a story where a snake can hear a whistle, drink milk, and climb a rope. HUH? WHAT??? Had Doyle never seen a snake? So two beautiful, iconic figures from terrible books. Saberhagen made me proud.

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book hugely, both for the mystery plotline and for the interaction of the characters. In this and the previous book, The Dracula Tape, Dracula's characterisation felt very emotionally realistic to me. I expected there to be a twist at the end, but I really enjoyed the build up to it and Holmes's reaction to it. (The way it eventually came out reminded me of this Sherlock fanfic, which I've put behind a spoiler tag because if you read it before the book it will probably act as such.)

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saberhagen’s novel opens with an amnesiac old man, who we soon learn is Count Dracula, in the clutches of a scientist who is conducting some kind of experiment involving fleas and rats. Meanwhile, Sherlock Holmes is employed to track down a scientist who went to Sumatra on a research trip. Although the scientist’s supplies returned to London and were picked up, the scientist’s fiancé hasn’t seen him. As the story progresses, we discover the scientist who is holding Dracula is involved in a plot to unleash a great plague on London during Queen Victoria’s Jubilee in June 1897. Dracula breaks free of his captors and just wants to find his belongings and get back to his business in England, which was to spend some time with his beloved Mina. However, in getting away, Dracula manages to leave behind the body of one of the people behind the plague plot, which puts Holmes on his trail. The story is alternately told by Dracula and Dr. Watson.

The sections of the novel focused on Holmes did a good job of capturing Doyle’s tone. I found myself picturing Holmes as portrayed by Jeremy Brett and Watson as portrayed by Edward Hardwicke, which I took as a good sign. Saberhagen makes a point that Holmes and Dracula bear an uncanny resemblance, which I enjoyed because many actors who have played Holmes have also portrayed Dracula, including Jeremy Brett as shown above. Brett played Dracula during the 1978 Broadway production featuring set designs by Edward Gorey. Saberhagen gives us a good reason for Holmes’ and Dracula’s resemblance and posits an interesting background for Holmes that explains some things I’ve wondered about. Meanwhile, Saberhagen continues to give us a Dracula who is at once sympathetic but believably Stoker’s Dracula.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Holmes-Dracula File by Fred Saberhagen is that rare literary experiment where Victorian gothic meets gaslight deduction—and, to my surprise when I read it back in 2011, the unlikely mashup works surprisingly well.

Here, Saberhagen flips the script on what we expect from both his protagonists: Sherlock Holmes, the stalwart logician with razor-sharp instincts, and Count Dracula, whom we usually relegate to the villain's corner.

But in this novel, Dracula is not merely a threat; he’s a narrator, an ally, and—dare I say it—a being of nuance. Yep. Nuance. Saberhagen’s Dracula is articulate, noble (in parts), and eerily compelling, offering a counter-narrative to the “evil incarnate” trope laid down by Stoker. It's like watching a centuries-old PR battle unfold.

The book reads partly as a Watsonian mystery and partly as a memoir from Dracula’s point of view. This dual narrative structure injects a fresh rhythm into what could have otherwise been simple fan fiction.

Set against a London intimidated by political plotting and sinister forces (of both mortal and immortal diversity), the plot punches between suspense, sly comedy, and a bizarrely moving examination of morality beyond good-and-evil binaries.

What stuck with me even years later was how organically Saberhagen allows Holmes’ relentless logic to coexist—and sometimes clash—with Dracula’s dark charisma. This isn’t a parody or a genre gimmick. It’s an eerie pas de deux between two 19th-century icons, done with surprising elegance.

Would recommend it to lovers of pastiche, classic horror, or Holmesian what-ifs.

[Robert Jr. · Rating 2 out of 5]

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. 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 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.

[Velvetea · Rating 2 out of 5]

*Note~ Why would I read this series if I don’t seem to be enjoying it all that much??
Well:
I am currently living in the Japanese countryside with extremely limited access to books in English (I read in Japanese from time to time for a wonderful challenge, but I’m nowhere near proficient enough to take on novels at the level I read in English, so it’s refreshing to take a break and relax with English literature). I live in a town whose library has been closed since before my arrival, during a pandemic which restricts traveling to a bookshop which would have English novels (at about 3x what they should cost). This series was leant to me by the only foreigner I’ve found who is a reader here, out of sincere kindness. So, while I find the stories kitschy at best, I’m still grateful to have them at hand.

Now then...

While I enjoyed this a little more than the first of the series (mostly because it wasn’t a giant dissection filled with strained excuses), it is still through an imitated voice, this time that if Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I believe the premise of the story is to convince the reader of a “shocking” connection between two of the most famous literary characters: Dracula and Sherlock. OK, OK, have your fun.
Except the mystery itself was predictable (and I never even guessed the villain on Scooby-Doo right!!). I wouldn’t call it a horror story either, mostly because of the humor sprinkled in from Dracula’s point of view, which I’m almost sure doesn’t have a place here.
I’m curious about what original content Saberhagen might have up his sleeve, if he chooses to break away from re-writing the ideas of past great authors.
I guess I’ll find out if he’s exhausted that avenue and wants to be original anytime soon. On to the third!

[David B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two literary superstars of the Victorian era become enmeshed in a spectacularly horrible scheme to upset the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Sherlock Holmes has been engaged by a young American woman to investigate the disappearance of her fiancé, who was hired to do medical research in the South Seas. Dracula has been clocked over the head with a wooden club and, wooden implements being one of his weaknesses, is now temporarily a helpless prisoner. Fred Saberhagen has written an imaginative team up told in chapters that alternate between the account of Dr. Watson, sharing a case that has long been hidden from the public, and Dracula, narrating his own first person account of events just as in the first book of this series. The mystery is well constructed. The high concept of the threat with which our heroes must contend would be worthy of the 19th Century descendant of a Bond villain. There is some odd business about a connection between Holmes and Dracula that I didn’t quite buy, but this remains a very entertaining novel.

https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com

[mxd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh come on!

No no, I mean, yaaaay, two epic characters for the price of one! The thing is, it seems like a really good idea: world's best detective meets world's most famous bloodsucker. However, it totally falls flat. I think I would have rather seen a Holmes story focusing on how he handles the facts of finding something of a supernatural existence (rocking back and forth whispering 'impossible, Watson, impossible!', I'd imagine.) than this whole other business of a rat monster and the unleashing of a plague on London or whatever, I totally lost interest by the end. And Dracula's kind of retconned beyond the realms of believability here. And the odd thing is, I love a good reboot, but this just didn’t work for me. Too bad I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I thought I would. However, I do think it’s the kind of book that comes down to personal taste. No doubt some will love this (and do love it judging by the reviews).