lem119's review
2.0
While Star Trek fans who saw a romantic connection between Kirk and Spock are credited with coining the term "slash," the idea of audiences noticing romantic tension between two male characters (who are not canonically in a relationship) came far before that, and therefore it is no surprise that there are many who believe that Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson's relationship could have potentially been more than platonic, and that there are quite a few interpretations of their relationship in this way. Some of them are very good, I think, but unfortunately this collection as a whole is not one of them. Not all of the stories focus on Holmes or Watson as homosexual; in some cases it is a client or a villain, and the concepts developed are very interested but not well executed. They mostly attempt to discuss the illegality of homosexuality in Victorian England, but do so in a heavy handed and rather un-compelling way. There are a few stories in this collection that I did quite like—The Kidnapping of Alice Braddon, and The Adventure of the Poesy Ring particularly—but overall the stories were unmemorable. I've read better Holmes pastiches, and I'm sure there are better adaptations that examine the possibilities of Holmes' and/or sexuality or that of their acquaintances.
kelseyvsy's review
3.0
I liked this well enough, however I was hoping for more stories that included a Watson/Holmes. I'm all for more representation of the stories and problems that were sure to have happened in that time, but I guess I assumed these would be more than that. They were fine stories, that focused beyond the relationships (one barely even had a queer element) and I guess I just wanted more: more queer, more Watson/Holmes, more relationships.
towards_morning's review
2.0
I found this to be a hugely mixed bag.
About half the stories in this collection are basically serviceable; a lot of them sort of end up running into each other, riffing on similar themes over and over, often adhering to a specific set of tropes. A couple of them are then very good, with more interesting set ups and good prose. I got this book cheaply, and consider it to have been worth the cost for those stories I enjoyed.
There are also a couple that I found distinctly uncomfortable and to play into some really harmful ideas of what queering the text has to entail; ones that play into long-outdated stereotypes of queer sexuality, and what stories about queer sexuality must include, without a hint of self-awareness or subversion. It's not that I think stories about queer/etc. people 'can't' include certain things, but the framing of those things is important when it comes along with long histories of baggage.
Another thing that frustrated me is that for an anthology that attempts to be subversive in some way, the range of 'queerness' on offer is predictably limited. It's largely, as ever, cis gay men. True, one might argue that the Holmes framework doesn't allow for much else, but to be honest I think that's setting the bar low. Some imagination and a willingness to walk further outside the limitations of the canon would have been more interesting and varied, in my opinion.
Finally, a lot of these stories don't do much with the fact that they're set in the Holmes canon, to be frank. They're just set in it because they are. Very few of the stories here had to be told via Holmes, and I think, again, that's a lack of vision and a wasted opportunity.
It really just didn't grab me as a collection, in the end.
About half the stories in this collection are basically serviceable; a lot of them sort of end up running into each other, riffing on similar themes over and over, often adhering to a specific set of tropes. A couple of them are then very good, with more interesting set ups and good prose. I got this book cheaply, and consider it to have been worth the cost for those stories I enjoyed.
There are also a couple that I found distinctly uncomfortable and to play into some really harmful ideas of what queering the text has to entail; ones that play into long-outdated stereotypes of queer sexuality, and what stories about queer sexuality must include, without a hint of self-awareness or subversion. It's not that I think stories about queer/etc. people 'can't' include certain things, but the framing of those things is important when it comes along with long histories of baggage.
Another thing that frustrated me is that for an anthology that attempts to be subversive in some way, the range of 'queerness' on offer is predictably limited. It's largely, as ever, cis gay men. True, one might argue that the Holmes framework doesn't allow for much else, but to be honest I think that's setting the bar low. Some imagination and a willingness to walk further outside the limitations of the canon would have been more interesting and varied, in my opinion.
Finally, a lot of these stories don't do much with the fact that they're set in the Holmes canon, to be frank. They're just set in it because they are. Very few of the stories here had to be told via Holmes, and I think, again, that's a lack of vision and a wasted opportunity.
It really just didn't grab me as a collection, in the end.
ghostbasil's review
This was the best collection of pastiches i've read so far! i appreciated that they were pg or pg-13. not all of the stories features holmes/watson, and i really liked how the different authors interpreted and brought in lgbtq+ themes in their works. that said, a lot of them still frustrated me either because of the characterization or tropes/clichés in the supporting characters. also, ther short intros before every story were kind of redundant and in some cases, kind of spoiled what was to come! they felt unnecessary and i would have preferred, if necessary, to have them in the introduction. i heard from someone that at some point lethe press was toying with releasing another anthology of lgbtq+ holmes stories, and i would definitely read it, despite a few weak links in this one! wouldn't recommend unless you are a holmes fan who deeply cares about lgbtq+ retellings/pastiches, because otherwise it won't be worth your time. glad i read it though! and i'm also glad that there were some non-women contributors, that felt nice.
(faves: “The Case of the Wounded Heart” by Rajan Khanna, “The Adventure of the Hidden Lane” by Lyn C.A. Gardner, “The Adventure of the Unidentified Flying Object” by Michael G. Cornelius (this one, out of every holmes pastiche i've read, seemed to me to actually have the most holmesian mystery and deduction) and “The Adventure of the Poesy Ring” by Elka Cloke)
(faves: “The Case of the Wounded Heart” by Rajan Khanna, “The Adventure of the Hidden Lane” by Lyn C.A. Gardner, “The Adventure of the Unidentified Flying Object” by Michael G. Cornelius (this one, out of every holmes pastiche i've read, seemed to me to actually have the most holmesian mystery and deduction) and “The Adventure of the Poesy Ring” by Elka Cloke)
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