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A review by jscarpa14
The Hell-Hound of the Baskervilles by G.S. Denning
4.0
This begins about a month after the first book ends, with Holmes as a breathing corpse, having been murdered by Watson in an attempt to stop Moriarty, then in control of Holmes's body from conquering the world. In the beginning, it's episodic, much like the first novel with short cases that chronicle Holmes's return to life and subsequent recovery. It shares the same ridiculous humor of the previous novel where the characters are often beyond ludicrous and I honestly expected to give it a similar rating and review to that which I gave the first title in the series.
Then it begins the tale for which the book is titled, The Hellhound of the Baskervilles. This story encompasses at least the latter half of the book, if not a little bit more than that, and is considerably longer than any other tale within the story. It's also so much more than the tales previously told of Warlock Holmes adventures with this version of Doctor John Watson. The tale tells of Holmes's real origins and I believe, though I'm not certain, gives an insight as to Moriarty's first life, before he began body jumping as he is when introduced in this series. What concerned me a bit is that when he appeared in this story, he's depicted as Scottish by the narrator, at least in the accent used and he had an English accent in the first novel. I certainly hope this is addressed in future titles as the end of this novel hints that this isn't the last that we've seen of Holmes's main traditional villain even if he's not the least traditional in this portrayal of the character.
The bulk story of this book does have a bit of the humor that characterizes the series, but it is more engrossing with more of an air of danger than any previously told tale of Denning's imaginings of these characters. This brings out the mystery, magic, and page-turning excitement that isn't a big part of the previous stories and it really shines as a part of the series. I hope this writing style shown in the latter half of the book continues in future titles because it far outshines the series opener. Learning of Holmes's origins in this version of him was absolutely enthralling and I can't wait to learn more of Warlock Holmes's long history.
While the series opener is kind of lukewarm title for me, this second installment is one that I'd highly recommend and I'm looking forward to future titles in the series.
Then it begins the tale for which the book is titled, The Hellhound of the Baskervilles. This story encompasses at least the latter half of the book, if not a little bit more than that, and is considerably longer than any other tale within the story. It's also so much more than the tales previously told of Warlock Holmes adventures with this version of Doctor John Watson. The tale tells of Holmes's real origins and I believe, though I'm not certain, gives an insight as to Moriarty's first life, before he began body jumping as he is when introduced in this series. What concerned me a bit is that when he appeared in this story, he's depicted as Scottish by the narrator, at least in the accent used and he had an English accent in the first novel. I certainly hope this is addressed in future titles as the end of this novel hints that this isn't the last that we've seen of Holmes's main traditional villain even if he's not the least traditional in this portrayal of the character.
The bulk story of this book does have a bit of the humor that characterizes the series, but it is more engrossing with more of an air of danger than any previously told tale of Denning's imaginings of these characters. This brings out the mystery, magic, and page-turning excitement that isn't a big part of the previous stories and it really shines as a part of the series. I hope this writing style shown in the latter half of the book continues in future titles because it far outshines the series opener. Learning of Holmes's origins in this version of him was absolutely enthralling and I can't wait to learn more of Warlock Holmes's long history.
While the series opener is kind of lukewarm title for me, this second installment is one that I'd highly recommend and I'm looking forward to future titles in the series.