In truth, I’d never read any Sherlock Holmes stories before, instead playing adventure games based on his legend. Therefore, it was curious to read it now (after encountering many other characters inspired in some part by him) and finding myself amused how while he’s the man of stature, the entire tale is told from the perspective of Watson.

Looking at it, it’s probably because, as Watson points out, his way of thinking about art, or presentation, is very different. It would not be fitting for him to reveal his full deck of cards, and I’m pretty sure I would find his mind dreadfully dull. He as a character struck me much the same as Superman (there are even allusions to how handsome and athletic he is, on top of his reputation as a detective)—a man who has it all, and in whom I have very little interest because of it. His flaws are only superficial.

Watson, instead, is a more interesting character—largely because he is unsure of himself. I imagine when he and Holmes are at home, peaceful and quiet, he is a one-man odd couple. At least that’s how my mind pictures it.

I am now even more curious to reread the Neil Gaiman short story in which he writes about Holmes uncovering a Lovecraftian horror.

I figure I’ll use this space to write a little bit about books and games I finish and some thoughts on them.

For this, I reread the entire Landover series. It’s the sixth book in the series, and it’s been many years since I’d read the last, and I only had vague memories of what happened. This time I was a bit reluctant, as I had already decided to try and read the Shannara series last year, to find that I just couldn’t stomach his writing. The only female within the first several pages was a dead mother/wife, and it seemed a poor knock-off of Lord of the Rings, which I’ve never been able to stomach in book format.

Therefore, this will be a smaller review of a series, and then the book itself.

The series was disappointing after coming back to it. Female characters? You have Nightshade, the evil, but beautiful witch. Willow, the good, and saintly once-fairy. Sterling Silver, the nurturing home.

Did I mention every female has to be described as beautiful? Many times. Over and over. It’s aggravating to read yet another fantasy world where women are seemingly not 50% of the population. Beyond that, I did like Questor and Abernathy as much as before. Likewise, as it was last time, I found Ben Holiday an insufferable bore. The bits in the first book, concerning Chicago, gave me a chuckle, however.

This book then? Iunno. Mistaya is certainly more interesting, but yet again, she’s the only female addition in a cast full of tons of males. In general, the writing improved from the previous books in spots. It felt uneven, however. Brooks has a tendency to over explain internal feelings, telling me what a character is feeling at all times; as I prefer the show, and not tell method of the written story, it grew aggravating. He also repeats himself, a lot. Since this is not the full-length, original folio of Hamlet, I could do without the constant reminders every hundred or so pages.

The plot itself reminded me of an adventure game, to be honest. Every detail was important, leading to its use later in the book. There were even some extraneous inventory items you picked up, but never actually used.

I also find the cover’s design to be curious. The selling point is that this is a book by Brooks, not that this is part of a series for which he had not written in over a decade.