The Game, by Laurie R. King
This review is based on the Recorded Books audio version of the novel.
The Game is a modern novel about Sherlock Holmes. This seems to be a popular theme...I've seen a series that centers on Mycroft Holmes as well.
The concept behind The Game, and the other novels in the series, is that Sherlock Holmes, in his later years, marries Mary Russell, some forty years younger than he. Russell, as he calls her, is very much a modern woman. In The Game, she's a crack shot, throws a knife as well as a circus knife thrower, and is a master of disguise. After all, what do you expect from someone who has trained under Holmes for years?
Holmes and Russell are asked by Holmes' brother, Mycroft, to look into the disappearance of a British agent in India. In an odd twist, the British agent is Kimball O'hara, star of Rudyard Kipling's Kim.
Fans of Holmes' disguises will enjoy as Holmes and Russell take on the roles of Indian traveling magicians as they look for Kim. Soon, Russell is out of Indian garb and back into English clothes as she keeps tabs on a suspected Russian agent at a local prince's castle.
The Game is very much Russell's book. Holmes is in a great deal of the story, but also absent for much of it. Which is a shame, because while Russell is quite capable of holding her own alone, the interaction between her and Holmes is quite enjoyable. It's clear that they've spent years working together, and rarely need to discuss immediate actions. Rather, one acts and the other supports, as needed.
I haven't read any of the other books in the series, although I think The Game is the seventh. It would be interesting to see if earlier books cover Russell and Holmes meeting and getting to know each other.
Fans of Holmes' deduction may not enjoy this book as much as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. Holmes is certainly willing to make deductions, but being in India hampers him (he doesn't have the local base of knowledge), and in general the story does not revolve around Holmes and his famed deductive powers.
Still recommended, though, as an enjoyable story.
The Game is a modern novel about Sherlock Holmes. This seems to be a popular theme...I've seen a series that centers on Mycroft Holmes as well.
The concept behind The Game, and the other novels in the series, is that Sherlock Holmes, in his later years, marries Mary Russell, some forty years younger than he. Russell, as he calls her, is very much a modern woman. In The Game, she's a crack shot, throws a knife as well as a circus knife thrower, and is a master of disguise. After all, what do you expect from someone who has trained under Holmes for years?
Holmes and Russell are asked by Holmes' brother, Mycroft, to look into the disappearance of a British agent in India. In an odd twist, the British agent is Kimball O'hara, star of Rudyard Kipling's Kim.
Fans of Holmes' disguises will enjoy as Holmes and Russell take on the roles of Indian traveling magicians as they look for Kim. Soon, Russell is out of Indian garb and back into English clothes as she keeps tabs on a suspected Russian agent at a local prince's castle.
The Game is very much Russell's book. Holmes is in a great deal of the story, but also absent for much of it. Which is a shame, because while Russell is quite capable of holding her own alone, the interaction between her and Holmes is quite enjoyable. It's clear that they've spent years working together, and rarely need to discuss immediate actions. Rather, one acts and the other supports, as needed.
I haven't read any of the other books in the series, although I think The Game is the seventh. It would be interesting to see if earlier books cover Russell and Holmes meeting and getting to know each other.
Fans of Holmes' deduction may not enjoy this book as much as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. Holmes is certainly willing to make deductions, but being in India hampers him (he doesn't have the local base of knowledge), and in general the story does not revolve around Holmes and his famed deductive powers.
Still recommended, though, as an enjoyable story.
posted by Jay | 4:50 PM
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