War of the Worlds by Wade Wellman

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: War of the Worlds by Manly Wade Wellman

All of the enjoyment in this novel is based on the idea of bringing Sherlock Holmes and Professor Challenger together in the same volume to deal with a crisis—in this case, H. G. Wells’ famous War of the Worlds. We get a little added joy when we see other characters from the two series (John Watson, Edward Malone, and Sir John Roxton) make appearances, although Malone’s is only as an author. It’s quite possible that a couple of the other characters were people I should have (but didn’t) recognize as well.

 

The novel opens with Holmes coming into possession of an unusual crystal which shows images of somewhere else. He brings it to Challenger and the two study it together, ultimately deducing that it shows Mars. They discover the life on Mars and are still watching when the invasion of earth is launched. The two then split into their own stories—both men taking it on themselves to observe the invaders to gain precious knowledge for the defense of the planet, before eventually teaming up again toward the end of the book.

 

Overall, I enjoyed the novel, although I didn’t feel like Sherlock Holmes quoting Keats seemed to be in character. (Perhaps I’m misremembering, it’s been a while since I’ve read original Holmes stories.) I also didn’t think that Holmes and Mrs. Hudson being longtime lovers was a plausible addition. I always thought of Doyle’s Holmes as pretty much asexual, but I guess reasonable people could come to different conclusions.

 

If you like the idea of mixing Holmes, Challenger, and Martians, you should definitely give this book a try.