Druid's Blood

by Esther M. Friesner

When sleuth meets spell…

Victoria, queen of the realm, the mightiest mage in the British Isles, and one of the lustiest women Dr. John H. Weston had ever had the pleasure to companion beneath the covers, was in desperate trouble. And the only one who could help her was the world’s most renowned sleuth, Brihtric Donne. For someone had stolen the Rules Brittania, the magic tome that was the secret strength of both Victoria and her kingdom. Now with the Rules gone, Victoria was powerless to halt the unknown foe who was summoning demons of evil to destroy the queen and the Isles. So Donne and Weston began a hunt that would lead from the haunts of Lord Byron and Oscar Wilde to the mound of the Baskervilles to a confrontation with all the darkest magic a would-be monarch’s mad ambition could conjure up…

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Alternate History, Steampunk, Science Fiction Fantasy

279 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1988

About the author

Esther M. Friesner was educated at Vassar College, where she completed B.A's in both Spanish and Drama. She went to on to Yale University; within five years she was awarded an M.A. and Ph.D. in Spanish. She taught Spanish at Yale for a number of years before going on to become a full-time author of fantasy and science fiction. She has published twenty-seven novels so far; her most recent titles include Temping Fate from Penguin-Puffin and Nobody's Princess from Random House.

Her short fiction and poetry have appeared in Asimov's, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Aboriginal SF, Pulphouse Magazine, Amazing, and Fantasy Book, as well as in numerous anthologies. Her story, "Love's Eldritch Ichor," was featured in the 1990 World Fantasy Convention book.

Her first stint as an anthology editor was Alien Pregnant By Elvis, a collection of truly gonzo original tabloid SF for DAW books. Wisely, she undertook this project with the able collaboration of Martin H. Greenberg. Not having learned their lesson, they have also co-edited the Chicks In Chainmail Amazon comedy anthology series for Baen Books, as well as Blood Muse, an anthology of vampire stories for Donald I Fine, Inc.

"Ask Auntie Esther" was her regular etiquette and advice column to the SFlorn in Pulphouse Magazine. Being paid for telling other people how to run their lives sounds like a pretty good deal to her.

Ms. Friesner won the Nebula Award for Best Short Story of 1995 for her work, "Death and the Librarian," and the Nebula for Best Short Story of 1996 for "A Birth Day." (A Birth Day" was also a 1996 Hugo Award finalist.) Her novelette, "Jesus at the Bat" was on the final Nebula ballot in the same year that "Death and the Librarian" won the award. In addition, she has won the Romantic Times award for Best New Fantasy Writer in 1986 and the Skylark Award in 1994. Her short story, "All Vows," took second place in the Asimov's SF Magazine Readers' Poll for 1993 and was a finalist for the Nebula in 1994. Her Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novel, Warchild, made the USA TODAY bestseller list.

She lives in Connecticut with her husband, two children, two rambunctious cats, and a fluctuating population of hamsters.

Reviews

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting read if not a great one. Freisner takes the concept of a Britain defended by Druidic Magic and throws Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson into a plot to wrest power from Queen Victoria by the wicked Lord Kitchener with a a combinationn of Eastern Magic and iron (which of course is deadly to fairy folk).

There are some very clever ideas thrown into the mix here ranging from the happy coexistence of departed kings to a clue left in Binary code, however Friesner's idea of an alternative British history where a magic wall is set up by the druids to keep the Romans and all other invaders out is deeply flawed, as it would also have prevented the Saxon and Norman invasions, which in turn would have meant that there was no Queen Victoria.

Also I am at a loss to understand why she changed the names of Holmes and Watson when she quite happily uses real people in her narrative like Oscar Wilde, Lord Byron and HG Wells, in fact I found the renaming quite irritating.

So an interesting curiosity but not one I'd recommend spending too much time trying to track down

[Lawrence Kapture · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Holmes pastiche where Watson is the main character and gets the girl. Set in a Britain ruled by Druids, isolated from the rest of the world, and technology (cold iron, bad for druids) by magic defenses. The contraption on the cover made me think it would be more "steam punk," but that's just Welle's time machine.

It took me a little while to get into the story. The author starts with a chapter that never seems to get fully explained, and then builds the rest of the novel as if it were a children's serial, one exciting Victorian hijink after another. In the nature of Victorian pastiche, the author seems to want to jam in way too many characters. A Night in Lonesome October or the first volume of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen do this more smoothly. Watson is very wishy washy, Holmes is a huge Mary Sue. Both can be a bit wearing. The "twist" of Watson's identity is telegraphed and never truly surprising. I put it down and picked it back up several times before I finished it. It's an okay read if you are a Friesner completist, a huge face of Victorian pastiche, or only have Clive Cussler books to read otherwise.

Frankly, that first chapter, which seems to hint that the Holmes character actually took his identity from Watson's stories about him, is the bit I would have liked to see developed the most. I particularly liked her hint of this alternate America. "Dons from the great western outposts, Mynheers from the eastern trading centers, voyageurs from the south, redmen of the Seven Nations, and a sprinkling of joy seeking Turks and Venetians from Florida thrown in... No matter their many different races and governments, the Americans all took their theater seriously."

[Gerald Swick · Rating 4 out of 5]

In an alternate-universe Britain, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson–like characters must thwart a plot that threatens not only the queen but the magic wall that has protected the island for centuries. I really enjoyed the book; it's a fun fantasy read with a worthy denouement. I've read too many fantasy stories that built up to what should have been an edge-of-the-seat showdown between the protagonist(s) and antagonists(s) only to deal with the final faceoff in what amounts to an eyeblink. This one has a satisfying ending. Its "Sherlock Holmes" captures the essence of Arthur Conan Doyle's detective (although this one doesn't eschew sex with women); the "Watson" character is a little too much the bumbling Watson of old Sherlock Holmes films at times, but redeems himself in other scenes, and he has an interesting backstory that central to the plot. The other alternate-Victorian-Era literary characters that pop in and out, such as H.G. Wells, actually play a role in the story rather than merely being wink-wink backdrop scenery. I've not read other books by this author, but this one makes me want to.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book years ago when it first came out. It was steampunkish before Steampunk/Victoriana was cool; it was Sherlock Holmes before the recent Holmes craze. It was lots of fun. The basic concept is that DESPITE the fact that the Britons kick Roman's out of Britain (using magic), English history was pretty much the same and there are a number of Victorian figures throughout the book(including Queen Victoria, Oscar Wilde, Ada Lovelace and others).

It is basically a fun take on Sherlock Holmes with Watson as a Druid-priest and Holmes as either an actor playing a part, or a part playing an actor. Definitely recommended.

[Steven Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmmmm. This book *had* an interesting premise, a Sherlockian character in an England shielded by magic and run by druids. Unfortunately, it wasn't to my liking and I'll quite likely give the book to a charity shop as I'm unlikely to want to read it again ...

[Cris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dr. John H. Weston and Brihtric Donne. Basically take John Watson and Sherlock Holmes, add magic, and twist. I think this is the strangest Sherlock Holmes piece I've ever read.

[Dami (Damiellar) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book I read for pure enjoyment. Queen Victoria's Britain with magic & Sherlock Holmes.

Once again it's a light read rather than anything serious. A heap of fun though.

[Costin Manda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was first directed to Esther Friesner by the excellent audio reading of The Shunned Trailer, a short story which humorously and skilfully combines Ivy League competitiveness with Lovecraftian mythos. You can (and should) listen to it on the also excellent podcast site EscapePod, which together with its sister sites Pseudopod and Podcastle provide free weekly audio stories from the genres of sci-fi, horror and fantasy, respectively. The story itself was so amusing to me that I actually laughed out loud, which - for those so blissfully unaware of it - is not the same thing as LOLing. I made a short foiree into some Lovecraft stories, then proceeded on reading something of Friesner's.

Druid's Blood is an alternate universe Sherlock Holmes story. The "alternate" in the universe is an England where the druids repelled the Romans by using magic and then went on protecting the British isles with a magical shield that prohibits the entry of - for lack of a better word - contraband. This includes, for example, steel. It is an interesting modern bronze age world in which the druids are the highest religious order, everything is run by magic, technology is pretty much forbidden, but the Brits still have their high ideals, the monarchy and Sherlock Holmes. The irony is thick when the work comes from an American author.

Anyway, I don't want to spoil the story; you have to read it for yourself, but I recommend it highly. The first chapter is not so good, so I suggest you go through it even if you are not terribly enthusiastic about it. The rest, though, made me not let the book out of my hands - to my wife's chagrin. Not as funny as The Shunned Trailer (after all, it was not intended as a parody) it combines several famous ideas and characters with this twisted history of a magical Britain. The book is not meant as an exploration of history, though, as the characters and references are not really meant to have been contemporary or explainable by small tweaks in the time stream. I liked the book, although I don't know if I want to read more of the author right now. She is certainly smart and funny, but even if I enjoyed the book tremendously, it couldn't reach the level of good fun and concentrated smarts that The Shunned Trailer seemed to be. As such, I recommend reading the book first, then listen to the podcast of The Shunned Trailer. Perhaps in this order, the pleasure level will be higher.

There has been a lot of discussion on the changing of the names of Sherlock Holmes and doctor Watson. Whether it was a form of respect to the original characters to change their names if you change their entire world or whether it was a copyrighting issue or some other motive, I see no reason to dwell on the matter. After all, the epilogue is a tip of the hat to doctor Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who invented a character of such incredible skill and intelligence, only to relegate his own role to the faithful sidekick. Enjoy the book.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book began phenomenally, with wit and comic timing elevating the scenes to a phenomenal level, and increasing my expectations from this work rather exponentially. Alas! The wit and ribald or otherwise humour simply vanished within a few pages. It became a basic cloak and dagger story involving a clone of Sherlock Holmes, an especially dim version of Watson, and magic— none of which fel magical by any means. There were reams of words and chapters of politics. There were too many tiresome 'deductions'. But all of them were killjoys who only made me fondly remember the first few pages of this book again and again.
Nothing too be dug out unless you already have it.

[Alistair · Rating 4 out of 5]

A consulting detective and his trusted companion, sharing rooms in Baker street, solving a mystery in Victorian London. Sherlock Holmes wrapped in a world of pagan magic and otherworldy intriuge. An enjoyable read and an interesting twist on a classic formula.

[Jenny · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn’t be bothered to finish this, sorry. I suffered through 200 pages though, so at least I tried...

[Tamz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved all the character allusions or whatever you want to call them.