On Sunday, February 17 we attended the regular meeting of the Sound of the Baskervilles Sherlockian society at T.S. McHugh's Public House just north of Downtown Seattle. We discussed the canonical story The Adventure of the Three Students. On one of the tables the President for Life (PFL) put a box of non-canonical Sherlock Holmes books that he was trying to give away. When I initially looked through them nothing caught my eye. On another table of selections from the society library there was the Sherlock Holmes pastiche by Michael Dibdin, but this wasn't being given away. Just before we left the meeting the PFL ask us if we wanted any books from the box and on impulse I took Sherlock Holmes's War of the Worlds. The juxtaposition of Sherlock Holmes with the famous H.G. Wells science fiction story sounded interesting. Looking over the book we noticed it had two authors, Manly W. Wellman and Wade Wellman. It was published in 1975 by Warren Books and the pages were quite yellow indicating a first edition. Between pages 64 and 65 were identical ads for True filter cigarettes, one blue and the other green and both with the slogan "You don't start with True. You change to True." They both had Surgeon General warning.
The book is actually a collection of five "adventures" one of which first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction for December 1969. The four stories are "The Adventure of the Crystal Egg," "Sherlock Holmes Versus Mars," "George E. Challenger Versus Mars," "The Adventure of the Martian Client" that was originally published in the magazine, and "Venus, Mars, and Baker Street." The fictional "Introduction" to the stories mentions that the first three stories were found among the papers of Sir Edward Dunne Malone, a fictional journalist, I believe. The next two were written by John H. Watson, M.D. The appendix consists of a letter to H.G. Wells from Dr. Watson. Wells is portrayed as a kind of journalist in the book. The actual authors of Sherlock Holmes's War of the Worlds are father and son. Wade Wellman came up with the original idea and, since he was primarily a poet, asked his father for help in writing the original articles and the book. Some quick research online revealed that Manly Wade Wellman was the more well-known. He had written both science fiction and young adult novels and also wrote for the original Twilight Zone TV series. Wade credits his father for the inclusion of Conan Doyle's other main character, Professor George Edward Challenger.
I had read the original War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells back when I was in 7th or 8th grade for a Gifted and Talented class. We also listened to a recording of the Orson Welles radio broadcast and watched the 1950s film version. I never saw the mid-2000s film version starring Tom Cruise. In Sherlock Holmes's War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells is portrayed as a journalist that gets on Watson's nerves for his alleged inaccuracies in the events. Wells never actually appears but is only referenced. He is first mentioned when the character Jacoby West says, "Templeton (the antique dealer who first possesses the crystal egg in the book) said the Mr. H.G. Wells, the distinguished author, is now preparing a magazine article on the subject (the crystal egg)" (p. 35). The book also includes the character Ogilvy who I remember from the original War of the Worlds, though I think he played a different role in the original than in this pastiche.
This is the first book I've read featuring the Conan Doyle character Professor George Edward Challenger. I had only heard of him from seeing some episodes of the cheesy TV show Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World back in the 1990s. He is quite a character: a stout grizzly bear of a man, gregarious and aggressive, but also a keen intellect. He is quite vain as well though he states, somewhat inaccurately and humorously that "Modesty is a trait which Holmes shares with myself" (p. 118). Also great is Challenger's disdain for the intellect of regular people. He considers Holmes to be anywhere near his equal. He is so intelligent that he actually coins the term "television," though not in the way we know it. At one point Challenger mentions that he attended the University of Edinburgh that also happens to be attended by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Naturally, the book references much about Sherlock Holmes. It even refers to some of his past cases. In his author's note, Manly W. Wellman states, "Sherlockians both, we have also consulted with profit numerous works in the field and have found particular value in William Baring-Gould's exhaustive and scholarly The Chronological Holmes" (p. 7). Past case references include the Italian naval treaty and the mentions of Colonel Sebastian Moran. At one point Mrs. Hudson says to Holmes, "But once Dr. Watson wrote that you know nothing of astronomy" (p. 60). This refers to A Study in Scarlet. I got an idea of their ages when Holmes says to Mrs. Hudson, "And we are not so old, we are in our prime. I am forty-eight—a trifle older than you, several years younger than Watson—but the good Watson avers that many an agile and athletic man of forty is slower and more breathless than I am" (p. 41). Just as in the program Sherlock, Holmes sticks notes in the mantelpiece with a jackknife. Once when he goes out Holmes puts on a shooting coat and his deerstalker cap. He is very humorous when discussing his possible knighthood with Sir Percy Phelps. "If I were knighted, people would call me Sir Sherlock. Can you think, offhand, of a worse tongue twister." (p. 83)
The book mentions several parts of London that I could cross reference in the Chambers London Gazetteer that we won in a raffle at the Sound of the Baskervilles Masters Dinner in early January along with an SOB tote bag. Holmes mentions that London is the largest center of population on earth. He obtains the crystal egg at an antiques shop on Great Portland Street that the Gazetteer says "is not as grand as it sounds" and "H.G. Wells was well-acquainted with the area; it is the setting for his events in both The Invisible Man and the lesser known story 'The Crystal Egg'" (Gazetteer, p. 199). Other parts of London mentioned are Primrose Hill that's also mentioned in a Blur song ("For Tomorrow"), Kentish Town, Stokes Newington, Camden Hill, and Regent's Park.
I learned one new word from the sentence "Holmes was up betimes the following day…" (p. 37). Betimes means early or at a good hour. Much of the humor in the book comes from variations of the phrase "Elementary, my dear…" At one point Holmes cries, "Amazing, my dear Challenger!" and he answers, "You will find it elementary, my dear Holmes" (p. 19). Another character, Hopkins, raptly says to Holmes, "Marvelous, and please don't say 'elementary.'" Holmes answers, "But elementary is the foundation upon which all structures, concrete or abstract, must be founded" (p. 83). In one of the stories Watson writes, "I could not help applauding in my term, for his calm analysis had suddenly roused a warm flicker of hope within me. 'Elementary,' said Challenger, before Holmes had a chance to say it himself" (p. 157).
Sherlock Holmes's War of the Worlds gave Holmes a chance to use his powers of deduction, and Professor George Edward Challenger his scientific intellect in the world of 19th century science fiction. It made for both a good detective story and tale of science fiction. As I believe Holmes tells Hopkins in the book, he is investigating a crime, in seeking to learn about the invaders. I liked that the book was so true to Holmes by referencing the canon stories and even has him continue to investigate "regular" crimes before the invaders arrive and after they are defeated. The book does reveal some aspects of Holmes I didn't know of before, but these may be from Manly and Wade Wellman's imaginations. I may be interested in reading other Sherlock Holmes pastiches but I'm not sure I'll find one as fantastical as this. It's actually more of a "triple mashup" pastiche with Sherlock Holmes, Professor Challenger, and H.G. Wells all refurbished in a '70s sci-fi novel.
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