Asterix the Legionary ★★★★☆

 

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Title: Asterix the Legionary
Series: Asterix #10
Authors: Goscinny & Uderzo
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 53
Words: 3K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia.org

Asterix and Obelix are setting off for a wild boar hunt when they encounter Panacea, a former childhood resident of the village who has since moved to Condatum, and Obelix immediately falls in love with her. Some hours later, Panacea receives word that her fiancé Tragicomix has been conscripted into the Roman army and shipped to North Africa; and Obelix, although heartbroken, promises to bring him back.

Asterix and Obelix travel to Condatum, where they learn that Tragicomix has already left for Massilia, the Mediterranean port from which the soldiers depart, and themselves enlist in the army to follow him, alongside Hemispheric the Goth; Selectivemploymentax the Briton; Gastronomix the Belgian; Neveratalos the Greek; and Ptenisnet, an Egyptian tourist who spends the entire book believing himself to be in a holiday camp.

After completing basic training (and repeatedly and comically driving their instructors to the verge of tears), the newly formed unit sets off as reinforcements to Caesar against Scipio, Afranius, and King Juba I of Numidia. Asterix and Obelix soon find out that Tragicomix has gone missing in action after a skirmish, and raid Scipio's camp to recover him. This results in the Battle of Thapsus, in which the confusion over the Gauls' unorthodox assault and the similarity of both armies' uniforms cause a default victory for Caesar after the frustrated Scipio sounds the retreat. The Gauls are cornered by Caesar after the battle is over; but released and sent home for their assistance in his victory. Asterix and Obelix thereafter celebrate at home, while Panacea and Tragicomix return to Condatum to marry

My Thoughts:

Questions that popped into my head when reading this story:

1. Why aren't Asterix and Obelix married men? They seem old enough.

Upon thinking for about 30seconds, the answer is obvious. The authors know that if Asterix and Obelix settle down, their adventuring days are over. Both would take their responsibilities as husbands seriously and their wives and eventual kids would take precedent in their minds.

2. The Romans just can't catch a break can they? They try to hide from Obelix and end up trampling on the flowers he wants for Panacea.

This is one of the repeated gags that never gets old for me. Seeing fully armed and armored soldiers getting the stuffing knocked out of them by a midget and a fatman always makes me laugh!

3. Bureaucracy portrayed here, is it any different today? And if we could just biff and bam the parasites who give us the runaround now, would it change anything? Hint, yes!

Man, I had to cry. Bureaucrats are as unhelpful today as they obviously were when this was written. Something about a bureaucracy seems to attract a certain kind of person and personally, I think the world would be a much better place without those kinds of people. Give me a license to use a boxing glove on that jackass sitting behind the desk at the Department of Motor Vehicles, please!

4. What did you think of Asterix's insistence on going through the Legion training as quickly as possible?

I actually wondered why Asterix and Obelix went through all the trouble. Wandering around causing havoc and mayhem seems to be their trademark so it was almost out of character for them to “try” to abide by the rules. Of course, them selectively obeying the rules made for some really funny scenes.

5. Is Tragicomix a pansy? Why didn't he biff and bam his way out of the Legion like a good Gaul?

Tragicomix IS a pansy. Despite a chin that would make Bruce Campbell green with envy, Tragicomix doesn't lift a finger at any time to help himself. In many ways he reminds me of spoiled young kids of today with Asterix and Obelix as helicopter parents taking care of every single thing. Being in the army would have made a man out of him. Well, as the Princess Bride always says, Twue Wuv....

6. Julius Caesar is always doing favors for Asterix and Obelix. Should they get a loyalty rewards membership? Save Julius 3 times and get a free attack on a Roman Patrol kind of thing?

I realized after I wrote this question that the boys are already getting free attacks on Roman Patrols, so that idea was kind of pointless. However, a lifetime supply of free boar seems called for. Since Obelix seems to eat at least 3-9 boars a day, ol' Julius is going to need a hog farm!

7. Finally, just where DOES Tragicomic pin that clasp for his cape?

Dude doesn't even have any hair on his chest, so just what is that clasp clasping onto? I would have said he's pinned it into his own flesh, but since we've established he is a bona fida PANSY, that isn't possible. I'm going to go with superglue. Probably a magic super glue that will last for a whole year. And without any chest hair he doesn't even have to worry when he eventually pulls it off. Yeah, like I said, PANSY.

I did a buddy read with Alex, Fraggle and Sharon. Go check out their reviews and what they have to say about this story :-)

★★★★☆

• Asterix the Gaul (Book 1)

• Asterix and the Golden Sickle (Book 2)

• Asterix and the Goths (Book 3)

• Asterix the Gladiator (Book 4)

• Asterix and the Banquet (Book 5)

• Asterix and Cleopatra (Book 6)

• Asterix and the Big Fight (Book 7)

• Asterix in Britain (Book 8)

• Asterix and the Normans (Book 9)

Hostile Takeover ★★★★☆

 

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Title: Hostile Takeover
Series: Arcane Casebook #8
Author: Dan Willis
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 293
Words: 97.5K

Synopsis:

Sorsha is dying from the curse the Legion has put on her. Alex and Dr Bell must find a way to undo it or Sorsha will be dead in days.

Alex is also hired to figure out if a fellow runewright with the ability to write a rune for radio was murdered. Everybody has a motive and nobody has a motive. A strong willed attractive CEO who is separated from her husband. The husband, wheelchair bound by polio but carrying on an affair with his live in nurse. One of the other radio companies. It's a muddle.

Finally, Alex is hired by a couple to find out who is pressuring them to sell their house. When Alex begins to investigate, the husband is killed and the wife moves away to her family. Now it is personal for Alex.

The couple's house was necessary for the Legion to place a gigantic finding rune in their basement. They were using the curse on Sorsha, which drained her magic, to power it. They were looking for a hidden chamber in the Arctic which contained an indescribable evil. Alex foils their plans, destroys the spell on Sorsha and takes one step closer to becoming the most powerful being on the planet.

The wife committed the murder and the case was not tied into the other two.

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this one just as much as I have the previous Arcane Casebook stories. Alex shaves with a straight razor. Which means he's clean shaven. I just made that connection after looking at the beautiful cover. Now I can't unsee it :-(

★★★★☆

• All My "Arcane Casebook" Reviews

The Living Shadow ★★★☆☆

 

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Title: The Living Shadow
Series: The Shadow #1
Authors: Maxwell Grant
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Crime Fiction
Pages: 224
Words: 67K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia

Harry Vincent, saved from suicide by The Shadow, is recruited to watch Scanlon, courier for Wang Foo, the Chinatown mastermind. Cronin murders Scanlon, but fails to find the metal Chinese disk Scanlon uses as an identifier. Vincent finds the disk, poses as the courier, is exposed, captured, tortured, and saved by The Shadow. Millionaire Geoffrey Laidlow is killed for his hidden jewels; the rest of the story involves searching for Laidlow's killer, and the killer searching for the jewels, to be fenced with the Chinatown mastermind. In the end, the criminal mastermind's lawyer Ezekiel Bingham, is free and unpunished. Diamond Bert Farwell, exposed as Wang Foo, goes to jail.

My Thoughts:

Riders of Skaith started reviewing the The Shadow books last year. I'm glad I jumped on the bandwagon as I rather enjoyed this novel. But everything Riders says about Harry Vincent is totally true, sigh.

★★★☆☆

Dead Souls ★★☆☆☆

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Title: Dead Souls
Series: (The Russians)
Author: Nikolai Gogol
Translator: CJ Hogarth
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic
Pages: 570
Words: 155K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia

Book One

The story follows the exploits of Chichikov, a middle-aged gentleman of middling social class and means. Chichikov arrives in a small town and turns on the charm to woo key local officials and landowners. He reveals little about his past, or his purpose, as he sets about carrying out his bizarre and mysterious plan to acquire "dead souls."

The government would tax the landowners based on how many serfs (or "souls") the landowner owned, determined by the census. Censuses in this period were infrequent, so landowners would often be paying taxes on serfs that were no longer living, thus the "dead souls." It is these dead souls, existing on paper only, that Chichikov seeks to purchase from the landlords in the villages he visits; he merely tells the prospective sellers that he has a use for them, and that the sellers would be better off anyway, since selling them would relieve the present owners of a needless tax burden.

Although the townspeople Chichikov comes across are gross caricatures, they are not flat stereotypes by any means. Instead, each is neurotically individual, combining the official failings that Gogol typically satirizes (greed, corruption, paranoia) with a curious set of personal quirks.

Setting off for the surrounding estates, Chichikov at first assumes that the ignorant provincials will be more than eager to give their dead souls up in exchange for a token payment. The task of collecting the rights to dead people proves difficult, however, due to the persistent greed, suspicion, and general distrust of the landowners. He still manages to acquire some 400 souls, swears the sellers to secrecy, and returns to the town to have the transactions recorded legally.

Back in the town, Chichikov continues to be treated like a prince amongst the petty officials, and a celebration is thrown in honour of his purchases. Very suddenly, however, rumours flare up that the serfs he bought are all dead, and that he was planning to elope with the Governor's daughter. In the confusion that ensues, the backwardness of the irrational, gossip-hungry townspeople is most delicately conveyed. Absurd suggestions come to light, such as the possibility that Chichikov is Napoleon in disguise or the notorious vigilante 'Captain Kopeikin'. The now disgraced traveller is immediately ostracized from the company he had been enjoying and has no choice but to flee the town.

Chichikov is revealed by the author to be a former mid-level government official fired for corruption and narrowly avoiding jail. His macabre mission to acquire "dead souls" is actually just another one of his "get rich quick" schemes. Once he acquires enough dead souls, he will take out an enormous loan against them and pocket the money.

Book Two

In the novel's second part, Chichikov flees to another part of Russia and attempts to continue his venture. He tries to help the idle landowner Tentetnikov gain favor with General Betrishchev so that Tentetnikov may marry the general's daughter, Ulinka. To do this, Chichikov agrees to visit many of Betrishchev's relatives, beginning with Colonel Koshkaryov. From there Chichikov begins again to go from estate to estate, encountering eccentric and absurd characters all along the way. Eventually he purchases an estate from the destitute Khlobuyev but is arrested when he attempts to forge the will of Khlobuyev's rich aunt. He is pardoned thanks to the intervention of the kindly Mourazov but is forced to flee the village. The novel ends mid-sentence with the prince who arranged Chichikov's arrest giving a grand speech that rails against corruption in the Russian government.

My Thoughts:

Book One was amusing and was almost a 4star read. Book Two wasn't the complete text and from what I understand, was never fully finished. It was fragmented and disjointed and Gogol let his characters speechify for pages and pages.

★★☆☆☆

• The Russians

• Leo Tolstoy

• Fyodor Dostoyevsky

• Ivan Turgenev

• Nikolai Gogol

Eye of the Kabula ★★★★☆

 

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Title: Eye of the Kabula
Series: Groo the Wanderer #6
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 24
Words: 2K

Synopsis:

Groo swims to land after being shipwrecked in the previous issue. He comes across a village that is having bad luck because their lucky ruby was stolen. Groo sets off to find the ruby and get a reward. He tracks it down until he finds a king who has a ruby fetish. Groo dresses up like a female slave to get into the palace and steals the ruby. He takes it back to the village, only to have the king's army follow him. Groo flees the village as the army wants him dead and the villagers want him dead for leading the army to their village. Groo just can't win.

My Thoughts:

This was more amusing and less “moralizing” than the previous issue.

★★★★☆

• All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Curse of the Phoenix ★★★✬☆

 

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Title: Curse of the Phoenix
Series: Arcane Irregulars #1
Author: Dan Willis
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 272
Words: 87K

Synopsis:

From DanWillisAuthor.com

A stolen ARTIFACT…

New York Police Lieutenant Danny Pak has a problem. When one of his officers calls him out to an unusual crime scene, Danny realizes that it’s terrifyingly similar to something the department thought was dead and buried. Now he has to find a madman before the story hits the papers and the city explodes into chaos.

Across town, Agent William “Buddy” Redhorn of the FBI has two problems. He’s been assigned a potentially career-ending case with magical ties, and his sorceress boss is out of town. The case involves a stolen statue that belongs to the government of Brunei, but the more he chases the thieves, the more bodies begin to drop. Bodies affected by a strange, unknown magic.

Resolving to work together, Danny and Redhorn have to catch a cold-blooded killer, recover a stolen artifact, all while keeping everything out of the press. If they don’t, it will be more than their careers that will die when the curse of the Jade Phoenix descends on New York.

My Thoughts:

I had bought this book back in November of '21 and it has taken me this long to get to it. The good thing about me waiting so long is that the next Arcane Casebook is now out and so I can dive into that soon after this.

I enjoyed this book. I've enjoyed all of the Arcane books that Willis has written. I would say he's hit his skill plateau though. He's a solid B-list author and that's not a bad thing it's just the reality. If you like light urban fantasy detective stuff, Willis has got you covered.

This is the first review for this month where I'm deliberately writing light. Adios.

★★★✬☆

• All My "Arcane Casebook" Reviews

Vivi's Adventure ★★★✬☆

 

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Title: Vivi's Adventure
Series: One Piece #23
Arc: Baroque Works #12
Author: Eiichiro Oda
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 229
Words: 10K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_One_Piece_chapters_(187_388)

"Ignition"

"Nightmare"

"Guardian Spirit"

"I Will Defeat You"

"Zero"

"King"

"Some Justice"

"V.I.P."

"Strategy to Escape the Sand Kingdom"

"Last Waltz"

"Vivi's Adventure"

The cannon is hidden in the clock tower overlooking the capital city, and the Straw Hat Pirates frantically try to reach it before it is fired. In the final moments the cannon is stopped, Luffy finally defeats Crocodile, and uses the last of his energy to save King Cobra and Nico Robin. Most importantly, it begins to rain, ending the civil war and the drought that caused it. Crocodile and his agents are arrested, and the Straw Hats collapse. Alabasta tends to their wounds and celebrates them as heroes. But as pirates, they are criminals, and are forced to flee the country in secret to avoid arrest. Bon Clay distracts the Marines to allow the Straw Hats to say farewell to Vivi, and they set sail for their next adventure.

My Thoughts:

Alabasta is saved and more importantly, Vivi stays behind as the princess so the crew (and by that I mean me) don't have to deal with her any more. Thank goodness.

★★★✬☆

• All My "One Piece" Reviews

I Want My Mummy ★★★★☆

 

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Title: I Want My Mummy
Series: ----------
Editor: Alfred Hitchcock
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Crime Fiction
Pages: 186
Words: 73K

Synopsis:

From the Inside Cover & TOC

TERRORS OF THE TOMB. . .

An Italian Prince is selling something more sinister than art objects in View by Moonlight.

The Sword of Damocles is put to murderous modern use in There Hangs Death!

An insane killer explains the method of his madness in The Pattern.

When Emma discovers the secret ingredient in her lover’s tobacco, their romance goes up in smoke in Pipe Dream.

Mr. and Mrs. Duvec argue fiercely, but death has the last word in The Sound of Murder.

CREEP INTO THE CRYPT

WITH HITCHCOCK

Hitchcock’s favorite Mummy is guarding a horde of horrible treasures. Before your terrified eyes, he will unwrap an unrivaled collection of ghoulish murders that will age you overnight. . .suffocating suspense that will leave you gasping for air. . .and evil artifacts whose curse you can never escape.

Read if you dare, these macabre masterpieces.

TOC

STORIES

View by Moonlight • Pat McGerr

There Hangs Death! • John D. MacDonald

Lincoln’s Doctor’s Son’s Dog • Warner Law

Coyote Street • Gary Brandner

Zombique • Joseph Payne Brennan

The Pattern • Bill Pronzini

Pipe Dream • Alan Dean Foster

NOVELETTE

Shottle Bop • Theodore Sturgeon

STORIES

The Magnum • Jack Ritchie

Voices in the Dust • Gerald Kersh

The Odor of Melting • Edward D. Hoch

The Sound of Murder • William P. McGivern

The Income Tax Mystery • Michael Gilbert

Watch for It • Joseph N. Gores

NOVELETTE

The Affair of the Twisted Scarf • Rex Stout

My Thoughts:

This was originally titled “ Stories to be Read with the Door Locked, Vol 2”. Vol. 1 I didn't particularly care for and it got a barely passing nod from me. So when I saw the little blurb on the cover stating this was a retitled work, I kind of groaned to myself.

Then I opened up the book and realized there was a Nero Wolfe novella by Rex Stout. Without even reading a word, I mentally bumped this up half a star. I also knew that no matter how this book went, since it was ending on a Nero Wolfe story that I would go away from this a happy camper. Thankfully, my enjoyment of this collection didn't rest on Wolfe alone.

The story “Lincoln's Doctor's Son's Dog” felt like something that “I” would have written. It was bombastic, it was ego-filled by the narrator and it was stupendously outrageous and the ending was beyond ridiculous. I LOVED it!

I also enjoyed Foster's “Pipe Dream”. It was pretty obvious from the get-go where this semi-horror story was going, but the ending where the main character gets rolled into the fireplace, well, that just lit a glow of satisfaction in my heart ;-)

And then of course things wrap up with Nero Wolfe. I thoroughly liked this novella and just like every other Wolfe mystery, I was simply along for the ride. And I liked that ride. It was a good way to end the book and just made me happy. Probably means it is time to add Wolfe back into my reading rotation.

★★★★☆

• All of My “Alfred Hitchcock” Reviews

The Great Cow Race ★★★★☆

 

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Title: The Great Cow Race
Series: Bone #10
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 29
Words: 1K

Synopsis:

From Boneville.fandom.com

Phoney's plan suddenly goes wrong when Lucius bets the Barrelhaven Tavern on Gran'ma Ben to win. Knowing it will take ages to pay off that debt, Phoney lets Smiley know that he has to win but ends up in the cow suit with him. When Gran'ma Ben tries to get a good look at the Mystery Cow, they fall off the ridge they had been running on while trying to avoid her and land in a pack of sleeping Rat Creatures, who awake and begin to chase them. Fone Bone, who has now caught up, runs side by side with a startlingly cheerful Smiley, while Phoney wishes for his death. While they run the cows and Rat Creatures cross each other causing the race to fall into disaster, and Gran'ma Ben wins in the confusion.

My Thoughts:

Another “Stupid, stupid rat creatures!” moment. Loved it!

★★★★☆

• All My "Bone" Reviews

The Sign of Four ★★★★☆

 

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Title: The Sign of Four
Series: Sherlock Holmes #2
Author: Arthur Doyle
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 171
Words: 49K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia.org

Set in 1888, The Sign of the Four has a complex plot involving service in India, the Indian Mutiny of 1857, a stolen treasure, and a secret pact among four convicts ("the Four" of the title) and two corrupt prison guards. It presents Holmes's drug habit and humanizes him in a way that had not been done in the preceding novel, A Study in Scarlet (1887). It also introduces Dr. Watson's future wife, Mary Morstan.

According to Mary, in December 1878, her father had telegraphed her upon his safe return from India and requested her to meet him at the Langham Hotel in London. When Mary arrived at the hotel, she was told her father had gone out the previous night and not returned. Despite all efforts, no trace was ever found of him. Mary contacted her father's only friend who was in the same regiment and had since retired to England, one Major John Sholto, but he denied knowing her father had returned. The second puzzle is that she has received six pearls in the mail from an anonymous benefactor, one per year since 1882, after answering an anonymous newspaper query inquiring for her. With the last pearl she received a letter remarking that she has been wronged and asking for a meeting. Holmes takes the case and soon discovers that Major Sholto had died in 1882 and that within a short span of time Mary began to receive the pearls, implying a connection. The only clue Mary can give Holmes is a map of a fortress found in her father's desk with the names of Jonathan Small, Mahomet Singh, Abdullah Khan and Dost Akbar.

Holmes, Watson, and Mary meet Thaddeus Sholto, the son of the late Major Sholto and the anonymous sender of the pearls. Thaddeus confirms the Major had seen Mary's father the night he died; they had arranged a meeting to divide a priceless treasure Sholto had brought home from India. While quarrelling over the treasure, Captain Morstan—long in weak health—suffered a heart attack. Not wanting to bring attention to the object of the quarrel—and also worried that circumstances would suggest that he had killed Morstan in an argument, particularly since Morstan's head struck the corner of the chest as he fell—Sholto disposed of the body and hid the treasure. However, Sholto himself suffered from poor health and an enlarged spleen (possibly due to malaria, as a quinine bottle stands by his bed). His health deteriorated when he received a letter from India in early 1882. Dying, he called his two sons and confessed to Morstan's death; he was about to divulge the location of the treasure when he suddenly cried, "Keep him out!" before falling back and dying. The puzzled sons glimpsed a face in the window, but the only trace was a single footstep in the dirt. On their father's body is a note reading "The Sign of the Four". Both brothers quarrelled over whether a legacy should be left to Mary, and Thaddeus left his brother Bartholomew, taking a chaplet and sending its pearls to her. The reason he sent the letter is that Bartholomew has found the treasure and possibly Thaddeus and Mary might confront him for a division of it. All of the party travel to the Sholto family home, Pondicherry Lodge in Upper Norwood, to confront brother Bartholomew.

Bartholomew is found dead in his home from a poisoned dart and the treasure is missing. While the police wrongly take Thaddeus in as a suspect, Holmes deduces that there are two persons involved in the murder: a one-legged man, Jonathan Small, and a small accomplice. He traces them to a boat landing where Small has hired a steam launch named the Aurora. With the help of dog Toby that he sends Watson to collect from Mr. Sherman, the Baker Street Irregulars and his own disguise, Holmes traces the steam launch. In a police steam launch Holmes and Watson chase the Aurora and capture it, but in the process end up killing the small companion after he attempts to kill Holmes with a poisoned dart shot from a blow-pipe. Small tries to escape but is captured. However, the iron treasure box is empty; Small claims to have dumped the treasure over the side during the chase.

Small confesses that years before he was a soldier of the Third Buffs in India and lost his right leg to a crocodile while bathing in the Ganges. After some time, when he was an overseer on a tea plantation, the 1857 rebellion occurred and he was forced to flee for his life to the Agra fortress. While standing guard one night he was overpowered by two Sikh troopers, who gave him a choice of being killed or being an accomplice to waylaying a disguised servant of a rajah who had sent said servant with a valuable fortune in pearls and jewels to the British for safekeeping. The robbery and murder took place and the crime was discovered, although the jewels were not. Small got penal servitude on the Andaman Islands.

After twenty years, Small overheard that Major Sholto had lost much money gambling and couldn't even sell his commission, necessitating his resignation. Small saw his chance and made a deal with Sholto and Captain Morstan: Sholto would recover the treasure and in return send a boat to pick up Small and the Sikhs. Sholto double-crossed both Morstan and Small and stole the treasure for himself after inheriting a fortune from his uncle. Small vowed vengeance and four years later escaped the Andaman Islands with an islander named Tonga after they both killed a prison guard. It was the news of his escape that shocked Sholto into his fatal illness. Small arrived too late to hear of the treasure's location, but left the note which referred to the name of the pact between himself and his three Sikh accomplices. When Bartholomew found the treasure, Small planned to only steal it, but claims a miscommunication led Tonga to kill Bartholomew as well. Small claims the treasure brought nothing but bad luck to anyone who came in touch with it—the servant who was murdered; Sholto living with fear and guilt; and now he himself is trapped in slavery for life—half his life building a breakwater in the Andaman Islands and the rest of his life digging drains in Dartmoor Prison.

Mary is left without the bulk of the Agra treasure, although she will apparently receive the rest of the chaplet. Watson falls in love with Mary and it is revealed at the end that he proposed to her and she has accepted.

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this read much more than I did back in '08. There were a couple of factors involved in that and I'll touch on them momentarily. But first, Holmes' drug use. I don't have a woke view of it, ie, Oh, we're so enlightened and we must despise and denigrate the Past because it doesn't live up to Our Modern Ideals, but I do take it as a serious warning about just what we put into our bodies. If you didn't know, my wife and I are Seventh Day Adventists and one of the tenets is the Health Message. Alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs are not to be taken. In the earlier days, it went farther than that. ANY stimulant was considered dangerous and their long term (usually unknown at the time) effects far outweighed the immediate gain one got. I bring this up specifically because of caffeine. If you didn't know, besides being an SDA, I am also an energy drink addict and I am beginning to see the effects of massive doses and long term use. All of that is to say that just because something doesn't have an immediate negative effect on you doesn't make it good. Makes me want to adhere to the health message that much more!

Ok, on the bits directly about this book :-D

First, since I had just watched Season One of Sherlock, I was trying to find connections. The first and most obvious is Watson's future wife. She's in the second episode, the Blind Banker and she's in the second story. Also, 1 man steals something that doesn't belong to him and suffers the consequences. That one is a bit of a stretch but it is still there.

Another reason I enjoyed this was because the “flashback” is simply told as a tale and as such there is no confusion and it is very easy to tell just what is going on, AND when it is going on. This was a longer book than the previous but it didn't feel that way. The speedboat chase near the end and the completely unrepentant attitude of Small about the treasure (he tosses it little by little into the Thames while they are being chased so that NO ONE can have it) just made me laugh. That quirk of human nature that assumes such proprietary ownership over something (in this case a bunch of jewels that Small helped murder and steal for) even when it is completely wrong just makes me laugh.

The tv show, at least in season one, has Sherlock sneering at the police and publicly demeaning them and basically alienating them, usually on purpose, any chance he gets. It's the usual disdain of the media companies showing through for the lawful authorities. In the books however, Sherlock, while saying he is much smarter than them, doesn't disparage them and is fine with giving them the credit. He wants them to succeed, even if it ends up falling on his shoulders. There is the proper respect for authority exhibited in the books and I really do like that.

I read through pretty quickly and enjoyed it.

And while our buddywatch of Sherlock has ended, I see no reason not to link to SavageDave's review from 2019: The Sign of Four

★★★★☆

• The Sign of Four (2008 Review)

• A Study in Scarlet (Book 1)