Official Review: Sherlock Holmes And The Nine-Dragon Sigil'

[katiesquilts]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Sherlock Holmes And The Nine-Dragon Sigil'" by Tim Symonds.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Holmes and Watson are names known worldwide, and for good reason. Sherlock and his companion have been around since the late 19th Century, and have been reincarnated multiple times through movies, television series, fan creations, and so on. I agreed to review this book the week the newest season of the BBC Sherlock series aired on television, although the two are quite different.

Tim Symonds’ Sherlock Holmes and the Nine-Dragon Sigil takes the reader back to the early 1900s, where Sherlock and John have retired to separate cities and are bored out of their minds. They’re quick to respond when a Chinese ambassador comes and asks for their help. There are rumors spreading in China’s Forbidden City, Peking, that a plot is being put in place to harm either the progressive emperor or his overbearing, traditional aunt. Holmes and Watson are to sniff out the plot and put an end to it before the criminals are able to start a civil war.

From the very first page of the novel, it is clear how much love and care Symonds put into his writing and research. The amount of detail in his descriptions – from clothing and automobiles to geography and cultural customs – is almost overwhelming at times. Thankfully, the author included a glossary at the end of the novel to explain the various foreign terms and historical references that pop up here and there.

Symonds’ writing style is clearly the novels’ strongest characteristic. Not only is it artistic and full of intense expression, it is also eerily similar to Arthur Conan Doyles’ original works. On the other hand, sometimes I felt that the author overused quotes and quotation marks. One example of this is when the author uses two quoted paragraphs to describe Mycroft, Sherlock’s brother.

I was also a little irked by the lack of emotions from the characters. Per usual, the novel is entirely from John’s point of view, narration via journal entry for the most part. For all the attention that was paid to the characters’ surroundings, their emotions and responses were quite lackluster. I felt that they were 2D characters in a 3D world.

Finally, I was not impressed by the novel’s pace. It seems like it takes the first half of the novel just for them to actually get to Peking, where all the action is to take place. Then, once they finally arrive, there is no action to be seen. Everything is slow, steady, and civilized. To be fair, this might be quite typical of an original Holmes novel. However, I am a modern reader and I’d like a bit more action and suspense in my mystery novels, especially when an emperor’s life is at stake.

As much as I enjoyed Sherlock Holmes and the Nine-Dragon Sigil, I wasn’t completely satisfied by it. I give it 3 out of 4 stars and would recommend it to Sherlock fans who are looking for a different setting than the usual Edwardian-era mystery. However, I would only recommend it to patient readers who are more along for the journey than the action, or those who are looking for a true-to-heart continuation of the original series.

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Sherlock Holmes And The Nine-Dragon Sigil'
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Like katiesquilts's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Insightsintobooks]

I love Sherlock Holmes and I love books that are set in eastern countries. I think I would enjoy this. Thank you for the review.

[Rachaelamb1]

Sounds like a unique take on a classic! Shame the characters were 2 dimensional.

[mewsmash]

My number one pet peeve is flat characters. I appreciate the review so I know to steer clear of this book.

[Keldras]

Characters with no emotion are a true pet pev. of mine.
I didn't really care for Sherlock when I was in grade school and I'm not about to pick this up.

[kimmyschemy06]

I've read several Sherlock Holmes books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and I enjoyed them a lot. I'm not sure, though, if I would enjoy this book if there is a 'lack of emotions from the characters.' Still, I commend the author for having 'eerily similar writing style to Arthur Conan Doyles’ original works.' Great job on the review.

[Keldras]

I found Sir Arthur Conan Doyals books to be a yawn fest, though I was ten at the time so I don't know if I'd like them now that I'm older. I'm more of an epic fantasy/heroic fantasy reader. I really loved the Xanth novels and if memory serves, I think I traded my Sherlock novel for one of Piers Anthony's books. (just don't tell my grandmother)