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

[Afuglsan]

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

---

3 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

“Elementary, my dear Watson.” We are all familiar with the iconic duo: the great detective Sherlock Holmes and his trusty companion Dr. Watson. What started from the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has expanded into many films, television shows, and off-shoot stories from various authors. With the wonderful description, complex plots, and enigmatic characters that Sir Doyle presents, these are certainly big shoes to fill. Tim Symonds takes on this challenge and completes it very well in Sherlock Holmes and the Nine-Dragon Sigil.

In this work, we are transported back in time to the early 1900s in England. While Sherlock is enjoying retirement on his bee farm, Dr. Watson is contacted by the Foreign Secretary for an urgent meeting with an important Chinaman. This Chinaman, General Yuán, has requested that Dr. Watson take a perilous journey into the heart of China to help him build up his New Army to better protect his country and his Empress. Without hesitation, Dr. Watson accepts this mission and embarks on the long voyage through enemy territory.

While in China, Watson is greeted by an unexpected surprise. The great Sherlock Holmes has beaten him to the Forbidden City in the Middle Kingdom. Alas, there was a threat of an impending assassination on either the Empress or her nephew, the Emperor. As Holmes says, “the game is afoot.” Together, readers and Dr. Watson watch in awe as Holmes unravels the latest mystery and uncovers deep secrets hidden within the Middle Kingdom’s Imperial family. But with the boiling threat of political upheaval and civil unrest, will Watson and Holmes ever be allowed to return home?

The first half of the novel was a little hard for me to get into. I love the works of Sir Doyle and wasn’t sure if I could get into another’s interpretation of Sherlock Holmes. As we follow Watson into China, Watson takes very detailed notes for his journal. Therefore, the reader has to trudge through a lot of description and much of it is on military strategy. However, once we reach the Middle Kingdom and are reconnected to sarcastic and witty Sherlock, the plot moves on a lot quicker as readers are trying to solve subtle clues along with the duo. At this point, I found Symonds’ writing style to parallel that of Sir Doyle’s, resulting in a fantastic finish and ending an exciting cliffhanger.

Aside from extreme amounts of detail, I noticed a few discretions in how the chapters were titled. Most titles had capitalization of the beginning of every word, others used standard capitalization of titles. The font used for titles was a little difficult to read.

The author included an epilogue to share with readers what happened to the real Imperial family. He also included a glossary of foreign and old fashioned terms, a glossary for English idioms, and a glossary of other obscure terms. At the end of the novel, he included a list for readers interested in Chinese Dynasties and other relevant information.

I give this novel 3 out of 4 stars. Although the beginning was a bit dry, Symonds finished up the novel very well and embodies the spirit of our favorite detective. I recommend this novel to Sherlock and Watson fans and those looking for a good old mystery.

******
Sherlock Holmes And The Nine-Dragon Sigil'
View: on Bookshelves

Like Afuglsan's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Kat Berg]

Hmm, this sounds interesting. The beginning sounds dry indeed, which is a shame. I will have to put this one in my maybe pile. I do love Sherlock as much as the next person, so perhaps if I'm in the right mood, the slow start won't matter so much

[insights]

Sherlock and Watson are interesting characters. I am not a fun of story with many detailed descriptions but it seems that it fits into this story. I will follow Watson on his journey back to the early 1900s.

[Murmuring Letters]

Thank you for your honest review, this book sounds really interesting although I agree with you that the original books are the best and it is quite hard to read book written by other authors. Sherlock remains my favourite detective (along with Poirot and Strike) so I might give this book a read. I love the fact that the author wrote what actually happened to the real Imperial family, that sounds like a real plus to me.

[Sebasrodalba]

Sherlock and Watson are interesting characters. I am not a fun of story with many detailed descriptions but it seems that it fits into this story

[Mercelle]

Sherlock Holmes in China? now that's an interesting take on an adventure.

[Quinto]

I like the author pulled off a good Sherlock detective story. Impressive review.

[ReyvrexQuestor Reyes]

Detective stories fascinate me a lot. There is that element of mystery that shrouds the plot, to challenge our intelligence to crack, for the pleasure of it. I don't know if there is such a thing here, for clues and hints scattered all along in plain view, but obfuscated by the writer, not giving it importance. The review gives a laudable overview of the storyline, but for the meaty details, I think, I have to read the book. Thanks for the review.

[Braden Lee]

Sounds good! Keep the good work up

[stepforward9838]

Great work done and the fiction added to it makes it more interesting . i will follow up the rest .