Two books and one comic this month.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (Book of the Month Club, 1994. Originally published in 1892)
Although I liked some of the stories more than others, I enjoyed reading about the characters and their adventures so much that I have to give this collection five stars. It's a big step up from the first two novels which I re-read a few years ago. I think Sherlock Holmes works best as short stories. Now I’m in the mood to re-watch the Granada TV series starring Jeremy Brett.
Into the Maelstrom edited by Marc Gascoigne & Andy Jones (Black Library/Games Workshop, 2000)
When I buy a book there’s no guarantee that I’ll get to it anytime soon. For example, I think I bought this anthology of stories set in the Warhammer 40K gaming universe around fifteen years ago! Well, I finally read it and enjoyed most of the stories. The 40K universe is a wild mix of military SF, dangerous aliens, bioweapons, psychic powers, and supernatural monsters. My favorite stories were by Alex Hammond, Barrington J. Bayley, Gav Thorpe, and William King.
When I bought this, I picked up two Warhammer fantasy books as well. Now that I’ve finally jumped in, I’ll probably read more soon. Look for a more detailed review of this anthology next month.
The Savage Sword of Conan, Vol.1 by Various (Titan Comics, 2025)
This collects the first three issues of Titan’s black & white magazine sized Conan comic. Besides the stories there’s a map, an essay, and pinups. I really enjoyed this even though I didn’t care for the art in the first story at all. I thought that it was so wildly inconsistent and so weirdly photoshop-like in places that it kept pulling me out of the story. On the other hand, I loved the combination of story and art in every single one of the other stories. I’ll definitely keep reading Savage Sword, but I’ll probably stick to the trades.
