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Carmen's Reviews > A Study in Emerald
A Study in Emerald
by
by
Carmen's review
bookshelves: british-author, fiction, he-says, horror, published2004, traditionally-published
Sep 12, 2019
bookshelves: british-author, fiction, he-says, horror, published2004, traditionally-published
The place that leechlike mouth had touched me was tattooed forever, frog white, into the skin of my now withered shoulder. I had once been a crack shot. Now I had nothing, save a fear of the world-beneath-world akin to panic. pg. 7
A graphic novel adaptation of A Study in Emerald. Basically Gaiman is bringing together Sherlock Holmes and the works of Lovecraft.
The story is good: creepy and creative. I like the lurking evil and the undertones of world domination by The Old Ones and the creeping horror. It also has a few twists that are interesting.
The art is kind of dark, it's not my favorite style, although it does fit in with the narrative and it is easy to follow.
The writing is good, Gaiman has a way with words. His renowned creativity is a bit stifled, seeing as he is cribbing from two very famous worlds here: Sherlock Holmes and Cthulhu.
It's enjoyable and fun, and the mashup is creative, but overall the concept is giving Gaiman less room to shine because he is constrained by the worlds already in place. Probably the funniest twists are the little newspaper advertisements Gaiman puts in here while winking at the reader. For example, "V. Tepes, exsanguinator" or Henry Jekyll selling "Jekyll's Powders" for people who suffer "constipation of the soul."
Might be better as a prose story, but I haven't picked up the prose-story, only this version.
RELATED MATERIALS:
A Study in Scarlet
by Arthur Conan Doyle
At the Mountains of Madness
by H.P. Lovecraft
The King in Yellow
by Robert W. Chambers
Captive State - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5968394/ - Strong similarities here
Crooked
by Austin Grossman
A graphic novel adaptation of A Study in Emerald. Basically Gaiman is bringing together Sherlock Holmes and the works of Lovecraft.
The story is good: creepy and creative. I like the lurking evil and the undertones of world domination by The Old Ones and the creeping horror. It also has a few twists that are interesting.
The art is kind of dark, it's not my favorite style, although it does fit in with the narrative and it is easy to follow.
The writing is good, Gaiman has a way with words. His renowned creativity is a bit stifled, seeing as he is cribbing from two very famous worlds here: Sherlock Holmes and Cthulhu.
It's enjoyable and fun, and the mashup is creative, but overall the concept is giving Gaiman less room to shine because he is constrained by the worlds already in place. Probably the funniest twists are the little newspaper advertisements Gaiman puts in here while winking at the reader. For example, "V. Tepes, exsanguinator" or Henry Jekyll selling "Jekyll's Powders" for people who suffer "constipation of the soul."
Might be better as a prose story, but I haven't picked up the prose-story, only this version.
RELATED MATERIALS:
A Study in Scarlet
by Arthur Conan DoyleAt the Mountains of Madness
by H.P. LovecraftThe King in Yellow
by Robert W. ChambersCaptive State - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5968394/ - Strong similarities here
Crooked
by Austin Grossman
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Reading Progress
September 12, 2019
–
Started Reading
September 12, 2019
– Shelved
September 12, 2019
–
7.95%
"The place that leechlike mouth had touched me was tattooed forever, frog white, into the skin of my now withered shoulder. I had once been a crack shot. Now I had nothing, save a fear of the world-beneath-world akin to panic."
page
7
September 12, 2019
–
19.32%
"It was a fine morning, but we were now jolting about the edges of the Rookery of St Giles, that warren of thieves and cutthroats which sits on London like a cancer on the face of a pretty flower seller, and the only light to enter the cab was dim and faint."
page
17
September 12, 2019
–
39.77%
"She was called Victoria because she had beaten us in battle seven hundred years before, and she was called Gloriana because she was glorious, and she was called the queen because the human mouth was not shaped to say her true name."
page
35
September 12, 2019
–
53.41%
"At the climax the hero beat the priest to death with his own crucifix, and prepared the welcome Them as They come."
page
47
September 12, 2019
–
Finished Reading
