2.5 stars ( )

An interesting mix of stories. Some feel the need whether because of the copyright laws or respect to not use Doyle's names or settings, though generally it's obvious who is being referred to. In this case there were a bunch of dog stories, most of which I didn't find endearing.

Many of the other stories were more like Doyle especially in their Victorian and Edwardian view of science. I found these mostly engaging.

However, my favorite story was one of Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson's Hoka stories. ( )

This was a collection of short stories centered around the legendary detective, chosen mostly by editor Isaac Asimov. I like Sherlock Holmes, but I am not a dedicated Holmesian. Still, the idea of using a science fiction twist to examine the stories was an intriguing one and I was pleased to find this at the library.

The collection starts off with an authentic Holmes story by Arthur Conan Doyle, 'The Adventure of the Devil's Foot.' Then it jumps into the science fiction theme, with stories by Philip Jose Farmer, Fred Saberhagen, Poul Anderson, and one by Asimov himself to round out the book. Some of the stories were well developed along lines established by Doyle himself, but some ranged very far afield. One very brief story by S. N. Farber was little more than a long pun, but it was quite funny.

My favorite stories, besides the Farber, were 'Death in the Christmas Hour' by James Powell and 'The Adventure of the Extraterrestrial' by Mack Reynolds. I also liked 'The adventure of the Global Traveler' which starred not Holmes but Professor Moriarty in a very clever tale. I wasn't quite as happy with the ones featuring Holmes as a dog or involving robots, but the nice thing about a collection is that you are almost always bound to find one you really enjoy.

In short, a nice little collection for Holmes fans willing to stretch a little. ( )