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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780809500505
ISBN number: 0809500507
Label: Wildside Press
Manufacturer: Wildside Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 238
Printing Date: August 15, 2005
Publishing house: Wildside Press
Release Date: August 15, 2005
Sale Popularity Level: 1120687
Studio: Wildside Press
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Recently found amongst some obscure papers of (surprisingly) H.P. Lovecraft, this new manuscript chronicles a complex and mysterious quest by Allan Quatermain deep into the deserts of Ethiopia in 1872 accompanied by his man-servant Hans and a host of the nineteenth century's most prodigious luminaries-among them explorer and linguist Sir Richard Burton, astronomer Maria Mitchell, and volcanologist Axel Lindenbrock. In the midst of all the danger faced, close calls, magnificent landscapes, wry humor, stern and practical questioning, and even a lost city, Quatermain documents several thrilling incidents, including his finding, no less than the very essence of the meaning of life, which he then-as he frequently did-discounts as a wizard's trick! And, and of course, along the way, Quatermain crosses paths with-not one but two of the greatest detectives of his era!
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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This labor of love by Thos. Kent Miller, to give the preferred abbreviation, is NOT your father's Sherlock Holmes pastiche. That is to say, drop any preconceived notions you might have of what a Sherlock Holmes pastiche SHOULD be, or you're liable to end up sputtering incoherently with rage like AQ after the, "OK, I wasn't COMPLETELY honest about what I am looking for; I'm also looking for THIS..." scene or for that matter like a few of this book's previous reviewers.
To begin with, this is primarily an Allan Quatermain pastiche; Sherlock Holmes is present though not identified until the Afterward (for the totally clueless). Second, Mr. Miller is clearly doing something of a gentle send up of pastiches in general what with TWO Editor's Notes to non-existing editions, a Preface about a fictional phone call, a Forward by John H. Watson, M.D., an Introduction by Allan Quatermain, and an Afterward, all running to THIRTY pages accompanying a tale told by Allan Quatermain, transcribed by John H. Watson, M.D., revised by H. P. Lovecraft, and finally "edited" by Thos. Kent Miller, containing lots of Footnotes, Endnotes, and three Digressions into supporting documents supposedly written by John H. Watson, M.D., Alberto Cardinal Cigliutti, and Bors, Count of Mainz, (not to mention fragments of a lost gospel), concerning an expedition whose members include both historical figures and fictional characters from the pens of H. Rider Haggard, Arthur Conan Doyle, Rudyard Kipling, Jules Verne, and Wilkie Collins in search of one or more of the following: A missing and presumed dead emperor? Fossils of the ancestors of the human race? A surviving part of the Library of Alexandria? The "graveyard of iron meteorites"? Lost notebooks or paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci? A lost gospel? The Holy Grail? A lost city? A reincarnation of the Mother Goddess? The end result is a rollicking old-fashioned African adventure/murder mystery that can be enjoyed at several levels, starting with abject awe at the sheer audacity (and considerable success) of an author attempting to write both as himself and as about five other people, if I've counted right. "With an emphasis in Creative Writing" indeed!
Defects? First, IMHO Mr. Miller attempts to do too much in one book. Two literary characters are brought back for little purpose I can see other than dying, and, as is the case with most historical pastiches, relatively little of consequence ends up actually happening because that would change too much history, real and fictional.
SPOILER ALERT
Second, the attempted admixture of fiction and religion here is a little cringeworthy, and not merely because the thickly laid on veneration of Mary, the mother of Jesus, will remind forgetful Protestants of that particular cause for the schism with Rome. It basically amounts to a Voice from God proclaiming Evolution as FACT. Leaving aside the long, long list of reasons THAT could never happen, the problem is that this idea, Theistic Evolution, the hoped for point of compromise between Evolution and Christianity, is an absolutely untenable middle ground between two completely opposed views of science, history, and the meaning of life, though in fairness this wouldn't have been as obvious during the time period of this story.
END OF SPOILER
Still, if you can get past the religiosity, you are in for a fun trip. I'm looking forward to reading the two sequels: Sherlock Holmes in The Great Detective on the Roof of the World formerly published as Sherlock Holmes on the roof of the world, or, The adventure of the wayfaring God and "The Great Detective At The Dawn Of Time".
Rated by buyers 
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I thoroughly enjoyed Thomas Kent Miller's The Great Detective at the Crucible of Life.The characters were well developed and interesting. It took a different approach to Sherlock Holmes pastiches which made more interesting. I found it intriguing and stimulating. I couldn't wait to finish the book and at the same time not wanting it to end. I look forward to reading more of Miller's work.JWC SEAL 76
Rated by buyers -
This story might be over the heads of some, but I found it fascinating. I think the reviewer that said it was convoluted must have read a different story than I did. I highly recommend this book, and am hoping the author will give us more of the same.
Rated by buyers 
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I will not doubt that were I a big Rider Haggard or H. P. Lovecraft fan I might have liked this. It is really not a book about Sherlock Holmes though "the great detective" is there as a teenager under the name of Will Scott. Now people who write books about Sherlock Holmes often explain in a couple pages how they came about receiving a long lost manuscript. In my last review I expressed the idea that that is unnecessary as it makes Watson look pretty sloppy leaving hundreds of manuscripts around for people to accidentally find. So many have been found in that one chest alone that we have to assume it was as large as a room. Thos. Kent Miller really goes to extremes as he gives us a history of why this was written, how it was written, and then how Allan Quatermain narrates the story to Dr. Watson. Over forty pages before you get to the text. We are even treated with information on Carl Barks and how Uncle Scrooge McDuck influenced the author. Interesting stuff if you aren't in a hurry to get to the real action. The real action itself is same old-same old thanks to many similar stories and movies. I could have given it more than three stars, however the author built things up to expect so much more. Much more.
Rated by buyers 
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Don't buy this if you are expecting a detective story featuring Sherlock Holmes. It is an adventure story with Allan Quartermain as the central character. The story was too convoluted for my taste and the ending was not satisfying.
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