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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – The Hound of the Baskervilles | Review

Title: The Hound of the Baskervilles

Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 213

Rating: 7/10

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of only four full-length Sherlock Holmes novels that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle produced in his lifetime, and while many consider it to be his best and while it’s the most well-known of all of his works, I just can’t rate it as highly as the others.

Sure, it’s incredibly well-written, and it’s still receiving a high rating – it’s just that A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four and The Valley of Fear all have a certain something special about them. Perhaps it’s Conan Doyle’s masterful use of a literary technique in which the first half of the story is dedicated to the mystery, and the second half is dedicated to the events that led up to the mystery in the first place.

Saying that, The Hound of the Baskervilles is still an excellent read and I’m glad that it serves as a gateway for many readers, who go on to read further Sherlock Holmes books and even Conan Doyle’s Professor Challenger series. I don’t want to discourage you from reading this – just read more Conan Doyle afterwards.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – The Last Galley | Review

Title: The Last Galley

Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 263

Rating: 7/10

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – The Last Galley

No shit, Sherlock – this isn’t a Sherlock Holmes book, or even a Professor Challenger book – this is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle showing his spiritual, learned, historical side. This is a book that shows Conan Doyle’s imposing personality.

The Last Galley (and Other Stories) is a collection of eighteen short stories by the great Victorian wordsmith, a fascinating insight in to Conan Doyle’s prolific interests – stories like The Coming of the Huns and The Last of the Legions take you way back in time to the days when the Romans and their historical brethren ruled the earth.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

History certainly left a mark on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his writing – the Romans even earn a passing mention in The Terror of Blue John Gap, the last story in the collection. In that, Conan Doyle tried his hand at horror-writing – it was a sinister story, playing on our innate fear of the darkness and the unknown. Like his tale of prehistoric life surviving unnoticed in The Lost World, the inevitable beast in the Gap is explained scientifically, despite being dreadfully alive.

The Last Galley is a book that’s worth reading, but there are better Arthur Conan Doyle works out there – if you haven’t already, read The Lost World and the Sherlock Holmes series first. Then, and only then, move on to his wider range of work, of which this is as good as any other. Eventually, you’ll want to read it all.