Author: Derelict Space Sheep

Sherlock: The Sign of Three

Sherlock: The Sign of Three

by Stephen Thompson, Steven Moffat & Mark Gatiss; dir. Colm McCarthy (BBC, 2014)

TV poster: “Sherlock: The Sign of Three” by Stephen Thompson, Steven Moffat & Mark Gatiss; dir. Colm McCarthy (BBC, 2014)

Possibly the funniest of all Sherlock episodes, albeit skewed beyond the pale towards character development and adapting little of its plot from Conan Doyle’s stories. While Benedict Cumberbatch brings Sherlock’s misanthropy painfully centre-stage, Martin Freeman and Amanda Abbington are more humanly sublime.

H. P. Lovecraft: He Who Wrote in the Darkness

H. P. Lovecraft: He Who Wrote in the Darkness

by Alex Nikolavitch; ill. Gervasio, Carlos Aón & Lara Lee (Pegasus Books, 2018)

Book cover: “H. P. Lovecraft: He Who Wrote in the Darkness” by Alex Nikolavitch; ill. Gervasio, Carlos Aón & Lara Lee (Pegasus Books, 2018)

Lovecraft himself is evocatively drawn and Nikolavitch sets out with creative intent, incorporating H.P.’s imaginings into reality. As the biography proceeds, however, it reveals itself as little more than a fan tribute preaching to the converted. There is little to interest non-aficionados.

Father Brown, Series 3

Father Brown, Series 3

(BBC, 2015)

DVD cover: “Father Brown, Series 3” (BBC, 2015)

A 15-episode series exploring all manner of murderous avenues and festering social issues in 1950s rural England. The mysteries are nicely scripted and prove easily digestible, though Inspector Sullivan does rather grate in his wilfully officious, one-note resistance to Father Brown’s meddling.

Stop Press

Stop Press

by Michael Innes; audiobook read by Matt Addis (Bolinda, 2013)

originally published as “The Spider Strikes” (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1939)

Book cover: “Stop Press” by Michael Innes; audiobook read by Matt Addis (Bolinda, 2013); originally published as “The Spider Strikes” (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1939)

A triumph of sustained tedium. Innes wields a beautiful turn of phrase, yet Appleby’s only notable achievement across 17+ audiobook hours of pointless, pontificating conversations, plumping out of superfluous characters and mendacious touting of murder in the offing, is to stay awake.

Tales from the Loop

Tales from the Loop

by Simon Stålenhag (Simon & Schuster, 2020)

Book cover: “Tales from the Loop” by Simon Stålenhag (Simon & Schuster, 2020)

Categorised as a graphic novel but more a showcase reproduction of art-gallery paintings, with written asides to add tone (and a hazy half-narrative). The landscape art is evocative if not brilliant, the prose incapable of standing alone. Best suited, perhaps, to adaptation.

American Prometheus

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

by Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin (Alfred A. Knopf, 2005)

audiobook read by Jeff Cummings (Blackstone, 2006)

Book cover: “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” by Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin (Alfred A. Knopf, 2005); audiobook read by Jeff Cummings (Blackstone, 2006)

A huge biography, manifestly thorough in detailing Oppenheimer’s life and times (though the authors’ commitment to prefiguring and then detailing Oppie’s security hearing becomes a bit much). Oppenheimer’s flaws are acknowledged. American political and military figures sink still further in history’s estimation.

Tempered Illusions

Tempered Illusions

by Whitney Hill (Benu Media, 2023)

Book cover: “Tempered Illusions” by Whitney Hill (Benu Media, 2023)

There should have been nowhere for Otherside to go after Eternal Huntress, yet Hill has managed not only to continue the series but also to up the sense of peril and urgency—humanity’s unceasing bigotry proving more problematic than the gods’ ire.

The Replacement Killers

The Replacement Killers

dir. Antoine Fuqua (1998)

Film poster: “The Replacement Killers” dir. Antoine Fuqua (1998)

A straightforward lone-wolf action film that just about transcends its 1980s b-movie vibes. Chow Yun-fat invests his character with a rare vulnerability. Mira Sorvino makes the most of an unusually empowered (if poorly dialogued and lamentably shallow, wholly plot-serving) ‘female hanger-on’ role.