Tomes of Shadowstalking

Welcome to the land of shadows, where evil is the greatest power, where nightfall marks the birth of terror, where your very soul is at risk. Join me as I investigate worlds filled with black magic and dark souls and encounter the monsters rule these wicked places.

This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.

That said, on to the review!

When a gentleman consults Sherlock Holmes about fraudulent spiritual mediums, Doctor Watson suddenly finds himself involved once more in the matters of the nosferatu--someplace he definitely doesn't want to be. When the great detective disappears during a seance, however, he has no choice but to call upon the one being he hopes can save his friend: none other than Holmes' distant cousin, Prince Dracula himself. However, can even the great vampire--assisted by Watson, Holmes, Sherlock's brother Mycroft, an American reporter, and a medium--succeed in solving a bloody case from over 130 years in the past? What's more, can he succeed against a wily vampire assisted by a filthy peasant with an iron will that can even hypnotize a vampire?

Once again we journey into the past. It isn't Dracula PVH (pre-Van Helsing), but the reintroduction of Sherlock Holmes and the reaffirmation of the links between these two great figures of literary history cannot but help interesting readers. The near reenactment of Dracula's flight from Britain back to Wallachia--but this time for another vampire and from Britain to Russia--and for nearly the same reason was a wonderful reference back to Dracula's original text. Terrific!

I have no complaints about this text. I admit to wondering who the heck "Gregory Efimovitch" (or Grigori Yefimovich) was, but that's probably because I'm not so conversant with Russian history as I should be. Once again, however, the historical significance--despite his late appearance (and I'm not going to give you the man's surname) and minimal stage time--of the character adds to the drawing power of the text. We see once again the summoning ritual--though chronologically I guess it's the first time (jumping like this gets confusing)--that first appeared in An Old Friend of the Family. I'm still not entirely certain where Dracula learned magic since, so far as the books say, he knew of it but didn't learn it (at least not so well as to challenge Merlin or Nimue). However, it does make for an interesting display that seems almost mundane now when compared to everything that was going on with seances and mediums and the like.

The stakes involved aren't exactly world-shaking, but again, the reenactment of Dracula's trip across Europe lends the story a sense of immediacy, similar to what you'd experience with Dracula itself. Saberhagen once again pulls off a melding of two of literature's greatest figures.

Buy this book in paperback or possibly the hardcover or visit the Cosmic Tomes Bazaar for other titles.

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