Had a chance to read
Young Sherlock Holmes - Black Ice while on the bus back home. It was
radical!
For one, people seem misinformed that Sherlock is merely a detective (well, a consultant detective, but different thing), but there's more to the character and the story than just that. In Steven Moffat's own words, "Other detectives have cases, Sherlock Holmes has
adventures, and that's what matters."
Basically, the man's a
legend for a good reason.
Anywhos, the first few chapters of
Black Ice were radical because, although it starts off with normally as one would expect, without much story and stuff, it actually had a huge deal of philosophical debate (between Sherlock and Amyus Crowe). Who could have thought a mere fishing trip could grow into thought-provoking lesson about life, predators, tracking and logic? What about the necessity of analytic deduction, while also pondering on logical significance of emotions and artform, such as music? What about a world of relentless imagination and senseless traditions that we subconsciously follow; what about excluding certain animals from a purpose that could easily befit another, and excluding ourselves from "animals" category? What of the moral restraint of a person devouring another?
Oh, and I think I glanced a reference at "the meaning of life" in there. Everything was fascinating and intelligent about this book, from what I'v read so far, though I must say this is quite unusual for a Young Adult novel.
But I must say: Sherlock has always been in the lead from what we know, but
this time it was refreshing to see him as a sidekick to someone superior, his mentor, bounty hunter and tracker named Amyus Crow. This guy's so awesome that he turned a nobody like Sherlock into a
Super Predator within mere 6 months.
It'd be intriguing to see how he actually turns from
Super Predator to
inhuman. But at the same time I also see the outcomes of some characters beforehand; won't tell you because of spoilers, but one of those outcomes might actually be the reason why Sherlock hires the
Baker Street Irregulars in the original novels.
Oh, and
Baron Maupertuis might actually be Moriarty's mentor.
Holy sheeeii.... We might see a young, psychotic teenager. And what of the
Giant Rat of Sumatra? Ah, we better wait for that.
I'll show you guys an excerpt from interesting areas in the book later when I get time. Just one question bugs me though: why the hell does
Amyus Crow remind me of
FaustWolf-with-muscles-like-The-Rock, while
Mycroft Holmes reminds me of
Thought? Also, I kinda miss Duke Balthazar; he was
almost cool, but just not cool enough. That said, Sherlock Holmes needs more gruesome villains. D:
If the young Sherlock Holmes was in Harry Potter, he would have found all the Horcrux's by the end of the first book, Philosopher's Stone.
-- Emily