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The Fifth Heart by Dan Simmons.


Dominican Holmes

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Hello everyone,

This is my first time writing a post apart from the one introducing myself. In my introduction post, I talked about this amazing book and it surprised me that it was not that famous here. Ignoring if anyone wrote about it, I decided to write a short post. I also attempt to practice my English writing skills since I am an English second language learner ( Here Hoping that our amazing friend Hikari will read and give me some feedback).

Without going around too much I introduce you to the Fifth Heart by Dan Simmons.

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In my opinion, the book is long and catchy. Every page or two there will be something that will make you keep reading. The plot is complex I do not recommend any deduction while reading the book because you are going to be disappointed and impressed at the same time. The book is also full of fun facts which personally I enjoy them a lot. The writer majestically uses several United States figures at the time ( Theodore (Teddy or the Kid) Roosevelt, Henry Adams, US Senator Cabot Lodge, John Hay, Mark Twain, even President Cleveland, etc) which caught my attention also. SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS, I STRONGLY SUGGEST TO LOOK FOR THEIR PICTURES TO HAVE A BETTER IDEA OF THEIR LOOKS.  The book weirdly and by coincidence connects both main characters Sherlock Holmes and famous writer Henry James. I also appreciated the fact that both character's lives were narrated separately several times developing in-depth both characters. Here Henry James is struggling with his writings and decides to chase his so dreamed fortune as a play-writer for the British Theatres, Holmes Struggles with his identity as the World's First and Foremost Consulting Detective and the fictional character created by Dr. Watson.  

Regarding Holmes, the author makes use of his observation and deduction skills but not as often as we all love to see. The book introduces a new character, Lucan Adler, and Prof. James Moriarty (this is big my friends, very big) as the two main nemeses. Of course, The Woman has to be in the book, to write such a big novel and not using the gorgeous Irene Adler would have been an unforgivable sin. The book also alters several pieces from the life of Sherlock Holmes which traditionalist Holmesians are not going to enjoy. But, I still encourage people to read it since it is something different and very interesting. For real Holmesians, you might get mad at the writer with the changes that he made to the original book, but there is nothing to worry about since we just simply have to go back to our Holmesian Canon (the fun part of reading).

It is a very descriptive book. For second language learners, I suggest being ready to use the dictionary several times and probably look for the words online. A modern book that is written in the style of the old Victorian novels, What can go wrong? I found that the book was more descriptive than what I'm used to reading by Conan Doyle (Probably the part that I hated the most. Since I love to go straight to the point as soon as possible). 

If interested or not in the book I wrote this to inform the members of this blog about the existence of this book. As I mentioned before, traditionalist Holmesians probably will get mad but there is nothing wrong with changes. As a millennial and probably the only thing that I'm proud of about my generation are the changes that we encourage our society to make. I do recommend the book since it will be unforgettable being beside these two figures during this adventure.

Dominican Holmes 

Military Arts and Science Full-time Student.

 

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Wow, that's quite a thorough review, Wilson!  I had never heard of the book before.  Thank you for bringing it to our attention.

 

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I love the cover! :smile: 

I read something by Dan Simmons a few summers ago, although I can't remember the title now. I associate his name with science fiction, though, not mysteries. Interesting. Thanks for the review, DH!

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9 hours ago, Arcadia said:

I love the cover! :smile: 

I read something by Dan Simmons a few summers ago, although I can't remember the title now. I associate his name with science fiction, though, not mysteries. Interesting. Thanks for the review, DH!

I’d never heard of him Arcadia but you are right, according to Wiki he’s primarily a sci-fi author. I used to read a lot of sci-fi when I was younger but never came across anything by him. Unless the years have taken their toll and I’ve forgotten of course.

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I may like "your" cover even better, Herlock.  Though I am intrigued by the profile one -- I thought at first that the guy on the left was Holmes, because he reminds me of Jeremy Brett.  But clearly Holmes is the other one, unless Henry James was (unbeknownst to me) in the habit of wearing a deerstalker.

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I like 'em both, I like the title, and I like sci fi. I have some credit down at the used book store I want to use, guess what I'll be looking for? VXsUlFD.gif

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Yes, now that you all mention it, the one on the left looks like Jeremy Brett but the pipe and the hat are our Sherlock’s signature garments lol. Still that was a great observation, nothing less of what I expected from a Holmesian!!

Cheers team and thank you for the support.


Enviado desde mi iPhone utilizando Tapatalk

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Well, without giving any detail away, I’ll just say that I’m 60 pages into The Fifth Heart and it’s an interesting start. I can’t even make an attempt at predicting how the story might unfold but it’s well written in my opinion. The author has done enough research to add a bit of The Great Game by mentioning the non-existence of 221b at the time for example.

An interesting start Wilson👍

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/19/2018 at 11:04 PM, Dominican Holmes said:

Yes, now that you all mention it, the one on the left looks like Jeremy Brett but the pipe and the hat are our Sherlock’s signature garments lol. Still that was a great observation, nothing less of what I expected from a Holmesian!!

Cheers team and thank you for the support.


Enviado desde mi iPhone utilizando Tapatalk

Hi, Wilson,

You have made another convert to 'The Fifth Heart' . . I started it yesterday and I'm loving it so far.  I think Mr. Simmons has Sherlock Holmes down to a tee.  Though he claims that Holmes's birthday is in April.  He must not be a disciple of W.S. Baring-Gould, then, because I'd say every true Sherlockian knows that SH was born on January 6th.  Mr. Simmons stands in opposition to the entire body of Baker Street Irregulars.  Brave man!

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I had a head start on Hikari and I’m now 270 pages in. It’s excellent so far. He writes a convincing Holmes and his other characters are strong. I love his Clemens/Twain. I’m interested to see if William Gillette figures in this somewhere? In some stories you can kind of see where it’s going but with 400 pages left I haven’t a clue. Which is good👍

Come on though Mr Simmons....January 6th.😃

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In my opinion, B-G's "evidence" for the January birthdate is somewhere between flimsy and non-existent.  Does Simmons offer any support for April?

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Well, this book wasn't available at the used book store, or at the library. 😞 Booo. Guess I need to drag myself over to eBay.

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18 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

In my opinion, B-G's "evidence" for the January birthdate is somewhere between flimsy and non-existent.  Does Simmons offer any support for April?

Nope.  Just a breezy offhand mention, but it is a novel and not a paper for the BSIs.  Since ACD never provided any sort of birthday for Holmes or Watson, I suppose one day and month is technically as good, or as plausible, as any other.  Guess it depends on whether one feels SH is more a Ram (Aries--April) or a Goat (Capricorn--Jan.)  Both are sure-footed ruminating creatures with horns and hard heads.  

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Well Wilson, I completed The Fifth Heart last night and I was very impressed. I’m grateful that you brought it to our attention as there are so many pastiches around. I know that Hikari is also reading it and should be finishing it pretty soon (I had a head start) so I’ll leave the review to her as she is much better it than I am but I know that she’s enjoying it too.

Good choice Wilson👍

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Well Wilson, I completed The Fifth Heart last night and I was very impressed. I’m grateful that you brought it to our attention as there are so many pastiches around. I know that Hikari is also reading it and should be finishing it pretty soon (I had a head start) so I’ll leave the review to her as she is much better it than I am but I know that she’s enjoying it too.
Good choice Wilson

I’m happy that you liked and probably you were as surprised as me with the ending of the book. The bad part is that I haven’t seen something like a PART 2 or continuation. Which makes me sad.

Right now I’m in my finals week, so I don’t have time to read something not related to my courses. #donoteverpickaccounting at the University.

After this week I’m starting with Mr. Mcbird. If I’m missing something in my review by all means help me.

Thank you team, Cheers.

Wilson Marte
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Hi Wilson,

The ending of the book certainly hints at the possibility of a sequel. Maybe this will happen at some point in the future.

By the way, if you’re referring to Bonnie MacBird who wrote Art In The Blood, she’s not a ‘mr.’ 🙂although it may have just been a typing error.

I hope you have great success with your course and that you have a well deserved rest when it’s over👍

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On 8/10/2018 at 8:53 PM, Dominican Holmes said:


I’m happy that you liked and probably you were as surprised as me with the ending of the book. The bad part is that I haven’t seen something like a PART 2 or continuation. Which makes me sad.

Right now I’m in my finals week, so I don’t have time to read something not related to my courses. #donoteverpickaccounting at the University.

After this week I’m starting with Mr. Mcbird. If I’m missing something in my review by all means help me.

Thank you team, Cheers.

Wilson Marte

Hi, Wilson,

As Herlock said, I'm deep into Fifth Heart; almost done, actually . . only a few chapters to go, but I have to set it aside for more pressing reads that are due back to the library.  I am intrigued as to how he's going to finish it, though if he leaves us dangling, I'm going to be, as Mycroft might say . . .Put out.

I am e-pal friends with American author David Marcum, author and editor of the MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures.  Mr. Marcum's brainchild was recently released in its 9th and 10th volumes since 2015.  If you are a fan of pastiche, I can heartily recommend those, though they are independently published and won't be easy to find except by purchasing them.  All proceeds from the sales go for the benefit of The Stepping Stones School, a school for mentally challenged learners now housed in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's former home, Undershaw.  Ms. Macbird has written contributions for the MX series, and I can recommend her essay on The Naval Treaty in the book called About Sixty.  I am more cool about Art in the Blood . . great title, great cover art; flabby storytelling, in my opinion.  Mr. Simmons is by far the superior writer.  But Bonnie has a sequel to AitB, if you like it.  It has to do with Tennessee whiskey (note 'E'), a fact I joked about with D. Marcum, who is from Tennessee.  David says he met Bonnie M. in London,, where she keeps a flat on Baker Street, though she did not invite him in.  They met for coffee and chat . .perhaps at the very cafe where she hosts the Saturday Sherlock Breakfast Club.  Bonnie is a dedicated Sherlockian, as much as anyone can be . . that's why I was surprised to not like her book better than I did.  Bonnie is first and foremost, a screenwriter, and I admit that her book would probably make a kick-a** film.

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