Katherine Addison, author of The Goblin Emperor, returns with The Angel of the Crows, a fantasy novel of alternate 1880s London, where killers stalk the night and the ultimate power is naming. This is not the story you think it is. These are not the characters you think they are. This is not the book you are expecting. In an alternate 1880s London, angels inhabit every public building, and … inhabit every public building, and vampires and werewolves walk the streets with human beings in a well-regulated truce. A fantastic utopia, except for a few things: Angels can Fall, and that Fall is like a nuclear bomb in both the physical and metaphysical worlds. And human beings remain human, with all their kindness and greed and passions and murderous intent.
Jack the Ripper stalks the streets of this London too. But this London has an Angel. The Angel of the Crows.
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The Angel of the Crows
by Katherine Addison
I loved this! It was so incredibly fun! If you are a Sherlock and Watson fan and like things just like the original then do not read! But if you want a fun and twisted supernatural element to the stories then read this! There are more twists then you can imagine!
In here they are Crow and Doyle. Doyle was a doctor in the war too. It is written from Doyle’s point of view. Many of the stories have the same sort of story lines but Doyle was injured in the fight with the Fallen, (Angels, that is!). Other stories come up such as the Hounds, special appearance by Jack the Ripper, and a couple of side jobs too. Exciting, fun, and definitely not as boring as the original Sherlock! (I like Sherlock but when Sherlock has wings, well, game over!)
There’s Hellhounds, ghosts, Angels, vampires, psychic, mechanical Cerberus, and more! What’s not to like when added to great characters and realistic backgrounds, mysteries, sprinkled generously with humor and intrigue!
I love my Conan Doyle and this was an unexpected take on old favourites. Thoroughly entertaining!
A twist on the time that Jack the Ripper created chaos in London. Crow and Doyle are fascinating characters and it was easy to get lost in this alternate world.
After THE GOBLIN EMPEROR, I should have known: an Addision book always gives you excellent world-building, complex characters, and nuanced emotional complications. The new take on a Holmes/Watson relationship was the icing on the cake. Really enjoyed this.
This is a wonderfully creative take on Sherlock Holmes. I love the author’s characterization of Dr. Doyle (not Dr. Watson) and the way she portrays the Sherlock Holmes character – I can foresee the future memoirs of Dr. Doyle in the form that a certain Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has given the world. This is a read that Holmesian enthusiasts must not miss!
I loved this take on Sherlock Holmes with the occult and paranormal. I love it even more for originating as fanfic or rather wingfic, something I didn’t know existed.
There’s something about the way Katherine Addison writes that’s mesmerizing and engrossing. The start of the book was a little slow, but it didn’t take long for me to catch on to what was happening and once I did, I was hooked. May I say the twists are superb and I would love more from Crow and Dr. Doyle. The Angel of the Crows is told from Dr. Doyle’s perspective but I would love to see what happens out of Crow’s eyes. I think it would be very entertaining and enlightening.
I haven’t read Addison’s other books (adding to my list) but I hope she writes more set in this world. This is basically a paranormal twist on Sherlock Holmes, but there’s more to it than that. If you write books and read a lot, it’s difficult to find a book that surprises you (I don’t expect books to do so, and it doesn’t spoil my enjoyment if they don’t) but this book had a twist I didn’t expect. I loved the mix of mythology and mystery, and Doyle and Crow’s friendship. This one is going on my keeper shelf!
This book has everything I love!! Sherlock fanfic, vampires, werewolves, hellhounds, Jack the Ripper, and angels. Sherlock is one of my favourite series and I’ve read them countless times so it was fun to read the twist that the author spun on it. I was highly entertained and never wanted it to end. It reads as sherlocks books went and is a series of short stories all held together by the Jack the Ripper case in the background. The world was well thought out and explained, the characters were believable in their roles, and the cases were similar to the originals with the proper twist to make them unique to this universe.
This book has all things that I love and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s a top read for me for sure.
The Holmes and Watson remix you never knew you needed.
I’ve been a fan of Katherine’s book under both her names. And The Goblin Emperor is one of my all-time fave books. This is not the sequel to that but if Sherlock Holmes as an angel in Victorian England with werewolves, vampires and sundry other supernatural critters sounds good to you, then snap this up. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Hopefully there will be another!
Beautifully written melding of classic Sherlock stories with an amazing imagined world.
Well this was an intriguing idea as the juxtaposition of an Angel for the famous detective Sherlock Holmes had me very eager to read this. I’ve not read anything by this author before so wasn’t sure what to expect but the ever so slightly maniacal side of Holmes was certainly present in the titular Crow . Doyle is the representation of Watson here and I loved that he’s written as a gentleman who has manners and indeed a strong sense of right and wrong. As it’s a homage to Conan Doyle of course there is Moriarty and numerous nods and references to stories loved by many.
I don’t think this book will suit everyone and if honest did feel at times that it dragged . I couldn’t help but compare it in my mind to the recent BBC Sherlock series because that bore a frantic energy and pace . All in all this was an interesting idea and certainly a very unique take on what is fiction and how to merge it with fact.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair
The book description promised an alternate Victorian London where angels rule and everyone lives in a constant fear of one of them falling, which would be like “a nuclear bomb in both the physical and metaphysical worlds”. Seldom has a description been so off. What it is, is a Sherlock Holmes retelling. I don’t like retellings and Sherlock Holmes retellings are the most tired of them all. If I’d known it was one, I probably would’ve skipped this, no matter how much I like the author.
This is basically a collection of Holmes’ most famous cases bound together with a superficial plot about Jack the Ripper—a case Holmes famously never tackled. There were some minor changes, but none of them made the stories truly fresh. The newness, therefore, rests solely on the world-building.
It’s an alternate Victorian London with everything. There are both steampunk elements, like airships and automatons, and all manner of supernatural creatures from vampires and werewolves to ghosts and hellhounds. And angels. There are three kinds of angels: those bound to a building and thus worthy of a name, the Nameless who wander about without a mind and purpose of their own, and the Fallen who are vicious creatures who kill and inflict supernatural diseases. We actually never meet the latter.
Holmes is an angel called Crow. He is different from other angels because he is not bound to a building, but isn’t a Nameless or a Fallen either—a fact that the author didn’t fully explain until about midway to the book, which left me constantly baffled with people’s reactions to him. He likes to solve crimes, and he is very good at deductive reasoning. Unlike Holmes, he doesn’t have any vices—he doesn’t even eat—or irritating habits, and he is actually very endearing in his constant awe of humanity.
Dr Watson is Dr Doyle who has survived an attack by a Fallen in Afghanistan and is suffering from the consequences, which will lead to a metamorphosis. Since the actual flavour of the change is kept as a secret for a while, I won’t reveal it here. It plays some role in solving the cases; perhaps the only worthwhile alteration the author has made to the stories. The good doctor has another secret too, even more tightly guarded. Considering the importance given to it, I would’ve wished it actually had some sort of impact—it definitely would’ve opened the story to a whole new level—but it was glossed over and life went on like it didn’t even exist.
Considering the interesting world the author has created, it seems criminal that she’s wasted it on Sherlock Holmes. The angels had a fascinating society that could’ve formed a basis to a completely unique plot, and Crow had such an interesting backstory that he could’ve carried a book on that alone. The alterations don’t even really influence the original stories. It wasn’t until midway to the book that they started to have any effect on the cases, and the suspects remained ordinary humans in pretty much all of them.
This being said, I found the book interesting enough to keep reading. I even gave it four stars. The author has recreated the atmosphere of Conan-Doyle’s originals well, the narrative style works and never wavers, and I liked both Crow and Dr Doyle. If there’s ever a follow-up, I hope the author goes to town with the world and gives the two a proper plot and a unique story.
I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.