Sunday, March 11, 2018

The Great Tales of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The versatility of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle can be felt in the pages of this book that comprises stories penned  by the creator of Holmes and Challenger some of which equals if not surpasses his more popular titles. Categorised  as the following the stories are a treasure trove of adventure, fun, terror, history and much more:
  • Tales of the Ring
    1. The Croxley Master
    2. The Lord of Falconbridge
    3. The Fall of Lord Barrymore
    4. The Crime of the Brigadier
    5. The King of the Foxes
    6. The Bully of Brocas Court
  • Tales of Pirates
    1. Captain Sharkey: How the Governor of Saint Kitt's came Home
    2. The Dealings of Captain Sharkey with Stephen Craddock
    3. The Blighting of Sharkey
    4. How Copley Banks slew Captain Sharkey
    5. The “Slapping Sal”
    6. A Pirate of the land (One Crowded Hour)
  • Tales of Blue Water
    1. The Striped Chest
    2. The Captain of the “Polestar”
    3. The Fiend of the Cooperage
    4. Jelland’s Voyage
    5. J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement
  • Tales of Terror
    1. Horror of the Heights
    2. The Leather Funnel
    3. The New Catacomb
    4. The Case of lady Shannox
    5. The Terror of Blue John Gap
    6. The Brazilian Cat
  • Tales of Twilight and the Unseen
    1. The Brown Hand
    2. The usher of Lea House School
    3. B.24
    4. The Great Keinplatz Experiment
    5. A literary Mosaic
    6. Playing with Fire
    7. The Ring of Thoth
    8. The Los Amigos Fiasco
    9. How It Happened
    10. Lon No. 249
    11. “De Profundis”
    12. The Lift
  • Tales of Long Ago
    1. The Last of the Legions
    2. The Last Galley
    3. Through the Veils
    4. The coming of the Huns
    5. The Contest
    6. The First Cargo
    7. An Iconoclast
    8. Giant Maximin
    9. The Red Star
    10. The Silver Mirror
    11. The Home-Coming
    12. A Point of Contact
The author's fascination for the pugilists and their game and his inclination towards the paranormals are expressed in the volumes in some of the most fantastic stories of the genre that sometimes mixes both with an unique blend. But this does not prevent him to tell science fictions with the similar classic touch. Again, devoid of paranormals, some of the tales of terror are so chilling that it will match a horror story based on the supernaturals. But his mastery seemed at its supreme with the anecdotes of historical fictions that depicts the cruel yet brave world of a time long ago when the earth was defined by the adventures of her heroins and heroes. The cruelty of Captain Sharkey and his downfall (a bit confusing as two different stories hints at two different ways) is depicted in the stories of the seas and other stories also fills in with adventures of sailors each stranger than the other. Humour also finds place in some of the most fun filled misadventures that makes them more refreshing.

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