The Great Game

This is the final book in one of the odder trilogies I've read. One of the ways this trilogy is unusual is that it's very nearly a fresh set of characters in each book – there are only a few cross-over characters. The setting is an alternate Victorian England where the royalty has been replaced by alien race of lizards. Some characters argue that it's been for the better, other characters argue that they shouldn't be governed by an alien race. The Great Game has three major protagonists, and, like in the previous books, you may recognize some of the names. They are: Smith (an erstwhile retired operative called in to investigate the death of Mycroft Holmes), Lucy Westenra (headstrong operative working for Mycroft), and Harry Houdini (recruited by Mycroft). Part of the fun of these books is catching all the literary references within. Ideas and character names are freely borrowed from such sources as Doyle, Stoker, Dickens, Hugo, etc. The story careens from one scene to the next – which keeps the pages turning swiftly – but, like in the first book (The Bookman), I was often confused by what exactly the characters were doing. And, like the characters, often wondered exactly what was going on. That was annoying. Regardless, I enjoyed this trilogy but I must say that I liked the middle book, Camera Obscura, the best.