The Land of Mist
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Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, DL (1859-1930) was a Scottish author. He is most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger. He was a prolific writer whose other works include science fiction stories, historical novels, plays and romances, poetry, and non-fiction. His first significant work was A Study in Scarlet, which appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual for 1887 and featured the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes, who was partially modelled after his former university professor, Joseph Bell. Other works include The Firm of Girdlestone (1890), The Captain of the Polestar (1890), The Doings of Raffles Haw (1892), Beyond the City (1892), The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892), The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard (1896), The Great Boer War (1900), The Green Flag (1900), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902), and The Lost World (1912).
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Wow, this is a terrible novel, and I thought that Professor Challenger #2 was poor. This is little more than an opportunity for ACD to push spiritualism, conveniently summarised as a social religious movement according to which the laws of nature and of God include “the continuity of personality after the transition of death” and “the possibility of communication between those living on Earth and those who have made the transition”, in case you were unsure: you know spirit medium and that sort of hocus.
To achieve this, the novel sets up Ed Malone, the newspaper reporter as a sceptic (for about 5 pages) then a convert, along with Challenger's daughter, Enid, whom Ed is courting. They are easily converted to belief by what are recognised by most as charlatans speaking to the dead, in seance after seance.
Challenger himself doesn't feature until well into the second half of the novel, and unsurprising starts of staunchly on the side of science. However he also is converted to belief, and the novel plays out in a boring attempt to convince the reader.
I already own Challenger #4 & #5, but these are very short stories, and the fact I already own them are the only reason I would persist with this series.
1.5 stars, but I have given some pretty poor books 2 before, so this can join them.
Featured Series
5 primary booksProfessor Challenger is a 5-book series with 5 primary works first released in 1900 with contributions by Arthur Conan Doyle.
