Review: The Angel of the Crows

The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5ish Stars

So here's the thing. I adore Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor . It's one of my favorite fantasy novels and not surprisingly, it might be a hard act to follow. But more than that, I've never particularly been a fan of Sherlock Holmes novels. Thus, perhaps for me, this novel is not the best fit. As with everything Katherine Addison/Sarah Monette writes, it is gorgeously written. The novel is what might be termed wingfic, which is fan fiction in which a famous character is endowed with wings. Holmes, the Angel of the Crows, is that winged figure, and Watson, here called Dr. Doyle in a hat tip to Sherlock's author, is returned with supernatural injuries from Afghanistan. Set in an alternate London with vampires, werewolves, angels and a Jack the Ripper series of murders, Addison has put together something that I honestly think few authors could create. I can appreciate the research, the clever adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes novels plots into the series of events here, and the sheer miracle of getting it all to hold together. But alas, it's just not quite for me. (The dearth of meaty female characters in Doyle's work and the dreadful misogyny of some of the adaptations of his work that are out there may be a factor.) I can however say that this is one author for whom I'd pick up any book she writes and give it a try. I follow her on Patreon and kind of knew what I was getting into here, given her postings over the past two years. Let that be your indication of how much I love reading her work.

I received a paper review copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

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