TECH: VOOK - THE SHERLOCK HOLMES EXPERIENCE FOR WEB OR iPHONE®

Technology is a wonderful thing, especially when it may have useful applications in a classroom setting, which is what the creators of Vook: The Sherlock Holmes Experience appear to have in mind.

So what is a Vook? Well according to the website:

"A vook is a new innovation in reading that blends a well-written book, high-quality video and the power of the Internet into a single, complete story.
You can read your book, watch videos that enhance the story and connect with authors and your friends through social media all on one screen, without switching between platforms.


Vooks are available in two formats: As a web-based application you can read on your computer and a mobile application for reading on the go. With the web-based application you don't have to download programs or install software. Just open your favorite browser and start reading and watching in an exciting new way. You can also download and install the mobile applications through the Apple iTunes store and sync them with your Apple mobile device."

And specifically about The Sherlock Holmes Experience:

"The Sherlock Holmes Experience vook is a revolutionary new way to read about the exploits of Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary creation: Sherlock Holmes. The vook features two classic stories by Doyle -- The Man with the Twisted Lip and The Adventure of the Speckled Band -- and enhances them with videos that delve into the history and legend surrounding the character of Holmes.

15 compelling videos take you back to the gas-lit London streets where Holmes would pull on his deer stalker, summon Doctor Watson, and set out from 211B Baker Street on another crime solving adventure. The videos help you envision the world of Holmes and highlight details and historical facts that further immerse you in the mystery. Go to London's Baker Street, made famous by Doyle's stories. Visit Holmes' sitting room where so many mysteries were solved. Learn more about Holmes' crime solving techniques from the experts who have studied them. The videos in this vook provide a glimpse into the world of the famous detective and what inspired the innovative crime fighting series written by Conan Doyle.

Readers can also easily access more information on the Web by using the many hyperlinks embedded in this vook."

Sounds good? Well, having gone through the two stories this afternoon, I'm impressed with the results. While some of the video has a goofy 'man on the street' Q&A element, the video footage featuring Sherlock Holmes Society of London members Catherine Cooke and Nick Utechin are really quite well done. Largely, the video material provides context for the modern reader and works rather well.  The classroom applications are strong, but this is also useful material for the casual reader too.

Will this catch on as the best way to bring classic fiction to the internet generation? Hard to say, but it's certainly worth a look, particularly as the folks behind The Sherlock Holmes Experience have said "...we’re giving one copy of the Sherlock Holmes Experience free to every accredited educator in the UK and the US. The vook is going to bring the world of Holmes to a new generation of readers in an intelligent and useful manner." Check it out.

For more info or for educators to request a copy, visit the Vook website.

TECH: SHERLOCK HOLMES LONDON LOCATIONS MAPPED ON NEW iPHONE® App

Sherlock Holmes Guide To London iphone app includes more than 60 locations connected to the great detective. Use it as a walking tour or simply browse the information as a fact-packed guide to houses, hotels, railway stations, pubs, plaques and statues. The app includes more than 100 photographs and easy-to-use mapping to transport you back to a time when London was a city of fog, hansom cabs and a network of crime to stimulate the mind of the world's most famous consulting detective. The first 40 locations from Baker Street to Leicester Square can be used as a four mile walk or split up as the user wishes. A second set of extra locations further afield are conveniently grouped near to London's tube stations.

Written and created by David Roberts and designed by Clay Interactive, The Sherlock Holmes Guide to London can be downloaded for just £1.79 at the App store:

http://www.itunes.com/app/TheSherlockHolmesGuidetoLondon

COMIC: WILDSTORM'S VICTORIAN UNDEAD #1 UNLEASHED THIS WEEK

The first issue of Wildstorm Comics new Sherlock Holmes series - Victorian Undead - was unleashed to comic shops this past week, and happily, it is a fine and extremely fun read.

Written by Ian Edginton, with art by Davide Fabbri and a cover by Tony Moore, the book kicks off with a strange and ominous meteor shower in 1854 then jumps ahead to 1898 where workers in the Underground make a deadly and gruesome discovery. Soon after, when faced with a snarling and rabid corpse that won't stay still, Lestrade summons Sherlock Holmes for assistance, only to be warned off by ominous men in black - agents of Her Majesty's Secret Service. So begins the first issue in this exciting new six issue series pitting Holmes against a Zombie plague!

Ian Edginton (also doing a great job of adapting Conan Doyle's Holmes novels, with art by I.N.J Culbard, for Sterling's Illustrated Classics graphic novel series) does a marvelous job of presenting us with a highly intriguing, and so far mysterious, start to this challenging concept, with a hint that there will be far more to this series than simply pitting Holmes against a mindless zombie horde. Dialogue and story are both very convincing and his presentation of Holmes as an energetic,  curious and driven individual works extremely well. The proceedings are complemented by the beautifully rendered artwork of Davide Fabbri, whose character design for Holmes is, if perhaps a bit too handsome and super-heroic in proportions, a perfectly acceptable and appealing creation. Watson fares a little less well and is presented as a slightly stocky, gray-haired gent, sporting spectacles. The zombies are suitably ghastly and actually fairly disgusting to look upon, which is as it should be! Perhaps my only complaint about the look of the book is the somewhat over-lit and vivid colouring applied to the artwork, but it's a minor quibble. On the whole, this is a terrific read in every way and provides a great deal of fun for the imaginative reader, if not for the Sherlockian purist. Get out to your local comic shop and pick this one up! Highly Recommended.

For more info on the series, including cover art for upcoming issues, visit the Wildstorm Comics site.

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: VAMPIRE STORIES COLLECTED

VAMPIRE STORIES: ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
Edited by Robert Eighteen-Bisang and Martin H. Greenberg

$14.95 ($19.95 Canada)
288 pages
Paperback | 5 1/2 x 8 1/4
Published: October 2009 by Skyhorse Publishing
ISBN: 9781602397972

Publisher's Blurb:

"The first collection of vampire stories from the creator of Sherlock Holmes! Who would suspect that the same mind that created the most famous literary detective of all time also took on the eternally popular genre of vampires? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a contemporary of Bram Stoker, gave us some fascinating works of vampire fiction. From the bloodsucking plant in “The American’s Tale” to the bloodsucking wife in “The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire,” he reveled in the horror created by creatures who survived on the blood of men and women."

The book collects nine stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, none of which are traditional 'vampire' stories, but in most cases do riff on a vaguely connected theme.

• The American's Tale
• The Captain of the Pole-Star
• John Barrington Cowles
• The Ring of Thoth
• The Winning Shot
• The Parasite
• The Adventure of the Illustrious Client
• The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire
• The Adventure of the Three Gables

Strangely, there is also a pastiche by Bill Crider - The Case of the Vanished Vampire - as well as an interesting bibliography that tracks Sherlock Holmes' encounters with vampires in various forms of pastiche. The best elements of the book, if you haven't previously read the stories, are the introduction and individual story notes, by Dracula collector and scholar Robert Eighteen-Bisang. His all too brief comments regarding the Holmes stories, are fascinating, particularly his rationale behind explaining why The Illustrious Client reads like the Holmesian version of Dracula.


Not exactly crucial reading if you've already got the included stories in another collection, but if you've only ever read Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, this is as good a jumping off point as any into some of the lesser known works by an author who was definitely ahead of his time. If you are expecting traditional vampire stories, look elsewhere. Recommended.

To order a copy via Amazon USA click here.




  

AUDIO CD: THE BIG FINISH SHERLOCK HOLMES TEASER PODCAST

As a teaser to their Sherlock Holmes range, Big Finish Audio profiles the Holmes programs in a fun podcast with guests Nicholas Briggs (the voice of Sherlock Holmes in Holmes and the Ripper), Roger Llewellyn (star of Sherlock Holmes: The Last Act  and Sherlock Holmes: The Death and Life) as well as Sherlockian author and playwright David Stuart Davies. To listen to the podcast go to the Big Finish site or for direct play/download click here (this will launch your media player).

The first of the Big Finish audio programs - SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE LAST ACT is scheduled to be released this month (November 2009).To order or for further info visit the Big Finish site.

SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE DEATH AND LIFE, with Roger Llewellyn, will be released in December. HOLMES AND THE RIPPER with Nicholas Briggs will be available in January, 2010.

EPHEMERA: ALA SHERLOCK HOLMES MOVIE TIE-IN READ POSTER

As part of their READ promotion the American Library Association has produced a 22 x 34 inch poster featuring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson. The sharp looking poster features the tradtitional quote:

"When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

The $16.00 poster is available to order through the American Library Association online shop

TRAILER: NEW 2.5 MINUTE TRAILER FOR GUY RITCHIE'S SHERLOCK HOLMES

MTV has unveiled yet another new trailer for Guy Ritchie's SHERLOCK HOLMES. The new trailer utilizes some new footage giving a better look at the production design and highlights some new action sequences. Check it out!

STAMPS: ALDERNEY/GUERNSEY ISSUES GREAT PACKAGE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES STAMPS

Celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Arthur Conan Doyle, Guernsey Post has issued a very nice little package of stamps, stamp sheets, first day cover, stamp sets and a 'Mystery Pack'. Guernsey Post has also set up a great site for international orders at http://www.sherlockstamps.com/

"To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of this highly influential writer, our unique collection of stamps tells the story of "Sherlock Holmes and the Curious Case of the Alderney Bull", which is a new mystery set in Alderney. Whilst the stamps provide an insight into this intriguing story, it can be followed in full - and you may even solve the mystery yourself - in our special mystery pack, which includes a stamp souvenir sheet containing a hidden image complete with lens."

Visit  http://www.sherlockstamps.com/ for full details and to order your set today!

MOVIE POSTER: FINAL ONE SHEET POSTER ART FOR GUY RITCHIE'S SHERLOCK HOLMES

At long last, courtesy of the fine folks at FirstShowing.net, we have the one-sheet movie poster design for Guy Ritchie's SHERLOCK HOLMES film starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson. The blue-steel background motif certainly seems to project a steampunk vibe. While the pale blue cast to movie posters has been horribly over-used in recent years, it's still a sharp looking poster.

COMIC: SHERLOCK HOLMES - THE PAINFUL PREDICAMENT OF ALICE FAULKNER GRAPHIC NOVEL

While therre are numerous comic book adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories and many more derivative works, it is fairly unusual to find a graphic novel based on William Gillette's play SHERLOCK HOLMES. However, that is precisely what  Bret M. Herholz has done with SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE PAINFUL PREDICAMENT OF ALICE FAULKNER. Utilizing a style reminiscent of the late great Edward Gorey, Herholz has adapted Gillette's play into an interesting and appealing graphic novel format. Due for release in December 2009 from Alterna Comics it should, in due course, also be available through most of the usual online bookstore sources as well as your local comic book retailer.

ISBN: 9781934985175
128 pgs, BW, $11.99

Preview pages available at Alterna Comics.