I’ve read several books since this, but am only now posting about the fourth book I read this year, Their Majesties’ Bucketeers by L. Neil Smith. It’s not obvious from the cover, title, or blurb that this novel is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche … but it is! It is also SF. The story is a mystery set on an alien planet, and while the society in the story is very similar to Victorian England, the species that lives on this planet is nothing at all like humans. Instead, they are trilaterally symmetricalcrustaceans with a very low tolerance for moisture. (The species also has three sexes - all of which are necessary for reproduction - and there’s some interesting worldbuilding re: the status of each sex.) In true Sherlock Holmes style, the story is narrated by a Watson-like character (Mymysiir, who is a surmale) and features the deductive adventures of a Holmes-like character (Mav, who is male). There is also a prominent female character, Vyssu. I’ve seen other readers suggest she’s somewhat Adler-like, but I could take that or leave it. This book is pretty interesting, and I’ve reread it a few times since buying it a couple years ago. The mystery itself is good enough to draw me in, but what I particularly like is all the worldbuilding. In addition to the basics of how this alien society functions, Smith also includes social dynamics such as gender relations, class differences, and the like. I would definitely recommend hunting this book down (I found it at my local used book shop for under five dollars).

I’ve read several books since this, but am only now posting about the fourth book I read this year, Their Majesties’ Bucketeers by L. Neil Smith.

It’s not obvious from the cover, title, or blurb that this novel is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche … but it is! It is also SF. The story is a mystery set on an alien planet, and while the society in the story is very similar to Victorian England, the species that lives on this planet is nothing at all like humans. Instead, they are trilaterally symmetricalcrustaceans with a very low tolerance for moisture. (The species also has three sexes - all of which are necessary for reproduction - and there’s some interesting worldbuilding re: the status of each sex.)

In true Sherlock Holmes style, the story is narrated by a Watson-like character (Mymysiir, who is a surmale) and features the deductive adventures of a Holmes-like character (Mav, who is male). There is also a prominent female character, Vyssu. I’ve seen other readers suggest she’s somewhat Adler-like, but I could take that or leave it.

This book is pretty interesting, and I’ve reread it a few times since buying it a couple years ago. The mystery itself is good enough to draw me in, but what I particularly like is all the worldbuilding. In addition to the basics of how this alien society functions, Smith also includes social dynamics such as gender relations, class differences, and the like. I would definitely recommend hunting this book down (I found it at my local used book shop for under five dollars).