All-Consuming Fire · Virgin New Adventures

"I've been all over the universe with you, Doctor, and Earth in the nineteenth century is the most alien place I've ever seen."

England, 1887. The secret library of St John the Beheaded has been robbed. The thief has taken forbidden books which tell of mythical beasts and gateways to other worlds. Only one team can be trusted to solve the crime: Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.

As their investigation leads them to the dark underside of Victorian London, Holmes and Watson soon realise that someone else is following the same trail. Someone who has the power to kill with a glance. And they sense a strange, inhuman shape observing them from the shadows. Then they meet the mysterious traveller known only as the Doctor -- the last person alive to read the stolen books.

While Bernice waits in nineteenth-century India, Ace is trapped on a bizarre alien world. And the Doctor finds himself unwillingly united with England's greatest consulting detective.

This review contains spoilers!

I’m a sucker for 2 things when it comes to the NAs, interesting meta/narrative framing and character work, this story nails the first one, seeing the story from Watsons and Bernice’s perspectives from diary entries or just in general from the first person perspective is so much fun, this book is structured in the sense that it is an Andy lane Book wrapped around a Sherlock Holmes novel and while I have not read to deeply into the Sherlock Holmes canon I was quite happy seeing the cameos of moriarty and what not. Holmes and the doctors relationship in this book is brilliant, they mirror each other but getting to see Sherlock Holmes realize that the doctor is kind of … well not kind of but very much above his league is cool, seeing the doctor from Watsons perspective makes the character seem so much more mysterious, we’re used to seeing the doctor and his schemes from the perspectives of people like ace, and Benny who know the doctor well but seeing a total new comer in Watson notice things about the doctor, how alien he is was very fun…

this book combines lovecraftian and Indian Mythology with Sherlock Holmes and adds doctor who in there… what more can I say , it’s a fun read and definitely worth a check out if you have time!

Voyxger

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Review last edited on 26-02-25

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This was the first VNA I've read (actually, the first Classic Who novel I've read). There are parts of it that I like; a lot of the dialogue is great. But I felt that the Doctor and especially Ace were too mean. I don't know if that was how the characterization evolved over the previous VNAs, but it was jarring and unpleasant. The first half, in London, worked better for me than the second, in India and on Ry'leh. There is maybe a little too much going on with the plot, but the pacing is snappy.