All-Consuming Fire (novel): Difference between revisions

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 {{title dab away}}
 {{real world}}
-{{Infobox Story
+{{Infobox Story SMW
-|image= NA027 allconsumingfire.jpg
+|image = NA027 allconsumingfire.jpg
 |adapted into = All-Consuming Fire (audio story)
-|series=[[Virgin New Adventures]]
+|series = [[Virgin New Adventures]]
-|number= 27
+|range = Virgin New Adventures
-|doctor= Seventh Doctor
+|number in range = 27
+|number = 27
+|doctor = Seventh Doctor
 |companions= [[Ace]], [[Bernice Summerfield|Benny]]
-|featuring= Sherlock Holmes
+|featuring = Sherlock Holmes
-|featuring2= John Watson
+|featuring2 = John Watson
-|featuring3= First Doctor
+|featuring3 = First Doctor
-|featuring4= Susan Foreman
+|featuring4 = Third Doctor
 |enemy= [[Azathoth (All-Consuming Fire)|Azathoth]], [[Baron Maupertuis]], [[Sherringford Holmes]]
 |setting= {{il|[[Jabalhabad]], [[1843]]|[[London]], [[1887]]|[[SS Matilda Briggs|SS ''Matilda Briggs'']], [[1887]]|[[Bombay]], [[1887]]|[[Plain of Leng]], [[Ry'leh]], [[1887]]|[[San Francisco]], [[1906]]}}
-|writer= [[Andy Lane]]
+|writer = Andy Lane
-|cover= [[Jeff Cummins]]
+|cover = [[Jeff Cummins]]
-|publisher= Virgin Books
+|publisher = Virgin Books
-|release date= [[16 June (releases)|16 June]] [[1994 (releases)|1994]]
+|release date= 16 June 1994
-|format= Paperback Book; 21 Chapters, 305 Pages
+|format = Paperback Book; 24 Chapters, 305 Pages
-|isbn= ISBN 0-426-20415-8
+|isbn = ISBN 0-426-20415-8
-|prev= Theatre of War (novel)
+|prev = Theatre of War (novel)
-|next= Blood Harvest (novel)
+|next = Blood Harvest (novel)
+|featuring5 = Susan Foreman
 }}{{prose stub}}
 {{dab page|All-Consuming Fire (disambiguation)}}
@@ Line 73: / Line 76: @@
 * [[Susan Foreman|Susan]]
 * [[Siger Holmes]]
-== References ==
+== Worldbuilding ==
 === Books ===
 * Ace has read books by [[Iain M. Banks]].
@@ Line 139: / Line 142: @@
 === Species ===
 * The [[Rakshassi]] are named after Hindu demons. Their appearance may be based on the {{w|Mi-go}}.
-* The [[Great Old One]]s include: [[Lloigor]] (ended up on [[Vortis]]), [[Yog-Sothoth]] (encountered as the [[Great Intelligence]]), the [[Gods of Ragnarok]] (whom Ace might tell Benny about, if asked nicely), [[Hastur the Unspeakable]] (also known as [[Fenric]], whom Ace will not tell Benny about, no matter how nicely she asks), [[Cthulhu]] (encountered by the Doctor and company in [[Haiti]]), [[Dagon]] (worshipped by the [[Sea Devil]]s) and [[Nyarlathotep]].
+* The [[Great Old One]]s include: [[Lloigor]] (ended up on [[Vortis]]), [[Yog-Sothoth]] (whom the Doctor encountered once in [[Tibet]] and later in [[London]]), the [[Gods of Ragnarok]] (whom Ace might tell Benny about, if asked nicely), [[Hastur the Unspeakable]] (also known as [[Fenric]], whom Ace will not tell Benny about, no matter how nicely she asks), [[Cthulhu]] (encountered by the Doctor and company in [[Haiti]]), [[Dagon]] (worshipped by the [[Sea Devil]]s) and [[Nyarlathotep]].
 * [[Shlangii (species)|Shlangii]] are the most feared mercenaries in the universe.
 * The [[Silurian]]s venerated Azathoth.
@@ Line 164: / Line 167: @@
 == Notes ==
+[[File:Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes All-Consuming Fire.jpg|thumb|Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes in ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'']]
+* The image of Sherlock Holmes on the cover is based on an image of [[Basil Rathbone]]'s portrayal of the character in ''[[The Hound of the Baskervilles]]''.
 * This novel is written from the point of view of Watson and Benny's diaries.
-* It is one of the few New Adventures releases to include illustrations.
+* This novel includes eight illustrations by [[Mike Nicholson]].
 * According to [[Andy Lane]], [[Peter Darvill-Evans]] had told Lane that Holmes and Watson were going to be the new [[companion]]s in the [[New Adventures]] book range. Said Lane, "Even when I finished the book it was still on the cards - hence the ambiguous ending." ([[DWM 252]])
 * A [[Prelude All-Consuming Fire (short story)|prelude]] to this novel was published in [[DWM 213]].
 * In the acknowledgements for the novel ''[[The Empire of Glass (novel)|The Empire of Glass]]'', Lane notes that this was his own version of {{w|Tim Powers}}' {{wi|The Anubis Gates}}.
-* There is a reference to a Baron Maupertuis, one of the villains of this story, in the Sherlock Holmes novel "{{w|The Adventure of the Reigate Squire}}", in which Watson mentions an unrecorded case called "the colossal schemes of Baron Maupertuis".
 * In 2015, [[Big Finish Productions]] released an [[All-Consuming Fire (audio story)|audio adaptation]] of this novel.
+* [[Andy Lane]] named this as his favourite New Adventure of his own, "because it was such fun to write".
+* At the time of the novel's publication, the works of Arthur Conan Doyle were in the public domain in the UK. This changed in 1996, when British laws were amended to reflect those of the European Union. As such, Doyle's creations could not be used again until the copyright expired in 2001, though Holmes and Watson do have cameos in ''[[Happy Endings (novel)|Happy Endings]]''.<ref>https://www.hrc.utexas.edu/research/watch/uk/</ref>
+=== References to Sherlock Holmes lore ===
+As a three-way crossover between ''Doctor Who'', the Cthulhu Mythos and Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, the novel makes numerous references to quirks and lore of the ''Sherlock Holmes'' canon.
+Firstly, the notion that [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] coexists with Watson and Holmes within their fictional universe, as a man who publishes Watson's diaries with some names and details changed to give them an air of fictionality and protect the detectives' identities, is a confirmation of the foundational hypothesis of {{w|Sherlockian game|the "Great Game"}} which sees Doyle enthusiasts posit that Doyle's Sherlock Holmes canon is actually a historical text, and, from there, attempt to figure out how he connects to various elements of the real world.
+Secondly, the novel ties together two of the many "offscreen cases" mentioned by Watson in Doyle's stories and which are the subject of much speculation among fans. In the Sherlock Holmes novel "{{w|The Adventure of the Reigate Squire}}", Watson mentions an unrecorded case called "the colossal schemes of Baron Maupertuis", which schemes are shown in this story to have been the invasion of [[Ry'leh]] through the dimensional rift in India. Meanwhile, in the short story "{{w|The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire}}", Holmes says in "a reminiscent voice" that "the ''Matilda Briggs'' was a ship which is associated with the giant rat of Sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared." ''All-Consuming Fire'' shows the Giant Rat of Sumatra in question to have been an alien creature from [[Ry'leh]], making the reason Holmes's 19th-century world was unprepared for it quite obvious; the [[SS Matilda Briggs]] is the ship abord which the characters travel to India in ''All-Consuming Fire''.
+Thirdly, the story makes use of the common idea that the [[Diogenes Club]] is in fact a front for a secret service loyal to the Crown of England, with [[Mycroft Holmes|Mycroft]] as its head. This notion, not present in any of Doyle's original stories, is frequently used in adaptations of the ''Sherlock Holmes'' mythos, up to and including the later BBC ''Sherlock'' reboot headed by [[Steven Moffat]] and [[Mark Gatiss]]. ''All-Consuming Fire'' interestingly shows Holmes and Watson ''learning'' of the Club's true nature.
+Finally, [[Squire]] [[Sherringford Holmes]] is a reference to ''Sherrinford'' Holmes, a theoretical character as part of the aforementioned Great Game, named for a discarded name Doyle had considered for Sherlock himself, and who is conceived of as the eldest Holmes brother who lived a quiet life and inherited most of the Holmes family's wealth and land.
+=== The Great Old Ones and the DWU ===
+A brief speech by the [[Seventh Doctor]] defines who the [[Great Old One]]s are. This ties together several creatures encountered in ''[[Doctor Who]]'', and binds them in a common group with other mythologies, such as the [[H. P. Lovecraft]] [[Cthulhu]] stories. He says that the following are "Great Old Ones": Cthulhu, the [[Gods of Ragnarok]] (from ''[[The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (TV story)|The Greatest Show in the Galaxy]]''), [[Nyarlathotep]], [[Dagon]] (who is said to be worshipped by the [[Sea Devil]]s, implying the Sea Devils to be the same as Lovecraft's Deep Ones), Hastur the Unspeakable who "also goes around calling himself [[Fenric]] (as encountered in ''[[The Curse of Fenric (TV story)|The Curse of Fenric]]''), Lloigor (implied to be [[the Animus]] from ''[[The Web Planet (TV story)|The Web Planet]]''), and [[Yog-Sothoth]].
+The Doctor's statement that he met Yog-Sothoth "once in Tibet, and again in London" implies that Yog-Sothoth is in fact none other than the [[Great Intelligence]], although this is not made explicit, by all appearances because the book was not licensed to use the character of the Intelligence (no such statement is made in the book's copyright section). ''[[Millennial Rites (novel)|Millennial Rites]]'' confirms this connection, whereas other works both earlier and later, such as the TV story ''[[The Snowmen (TV story)|The Snowmen]]'', dispute it.
+At any rate, while direct ties to the Cthulhu Mythos were erased, the notion of unimaginably powerful entities who originated in the [[pre-universe]], and who derived their powers from still being bound by the laws of physics of their ''old'' world rather than the Doctor's own, recurred in 21st century televised ''Doctor Who'', first with [[the Beast (The Impossible Planet)|the Beast]] in ''[[The Impossible Planet (TV story)|The Impossible Planet]]'' and ''[[The Satan Pit (TV story)|The Satan Pit]]'' and later with the [[Ancient Lights]] in ''[[Secrets of the Stars (TV story)|Secrets of the Stars]]'' and ''[[Death of the Doctor (TV story)|Death of the Doctor]]'', thereby continuing this makeshift tradition.
 === Holmes and Watson in the DWU ===
 This novel portrays "Holmes" and "Watson" as the fictional names for non-fictional people. Benny is cut off several times right before she announces the ''actual'' names of "Holmes" and "Watson".
-This notion that they are real people is confirmed in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Happy Endings]]'', when the duo show up for Benny's wedding. Later she even meets "[[Mycroft Holmes]]" ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Adventure of the Diogenes Damsel (audio story)|The Adventure of the Diogenes Damsel]]'')
+This notion that they are real people is confirmed in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Happy Endings (novel)|Happy Endings]]'', when the duo show up for Benny's wedding. Later she even meets "[[Mycroft Holmes]]" ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Adventure of the Diogenes Damsel (audio story)|The Adventure of the Diogenes Damsel]]'')
-However, almost every story written thereafter suggests quite the opposite. ''[[Evolution (novel)|Evolution]]'', for instance, strongly implies that Holmes and Watson are ''wholly'' fictional characters, created by Doyle, based on the Doctor and Doyle himself (although a prelude written suggests that Doyle, altering the characters slightly to protect their true identities, simply based some of the "fictional" Holmes' characteristics on the Doctor). While the [[Eleventh Doctor]] suggests that Holmes is fictional in ''[[The Snowmen (TV story)|The Snowmen]]'', he may simply be responding to [[Walter Simeon]]'s own belief that they are fictional when he himself knows otherwise.
+However, almost every story written thereafter suggests quite the opposite. ''[[Evolution (novel)|Evolution]]'', for instance, strongly implies that Holmes and Watson are ''wholly'' fictional characters, created by Doyle, based on the Doctor and Doyle himself (although a prelude written suggests that Doyle, altering the characters slightly to protect their true identities, simply based some of the "fictional" Holmes' characteristics on the Doctor). ''[[The Snowmen (TV story)|The Snowmen]]'' also has [[Walter Simeon]] insist that Sherlock Holmes is a well-known fictional character, and the Doctor himself appears to confirm this, though he may simply be responding to [[Walter Simeon]]'s own belief that they are fictional when he himself knows otherwise.
+After many other mentions of Sherlock Holmes as a wholly fictional character, the stories ''[[The Book of the Enemy (short story)|The Book of the Enemy]]'' and ''[[Erasing Sherlock (novel)|Erasing Sherlock]]'' finally provided an in-universe explanation for the discrepancy, showing that Sherlock Holmes had been erased from time and turned into fiction as part of temporal strategies in the [[War in Heaven]].
+=== Possible unreliability of the text ===
+It is difficult to know how much of the book to take as a genuine account of things which ''actually'' happened to the Doctor and his [[companion]]s, since [[Bernice Summerfield|Benny]] outright says that the book was a fictionalised version of events and Watson admits within the book himself that he sometimes rewrites portions of his diaries to make himself appear more proactive and heroic before he turns them into publishable books.
+Nevertheless, the prologue and epilogue are certainly meant to be read as the "reality" of the [[Doctor Who universe|DWU]], and the basic outlines of the plot are confirmed as generally having happened. ''Detail'' within the bulk of the novel should, however be treated with a great deal more suspicion.
 == Continuity ==
-It is difficult to know how much of the book to take as a genuine account of things which ''actually'' happened to the Doctor and his [[companion]]s, since [[Bernice Summerfield|Benny]] outright says that the book was a heavily fictionalised version of events. Nevertheless, the prologue and epilogue are certainly meant to be read as the "reality" of the [[Doctor Who universe|DWU]]. And the basic outlines of the plot are confirmed as generally having happened. ''Detail'' within the bulk of the novel should, however be treated with a great deal more suspicion. That said, some things said in the novel ''can'' be found in other stories:
+* The Doctor and many others visit the [[Library of St John the Beheaded]], with which the Doctor is familiar. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Empire of Glass (novel)|The Empire of Glass]]'', ''[[Theatre of War (novel)|Theatre of War]]'', ''[[Millennial Rites (novel)|Millennial Rites]]'')
-* [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Empire of Glass]]'' reveals who founded the Library of St John the Beheaded.
+* The Doctor says that "if [one] asks her very nicely, [[Ace]] will tell [one] about the [[Gods of Ragnarok]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (TV story)|The Greatest Show in the Galaxy]]'') but also that no amount of sweet-talking will get her to speak of Hastur the Unspeakable, a.k.a. [[Fenric]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Curse of Fenric (TV story)|The Curse of Fenric]]'') He also mentions his encounter with [[Cthulhu]] in [[Haiti]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[White Darkness (novel)|White Darkness]]'')
-** It was first mentioned of in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Theatre of War]]'', and would later reappear in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Millennial Rites]]''.
+* It is established that the [[fob watch]] the [[Seventh Doctor]] uses is the same one carried by the [[First Doctor]].
-* Lloigor (the [[Animus]]) appeared in [[TV]]: ''[[The Web Planet (TV story)|The Web Planet]]'', Yog-Sothoth (the [[Great Intelligence]]) in [[TV]]: ''[[The Abominable Snowmen (TV story)|The Abominable Snowmen]]'' and ''[[The Web of Fear (TV story)|The Web of Fear]]'', the [[Gods of Ragnarok]] in [[TV]]: ''[[The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (TV story)|The Greatest Show in the Galaxy]]'', Hastur the Unspeakable ([[Fenric]]) in [[TV]]: ''[[The Curse of Fenric (TV story)|The Curse of Fenric]]'' and [[Cthulhu]] in [[PROSE]]: ''[[White Darkness]]''.
-* The epilogue establishes that the [[fob watch]] the [[Seventh Doctor]] uses is the same one carried by the [[First Doctor]].
-* A brief speech by the Seventh Doctor defines who the [[Great Old One]]s are. This ties together several creatures encountered in ''[[Doctor Who]]'', and binds them in a common group with other mythologies, such as the [[H. P. Lovecraft]] [[Cthulhu]] stories. He says that the following are "Great Old Ones": Cthulhu, the Gods of Ragnarok, [[Nyarlathotep]], [[Dagon]], Fenric (otherwise known as Hastur the Unspeakable), Yog-Sothoth (better known as the Great Intelligence), and Lloigor.
 * The Doctor says that he has seen fast, rapid movement invisible to the human eye in [[Raston Warrior Robot]]s, but never in a living creature. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'')
+== Cover gallery ==
+<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true" widths="250">
+NA027 allconsumingfire.jpg|Original cover
+NA027 allconsumingfire textless.jpg|Textless cover
+NA027 allconsumingfire sketch cover.jpg|Sketch cover
+</gallery>
+== Illustrations ==
+The interior featured eight illustrations by [[Mike Nicholson]].
+<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true" widths="250">
+All consuming fire frontpiece.jpg|Frontpiece
+All consuming fire Illustration 1.jpg|The Doctor meets [[Sherlock Holmes]] and [[John Watson]].
+All consuming fire Illustration 2.jpg|Holmes runs for his life.
+All consuming fire Illustration 3.jpg|Watson and the Doctor on the boat to India.
+All consuming fire Illustration 4.jpg|Benny watches in horror as a [[Rakshassa]] carries the Doctor away.
+All consuming fire Illustration 5.jpg|Benny, Holmes and Watson.
+All consuming fire Illustration 6.jpg|Ace and Watson on [[Ry'leh]].
+All consuming fire endpiece.jpg|Endpiece.
+</gallery>
 == External links ==
-* [http://www.drwhoguide.com/whona27p.htm Prelude to '''All-Consuming Fire''' as published in DWM #213]
+* [https://doctorwho.guide/whona27p.htm Prelude to '''All-Consuming Fire''' as published in DWM #213]
 {{dwrefguide|who_na27.htm|All-Consuming Fire}}
 * {{whoniverse|na27|All-Consuming Fire}}
 * [http://www.schoolandholmes.com/summariesl.html Sherlockian Story Summary - Andy Lane's '''''All-Consuming Fire''''']
 * [http://mysite.science.uottawa.ca/rsmith43/cloister/allc.htm The Cloister Library: All-Consuming Fire]
 * [http://doctorwho.org.nz/archive/tsv43/beyondthebook.html#na027 Beyond the Book: All-Consuming Fire by Paul Scoones (Article) - TSV 43]
 {{NA}}
 {{TitleSort}}
-[[Category:Bernice Summerfield stories]]
+[[Category:Bernice Summerfield sources]]
 [[Category:Seventh Doctor novels]]
 [[Category:NA novels with Bernice Summerfield]]
 [[Category:NA novels]]
 [[Category:1994 novels]]
-[[Category:Stories set in India]]
+[[Category:Novels set in India]]
 [[Category:Stories set in London]]
 [[Category:Stories set in 1843]]
@@ Line 213: / Line 263: @@
 [[Category:Third Doctor novels]]
 [[Category:Stories that crossover with non-DWU series]]
+[[Category:Bernice Summerfield novels]]
+[[Category:Sherlock Holmes novels]]