Arthur Conan Doyle, doctor and aspiring author, witnesses black magic and murder at a seance. Soon, he finds himself on the run with Jack Sparks dragging him along. But is Jack Sparks an agent of the crown or an escaped mental patient? And why does a mysterious group want Doyle dead? And who are the people on the List of Seven?

A friend of mine started bugging me to read this in 2004. A decade later, I finally gave in.

The List of Seven is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche written by one of the co-creators of Twin Peaks, Mark Frost. It reads Tim Powers writing an episode of Sherlock. In fact, I kept imagining Benedict Cumberbatch as Jack Sparks and Martin Freeman as Doyle.

Sparks and Doyle prove to be an effective team. I found Sparks' background incredibly interesting, as I did his sociopathic brother, Alexander. Doyle was a little more capable than Watson is normally portrayed, a master of deduction rivaling Jack Sparks.

This is a throwback to early steampunk, not the style over substance steampunk that's so popular these days. There are appearances by Victorian figures Bram Stoker, Nigel Gull, and Queen Victoria, and also trains, mummies, zombies, and various other Victoriana, seances and mediums. Again, it reminds me of Tim Power's Anubis Gates and other works, and also Jonathan Barnes' The Somnambulist and The Domino Men.

The writing itself was pretty good. There was a surprising amount of humor in the dialog. The plot about the cult was nothing spectacular since most cults in fiction have the same goals. The characters of Arthur Conan Doyle, Jack Sparks, and Alexander Sparks eclipsed the plot somewhere around the halfway mark.

If I had to complain about something, it would be the ending, which seems it was probably changed at some point in the writing process to allow for sequels. It was kind of a copout. Other than that, I have no complaints. Four out of five stars.201456 s Fabian973 1,902

This is sorta a very successful "Da Vinci Code"/"The Mummy" hybrid. The references to Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, even Jack the Ripper makes this the only book in recent memory to thrill & amaze without making you feel you should know more literary crap you could possibly know what to do with.

This one goes crazy in the most fertile world of Edwardian (the V.D.'d ROYAL Prince's) London where reality walks hand in hand with the monstrous creations of masterful minds! I read this at an unusually languid, slow pace, inverse of the book's rather speedy and smart narration. I want to see a movie this... nah scratch that. I want to discover more books this!41 s mark monday1,719 5,465

a breathless and action-packed steampunk adventure!

a breathless and action-packed steampunk adventure starring mystical special agent Jack Sparks and his doughty Doubting Thomas sidekick Arthur Conan Doyle!

a breathless and action-packed steampunk adventure starring mystical special agent Jack Sparks and his doughty Doubting Thomas sidekick Arthur Conan Doyle, united to fight an infernal Dark Brotherhood and their terrifying zombie and mummy minions!

a breathless and action-packed steampunk adventure starring mystical special agent Jack Sparks and his doughty Doubting Thomas sidekick Arthur Conan Doyle, united to fight an infernal Dark Brotherhood and their terrifying zombie and mummy minions, featuring thoughtful and at times amusingly fervent discourses on the nature of humankind and the pernicious influence of organized religion & the class system and the purpose of both God and Lucifer's competing Plans!

a breathless and action-packed steampunk adventure starring mystical special agent Jack Sparks and his doughty Doubting Thomas sidekick Arthur Conan Doyle, united to fight an infernal Dark Brotherhood and their terrifying zombie and mummy minions, featuring thoughtful and at times amusingly fervent discourses on the nature of humankind and the pernicious influence of organized religion & the class system and the purpose of both God and Lucifer's competing Plans (as well as an unfortunately lengthy and irritating passage where Doyle is disagreeably turned into an hysterical, paranoid heroine straight from a gothic penny dreadful, how tedious)!

a breathless and action-packed steampunk adventure starring mystical special agent Jack Sparks and his doughty Doubting Thomas sidekick Arthur Conan Doyle, united to fight an infernal Dark Brotherhood and their terrifying zombie and mummy minions, featuring thoughtful and at times amusingly fervent discourses on the nature of humankind and the pernicious influence of organized religion & the class system and the purpose of both God and Lucifer's competing Plans (as well as an unfortunately lengthy and irritating passage where Doyle is disagreeably turned into an hysterical, paranoid heroine straight from a gothic penny dreadful, how tedious) - penned by a little-known author who also scripted various Hill Street Blues episodes and co-created Twin Peaks, of all things!

a breathless and action-packed steampunk adventure starring mystical special agent Jack Sparks and his doughty Doubting Thomas sidekick Arthur Conan Doyle, united to fight an infernal Dark Brotherhood and their terrifying zombie and mummy minions, featuring thoughtful and at times amusingly fervent discourses on the nature of humankind and the pernicious influence of organized religion & the class system and the purpose of both God and Lucifer's competing Plans (as well as an unfortunately lengthy and irritating passage where Doyle is disagreeably turned into an hysterical, paranoid heroine straight from a gothic penny dreadful, how tedious) - penned by a little-known author who also scripted various Hill Street Blues episodes and co-created Twin Peaks, of all things... all-in-all, a well-crafted pastiche and a thoroughly entertaining experience!fog-and-gears31 s WilliamAuthor 341 books1,819

Mark Frost is best known as the writer on Twin Peaks, and he brings a similarly twisted vision to this wonderful novel set in a slightly skewed Victorian England.

The protagonist is Arthur Conan Doyle, still a doctor, and with no inkling of his creation of the worlds greatest detective.

That's before he gets involved with a secret service agent with amazing deductive skills, a penchant for morphine, and a twisted, brilliant older brother.

This may sound a Holmes pastiche, but Frost's imagination takes it way beyond that. We get a flight through the British Museum vaults, chased by the undead. We get a visit to Whitby abbey in the dead of night alongside an Irish writer named Bram Stoker who gets the idea of his life on the trip, and we get a glimpse of what might have happened if Victorian ingenuity had taken a slightly different turn into Zombie armies and vast, impersonal factories.

All that, and more literary references than you can shake a stick at, alongside pathos, friendship, betrayal and loss.

Frost is a fine, intelligent writer, with a unique vision, and this is his best work. horror-fiction12 s Cherie1,321 131

Two times five stars!

A book that leads you on, holding your breath, right to the very last page and the very last word on that page. That very last word that will give you chills up and down your spine!

Mark Frost, you did it! Wonderfully. You put in everything. I can't think what you left out!

Reader, do you know Sherlock Holmes?
Do you know Doctor Watson?
Do you know London in 1884?
Do you want a story that will build and build and keep you right on the edge of your chair to the last?
Do you want to appreciate an author that can string a list of words together that can make you appreciate the English language?

"Their trail took them to a gymnasium in a Soho side street, a squat, filthy brick building, its walls a palimpsest of posters trumpeting the forgotten but once epic collisions of yesterday's fistic gladiators. A soot-obscured homily traced the arch of the Greek Revival entryway, extolling the virtue of exercise to the development of a sound moral character."

Do you want to be introduced to characters that will become unforgettable?
Do you want to laugh?
Do you want to cry?
Do you want to cry for more?

READ THIS BOOK!

Meet Dr. Arthur Canon Doyle.
Meet Jack Sparks.
Meet Barry and Larry.published-since-2000 series10 s Graeme RodaughanAuthor 9 books382

I'm classifying this book as UF, I love a story with damn, good heroes and despicable, smart villains, and this book delivers.

Arthur Conan Doyle is saved from villainous types by the mysterious and skilled secret agent, Jack Sparks.

What follows is a romp through a Victorian England beset by a cult of evil magicians.

Lots of fun, and very engaging.action fantasy mystery ...more9 s The Pirate Ghost (Formerly known as the Curmudgeon)278 64

1. Plot/Story -

Okay, the plot…well, that’s a tough question because I am not sure if what makes this book so interesting is considered “Plot” or “World Building.” On the possibility that it’s both, I’ll give some thoughts here, and some thoughts there.

To me this seemed a lot the English version of the intense cowboy Secret Service Agent, James West, played by Robert Conrad with all the flare and pomposity of a Roger Moore James Bond or maybe a William Shatner styled Captain Kirk. Hey, not many short people can pull off the intensity of Sean Connery (it’s in the eyes, man) and the over played Canberra style Batman and Robin fist fights William Shatner’s Kirk beatin’ alien butt, without the pictorial “POW!” and “SMACK!”. I grew up loving the Wild, Wild West on Television even before people thought of calling it “Steampunk.” I even d the more modern movie starring Will Smith as an unly James West, as farfetched as it seemed. Of course Steam Punk was really invented by Edgar Rice Burroughs, H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, but that’s not important right now. What is important about the connection between one of my favorite serial television shows of the 60s and 70s, The Wild, Wild West, and The List of Seven is that, for me, Jack Sparks really came across as England’s James West, which makes Arthur Conan Doyle, the other featured character, as his Artemis Gordon. Or maybe that should be Artemis Gordon was Holme’s Watson and Doyle was Jacks’ Artemis, which is not to be confused with Bugs Bunny’s Daffy Duck or Abbott’s Lou Costello.

I’m sorry, I lost my train of thought there… where was I.. .Oh, yes.. .Wild, Wild West…

The book had a similar style and feel to it as the show from (egad) 1965. Horses, not cars, trains, not planes, maniacal megalomaniac villain’s with plans to rule the world that would make Ian Fleming go… “Now why didn’t I think of that?” (See last month’s read) and even a fun, sexy Heroine that broke several stereotypes of Victorian era women. Trust me, if the babe can stick a hat pin through a man’s eye and still look sexy in an evening gown and bloomers (or without either), she’s all right in my book (Come on Eileen!).

The List of Seven features a young Dr. of medicine and struggling Author named Arthur Conan Doyle who gets sucked into the strange and dark underworld of English Society after he tries to sell a book manuscript to the wrong publisher. Unlucky, Doyle’s book, which he believed a complete work of fiction, turns out to closer to the truth than the secret, shadow society known as “The Dark Brotherhood” feels comfortable with. Let that be a lesson to you would be authors out there: Make sure you check out your sources. Those that should be full of malarkey, crap or human fecal matter actually need to be so or you might have…complications (Shall we say?). (Yes, this is also reminiscent of one of “The Saint” movies where a damsel wrote about a secret criminal society so The Saint had to go save her. Ahh… films of the 60s where men were men and women were useless objects that were also good to look at only good for two or three things, one of them being cooking….but I digress again.

At the start of the book, Doyle falls for a fantastic and elaborate, theatrical ruse only to be saved at the last minute by the strange and extraordinary Jack Sparks… if that’s his real name. Jack’s impressive enough without fanfare, and Doyle impresses Sparks with his powers of perception and deductive reasoning. So, with very polite and proper English mutual consent, a Bromance is born!

As things turn out, Jack, much Jim West (See the above digressive pursuits) happens to be a secret agent of the crown, sworn to protect Queen Victoria, and the Empire from all super villains, both maniacal and domestic…er, foreign and domestic I mean. He is diametrically opposed to one particularly crafty and wicked arch villain named Alexander. Jack is a master of disguise, a quick thinker. I’m sure there are prequels yet to be written of his exploits and daring adventures. He’s acquired a stock pile of weapons, books and information about villainous types and their thugs, written in code that only he can decipher, that he keeps in secret caches and apartments throughout the civilized world.

Jack is very familiar with Alexander, since he happens to be Alexander’s younger brother. His relationship with Alexander includes a very graphic and horrific tail of Alexander’s cunning and diabolical meanness and villainy that is ly to beset a proper woman with a nasty case of “the vapors.” Which is Victorian English for “Yucky mean bad dude, make a good lady faint ‘e’s so bad.” (Or words to that effect).

From there Jack Sparks leads Doyle through adventure to adventure until he finally runs into the Pretty Hot And Tempting Lady Eileen (Which is Victorian English for P.H.A.T. Girl (pronounced-Fat Girl. Catchy huh?) who turns out to be almost as mysterious as Jack Sparks. Eileen reminded me of the beautiful Countess Polata, A.K.A. the Princess of Saxe-Felstein out of Doyle’s wonderful story “The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard.” (the real Doyle) From the moment Doyle Meets Eileen, the Bromance sprouts a romance. The story really needed her. You know how things get with those English, British guys from the United Kingdom, all that proper talk, lilty sounding verbiage, and balderdash. They sound so gay sometimes, if one doesn’t bring a hot babe in a thrilling frock along. (Sometimes that doesn’t quite do it for them either.) Think Roddy McDowell without the ape costume. You know what I mean, without Luna it’s just Charlton Heston running around in a loin cloth with a bunch of sweaty men getting chased by apes. Yes, that was another Roddy McDowell allusion.

Aaaahh… The lovely Eileen, just the thought of her causes the heart to stir and the loins to melt butter … oops…sorry, I was taken by a fit of fancy there. It won’t happen again, scouts honor. Let’s just say that Eileen is ly more wonderful as a character than Frost’s Doyle or Jack Sparks. She has multiple dimensions (not to be confused with my own “multiple dementias”) and turns out to be wonderfully capable, both in the power of her mind, acting skill as well as courage and heart. As it turns out, she’s pretty handy with a shotgun and a hat pin too, not a bad trait in a heroine when you’re being chased by zombie of Lucifer.

Now it’s left to the three of to take on The Dark Brotherhood and Alexander Sparks. The DBH (Dark BrotherHood) sends an army of zombie men to stop them. Somewhere along the way, it turns out that Alexander really can wield dark, black magic and he’s able to conjure up, summon or animate wicked beasties mummies and gargoyles to harass and pound-ith our heroes into mush and tiny bits-eth. What’s a few Zombies between brother’s right?

Seriously, the plot is more than a bit over the top and improbable, and, the TV shows, The Wild, Wild West, The Saint and Star Trek and any James Bond Movie, I just don’t care how unly the plot is. I just want more of it. Give me Jack Sparks and Jim West, Doyle and Gordon, Eileen and Yeoman Rand, and those wacky James Bond style villains any day. When we were watching those old shows we didn’t want realism, we wanted something else all together and they delivered. So did this book. I give the plot 4 stars out of five simply because it was fun and I enjoyed reading it. Do I need a better reason for 4 stars?

2. Setting/World building. Was the historical setting authentic feeling to you?

Frost’s depiction of Victorian England may not have been perfect, but it seemed real enough for me. What helped seal the deal was how much trouble he took adapting his writing style to mimic Arthur Conan Doyle’s own polished and often teasing writing style. It’s also important to mention that this wasn’t a historically accurate “Victorian England” it was a semi-steampunk England that reminded me so much of the themes and settings from shows of my youth. A world where super-villains could threaten the to bring about the end of the world and a powerful will could harness the powers of dark magic, a world where steam and coal ruled the day, not atomic weapons and gasoline.

Authentic world may not be the right word, believable might be stretching it, but whatever adjective fits, it’s just right enough for me to accept and carry on. I think it helped that I had just read an Arthur Conan Doyle book (the Exploits of Brigadier Gerard) before I read this and it was obvious how much work Frost put in trying to make his story read one of Doyle’s. Is it any harder to believe in this world than Doyle’s “Lost World?”

We tend to forget about the “tone” and “measure” in writing is as much part of the “setting” or world building as descriptions and characters are. Frost chose to use Arthur Conan Doyle as his main character for a reason and every word, from start to finish helped keep that illusion alive. If you’re going to pick a theme, then stick with it! Frost’s word choice and decisions to deliberately stick with words and phrasing that not only fit a “Victorian Era” but also echoed the writing of Doyle himself.

The only two things that were, perhaps, not in keeping with a classic Victorian theme was the preference of dialog over “narration” (a modern style of writing verses an older one) and the character Eileen, who was definitely a modern woman by today’s standards rather than an intelligent, beautiful but useless Lady she would have been in Victorian times. Personally, I the way modern stories tend to help you live through and experience conversations through dialog and action, rather than the old school style of telling us about what someone said through narration. That and Eileen is great (think Drexy’s Midnight Runners, “you know what I mean”).

What I mean is, even though it’s pretty standard for the author to write in the style of his chosen genre-era, that practice is also part of what keeps the image of Victorian London, or the Battlestar Galactica, or whatever, alive in our minds as we read. Frost did this exceptionally well in my opinion. And of course, remember, that this is, at its heart, more well-disguised steampunk than historical fiction. Some anachronisms and oddities should be expected. I give 3 and a half to 4 stars out of five for world building and setting.

3. Suspense/Adventure elements-- Did this story get your pulse pounding or give you any thrills?
Yes, right from the start, both with the mystery of the séance peaking my curiosity and the wild carriage ride, where Jack Sparks pins the zombie man with his heart cut out to the door of the carriage with a sword, to what I thought was ly the most fun I’ve had reading a story “chase scene” where Eileen, Doyle and Sparks ride a coffin lid down a steep slope covered by snow and ice, with Jack whacking at bad guys with a shovel as they sped past on the toboggan ride from hell! (They ended up in a snow bank laughing their asses off (the laughing fit was started by our fearless Eileen, of course).

There was plenty of mystery and suspense and a lot of questions raised in my mind about what was real and what was imagined (within the context of the story). The story had plenty of “action” but the term “adventure” seems more fitting. I d all of the mystery and suspense but sometimes it seemed the mystery and tension came at the expense of suspense and plot. For example: I d the story Jack Sparks told about him and Alexander, but, Jiminy Crickets, Man! Don’t you think it ran just a bit too long? Not to mention that telling Jack’s story, meant that Alexander Sparks stayed more a shadow figure, two dimensional, rather than bringing the devil alive and letting him in room with me! … um, figuratively speaking of course. Frost could have let Alexander Sparks prove how despicable and cruel he was through his actions, rather than having Jack tell it all to us in a 20 page narrative with lots of yucky stuff thrown in for effect. Alex is a baaaad dude, Man.

For Suspense and Adventure elements I give it 3 stars. Solid, but I think it could have had more adventure, more action and more suspense through a live in your face scenes where Alexander did, or tried to do these things to people, or perhaps let Doyle uncover/come across the scenes of his crimes without Jack painting the dark picture himself. The story ended luke warm compared to the hot beginning and middle.

4. Characterization
I’m shocked, but the more I think about it, the more I found the characters comparatively weaker than the characters in other books that I enjoyed as much as I did this one. On one hand, Doyle was based on the real person twisted around the characters he wrote about, so he was sort of stuck being such a ramrod straight proper Englishman who, though interesting could sometimes be a bit boring. Frost actually did a wonderful job with the character of Doyle character given that he had a fixed mold to work with. Frost managed far better with Eileen where he broke the regency romance and Victorian era mold and created a strong, yet very feminine, female character that could shoot a man, ride a horse and think on her own.

I d the way the Doyle character came to life once Eileen joined the story. She added a dimension to him that nobody would be able to see if left with Sherlock Holmes (the Spok of the crime fighting history) to build on. Plus, I how Frost allowed Eileen to have her own motivation and feelings, rather than simply getting swept up in the heat of the moment. She was by far the most “real” of the main three characters and Bravo to Frost for allowing her to be a strong heroine when strong heroines are so hard to find. One might say Doyle was the brain of the story, and Eileen the heart of it, but that might sell short how capable Eileen turned out to be. I d the romance and the way it turned out in the end. I’ll not spoil that in this review, but the ending was not what I expected (in a good way).

I also loved Barry and Larry. Though they were only supporting cast to Doyle and Sparks, the two street toughs and would be thieves supported Jack Sparks excellently. They were funny, capable and had their own dark sides to overcome.

As for the rest of the supporting cast, mostly the villainy, I thought they stayed a little too much in the shadows and not enough in the flesh and bone department. Even Alexander seemed more a cardboard cutout. Most of Alexander’s character development got channeled into Jack Sparks which had the effect of building up Jack Sparks while keeping Alexander Sparks as thin as paper, even though we had learned so much about him. Even the bestiary tended to be little more than sounds and shadows that kept Doyle in fear and the rest of us guessing if it was live or “Memorex” than living moving creatures that needed to seek and destroy at their master’s bidding.

Jack Sparks is more difficult to deal with. I loved the character, but with the main focus on Doyle, then Doyle and Eileen, the story of Jack Sparks and all the questions surrounding him tended to compete with each other. Depending on what seemed more interesting at the time, one story thread tended to overwhelm the other. Finally when Eileen and Doyle’s love affair starts to heat up, Jack disappears from the scene all together only to come back in the end to save the day.

I’d love to have a story featuring Jack Sparks without Doyle around so we could get to know him better. Sparks has so much potential. He came across a lot Pendergast in Lincoln and Childs Relic and Reliquary, an important figure in the story, but he really didn’t come into his own until the third book of the series. So be it with Sparks. I just wanted to read more about him in action. That’s all.

5. Overall rating: 1-5 stars or out of 1-10.

Overall, I’d give this 3.75 stars out of 5, which rounds off to be a 4 star read. It’s entertaining, fun and different that most of the books on the shelf. I’d give a warning about violence and graphic descriptions, and sexual content but all of that is manageable by most young adults at the upper end of the young adult age group. It’s not for children, but the content could easily be edited so it would be appropriate for younger readers.

6. Similar books you'd recommend?
I don’t know of any other books this one. It bears a limited resemblance to the Dresden files, but that’s a leap that I’m not completely sure I’d make.

As far as recommending it, I’d recommend it to anyone over the age of 18. It’s a fun read, and worth the time I spent reading it.
action-adventure good-read group-read ...more7 s Chris Greensmith772 7

""And why do you think the animals blazed this particular path?" Spark's had slipped into the tone of a Sophist leading the ignorant step by step to the sacred land of truth.
"Something to do with the availability of water or food."
"Necessity, then."
"Their lives are ordered by it, aren't they?"
"Are you familiar with the Chinese philosophy of feng shui?
"Never heard of it."
"The Chinese believe the earth itself is a living, breathing organism, and just as the human body has veins, nerves, and vital energies running through it, regulating maintenance and behavior, so too does the earth."
"I know their system of medicine is based on such an assumption," Doyle added, wondering what this had even remotely to do with Roman roads in Essex.
"Exactly so. Feng shui assumes the presence of these lines of force and attempts to bring human existence into harmony with them. Practitioners of feng shui are trained and initiated as rigorously as members of any priesthood, increasing their sensitivity to these powers and their ability to accurately interpret them. The building of homes, roads, churches, the entire five-thousandyear-
old Chinese Empire—the most enduring civilization our world has produced—was constructed in strictest alignment with these principles."
"You don't say."
"Aside from his obvious ignorance, filth, and lack of sophistication, what quality could most recommend to us prehistoric man?" 5 s Polstar61 14

It's not often you stumble upon a book that totally sucks you in and ticks all of the right buttons straight away. The List of 7 did that for me.

Sherlock Holmes - TICK
Occult themes - TICK
Victorian setting - TICK
Jack the Ripper - TICK
Egyptology - TICK
Spiritualism - TICK
Zombies, vampires and other monsters - TICK

It felt that this book was written for me - I'm such a selfish reader.

The basic premise is that Arthur Conan Doyle's life is threatened following attendance at a seance; invited by a woman who wants his help. Jack Sparks rescues Doyle and warns him against the dark forces that are stalking him. What unfolds is a manic rush around the country escaping 'the grey hoods' and trying to solve the mystery of the 7.

If you know anything about the era, Conan Doyle, Sherlock or Jack the Ripper some of the 'revelations' in the book will not surprise you, but you will feel quite canny in solving some of the riddles.

The only thing that really irked me while reading this book was the American spellings of words. A book that is so steeped in English culture and history should be written using the English spellings. I know, this is really picky, but I'M really picky!

Other than that - if you enjoy a good romp, love Sherlock Holmes and enjoy your mysteries to have an esoteric edge read this. You won't regret it.

favorites4 s Olethros2,665 490

-La sombra de Twin Peaks tal vez le permitió publicar.-

Género. Novela (dejémoslo ahí… pero tal vez podría entrar en otra clasificación del blog…).

Lo que nos cuenta. Arthur Conan Doyle es un médico joven al que le gustaría triunfar como escritor y que recibe una extraña carta en la que se le invita a una sesión de espiritismo, donde se le advierte que alguien corre peligro, y en la que efectivamente se produce un acto violento.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...3 s Martin117 2

It grabbed me at the start and slowly lost me as I went along. The characters and action were over the top in a pulp writing style, which is OK with me if handled correctly, but it came off a little silly in this case.4 s Katzenkindliest352 35

Trotz einiger Längen am Ende doch 4 Sternereihen-abgeschlossen zzz_2020_4gelost zzz_2022_4gelost ...more3 s Jason PettusAuthor 13 books1,355

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

I recently had occasion to think again about the exquisitely strange 1990s television show Twin Peaks, co-created by David Lynch and Mark Frost; and that got me thinking again about Frost's two genre novels from that time period as well, 1993's The List of 7 and '95's The 6 Messiahs, the first of which I read way back when it originally came out, which inspired me this month to check them out from the library here in Chicago. Essentially steampunk tales from the dawn of that term's creation, they tell related stories based on the idea of the real Arthur Conan Doyle going on a series of occultish adventures in the late 1800s, accompanied by a secret agent of the Queen named Jack Sparks who ends up providing many of the traits for Doyle's later Sherlock Holmes stories.

Almost twenty years later, I had mostly fond if not dim memories of the first book, one of the first steampunk tales I ever read; and indeed, re-reading it again this month, it was in fact as entertaining as my memory had it. But twenty years of genre development has made steampunk a much more sophisticated thing now than it was at its inception, and unfortunately these books now display the weaknesses that come with their age; read now in the wake of much better books that have come after, they seem a little clunkier than they did before, a bit more obvious in their machinations, and with a bad Hollywood tone much of the time, as if Frost were only writing them so that he could then sell the film rights, not surprising when it comes to an industry veteran himself. Now combine this with the fact that the very concept gets kind of muddled by the second book -- the whole charm of the first one laying mostly in the idea of Doyle being a young, clueless, untested doctor, thrown into the middle of shadowy conspiracies he doesn't understand, an aspect missing in the sequel where he is now a field-tested veteran of the strange -- and it's easy to see why Frost eventually abandoned what could've been the start of a lucrative franchise, and has only penned sports-themed novels in the years since. Interesting for a lark, and for those curious about steampunk's origins, but not something you should go out of your way to read.

Out of 10: 7.9 3 s Commodore Tiberius Q. Handsome26 10

For fans of both The Somnambulist and The Anubis Gates (and how could you one and not the other?) along with fans of dark fantasy, steampunk, New Weird, victorian fantasy and adventure fiction in general I recommend The List of 7 wholeheartedly. The protagonist is Arthur Conan Doyle, long before he wrote Sherlock Holmes and was knighted. He becomes ensnared in a web of intrigue involving amassing evil forces, dark magic, criminal masterminds, seances and spiritualists, deductive reasoning, drug addiction and bloody murder. The pacing is fast, the characterization is deft, the mood is weird (what else would you expect from a co-creator of Twin Peaks) and the story is original and riveting. I tore through this novel. 3 s Bettie9,989 10

Bettie's BooksThis entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full reviewadventure doo-lally historical-fiction ...more3 s ??????? M.134 12

8/10.favorites horror mystery2 s Kristen2,324 67

This was a very unusual book, which shouldn't be terribly surprising, since the author, Mark Frost is a co-creator of the TV series Twin Peaks.

I definitely enjoyed the book, but it is difficult to do it proper justice in a review without giving away too much of the story. I will do my best.

Arthur Conan Doyle, doctor and aspiring author, and occult de-bunker, receives a mysterious letter on Christmas Eve from a woman begging him to come to a seance and help her. When he does, he witnesses a horrifying series of events, and is against his will drawn into a plot of evil with epic proportions, one that will involve him with the mysterious Jack Sparks, and that will take him far and wide, and see him embroiled in events he knows nobody will ever believe.

Jack Sparks is either an escaped lunatic from Bedlam hospital, or, he is a trusted secret agent of Queen Victoria, who is on the trail of a group of seven - hence the title - calling themselves "The Dark Brotherhood" - really, Doyle can't be sure moment-to-moment which is more ly to be true of Sparks, who seems to have an unbelieveable list of skills, knowledge and resources at his disposal.

Doyle, who has been targetted by the Brotherhood because of a novel he wrote that seems to suggest that he knows more about their plans than he could possibly know, agrees to help Sparks despite his confusion and distrust, because it seems that the evil being planned really could destroy the world. The two go off on a thrilling, suspenseful adventure, involving the occult, evil science, zombies, criminal [but able] twins, secretive but beautiful women, and all manner of unly close calls as they try to figure out what the Brotherhood is really up to, and how to stop them.

The story is very exciting, certainly a first-rate thriller, and the under-story suggests how Conan Doyle *might* have come to create the character of Sherlock Holmes, which Sparks is the model for in this book - there are several aspects of Sparks in which we see the fore-runners of Holmes, and they are quite cleverly and subtly introducted in the book.

The Doyle character is quite able and spunky, as he attempts valiantly to deal with the surreal events he finds himself involved with, and he is quite smart, brave and intelligent - I d this portrayal of him very much in this story.

The one thing I did NOT , was the very ending, which I cannot explain, because it is clearly a set-up for future books and I don't to do spoilers in my . I suppose some might find the ending - presented in an epilogue - a clever twist, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. That's why I gave this three stars instead of four.

I really the Doyle character, so I might consider giving a second book in this series a try, but I am not optimistic I will it if the storyline is going where I suspect it is. This book however, was very entertaining and I enjoyed it greatly2 s Andrew2,275

This is one of those books I read with more than a little trepidation- the mixture of real life characters and fictional ones always sits a little uncomfortably with me. Its almost as if the author - worrying that for what ever reason (worry that it will not be accepted or even looked at) try and grab attention and interest the throw famous names in to it. As if randomly shouting famous peoples names will suddenly get people to pay attention. Then there is the possibility that by using a famous person they can "borrow" their past and incorporate it so saving time on lengthy introductions and explanations.
Now with those thoughts (and others) running around my head I approached this book I guess with already part way thought up negative opinions - but I will have to admit that it took only a few short pages to totally forget them and get drawn in to the story. The characters are totally engaging and I soon forgot my misgivings and entered in to the chase- as basically that is what this book is. A race across country and society to find out not only why but how. This was a great book which to me was over far too quickly - only to find that there is a sequel - well I guess I will be hunting that one down soon enough. So Mark Frost - heres one to you for teaching how my preconceptions can be totally and utterly wrong (sometimes!)2 s Bryce1,284 32

I wavered between giving this book two or three stars. So it should really be two-and-a-half, I suppose.

I wanted to this book more than I did; it has so many elements I enjoy in a novel. Historical setting, insertion of fictional characters into "reality," madcap adventures and supernatural goings-on. I'm also on a recent Sherlock Holmes kick... all in all, The List of 7 should have been a winner!

And there were great aspects to the book. First and foremost: the dialogue was splendid. The banter between Doyle and Jack Sparks is fun, light, deadpan and quick. Barry and Larry and their working class accents and their high falutin' talk is also a joy.

The thing that dragged the story down was the constant and long-winded philosophizing -- sometimes by characters and sometimes by plain authorial intersession. Philosophizing on the nature of good and evil, the religious striving of Man and sometimes just on the prettiness of the countryside as seen by train. Speaking of trains, these constant interruptions to a fast-paced adventure story felt the narrative had been hit by one.

2 s Oceana2602554 139

This book was recommended to me by Amazon, which is no surprise (though I am a bit scared about how well they know me). The author, Mark Frost, is one of the creators of Twin Peaks. The main character of this book is Arthus Conan Doyle, he of Sherlock Holmes fame, but long before he was published.

In the cold and foggy London of 1884, Doyle participates in a seance, and suddenly find himself involved in murder and satanism, on the run with the mysterious James Spark, a secret agent of Queen Victoria.

"The List of Seven" is, by all means, a fannish book, fanfic even, if you want. But it is highly enjoyable and I think best described by someone else's words from the cover: "A spooky page-turner...with the narrative drive of a runaway train." (People)2006 english male-writers1 Jeanene82

One of my favorite books.

I have a fondness for historical figures as characters in books with supernatural or other fantastical elements. This one features Arthur Conan Doyle, there's also a secret underground steam train and a Victorian era James Bond. Not to mention spooky supernatural stuff.

These are all good in my book.

Very enjoyable if not particularly well written. It would get five stars if the last few chapters hadn't been such a poorly edited mess (technique-wise) leaves a bad taste in your mouth on the last bite, which can ruin a whole meal for some people.

Still, I've read it at least three times so I it obviously didn't ruin it completely for me.2 s Leslie Johnson58 11

This book ended up being so cool! It had several plot twists that I didn’t expect and the ending actually gave me chills. The main character is Arthur Conan Doyle and, though it’s fiction, it feels a prequel to why he wrote Sherlock Holmes. Of course the story itself has nothing to do with Sherlock Holmes but it’s fun to think it might. 2 s Alice1,347 27

Mlle Alice, pouvez-vous nous raconter votre rencontre avec La Liste des Sept ?
"Je dois dire que les nouvelles couvertures de 10/18 sont quasiment irrésistibles. Ajoutez à ça un mystère à Londres autour de Conan Doyle, écrit par le créateur de Twin Peaks et je suis irrémédiablement perdue."

Dites-nous en un peu plus sur son histoire...
"N'écoutant que son grand coeur, le jeune Arthur Conan Doyle, se rend à une mystérieuse séance de spiritisme pour venir en aide à une jeune femme. Mais rien ne va se dérouler comme prévu et des assassins sont maintenant à ses trousses..."

Mais que s'est-il exactement passé entre vous?
"Alors que je pensais plonger avec délice dans ce roman et le dévorer en quelques jours, j'ai finalement mis plus de deux semaines à le terminer. Je n'ai jamais réussi à accrocher et à me laisser emporter par l'histoire. Tout était un peu "too much" à mon goût : les explications trop abracadabrantesques, le personnage principal trop naïf, les rebondissements trop attendus. On passe de l'humour et du léger au drame le plus profond, on a l'impression que l'auteur n'arrive pas à choisir ni où il veut aller, ni comment il veut y aller. On est loin de l'histoire originale et étonnante à laquelle je m'attendais. En fait, j'ai plutôt l'impression d'avoir déjà lu cette histoire cent fois."

Et comment cela s'est-il fini?
"Il me reste en mémoire un bon souvenir des références à Sherlock Holmes, d'une rencontre avec la Reine Victoria et des frères jumeaux à la fois sympathiques et émouvants mais ça ne suffit pas à sauver le tout. De plus, après avoir suivi les nombreux rebondissements pour arrêter l'infâme comploteur de l'histoire, sa fin nous est racontée par personnage interposé, ce qui est quand même un peu fort. Quant à la dernière phrase du roman, je ne sais pas encore si elle m'a amusée ou si elle est seulement encore plus convenue que tout le reste..."


http://booksaremywonderland.hautetfor...1 Kansas651 342

Ya le gustaría a Dan Brown escribir como Mark Frost, y lo digo porque sus argumentos podrian tener algo en común, pero Mark Frost es un escritor con talento y Brown es todo lo contrario, una fábrica de bestsellers sin alma. La Lista de los Siete tiene atmósfera, acción y mucho suspense; quién conozca a Mark Frost por Twin Peaks, sabrá que el elemento fantástico/sobrenatural también juega un papel muy importante en sus historias. La acción se desarrolla en la Inglaterra victoriana, con elementos steampunk pero yo diría que es más bien una novela de aventuras muy gótica. Lo recomiendo totalmente.1 Selene174

La acción es continua en este libro, de principo a fin, sin darte un momento de respiro. Aparecen personajes conocidos como Bran Stoker, Madame Blavatsky o Conan Doyle, este último el protagonista de la historia.
Sociedades ocultistas secretas, agentes de la reina, entidades malignas, espiritistas, conspiraciones.... Mark Frost teje todo esto y mucho mas en un relato de acción frenética que no puedes dejar de leer hasta el final.aventuras paranormal1 BobAuthor 2 books14

Okay...1 Elaine66

This had everything I in a book! Historical figure, intrigue and mystery, dark supernatural, London setting, late 1800s! Wonderfully smart writing with a lot of excellent vocabulary!1 Sandra Visser233 8

I'm always wary when there's so much hype on a book's cover but I fell for it. I thought I was getting a "dark, compelling, seductive, irresistible" (according to Clive Barker) adventure that's "slickly told...a rollicking tale" (Daily Express) and "a ripping (and gripping) Victorian yarn...a breathless chase...as well as great pacing" (Independent).

I don't know if these critics were reading an abridged version but what I got instead was a repetitive, nonsensical slog frequently interrupted by characters waffling about the nature of man and existence, or to give long backstories that don't make any difference to the story or for the main character to ask stupid questions , "What's in there?" and "Where did they go?" so his clever new friend can reply with answers , "I don't know" and "Let's find out." Frost seems to delight in displaying his knack for writing accents by having characters ramble on and on about things that have nothing to do with the plot.

Everything from Egyptian gods to mummies, monstrous wolves, lobotomies, things with leathery wings, zombies, seances, Satanists, giant leaches and premonitions get thrown in, but none of it ever comes together to make any sense. It seems as if the villains weren't sure how to go about their sinister endgame and decided to hedge their bets by trying every evil plan in existence.

We get a long description of the dastardly villain but we're told about his confrontation with his nemesis second-hand. There's a finale where all the baddies are in one place and the good guys get to stick it to them but there's no resolution or catharsis. The goodies just escape down another dark tunnel (I think for the third time) and then the baddies get away, I guess so we can get a sequel.
And the final twist is so laughable that it makes the whole story pointless. 1 Dane150 6

This book is insane. It's historical crack fic in much the same way that Sleepy Hollow (the tv show) is. Arthur Conan Doyle meets a Victorian era superspy who saves his life after a seance goes horribly bloody and fatal, and together they go after a cabal of seven powerful individuals who are trying to bring a demon into the world using a human child as a vessel.

The villains are truly horrifying, bringing to (a kind of) life mummies and other corpses as henchmen, and most disturbingly, turning living humans into braindead, utterly destroyed zombies. Our heroes, including an actress who can wield a shotgun, Bram Stoker (briefly), and cockney twins who used to be criminals, bravely go up against this cabal.

If you don't think this sounds engagingly bizarre enough, at one point, Doyle and two others ride a coffin lid downhill through a graveyard a sled to get away from the bad guys. And the last page - the very last page! - bodyslams you twice over, and it is fantastic.

I can't say enough about this book. I read it as an ebook from the library, and I am going to buy it at the first available opportunity.This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full reviewfavorites mystery victoriana1 Montse Gallardo506 51

Autor del comentario:
=================================