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A Study in Emerald Audiobook Summary

A mysterious circus terrifies an audience for one extraordinary performance before disappearing into the night, taking one of the spectators along with it . . . In a novella set two years after the events of American Gods, Shadow pays a visit to an ancient Scottish mansion, and finds himself trapped in a game of murder and monsters . . . In a Hugo Award-winning short story set in a strangely altered Victorian England, the great detective Sherlock Holmes must solve a most unsettling royal murder . . . Two teenage boys crash a party and meet the girls of their dreams–and nightmares . . . In a Locus Award-winning tale, the members of an exclusive epicurean club lament that they’ve eaten everything that can be eaten, with the exception of a legendary, rare, and exceedingly dangerous Egyptian bird . . . Such marvelous creations and more–including a short story set in the world of The Matrix, and others set in the worlds of gothic fiction and children’s fiction–can be found in this extraordinary collection, which showcases Gaiman’s storytelling brilliance as well as his terrifyingly entertaining dark sense of humor. By turns delightful, disturbing, and diverting, Fragile Things is a gift of literary enchantment from one of the most unique writers of our time.

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A Study in Emerald Audiobook Narrator

Neil Gaiman is the narrator of A Study in Emerald audiobook that was written by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of books for children and adults whose award-winning titles include Norse Mythology, American Gods, The Graveyard Book, Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett), Coraline, and The Sandman graphic novels. Neil Gaiman is a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR and Professor in the Arts at Bard College.

About the Author(s) of A Study in Emerald

Neil Gaiman is the author of A Study in Emerald

A Study in Emerald Full Details

Narrator Neil Gaiman
Length 49 minutes
Author Neil Gaiman
Category
Publisher HarperAudio
Release date October 02, 2007
ISBN 9780061571251

Subjects

The publisher of the A Study in Emerald is HarperAudio. includes the following subjects: The BISAC Subject Code is Fiction, General, Science Fiction

Additional info

The publisher of the A Study in Emerald is HarperAudio. The imprint is HarperAudio. It is supplied by HarperAudio. The ISBN-13 is 9780061571251.

Global Availability

This book is only available in the United States.

Goodreads Reviews

Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽

August 04, 2018

My relationship with Neil Gaiman is still extremely complicated, but hey, I finally read something of his that I'm giving 5 stars! Although it's a very qualified 5 stars."A Study in Emerald" won the Hugo Award for short stories in 2004. It's a brilliant mash-up of the Sherlock Holmes universe and H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. If you're quite familiar with both of those things, you'll probably love this story. If you're not terribly familiar with either of those things, you are welcome to try my own personal step-by-step process:1. Read "A Study in Emerald;" scratch head a little.2. Google a few pictures of Cthulhu. Creepy... Google Cthulhu mythos.3. Read H.P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu, conveniently available online at http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Cal....4. Download A Study in Scarlet from Gutenberg. Skim the first few chapters and compare and contrast to "A Study in Emerald." Decide not to read the rest because (a) up for a Sherlock Holmes short story but not necessarily for a novel, and (b) wildly fictional anti-Mormon second half, in the best 19th century tradition (murderous men kidnapping young girls for marriage). Read Wikipedia plot summary instead.5. Reread “A Study in Emerald.” Appreciate the complexity and the twists a little more this time.6. Read Wikipedia article on “A Study in Emerald,” explaining all the clues Gaiman put in the text that you missed even after all your extra study.7. Read a few online reviews of the Gaiman story. Whoa: the fake Victorian ads in the text are thematically tied in to the story! Vlad Tepes was the actual name of Vlad the Impaler! (Google “exsanguination” to remind self of what that means.) And “Spring-heeled Jack” (Google him too) was the Victorian boogyman! Also (more Googling) "RACHE" is in fact an archaic word for a hunting dog, as well as the German word for "revenge" and a shortened version of the name Rachel. Very cool! So yeah, by the time I went through this entire process I was completely convinced of the story’s brilliance. But is it really worth going through this process just to appreciate an amazing and intricate, but very short, story? That's your call. It was kind of a fun and intriguing two or three hours, but I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone.Neil Gaiman has generously made this story available for free online at http://www.neilgaiman.com/mediafiles/....

Fabian {Councillor}

March 24, 2016

"A Study in Emerald" is a cool short story written by Neil Gaiman, one of today's masters of weird fiction, and can be found for free here. If you have half an hour of your time left to be spent with one of Gaiman's best short stories, then you should right now click on this link instead of reading my thoughts about it disguising themselves as a review.As the title already implies, the entire story alludes to Arthur Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, but only upon closer observation does it become clear that Gaiman also spends those nine pages with references to the works of H.P. Lovecraft. As I don't know any of his stories, the internet had to assist me with getting to this conclusion, but I do know the original Sherlock Holmes canon quite well by now, and not only was it interesting to see classic characters like Greg Lestrade and Mrs. Watson included in this story, but also to follow the hints leading back to Doyle's original tale. The plot premise was similarly structured, yet turned out to be completely misleading and full of surprises as the ending drew closer, turning "A Study in Emerald" into an independent short story which Neil Gaiman once again used to prove his creativity and his talents as a writer.The story's originality unfolds not only in the plot itself, but also in the structure of the story. With each chapter being introduced by different advertisements referencing to well-known characters of classic literature like Viktor Frankenstein or Dr. Jekyll, Gaiman produced a mysterious atmosphere, which only added to the story's charm. And I totally fell for it."If there's one thing that a study of history has taught us, it is that things can always get worse."This story includes cool stuff (not without reason did Neil Gaiman include this in the "cool stuff" section of his website) and certainly a few surprises you will not have guessed at the beginning of the first chapter. Tadiana's review includes an interesting step-by-step suggestion for reading this, which I might have followed as well (if I had not read "A Study in Scarlet" already months prior to this one). I can recommend this story for fans of Neil Gaiman and/or Sherlock Holmes, but also generally for readers looking for a fast-paced little distraction.

Anu

May 29, 2016

If there's one thing Neil Gaiman has taught me, it's that one can be original with other people's ideas as well. So let's talk about A Study in Emerald, a fantastic amalgamation of Sherlock Holmes and the Cthulhu Mythos; an amalgamation of the stoic, dry writing style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the wild, beautiful prose of H. P. Lovecraft. If anyone can find any semblance of balance between the two and manage to execute it, it is Gaiman. In the alternate Victorian (they take Victoria very seriously in this one, they do) universe of A Study in Emerald, Gaiman seamlessly combines the fine detective skills of Sherlock Holmes with the lore of the Great Ones, in a world where humanity is ruled by the latter. Interspersed with creative advertisements, all referring to literary masterpieces themselves, this Hugo Award winning short story is presented as creatively as it is written, and it is, indeed the perfect combination of "wonderful" and "weird". Oh, it's also a mere 9 pages by the way, so go for it.

Akanksha

October 10, 2017

Read A Study in Emerald if interested in Neil Gaiman.If not, read anyway.It may be read here: http://www.neilgaiman.com/mediafiles/...1) Like nearly every living, reading human being, I too have always liked the quintessential detective, Sherlock Holmes. It, however, took the BBC Sherlock to have me completely Sherlocked. It did not just break the ice in my relationship with the medium of the television and become only the second or third agent to convince me that things not so bad might happen in pop culture as well, but also reinstated my faith in the art of retelling and re-producing. How very fitting it is that the second retelling to blow me off my feet should concern the same iconic figure!2) If you asked me to sum up 2016 as my year in books, I would say, “Neil Gaiman”, before you could blink an eye.One of the major drawbacks, and perhaps the all-sealing one, of literature as a line of inquisitive, or academic, for that matter, enquiry, is that nothing in this part of the world simply is. It is all about what you make out of things, how you imagine for them to be. In such a situation of technical impossibility for objective veracity to exist, the best you can do is to rave about what you love, second only, perhaps, to verbose criticism of things you hate. Amid such favourable prerequisites, A Study in Emerald, for me, is an occasion of celebration on dual fronts! Lo and behold, A Study in Emerald=Sherlock (Holmes)+Neil Gaiman!Gaiman has always had a way with language that few writers have mastered, and his execution to perfection of the late Victorian lingo, for the story like A Study in Scarlet, the first narrative in the Sherlock Holmes canon, is set in the Victorian era, albeit in an alternative reality, is worthy of a scarcely surprised, yet highly impressed, note. What calls on with more force at the reader’s attention, of course before delving into the real tale, is its catchy form. The narrative technique is like the traditional Sherlock Holmes story, which has later gone on to be the model for 8 of 10 detective narratives in the hundred and fifty years that have followed. What is interesting, however, is the newspaper-like formatting of the pages, reminiscent of Dr Watson’s stories in the Strand Magazine, and the advertisements that head every chapter, ranging along the likes of Jekyll and Frankenstein, amusing for the reader and adding to the symbolic cohesion of the larger fabric of the plot. (view spoiler)[Arch-villains being portrayed as entrepreneurs offering service, like the one here. (hide spoiler)]The events of the tale unfold after the manner of A Study in Scarlet with minor variations and surprise begins to set in only when “Holmes and Watson” are deep into their case. I, personally, have not read Lovecraft’s enunciation on the Cthulhu Mythos and can assure you that such ignorance is not going to hinder your appreciation of the story, for as always, Gaiman handles the mythic material like the nitrogen in the air. I, for one however, was initially rather disgusted by this incorporation of the mythical into the Sherlock Holmes rhetoric. The two, plainly, act like oil and water. But trust me when I say, as you can already read from my rating, Gaiman has his emulsifier at the ready.Not intending to give out the plot and as a result deny you a bit of the rare true beauty that the world, contemporary literary world, to be precise has to offer, I hold myself back with great personal effort, for the story creates worlds of opportunities for you to write playing the literary critic. Neil Gaiman has been reported stating that his story requires the reader to assume the role of the detective and deduce what actually happens in the narrative, taking for granted that they have read the entire canon. I, however, will now take a safe route and turn my attention to the title.A Study in Emerald. The phrasing is very predictable, but the signature word is not. That was the very thought with which I started reading the story, and probably, anyone would. Why emerald, and say, not “ruby” which would better have been in tune with “scarlet”? Sifting through the whirlwind of substantiations that is doing the rounds in my brain, I choose to expound upon only a few here, confining my deductions to the part of the story that you HAVE read, no matter what—the title itself. I shall now now take the liberty of elucidating my theory through strictly delineated points of comprehension, merging them as and when deemed necessary.1) Both “scarlet” and “emerald”, having been used as words to denote colours in the titles of the concerned narratives, strictly speaking, are not really colours. Emerald, of course, is the precious stone, while, scarlet, etymologically, traces its way back to “brightly coloured cloth” and farther on to “small villages”. Fusing this to the web of perception that is the plot, we might conclude, in complete disagreement to John’s piece of eternal wisdom that he comes up with in “The Lying Detective”, it is NOT what it is.2) Emerald is the complementary shade to scarlet—diametrically its opposite.3) Emerald, as a tone, is supposedly a symbol of love and steadfast bond, which is easy to decode as Gaiman’ self-professed love for the Holmes stories (trivia: he is a member of the Baker Street Irregulars), and that of his readers, for reading or writing a retelling is nonetheless the business of a fan. It also stands for reflection, an obvious Sherlock Holmes attribute; however, as argued by the previous point, this cannot be quite the same as in “scarlet”.4) The emerald colour, green, is one of vitality—the fandom lives on in full blossom. However, as the narrator reports in the story, the splattered green that lends the story its title ranges from verdant (view spoiler)[phonetically similar to Vernet (hide spoiler)] to bile which is highly repulsive, and brings out the sick aspects of the world described. The question that follows is: what should be the role of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, “the last and highest court of appeal”?Points 1 and 2 confirm that the reader should expect some major reversal, massive discontinuity from the usual strain of thought. 3 and 4 complicate the question further. But then again, are questions and complications not what we expect from all mysteries? What is so special about this occasion is that it is not just a mystery but a mystery of the text.(view spoiler)[The striking ease of the resolution of the case makes the reader question, and in that moment of lilting doubt comes the massive revelation—Sherry Vernet (just in case you haven’t read the whole of the canon or memory fails you, Vernet is a reference to The Greek Interpreter where Sherlock claims to be a descendant of a Horace Vernet. Sherry! Really?!) the murderer and the rebel of the cause of human liberty, and his accomplice, the limping doctor. Any idea which doctor limped around the time of the first adventure? His name itself is shortly revealed.This Vernet defies the detective! He who is over the horizon at this point swiftly settles himself as the man sitting in the Baker Street drawing room, as the author of The Dynamics of an Asteroid (think The Valley of Fear, please!), and Vernet as the man behind the alias, Sigerson(The Adventure of the Empty House). Moriarty’s accomplice is cryptically revealed to be Sebastian Moran. A lasting image from this would be that of the third connotation of RACHE, the hunting dog, John Watson’s blood-hound who finally goes over to the “criminal” classes.This Sherlock Holmes-Moriarty role reversal in a misshapen unfair world is what steals the show for me. Who on Earth would have thought of this?! Another dose of Neil Gagman’s moralising postmodernity, the one thing I love him so much for! (hide spoiler)]Signing off, it has to be said that a hero is a hero, but a fandom hero is more than that. While Gaiman’s Holmes does not of course aspire to be an angel owing to the establishment connotations of the divine species, he cannot evade being a hero, despite everything Moffat and Gatiss makes him say 

Wayne

July 17, 2016

I admire the creative exploits of Neil Gaiman. His ability to bring something different.This was a short, Sherlock Holmesish fantasy-mystery formatted in antiquated newsprint fashion, including witty illustrations placed throughout the piece. I wouldn't call the story great, but it was still classic Gaiman, nicely presented and thoroughly entertaining.

Lady Nerd

June 04, 2020

Everyone that enjoys Lovecraftian horror and Sherlock Holmes must read this.

Jonathan

January 16, 2013

This short story can be read here in a rather unique and interesting 'periodical' form. What is A Study in Emerald? It is a mixture of two different worlds (view spoiler)[that of Sherlock Holmes and that of Lovecraft's Old Ones. (hide spoiler)] Clearly from the title one can see that it is a reference to the notable classic A Study in Scarlet. In fact the very first page or so seems to almost copy that Sherlock tale word-for-word. Which leads me to question plagiarism in connection to stories like this. Many people like to pick out sentences and so forth from books and cry plagiarism. This story does pretty much that and yet clearly it's a brilliant reference to the original and the story in total is a unique product. I won't give much away about this story as it is one of those works of fiction that if anything is spoiled, the illusion is broken. I will say that it is very short and as mentioned can be read above. It's one of those short stories I would fully recommend you attempt to read. I would also recommend this short story out of interest, as it is in a similar vein of fiction.(view spoiler)[I particularly liked how this story mixed the two worlds. I've mentioned it before but Neil Gaiman is definitely one of the best subverters of fiction ideas, capable of taking an old myth, legend or fiction work and re-writing it in a way that is brilliant. I didn't even note, until I read on Wikipedia, that the suggestion is left out there for you that Holmes was actually the villain mentioned in this piece of writing. Very clever stuff, a short story that I'd love to analyse in a short story unit for University. (hide spoiler)]

Kat

June 16, 2012

3.5 Originally posted at Fantasy Literature.A Study in Emerald is a Hugo and Locus Award winning short story by Neil Gaiman in which he pays tribute to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos.At first Gaiman’s story appears to be a straight Sherlock Holmes pastiche as a man who appears to be Watson relates how his new friend, a consulting detective who appears to be Holmes, is being asked by Inspector Lestrade to help solve a murder mystery. In fact, it completely parallels Doyle’s first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet,which gets its name from Holmes’ comment that the murder scene is “a study in scarlet.”You probably know where I’m going with this. There are a few clues that Gaiman’s world is not the England we know (e.g., it’s referred to by its ancient name of Albion), but we’re left in no doubt when this murder scene is “a study in emerald.” Still, though, Gaiman only hints at what this alternate England is like, and the fact that he never tells us much is part of the charm of this story. Then, when the narrator and detective solve the case and call the Inspector in to arrest their criminal, Gaiman throws us a delightful twist that will have Sherlock’s fans grinning.I listened to Neil Gaiman narrate the audio version of A Study in Emerald which is 49 minutes long and is available at Audible for $3 for members and $4 for non-members. I always enjoy hearing Gaiman read his own stories. If you’d prefer to read this story in print, you can find a free pdf version that reads like a Victorian newspaper at Neil Gaiman’s website.

Anthony

June 21, 2012

"A Study in Emerald" is a blend of the world of Sherlock Holmes with that of H.P. Lovecraft, and the writing style is a homage to both Lovecraft and Doyle. For being a Sherlock Holmes story, the name Sherlock Holmes never appears in the prose. While Gaiman does not seem to have the consistent mastery of the short story that he does of comic and novel format, when he gets it right, he gets it very right. The tale is impossible to predict from start to finish. It is, as Gaiman explains in the introduction, an attempt to wed the rationality of Sherlock Holmes with the otherworldly unknowability of Lovecraft's horrors. The reason that "A Study of Emerald" is so weird in Gaiman's catalog is that the magic is actually the familiar, here, "touché, Watson, touché indeed." Though the two ingredients seem as likely to combine well as milk and steak (get your milksteak on!), the mixture actually works, and neither element of the story feels forced. Great little homage, I loved it.

William

August 15, 2021

An interesting genre blend of Holmes, and Lovecraft which worked quite well for me. I would actually be far more interested in reading more "LoveLock" fiction than I would it's individual components. The idea is definitely worthy of a full novella, at least. Short read, but definitely worthy, if only to spark the flame of hope that more is on the way.

Lea

January 08, 2015

I absolutely loved this Sherlock Holmes/ Lovecraft mashup! (You can find it on the author's website by doing an internet search for it by title.) The edition I read was crafted as a newspaper article, complete with ads -- part of the fun is in figuring out the literary characters who placed those ads. Great fun!

Janelle

November 02, 2020

A combination of Sherlock Holmes and lovecraft, that works really well. I liked (view spoiler)[The royal family including queen Victoria are green blooded, tentacled creatures! (hide spoiler)] On Gaiman’s website the story is presented as a newspaper, the ads are very clever too.

Bradley

May 15, 2013

I've said it before, and I'm sure to say it again. I love crossovers. A crossover between Holmes and Cthulhu is ever so sweet.

PinkPanthress

January 03, 2023

Okay, I've got so many Question about this AU Crossover.I needed a few Days to get a partially proper Review done. :DI have never made it to fully reading a Book of Gaiman himself. I guess I haven't found the right one yet.But this Lovecraftian style 'fan-fic' of his, I just… wow!9 tiny pages of awesomeness. Here the official link to Gaiman's short piece, please read. :)Let's start by Jouni Koponen's editorial work and artwork on this 'Newspaper Article'. I really enjoyed that part a lot. It was well done itself!!The advertisements where fun highlights in my humble opinion. Well thought out by Gaiman and well executed by Koponen.Then we got the part about our mystery to be solved. It's hard not to spoil you but I will try.The story starts with a war veteran working his way on getting a shared space to stay in London, Albion.He ends up sharing a place in 221b Baker Street with his new 'Partner in Crime' as they start investigating a murder in a Study bathed in Emerald.Light to medium Spoilers ahead but worth the read.(view spoiler)[It took me a little less than half of the pages to understand, that this is not from the POV of Holmes & Watson.Until then I was a tiny bit saddened at the prospect, that Holmes would work for the Old Ones.I immensely enjoyed the Lovecraftian Elements, it was just the proper amount to give us the right combination.Imagine my relief when it dawned on me, that the war veteran and his detective friend were not who I thought them to be at first.I was glad my fave was in fact a Restorationist with his limping doctor friend, at least that was what I did read out of this. Oh, and I liked the bits and parts like for example where they visit the The Queen Victoria, the Gloriana, and her German consort Prince Albert.I also love how it is implied, that the Old Ones have restrained our pursuits in science as it seems. Disapproving of "Wild Theories" such as "the relationship between mass, energy and the hypothetical speed of light". As if to keep us scientifically in the Dark, in a Gaslamp/-light Era for longer than has happened in the AU we live in. (hide spoiler)](I took the liberty of using gifs from another 'Sherlock Holmes Crossover' I have been fond of)["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

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