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. I always enjoy hearing Gaiman read his own stories. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Gaiman pays tribute to Sherlock and LovecraftĪ 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. 'But are not the dreams of poets and the tales of travellers notoriously false?' -H.P. Anybody who can turn the Swampthing comic into a literary work of art is clearly gifted. I'd say, 'keep up the good work, Neil Gaiman.' but I don't think its necessary, since every thing he puts imagination to is amazing. Not that I'm complaining, but its better than ones I've paid for. The fact that this audiobook is free blows my mind. The 'commercials' at the beginning of each chapter are funny and horrific. All throughout, you'll catch tid-bits of the Cthulhu tainted world the characters live in. It instantly became one of my all time favorite short stories. The story is masterfully crafted, but this twist sealed the deal for me. The surprising identity of the main character flips your entire perspective of the story as you realize who the 'bad guys' really are.

Its amazing how the story draws you in and, at a point, has you siding with the ancient evil that has taken hold of the world. Lovecraft and Arthur Conan Doyle is wonderfully done. And with strange aeons even death may die.

Gaiman a study in emerald