Friends! Comrades! And more importantly, readers/watchers/listeners! I have a proposal. I'm looking for books/movies/fanworks/whatever based on the Sherlock Holmes, er, mythos, and Arthuriana. For Holmes, I would prefer something that kept to the spirit/setting of the original books (though I do enjoy the Mary Russel novels, so that's relative), but if you have something that doesn't but is good, come forward! In Arthuriana, I like both straight-up retellings and Magical Girl King Arthur IN SPACE equally. (Actually, that sounds like an awesome novel. Hmm).
In return, I give you my own recs!
Sherlock HolmesThe original stories, needless to say. My favorite is still the Speckled Band.
The Mary Russel novels, by Laurie R. King. They've gotten increasingly Mary Sueish as of the last two books, but are quite good in the beginning and still a really fun read. As the series title implies, they feature an OC, but one who holds water (until about The Game or so). The first book, The Bee-Keeper's Apprentice, has just been released in a snazzy new edition, presumably to capitalize on the coming Holmes movie. My one word of advice is, if you do read them, skip A Letter of Mary. It's a bit crap, unless you like Biblical conspiracy books.
Shadows Over Baker Street, the infamous Holmes/Lovecraft crossover. I kind of assume anyone interested in this has already read it, but if you haven't, I recommend it highly. This is the book that Neil Gaiman wrote A Study In Emerald for, and the authors list is practically star-studded. There's only one story I didn't like – this is one of the books I chose to bring with me to college. The authors make good use of the Holmes minor characters, too – Irene Adler gets a positively kickass role in one story, Mycroft shows up, there's even an H G Wells cameo.
My father also says the Giant Rat of Sumatra is good.
Haven't seen much Holmes on film except the Basil Rathbone TV series, which is considered Word of God by my father. We did, however, subject ourselves to the Young Sherlock Holmes movie a few years ago. All I can say is, if you're going to watch it, get a bunch of friends and some popcorn to throw at the screen.
ArthurianaMy favorite version of the Arthur myth is Rosemary Sutcliff's retelling. It comes in three installments – The Sword and the Circle, The Light in the Forest, and The Road to Camlann. Though they are out of print, they can be found for cheap on Amazon.com, not to mention your local library. And while we're about it, READ ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF.
I Am Mordred and I Am Morgana Le Fay, both by Nancy Springer, were putting a new spin on old villains and a darker cast on well-known stories before Wicked and imitators became popular. I can't review them with much clarity since I read them at about 11, but they blew my mind and seem to be YA library staples, which is a good thing, right?
Michael Morpurgo has a large, illustrated book called Arthur: High King of Britain, which is nicely written and drop-dead gorgeous. Unfortunately, when it comes to illustrated children's versions, everything will lose out to Kingfisher Classics' The Story of King Arthur, which was my first Arthur book. The illustrations are now a little dark and spiky for me, but it still holds a very special place in my heart.
Also, who could forget the Lost Years of Merlin? They're not great literature and in retrospect were a bit WTF, but when I was ten I ate them up with a spoon.
My grandfather would sing me bits of Camelot (along with every other musical he'd been in), and so I give you Lancelot's opening song, C'est Moi.
XD
Maddy Prior has a song cycle album, Arthur The King, which is sadly not available for linkage on YouTube, but is brilliant. It portrays Arthur as a ruler trying first to hold Britain together after the Romans leave, then defending against the Saxon invaders, and the lyrics are fucking
gorgeous.
In terms of films, who can could resist Monty Python's Holy Grail? BLOODY PEASANT!