Product Review

The Sovereign Order of Monte Cristo begins with a condensed retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, related through the voice of Sherlock Holmes. It includes exhilarating new adventures, characters, and ideas, carrying the reader through books I and II and into book III of an ever-expanding new series based on the classic.

The author consulted the original French as well as the oldest English translations of The Count of Monte Cristo, but the style of the retelling, in the distinctive voice of Sherlock Holmes, constitutes a new work. Books II and III, incorporated herein, are wholly original sequels although they include characters from the original classic.

The author of The Sovereign Order of Monte Cristo also consulted a more current 2003 translation by Robin Buss of the The Count of Monte Cristo, which helped to inspire both this work and the first sequel in this series, The Sultan of Monte Cristo. The most recent (2003) unabridged translation by Buss is indispensable to fully appreciate the original story.

Those who have already had the pleasure of reading The Sultan of Monte Cristo will certainly appreciate the unique way in which the Holy Ghost Writer has expanded the original story without the help of anyone (except perhaps from the ghost of Dumas himself).

While The Sultan of Monte Cristo has been enjoyed by thousands as a stand-alone work, this work is an even easier read of the classic, as it includes a condensed version of the original story retold in the voice of Sherlock Holmes. This collection of stories also serves as a prequel to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.