Diogenes Club: Difference between revisions

* [[Cross Through]]: ''Seven Stars'', a sequence of novellas in which various generations of the Diogenes Club one after the other have to deal with the same cursed artifact.

* [[Deconstruction]]: The stories are more-or-less [[Affectionate Parody|loving homages]] to the various styles of popular fiction from the eras that they are set in (Victorian 'boy's own' adventures, 1930s and 1940s pulp adventure novels, 1970s 'glam' detective TV shows, etc), but generally tend to feature a bit more social commentary and focus on the darker side of things around the time. The genres themselves also tend to be deconstructed, either through judicious use of [[Expy|Expys]] or, when an original character shows up, exposing their rougher edges.

* [[Enemy Mine]]: "Cold Snap" has Derek Leech and the Diogenes Club joining forces to save the world.

* [[The Fair Folk]]: The antagonists in "The Gypsies in the Wood".

** A darker version appears in "Clubland Heroes" with Richard "Clever Dick" Cleaver; he's an off-the-scale genius who, unlike the more pleasant and engaging Richard Riddle, is also a snide, stuck-up and humourless little snot. {{spoiler|And then when he appears in "Cold Snap" following the ignominious end of his child-detecting career, he's let bitterness warp him into a genocidal maniac.}}

* [[Legacy Character]]: "Cold Snap", set in the 1970s, introduces Jamie Chambers, son of 1930s vigilante Jonathan "Dr Shade" Chambers. By the end of the story, he's considering going into the family business as Jamie Shade. An author's note adds that the current holder of the Shade Legacy is Christine Chambers, aka Lady Shade.

* [[Meaningful Name]]: The psychiatrist in "You Don't Have to Be Mad..." is Dr. Ballance, which sounds like a good name for a psychiatrist -- but a slightly fuller rendition of his name reveals him as Dr. I. M. Ballance -- ''im''balance.

* [[The Men in Black]]: "The Undertaking", an Edwardian British group of MIBs, who are a rival organisation to the heroes (the Diogenes is, essentially, [[Doctor Who (TV)|UNIT to the Undertaking's Torchwood]]). They have Code Names like Mr. Hay, Mr. Bee and Mr. Sea, which is probably a [[Shout Out]] to the names in ''[[Men in Black (Film)|Men in Black]]''.

* [[Public Domain Character]]: Several are named as past members or allies of the Diogenes Club, including [[Carnacki the Ghost Finder]] and Dr John Silence. And then there's the Club's founder, who is more or less explicitly identified as Mycroft Holmes depending on the copyright situation in the time and place each story was first published.

* [[Shout Out]]: The villains in two of the earliest stories (by publication date) are named after two of Newman's fellow British dark-fantasy authors, [[Michael Marshall Smith]] and [[Iain Banks]].

 

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