" I love the character of Sherlock Holmes and they are certainly fun stories to read but I have no delusions about Doyle's greatness. He certainly defined, or at least popularized, the mystery genre and should absolutely be acknowledged for creating such a monument of a character, but at the same time, I am not particularly impressed with his writing abilities or even his story-telling abilities in some parts. I approach Doyle in the same way I think about Jules Verne: Verne popularized (and nearly created) the science-fiction genre and some of his ideas and stories are outstanding. . . when put in their context. As a modern day reader, however, Verne's writing is more of an historical curiosity than anything else. When I read Twenty Thousand Leagues, I wasn't drawn in to the story or in love with the characters and I didn't come away from the story with a different perspective on anything. It was still a fun story (albeit a bit dry in parts, but I'll give it to him since he was simply writing in the style of the time), but I wouldn't call Jules Verne a Great Writer. I credit Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the same way: he accomplished many things with his Sherlock Holmes novels and short stories and they are still entertaining to read, but he was not a Great Writer. "
— Mike, 1/20/2014