This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel
"There's a passion in you that scares me."
As someone who has yet to read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, take that however you will, I enjoyed this sort of prequel immensely. 16-year-old twins, Victor and Konrad Frankenstein live in Geneva with their Mother and Father, their younger brothers Ernest and William, their cousin Elizabeth, and, more often than not, their best friend Henry. Victor, Elizabeth, Konrad and Henry have grown up together and embark on many adventures. But when Konrad falls ill with a mysterious and elusive disease, Victor feels he must turn to alchemy, specifically the Elixir of Life, to save him. He is joined by Elizabeth and Henry, and they are helped along on their quest by a well-known and notorious alchemist by the name of Julius Polidori. As I've said, I loved reading this book. However I cannot attest to whether Victor seemed in character to align with his adult counterpart. I have yet to read it. Though I may, partially because of how I enjoyed this It was interesting to see how Victor descended into a sort of determined madness. Even when Konrad becomes temporarily well again, he remains stubborn on his self-set task. A task made all the more difficult by his sudden realization of romantic feelings for his childhood friend, Elizabeth, who seems to be betrothed to his closest friend and twin brother. Adding fuel to his already bright flame, a thirst to win Elizabeth propels him. The Elixir becoming more tempting to him, now, for more selfish reasons. I thought the writing and pacing of the story were great. Just short of 300 pages, the story moves quickly. The last 50 pages, fully action. Reading it was close to watching a movie. I did find the presence of Ernest and William rather confusing. As I've said, I've never read Frankenstein and so I don't know whether he had younger brothers in the original story. But their presence in This Dark Endeavor seemed pointless to me. They served no purpose, not even to hinder the main characters' quest. If anyone else has any ideas as to why they were there I'd love to know. And it doesn't really take down the quality of the book, it was just something I didn't understand. Overall, I loved reading This Dark Endeavor. And because of it, I've decided to try and read Frankenstein. If reading a prequel makes one want to read the sequel, I consider that to be a job well done.
Final: B
