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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I first saw this book in our school library, and I was interested, but not interested enough to pick it up. Then, after reading another book by author Kenneth Oppel and enjoying it, I decided to read This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein.
This prequel to Mary Shelley’s classic novel is an adventure story for young adults, taking place in Geneva Switzerland when (future doctor, and creator of The Monster) Victor Frankenstein was sixteen years old. His family is wealthy, and his father a respected judge who serves on the governing council. Their manor is on a sprawling estate, and is filled with secret passages and the potential for teenagers to get into mischief. Victor, his twin brother Conrad, and their distant cousin Elizabeth find that mischief when they find a new secret passageway—one that leads to an underground “dark library.” This bibliotheca obscura is filled with books about alchemy and magic and medicine, and seems to call out to Victor as nothing else has before. When his beloved Conrad falls ill from a mysterious disease, it’s up to Victor to find a way to save his life.
Oppel is a master of writing adventure stories that are real page-turners. His Airborn was a great period piece set in an alternate Victorian world, and This Dark Endeavor isn’t far removed from that. As a fan of the 1930’s movies Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, I appreciated the various tributes to those movies and other films of the era. Things like naming a physician Murnau after Nosferatu director H.W. Murnau, and then giving him vampiric tendencies; or having a scene where Victor and Elizabeth scientifically appropriate werewolf-like capabilities to help them on their quest. A major villain in the story is Dr. Polidori, named after a friend of Mary Shelley’s, and the writer as one of the first vampire novels. These don’t come across as a Twilight rip-off, but more a tribute to the classic monster novels and films of times gone by.
The adventure set pieces are interesting and exciting, set in secret lairs and dark European forests. By the end of the novel, you care more for Victor Frankenstein than you thought you would, even though you know his journey will lead to even more tragedy. It also inspired me to pick up Mary Shelley’s original novel; I haven’t ever read it, and now I want to. Oppel includes characters that I know are in that book, including Victor’s family, his best friend Henry Clerval, and others. It will be interesting to see what becomes of them in the “real” version, after meeting them in Oppel’s entertaining prequel.
This prequel to Mary Shelley’s classic novel is an adventure story for young adults, taking place in Geneva Switzerland when (future doctor, and creator of The Monster) Victor Frankenstein was sixteen years old. His family is wealthy, and his father a respected judge who serves on the governing council. Their manor is on a sprawling estate, and is filled with secret passages and the potential for teenagers to get into mischief. Victor, his twin brother Conrad, and their distant cousin Elizabeth find that mischief when they find a new secret passageway—one that leads to an underground “dark library.” This bibliotheca obscura is filled with books about alchemy and magic and medicine, and seems to call out to Victor as nothing else has before. When his beloved Conrad falls ill from a mysterious disease, it’s up to Victor to find a way to save his life.
Oppel is a master of writing adventure stories that are real page-turners. His Airborn was a great period piece set in an alternate Victorian world, and This Dark Endeavor isn’t far removed from that. As a fan of the 1930’s movies Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, I appreciated the various tributes to those movies and other films of the era. Things like naming a physician Murnau after Nosferatu director H.W. Murnau, and then giving him vampiric tendencies; or having a scene where Victor and Elizabeth scientifically appropriate werewolf-like capabilities to help them on their quest. A major villain in the story is Dr. Polidori, named after a friend of Mary Shelley’s, and the writer as one of the first vampire novels. These don’t come across as a Twilight rip-off, but more a tribute to the classic monster novels and films of times gone by.
The adventure set pieces are interesting and exciting, set in secret lairs and dark European forests. By the end of the novel, you care more for Victor Frankenstein than you thought you would, even though you know his journey will lead to even more tragedy. It also inspired me to pick up Mary Shelley’s original novel; I haven’t ever read it, and now I want to. Oppel includes characters that I know are in that book, including Victor’s family, his best friend Henry Clerval, and others. It will be interesting to see what becomes of them in the “real” version, after meeting them in Oppel’s entertaining prequel.
I just finished listening to Shelley's Frankenstein (revised version) before listening to this. I can see this appealing to a lot of teens. Victor is a bit more aggressive in Oppel's vision that what I got from Shelley's, not to mention Elizabeth. Interesting twist on Frankenstein. You can see the end coming though. A little bit dark, a little bit sexy (not a lot), things turn out not to be what they seem, a race against time. I see this appealing more to the 8th - 10th graders.
This was a very quick read. I'm not sure for what age of kids this is intended, but it actually seems kind of young, maybe? A lot of times good YA books will have a depth and complexity that grown-ups can appreciate, but I didn't find that to be the case in this book at all. Everything was very superficial. And it sort of turned out that I dunno. I'd recommend it to a kid if I knew any kids, but I wouldn't recommend it to a grownup. There's nothing here.
(Oh and the "we cook dinner for our servants once a week!" angle was just too much for me. Rich people have servants, man. No rich people make dinner for their servants, no matter how well they treat them otherwise. Why are we pretending they might? I guess it's supposed to make them seem more sympathetic, but it just seemed absurd to me.)
Spoiler
there is no magic, really? Just science? How on earth are you going to tell the story of Dr. Frankenstein without magic?(Oh and the "we cook dinner for our servants once a week!" angle was just too much for me. Rich people have servants, man. No rich people make dinner for their servants, no matter how well they treat them otherwise. Why are we pretending they might? I guess it's supposed to make them seem more sympathetic, but it just seemed absurd to me.)
The character of Victor was interesting and there were some atmospheric scenes, but generally speaking I found it fairly predictable.
If you love dark and twisted tales, then this one is for you. Victor Frankenstein is a complicated character that you will equally root for, then cringe from. In this prequel to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Oppel has managed to capture the gothic setting so well you would think this book has always existed alongside the classic. With plot twists, a harrowing adventure and sibling rivalry to boot this book makes you keep returning to the story long after you put it down. I can't wait to dim the lights, curl under a blanket and start reading book 2!
More reviews at Rondo of a Possible World: YA Book Reviews
Blown away. This novel was absolutely fantastic. The characters, the adventure, the plot. It happens to be a prequel to Mary Shelly's epic tale Frankenstein which caught my eye. Though I had never read Frankenstein it had no lingering affects on my reading of this novel. It was literally phenomenal.
You have your twin brothers Konrad and Victor Frankenstein. Your average high class boys living in Genoa back in possibly the Elizabethan era. The tight bond of the twins are as should be, but when Konrad is struck with illness, Victor and his friends, Elizabeth and Henry, risk their lives to save him.
This Dark Endeavor was a quick read for me, about a day. I soaked up all of the adventure, grim, and Gothic goodness like a sponge. Such a compelling story that is filled with beautify written characters and a captivating plot. No moment was dull nor was any conversation banal. The scenes between Victor and Elizabeth always drew me in, for such raw emotions of human nature is carried out between the two.
Victor though was some character. The flaws, the raw intensity beaming through out him. You just can't help but latch onto his words and wonder what he is going to feel, think, say, or do next. The jealousy, the rage, the motivation, the lies, the possessiveness, and the dedication. By the standards of the twins, Victor was imperfect compared to Konrad. But such dedication he has to save his brother, even with other evils surfacing through his thoughts; Victor was as real as any character could get.
The ending, I infered though just the kind of thought process I have, was heart-retching. I look back at what I happened to read and makes me think this is just a prequel. It would be wonderful if Oppel even pursued the faction of creating his own spin on the Frankenstein classic. Such a fascinating thought.
Blown away. This novel was absolutely fantastic. The characters, the adventure, the plot. It happens to be a prequel to Mary Shelly's epic tale Frankenstein which caught my eye. Though I had never read Frankenstein it had no lingering affects on my reading of this novel. It was literally phenomenal.
You have your twin brothers Konrad and Victor Frankenstein. Your average high class boys living in Genoa back in possibly the Elizabethan era. The tight bond of the twins are as should be, but when Konrad is struck with illness, Victor and his friends, Elizabeth and Henry, risk their lives to save him.
This Dark Endeavor was a quick read for me, about a day. I soaked up all of the adventure, grim, and Gothic goodness like a sponge. Such a compelling story that is filled with beautify written characters and a captivating plot. No moment was dull nor was any conversation banal. The scenes between Victor and Elizabeth always drew me in, for such raw emotions of human nature is carried out between the two.
Victor though was some character. The flaws, the raw intensity beaming through out him. You just can't help but latch onto his words and wonder what he is going to feel, think, say, or do next. The jealousy, the rage, the motivation, the lies, the possessiveness, and the dedication. By the standards of the twins, Victor was imperfect compared to Konrad. But such dedication he has to save his brother, even with other evils surfacing through his thoughts; Victor was as real as any character could get.
The ending, I infered though just the kind of thought process I have, was heart-retching. I look back at what I happened to read and makes me think this is just a prequel. It would be wonderful if Oppel even pursued the faction of creating his own spin on the Frankenstein classic. Such a fascinating thought.
Started slowly but wound up in a thunderous, exhilarating gallop.
“You see, when medicine works, it is blessed science, and when it fails, it is witchcraft."
This definitely wasn't my favourite read, but it wasn't terrible. The love triangle between two twin brothers and their cousin confused and disturbed me a little bit, but I guess the author was trying to stay true to the Frankenstein novel, and that's the 1800's for you. Overall, the plot was interesting, and I feel like if I had a bit more of excitement and a tie towards Frankenstein, I would have liked it more as the "prequel" that it was. However, since that's not the case, I wasn't overly invested.
This definitely wasn't my favourite read, but it wasn't terrible. The love triangle between two twin brothers and their cousin confused and disturbed me a little bit, but I guess the author was trying to stay true to the Frankenstein novel, and that's the 1800's for you. Overall, the plot was interesting, and I feel like if I had a bit more of excitement and a tie towards Frankenstein, I would have liked it more as the "prequel" that it was. However, since that's not the case, I wasn't overly invested.
WHY WHY WHY KENNETH OPPEL DID U KILLLLLL HIM OFFFFFFFFF