Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2 for Transformation, 4 for The Mortal Immortal.
I didn't like Transformation at all, however The Mortal Immortal was very good. For such an early literary period Mary Shelley seems to have been writing about some pretty interesting topics that hadn't been written about before - an animated being put together and brought to life with body parts; dystopian themes and this story The Mortal Immortal, which details the agonising eternal life of one who after drinking an alchemical brew cannot die, yet must suffer as he watches those that he loves wither and fade. This was very well written.
I didn't like Transformation at all, however The Mortal Immortal was very good. For such an early literary period Mary Shelley seems to have been writing about some pretty interesting topics that hadn't been written about before - an animated being put together and brought to life with body parts; dystopian themes and this story The Mortal Immortal, which details the agonising eternal life of one who after drinking an alchemical brew cannot die, yet must suffer as he watches those that he loves wither and fade. This was very well written.
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Mary Shelley is best known for "Frankenstein" and, to a lesser extent, her end-of-days novel "The Last Man". However, apart from a number of other novels, she also wrote several short stories, often with a supernatural or fantastic theme. Three of these are included in this attractive paperback edition published by Hesperus Classics. The title piece - "Transformation" - describes the narrator's Faustian pact with a devilish dwarf, and is rich in Gothic tropes. "The Mortal Immortal" features a hapless protagonist who drinks an elixir of life and eventually discovers that immortality is more of a bane than a blessing. "The Evil Eye" is a tale of warring tribes and family feuds set in the Balkans. Despite its title, its subject is not overtly supernatural but, in its exoticism and unexpected plot twists it recalls respectively the "Oriental Gothic" and the then budding genre of "sensation literature". All three stories are finely crafted and reveal an active imagination at work. "Frankenstein" was certainly no one-off.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced