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A review by chirson
Creatures: The Legacy of Frankenstein: The Legacy of Frankenstein by Tade Thompson, Emma Newman
3.0
I read this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
A collection of stories about Frankenstein's Monster, published right in time for the 200th anniversary of the original monster's conception, offers a rich range of reinterpretations and rewritings. Themes of monstrosity are a given, but we have the relationship between creator and creation, too, and sexism, and autonomy, and consent. And I was, for the most part, impressed with the five authors' takes.
The first story, Tade Thompson's "Kaseem's Way", was my surprising favourite. It was markedly not my kind of story, but regardless of that, and despite its relatively straightforward relationship with the source text, the story impressed me on the strenght of the writing and thematic resonance. This tale of racially discriminated outcasts devoted to the goal of creating life by artificial means, interspersed with 1st person fragments concerning Victor Frankenstein's original creature, still alive after all these years and looking for his brother, was detailed and rich, with well-fleshed characters and a coherent narrative.
By contrast, I'm afraid I found Rose Biggin's "The New Woman" thorougly disappointing. Yes, I know the references, I see the significance of the title, but still, this sapphic re-telling focused on desire, misogyny and the intersection between art and science somehow became flimsy and shallow, and vague. Its characters (other than the sculptor) were two-dimensional, and their relationships felt contrived. Its worldbuilding was haphazard and spoilt suspension of disbelief. A waste of an imaginative and promising point of departure.
The third text was better, but not by much. In "Reculver" by Paul Meloy, the writing worked, and the narrative was stronger and with a good sense of place, but I disliked the ending.
Emma Newman's "Made Monstrous" is an alright detective story and a good character study, but feels underdeveloped. I thought the final plot twist didn't work because of how obvious it was, and yet treated like a revelation for a reader. There was not enough mystery in the entire narrative, and using an established backstory for the finale just didn't have the punch, particularly when the confrontation took place at the beginning. I still like Newman, but I don't think this was her strongest showcase.
The final story wasn't my favourite and I wish some elements thereof had been edited down or out. It deals with consent, and yet doesn't quite have much to say on the subject. But the atmosphere of "Love Thee Better" by Kaaron Warren and her use of the original's material made it perhaps the best fitted for this anthology. Sent on an endless and oneiric cruise with her one-armed husband, the protagonist gradually reveals the horrors of this trip, as boundaries between natural and unnatural, dead and living, autonomous and enslaved, innocent and complicit become porous and unreliable. I didn't like the ending, or not quite, but it engaged well with Frankenstein.
My overall grade may not seem high, but I look forward to reading more from both Thompson and Warren.
A collection of stories about Frankenstein's Monster, published right in time for the 200th anniversary of the original monster's conception, offers a rich range of reinterpretations and rewritings. Themes of monstrosity are a given, but we have the relationship between creator and creation, too, and sexism, and autonomy, and consent. And I was, for the most part, impressed with the five authors' takes.
The first story, Tade Thompson's "Kaseem's Way", was my surprising favourite. It was markedly not my kind of story, but regardless of that, and despite its relatively straightforward relationship with the source text, the story impressed me on the strenght of the writing and thematic resonance. This tale of racially discriminated outcasts devoted to the goal of creating life by artificial means, interspersed with 1st person fragments concerning Victor Frankenstein's original creature, still alive after all these years and looking for his brother, was detailed and rich, with well-fleshed characters and a coherent narrative.
By contrast, I'm afraid I found Rose Biggin's "The New Woman" thorougly disappointing. Yes, I know the references, I see the significance of the title, but still, this sapphic re-telling focused on desire, misogyny and the intersection between art and science somehow became flimsy and shallow, and vague. Its characters (other than the sculptor) were two-dimensional, and their relationships felt contrived. Its worldbuilding was haphazard and spoilt suspension of disbelief. A waste of an imaginative and promising point of departure.
The third text was better, but not by much. In "Reculver" by Paul Meloy, the writing worked, and the narrative was stronger and with a good sense of place, but I disliked the ending.
Spoiler
The Gaimanesque Murder Mystery-ish quality, the interpretation that the narrator's guilt is not misplaced but perhaps insufficient? Hard pass.Emma Newman's "Made Monstrous" is an alright detective story and a good character study, but feels underdeveloped. I thought the final plot twist didn't work because of how obvious it was, and yet treated like a revelation for a reader. There was not enough mystery in the entire narrative, and using an established backstory for the finale just didn't have the punch, particularly when the confrontation took place at the beginning. I still like Newman, but I don't think this was her strongest showcase.
The final story wasn't my favourite and I wish some elements thereof had been edited down or out. It deals with consent, and yet doesn't quite have much to say on the subject. But the atmosphere of "Love Thee Better" by Kaaron Warren and her use of the original's material made it perhaps the best fitted for this anthology. Sent on an endless and oneiric cruise with her one-armed husband, the protagonist gradually reveals the horrors of this trip, as boundaries between natural and unnatural, dead and living, autonomous and enslaved, innocent and complicit become porous and unreliable. I didn't like the ending, or not quite, but it engaged well with Frankenstein.
My overall grade may not seem high, but I look forward to reading more from both Thompson and Warren.