So here an author goes again, messing with my beloved classics. I would probably dislike him a lot more were it not for the fact that he did such an incredible job that as much as I hate to admit it, I actually enjoyed this:)
Ten years after the loss of his entire family to madness and death, Ernest Frankenstein finds himself compelled to return to the city of his birth, Geneva, in order to discover if his elder brother, Victor, might still be alive. Only Victor can provide the answers to questions, which have long plagued Ernest. The quest for answers will force Ernest to confront demons, both internal and external, from his past, which refuse to be at peace and which ultimately will endanger both he and his new family. Hunted across Europe their only hope may lie with a French spy, Ernest’s childhood friend, and a mysterious gypsy girl whose people believe that Ernest will lead humanity to its salvation or final destruction.
Frankenstein A Life Beyond by Pete Planisek is the first direct sequel to Mary Shelley’s iconic story, Frankenstein, which examined Victor Frankenstein’s quest to both create and kill an unnamed creature that ultimately destroys all but one member of the Frankenstein family, Victor’s brother, Ernest. Frankenstein A Life Beyond explores many of the issues left open by the original, while establishing new characters and mysteries.–Description from Goodreads
If you have ever wondered what happened to the remaining family of Viktor Frankenstein after his (theoretical) demise in the Arctic, this book explores that nicely. The dialogue was well written and appropriate for the time period featured in the novel. I was both surprised and a delighted to find that the author didn’t stray too far from the original work when building the past history for these characters. I don’t like it much when an author tries to rewrite a classic, and Pete Planisek didn’t do that. He stuck by the basic premise of what of “Frankenstein” and joined it to the writing in this book, still truly managing to make this very original and his own.
The story has a good pace and there is a lot that happens, so you don’t fall asleep while reading it. There was no lag time when the author reached the middle and I appreciated that the end was open for the next book, but didn’t leave the reader hanging with more questions than answers. He never lost focus on his plot.
The encounters with “the creature” actually live up to the terrifying being that was crafted in the original Frankenstein, which must have been a challenge to accomplish. I found this was a hard book for me to put down and walk away from, and it kept me up late into the night finishing it. It really is very good.
The only thing I would have changed about this novel, was the amount of reminiscing the characters did. While I understood the need to give them all a history and looking into the past was better for the reader’s knowledge base of them, there were times I felt the author got carried away with the past and forgot to include much information about the character’s present life.
Overall this was an exciting read and I would recommend it to anyone who loves the classic, or anyone looking for a good book with some unforeseen twists.
This review is based on a digital copy from the publisher.
I will most definitely look for the rest of this series.
