This
Dark Endeavour: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein
Kenneth
Oppel
Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
August 23, 2011
304
pages
Hardcover, $17.99
This Dark
Endeavor won the Libris Award (Canadian Booksellers Association).
Endeavor also won as an Honour Book, Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award.
Endeavor also won as an Honour Book, Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award.
Victor Frankenstein, his twin brother
Konrad and the beautiful Elizabeth are forbidden to explore the Dark Library. However,
when Victor’s father becomes deathly ill, Victor tries to hunt down the three
ingredients to make the Elixir of Life, a dark and perilous task at best. As if
being a fifteen-year old wasn’t trouble enough, Victor must risk more than his
life to save his father.
Oppel, a Frankenstein fan, was struck by how only a few pages are devoted to
Victor’s youth in Mary Shelley’s original novel—in which he mentions the
raising of ghosts and demons, and a quest for the Elixir of Life.
“I thought ‘Wow, this not typical happy
childhood,’” Kenneth Oppel said from Toronto. “If you like gothic, horror, sci-fi, the
Frankenstein myth was the first of all those genres. So I think if you want a
good dark adventure with romance, an enigmatic hero, [and] sort of a love
triangle, the book might appeal to you.”
Oppel also has a sequel to Endeavor. Such Wicked Intent: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein Book Two
came out in August 2012.
