(no subject)

[skygiants]

The "Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein" novels could basically be subtitled "Hello, I am Victor Frankenstein, and welcome to Jackass." I hope Kenneth Oppel writes A MILLION of them.

This Dark Endeavor, the first book in the series, was about how Teenaged Victor Frankenstein, accompanied by his chums Henry Clerval and Elizabeth Lavenza, made a series of alchemy-related poor life decisions trying save his IDENTICAL TWIN BROTHER from a TERRIBLE DISEASE. This resulted in the tragic loss of two fingers and one twin brother.

Such Wicked Intent opens with Victor burning all his books and vowing to forswear alchemy forever.

LITERALLY TEN SECONDS LATER:

VICTOR: Hey, one of these books didn't burn! AWESOME.
MYSTERIOUS BOOK: If you go to a mysterious secret room, you will find a mysterious liquid. Swallow the mysterious liquid!
HENRY AND ELIZABETH: Why would you POSSIBLY think it's a good idea to put hundred-year-old liquids in your mouth --
VICTOR: IT'S FOR SCIENCE!!!! *puts the liquid in his mouth*

Meanwhile, Elizabeth is thinking about joining a convent, which means Victor takes every opportunity to make douchey "get thee to a nunnery!" jokes, because at least 50% of Victor's role in these books is "be a dick to EVERYONE." The other 50% is "do stupid things in the name of SCIENCE. BAD SCIENCE." The thing is, this would render any other book really unappealing to me, but in this case it just fills me with joy because this is exactly how I have always figured teenaged Victor Frankenstein would behave. OF COURSE Victor is the sort of person to spend three weeks telling his friends that growing a creepy sharp-toothed blood-drinking clay baby out of blood and addictive spirit butterflies in order to raise the dead is a BRILLIANT IDEA until they go along with it just to shut him up, and then, just when everyone has at last become really invested in his plan and emotionally attached to the prospective outcome, go "WAIT SHIT NO GUYS I'M KINDA FREAKED OUT BY THIS NOW I'M GONNA SMASH THE WHOLE THING."

(Victor's friends: "Literally you just spent three weeks telling us how amazing this plan was and how we were idiots to have doubts about it." Victor: "...well me now is telling you you are idiots to have doubts about the fact that I"m telling you to have doubts!")

(Elizabeth thinks the creepy sharp-toothed blood-drinking clay baby is ADORABLE.)

In between making increasingly bad choices related to supernatural shenanigans, the kids find time to expand last book's love triangle into a complex polygon in which Victor is in love with Elizabeth, Henry Clerval is writing Elizabeth "She Walks In Beauty Like the Night" because I guess in this universe Henry Clerval is actually just replacement Byron, Elizabeth is still in love with Victor's Good Twin Konrad when she's not thinking about running off to a convent, and Konrad is having some side flirtations with a nice young lady who turns out to be his evil undead great-grandfather in disguise. This last plot twist destroyed my ability to be annoyed by the rest of the love polygon; now all I have is laughter. Bless you, Kenneth Oppel.

Comments

[evewithanapple]

These books sound . . . terrible. No, amazing. Terrimazing.

[skygiants]

THEY'RE NOT GOOD AT ALL ... AND YET THEY'RE SO GREAT. The sixteen-year-old version of me who just wanted to scrawl "VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN IS A JERK" all over the margins of my copy of Frankenstein is immeasurably soothed by them, let me tell you.

[evewithanapple]

When I was sixteen I was writing Victor Frankenstein/Henry Clerval fanfic in class. *hides face*

(I didn't like either of them as characters or anything! I just thought the whole thing was REALLY GAY and had no other outlet with which to express my baby gay feelings.)

[rachelmanija]

That spoiler is the funniest thing ever. Kaori Yuki probably used it once.

[genarti]

Based on your prior post, Henry Clerval seems WAY WAY WAY TOO SENSIBLE to be Byron... Admittedly this is not hard, but.

(Also: LOLOLOLOLOL WHAT.)

[skygiants]

I just always felt super sad for Frankenstein's sad pining North Pole buddy when Frankenstein was all "NO I have ALREADY had a boyfriend once and NOW I CAN NEVER LOVE AGAIN." I mean sad pining North Pole friend could probably have done better than Victor Frankenstein, because WHO COULDN'T, but still.

[skygiants]

I laughed for like two minutes on a crowded subway!

As a grace note, Evil Disguised Grandpa then goes on to possess Victor; everyone sees through it at once because Victor actually says something that makes sense.

[skygiants]

Henry Clerval does continue to be astoundingly sensible for a Byron analog! In my other favorite moment of the book, both Victor and Elizabeth have gotten unhealthy and unnatural self-confidence from evil spirit butterflies (don't ask) and they're like "HENRY. You've been acting more mature and confident lately, you must have been attacked by an evil spirit butterfly too!" and Henry's like "um ... no ... I just ... legitimately grew as a person ...?" and then everyone else feels inadequate.

[nextian]

Is this Kenneth Oppel of the Silverwing bat books? Omg. I'm so glad he's always like this.

[skygiants]

Wait, what are the Silverwing bat books, PLEASE TELL ME MORE

[nextian]

OH my GOSH, friend. Ok, so, there's a bat colony, right? And Shade is a runty little Dreamworks protagonist bat in it. He challenges the established order of bat society and is introduced to the bat sacred historical transmission and the secret background of the bats being experimented on by humans, and then he and his bat girlfriend go on a road trip to find his deadbeat Hohenheim dad, fighting off owls and carnivorous bats and other issues along the way. It's very Watership Down meets NIMH, but it is FULL OF "and then the MAYAN BAT GOD gave the DARK BAT dark BAT POWER and they turned out to be a SEER and then the bat culture was explicated at LENGTH and someone DIES and we're only on page FIFTY." I loved them to pieces as a child.

[lacewood]

Konrad is having some side flirtations with a nice young lady who turns out to be his evil undead great-grandfather in disguise

................ omg.

BEST LOVE POLYGON REVEAL??? Also this is plaguing me so I have to ask, if Victor loses a twin in the previous book how is said twin still around for this hilarious flirtation in the next?

[buymeaclue]

Ha, I was all, "WAIT IS THIS KENNETH OPPEL OF AIRBORN?" Which I don't recall being especially crazypants but was a TON of fun.

[genarti]

This sounds AMAZING. Wow.

(You had me at "Watership Down meets NIMH," really; the fact that it's bats is an excellent bonus.)

[genarti]

From my understanding of Byron, being sensible and growing as a person sort of ruin the parallel somewhat, don't they...?

Anyway HAHAHA that is fantastic. Good for you, Henry!

[telophase]

I read the Airborn books! I liked them quite a lot, but yeah: they weren't that crazypants.

I have now sent the Victor Frankenstein sample to my Kindle, along with the sample for a recently-published book of his because the description of a boy on the Greatest Train Ever Built who then has to join a traveling circus and who ends up traveling with a girl escape artist sounds like fun.

[buymeaclue]

Okay, you ABSOLUTELY need to update me once you've read the train/circus piece!

[jinian]

I am so delighted right now.

[esmenet]

These sound like beautiful, wonderful books.

(I love high school AUs. I really love them.)

[skygiants]

I kind of want to read that one too!

[skygiants]

:O :O :O GLORIOUS. Also, this tag made me go reread Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, so, thanks for that. :D

[skygiants]

Well, a significant portion of the book does take place in the underworld ....

I mean you would think one of the love polygon angles being dead and only accessible via sketchy secret potion would make everyone else less of a dick about it, but YOU WOULD THINK WRONGLY.

[skygiants]

THE ONLY THING MISSING IS THE ACTUAL HIGH SCHOOL.

[lacewood]

... WOW. Clearly death should not enough of an impediment to the execution of a suitably convoluted love polygon...