Such Wicked Intent

October 29, 2012
In this sequel to This Dark Endeavor, Oppel continues the story of young Victor Frankenstein, as he—along with friends Henry and Elizabeth—travels into a netherworld to find and rescue his twin brother, Konrad. But dark spirits look to circumvent this family reunion and cause further pain—and Victor must determine if he craves power more than love. Narrator Luke Daniels skillfully portrays Victor, capturing both his arrogance and naïve moments of grandeur. In his rendition of Elizabeth, Daniels employs a higher pitch and evokes her strong convictions. Additionally, the narrator lends appropriate and unique voices to the book’s other characters and provides solid and entertaining narration throughout, modulating tone, emphasis, and timing to ratchet up moments of drama. Ages 12–up. A Simon & Schuster hardcover.

Starred review from June 1, 2012
He failed to save his twin brother through alchemy, but young Victor Frankenstein eagerly delves back into the sinister sciences in this sequel to 2011's This Dark Endeavor. Three weeks after Konrad's death, Victor plucks a mysterious box from the still-warm ashes of the books of the Dark Library. Demonstrating tremendous hubris, Victor aims to return Konrad to the living world and still win Elizabeth, Konrad's grief-stricken love and the boys' childhood friend. When Victor uncovers a way into the spirit world, he finds that Konrad is in neither heaven nor hell but in an alternate version of the house, where eons collide, a ravenous mist lurks outside, and groans arise from below. Elizabeth and Henry Clerval soon join Victor on his journeys to the other realm and on his mission to build a body for Konrad, based on ancient drawings and monstrous bones discovered in caves beneath the castle. As in the first book, the trio realizes the high cost of their quest too late. Victor is a fascinating if sometimes unlikable character, ambitious, brooding, reckless and obsessive in his pursuit of knowledge and power; Printz honor-winner Oppel skillfully portrays him as both a troubled teen and the boy who would become Frankenstein. Addictions and lustful encounters add another layer of sophistication to the gothic melodrama. A standout sequel and engrossing ghost story. (Horror. 14 & up)

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June 1, 2012
Grades 9-12 Just three weeks after This Dark Endeavor (2011), 16-year-old Victor, his cousin Elizabeth, and his friend Henry are grieving the loss of Victor's twin, Konrad. But the discovery of Wilhelm Frankenstein's occult instruments allows the trio to enter an afterlife version of Chateau Frankenstein in which Konrad still exists. There they learn of a possible way to grow Konrad anew. The result of this ungodly tinkering is Oppel's most repulsive creation yet: a baby made out of mud and a thatch of Konrad's hair who grows at an alarming rate but has no conscience because it lacks Konrad's soul. When faced with the unwieldy list of rules regarding navigating a ghost world, readers might miss the visceral, realistic-seeming alchemy of the first volume. That said, everything readers love about Oppel is here: his fierce intelligence; baroque but concise prose; developed, unsentimental characters; and ability to keep his eye on the prizein this case, the stubborn, yet somehow still likable, character of Victor and his slow road to becoming Mary Shelley's mad scientist. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: With the first volume set to be a motion picture, awareness of this dark, entertaining series from a YA star will only grow. So be prepared.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2013
Oppel's second imagined Frankenstein origin story (This Dark Endeavor) begins after Konrad's death, as Victor mourns his twin brother's loss and rejects alchemy. Discovery of an ancient text revives Victor's hopes, and he attempts creation of a replica body for Konrad's spirit to inhabit. Oppel's impressive storytelling ability, vividly descriptive language, and further development of complex characters keep the narrative engaging.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

September 1, 2012
In This Dark Endeavor (rev. 7/11), Victor, Elizabeth, and Henry failed to save ailing Konrad with the Elixir of Life. This second book in Oppel's imagined Frankenstein origin story begins three weeks after Konrad's death, as Victor mourns his twin brother's loss and rejects alchemy's "lies and false promises." But visits to a spirit world and discovery of an ancient text on the wall of a cavern beneath the chateau revive Victor's hopes, leading him to attempt creation of a replica body for Konrad's spirit to inhabit. A love-triangle-turned-square complicates matters, as does Victor's growing obsession with power. How far is he willing to go to bring his brother back to life? Oppel fleshes out this question through Victor's internal moral quandaries and continued scheming. Vividly descriptive language and further development of complex main characters keep the narrative intense and engaging. Encounters with dark supernatural powers and the back-and-forth travel to the spirit world (using a drop of a mysterious elixir, a talisman, and a clock) make this book's premise less plausible than its predecessor's; and yet the improbable doesn't seem so impossible thanks to Oppel's impressive storytelling ability. As Victor observes: "Anything and everything might be possible. I won't subscribe to any rational system again...if it makes me mad, so be it. But leave me to my method, because without it I'll fall into a despair so deep, I'll never claw my way back out." If only poor Victor could foresee his future. cynthia k. ritter

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)