'The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein' by Peter Ackroyd - taking the story of Frankenstein as its basis, Ackroyd begins his tale with the fascination of Frankenstein for the concept of electricity and its connection with life. Rather than toiling away in a gloomy castle, this Frankenstein conducts his experiments in England, many of them in the heart of London, relying on the resurrectionists for fresh corpses.
Naturally, when he does succeed, Frankenstein discovers that creating life is not as simple as he had first thought. Alongside his scientific endeavours, he has an ongoing friendship with the poet Shelley, coming through him to associate with other names connected with the novel as it was eventually written.Not a book I'll be returning to, because it doesn't ever really seem to go anywhere or achieve anything, so I was ultimately disappointed by it.
In direct contrast, I'm currently reading and very much enjoying 'Cowboy Angels' (by Paul McAuley) which is all about travelling through alternate universes, so maybe genre fic is more my strength?
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