Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Blog Tour: iFrankenstein by Bekka Black


 
After a childhood often spent without electricy and running water, Bekka escaped the beautiful wilderness of Talkeetna, Alaska for indoor plumbing and 24/7 electricity in Berlin, Germany. Used to the cushy lifestyle, she discovered the Internet in college and has been wasting time on it ever since (when not frittering away her time on her iPhone). Somehow, she manages to write novels, including the award-winning Hannah Vogel mystery series set, in all places, 1930s Berlin, and The Blood Gospel series (with James Rollins).

She lives in Berlin with her husband, son, two cats, and too many geckoes to count. iDrakula is her first cell phone novel.



 
Frankenstein comes to life for the wired generation.

Following her critically-acclaimed iDrakula, award-winning author Bekka Black breathes life into a modern re-telling of iFrankenstein, using only text messages, web browsers, tweets, and emails.

Homeschooled teenager Victor Frankenstein is determined to write his own ticket to independence: a chatbot to win the prestigious Turing prize and admission to the high tech university of his choice. He codes his creation with a self-extending version of his own online personality and unleashes it upon the internet. But soon he begins to suspect his virtual clone may have developed its own goals, and they are not aligned with Victor’s. The creature has its own plan, fed by a growing desire to win darker and more precious prizes: unfettered power and release from loneliness.

As the creature’s power and sentience grows and its increasingly terrible deeds bleed over from the online world into the real one, Victor must stop his creation before his friends and humanity pay the ultimate price.
 
 
AWARD-WINNING iMONSTERS SERIES CONTINUES WITH FRANKENSTEIN TALE
A new way to tell teen stories, Bekka Black’s series is written in texts, emails and tweets
 
October 2012 Bekka Black’s teen iMonsters series continues this Halloween season with a follow up to her multi-award-winning iDracula debut. With iFrankenstein, Black brings yet another classic story back to life using only the language teens speak today through cell phones texts, emails and social media posts.
 
The paranormal tale – written for the wired generation – follows Victor Frankenstein as he creates a chatbot to win a prestigious contest and admission to the high tech university of his choice. But his virtual clone begins to develop its own goals opposite those of Victor’s. As the monster’s power grows and its increasingly terrible deeds bleed over from the online world into the real one, the homeschooled computer nerd must stop his creation before his friends and humanity pay the ultimate price.
 
Blood Secrets author Jeannie Holmes calls iFrankstenstein “a modern masterpiece in this retelling of Mary Shelley’s classic.” Black developed the idea for writing cell phone novels as she watched teens texting instead of talking.
 
“I realized they spent more time reading than my generation—just screens instead of pages,” she said. “I wrote this series to bring books to teens who might not already be reading books, as well as to voracious readers. It was a fascinating experience to tell a story without using the traditional storytelling tools—description and dialogue.”
 
As a growing number of schools across the country are using e-readers in their classrooms, Black’s series is the perfect tech-friendly learning tool. CSI Librarian raves the book is “a good, fun, and quick read … can’t wait to see what classic Bekka Black will tackle next.”
 


Website: BekkaBlack.com
 
    @Bekka_Black      Bekka Black
iFrankenstein appeals to fans of Lauren Myracle’s TTYL, and of course follows in the footsteps of the first in Black’s iMonsters series. iDracula was nominated for the APPY Award for Best Ebook of the Year, won the YALSA award for Best Book App, was listed on the “Top 10 Best YA Horror” by Booklist, included in “Funny Paranormal Readers” with Kirkus, mentioned in Publisher’s Weekly’s “Today’s YA Scene,” and American Library Association’s “Top 10 for 2010.” The book was recommended by School Library Journal and Girl’s Life, and became a Junior Library Guild selection.

 
The accompanying iPhone app for iDracula was chosen as Best Halloween App by PC Magazine, among others, and made it to No. 1 in Apple’s App Store. Fans can expect the iFrankenstein app this December.
 
Black is the author of the award-winning Hannah Vogel mystery series. She writes for The Big Thriller and numerous other blogs, and has been featured in The New York Times for a column she wrote on how parenting can make you better at work. She lives in Hawaii with her husband and son.
 

 
 
 

The level of originality alone should put this book on must-read lists. Imagine, the entire Frankenstein story told through text, emails and tweets. It really is groundbreaking work.

I must admit, it took me a few pages to get used to the narration’s flow, but once I did, I breezed through the pages, looking forward to what was going to happen next. Something that I found fascinating was the way Bekka Black managed to “piece” together her monster, not from human body parts, but from different electronic communications. It’s a clever twist on the original, one which maintains the chilling atmosphere, and ups it, as this doesn’t seem as far-fetched in this modern world.

The writing is fun, with many witty moments that balanced out some of the darker ones. This is definitely one that I recommend for those of you who love the original, or have never read it and would like to experience a modern version. A good choice for teen and adults alike.



 

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I am definitely going to add this one to my to read list. Looks incredibly interesting. I just read a Frankenstein-ish YA book that wasn't very good at all. This looks clever! Great review.