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.
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.”
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.
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1 comment:
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.
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