Frankenstein Unbound [Paperback]

In the 21st century, man's use of nuclear weapons has disrupted the natural order of the universe. Space and time have begun to fluctuate, and "timeslips" can suddenly transport whole regions into the future or past. Caught in one of these displacements is Joe Bodenland, our narrator, who suddenly finds himself (along with his nuclear-powered car and watch) stranded in the day of Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, and yes, Victor Frankenstin. Enthralled by the chance to meet the "historical" Frankenstein (a term which, due to the timeslips, may no longer be relevant), Bodenland launches an investigation into the scientist's life that leads to a fateful, existential cat & mouse game with Frankenstein's legendary Monster...and his mate. Involving subplots include Bodenland's brief but intense love with Mary Shelley and philosophical debates with Percy Shelley, Byron, and of course the Modern Prometheus himself, the mad Frankenstein. An intoxicating mix of history, suspense, and glorious sci-fi, Frankenstein Unbound is a fantastic morality tale and an excellent corollary to the Frankenstein legend.

Aldiss creates one of the most original of Horror/Science Fiction novels inspired by the classic novel,with this book,which is his masterpiece.

The plot tells of an inventor named Buccanhan,who invents a weapon in the future that could signal the end of humanity.
After a mishap,he and his Futuristic car(which acts like the car from "Knightrider" and has with it a computer,television and machine gun!) are transported into an alternate universe of the early 1800s.
He ends up in Switzerland at this time and runs into Victor Frankenstein and Mary Shelly!
Many adventures ensue,including a romance with Mary(!) and a partnership with the manical Victor Frankenstein and his creation of a bride for his monster.

The novel is very thoughtful,something of a thinking man's Horror story,coupled with a sense of adventure and the grotesque.
Endlesssly fascinating,this was followed by a "Dracula Unbound' by the same writer,and a mediocre Cinematic adaption of the book by Roger Corman in 1991.

Stick with the novel and give it a read.
It's a must.

I know all the reviews are on the other version of the book but this is the cover I have (and seems to go really well with the description of the monster inside) so I'll post the review here simply because I can.

I have no idea what prompted Aldiss to write this book. I don't know if there was a critical reevaluation of the original "Frankenstein" novel at the time or he was just using it as an excuse to explore some themes. Regardless of his actual reason, it winds up being probably the best use of the "Frankenstein" story barring Michael Bishop's nostaglia boys of summer take in "Brittle Innings" (which gets the edge because the concept is literally, pun not entirely intended, out of left field). "Frankenstein" is often considered the first SF novel for people who think about this kind of thing, and here Aldiss literally makes it the first SF novel by dragging the setting into a SF venue, without all that much kicking and screaming.

The story starts out simply enough. A war has caused rifts in time to suddenly appear for the fine people of 2020, forcing tracts of land to appear without warning in other times, and then after a while slip back to whence they came. During one of those trips, scientist Joseph Bodenland winds up stuck in 1816 Switzerland, which he's not all that sad about. It's not long before he starts running into THE Victor Frankenstein and his family, which is exciting enough until he also later runs into the soon to be Mary Shelley, who is writing a novel about Victor Frankenstein and the monster he creates. A story that she isn't finished writing yet.

Done poorly, and this could have been done very poorly, you would have a 1970s version of fan-fiction, especially when Bodenland starts up a romance with the aforementioned Ms Shelley and winds up embroiled in current events. And yet, that doesn't happen. Maybe it's because Bodenland is so driven to make sure that things turn out okay, maybe its because Shelley and her husband and Lord Byron are all sensitively sketched, true to their historical descriptions but feeling like people. Or maybe because the monster itself is so effective, barely shown and when he does appear he's quoting Milton and acting noble and savage by turns, knowing what he wants but disliking that he has to kill people to get it.

Aldiss works best when he doesn't explain. The wacky time displaced nature of the story means we don't get a firm explanation on how Mary Shelley and her fictional creation can come to exist in the same setting . . . it does and it's real and Bodenland has to do something about it. Ripped from his own time, he doesn't spend days belaboring his fate but dives into exploration with a sense of glee. We're given an in depth look not only into the Frankensteins but the author herself and what drove all these people to do what they did. The monster is rarely glimpsed, even as his actions hover over everything. It's his threat that forces Frankenstein to create a mate to go along with his original creation, and its the frighteningly gauzy vision of him that hovers in Mary Shelley's dreams, forcing her to write about events that are happening too close to her present.

Through it all Bodenland acts as observer and interloper, getting involved because nobody else will, and creating a new sort of narrative inside the story we already know. The horror is present and he's trying to prevent it, because a perfect monster could ruin the world. Using the format of the Gothic novel, with letters to frame the narrative and Bodenland's voice throughout, we see it as he does, and at the same time, through a veneer of calm. The initial descriptions of the two monsters frolicking together are haunting, as is the final scenes of the novel, with Bodenland caught in a pursuit he didn't start but has to finish, as the world starts to crumble around him and the future because a distant memory set too far in his own past.

Fans of the original novel will find much to like here, especially the insights into the author and her life. The visit with her and her husband feel like an oasis of calm, a detachment from the torment of Frankstein himself, a torment that Shelley could be directing, or merely just recording. Fans of the movie may wonder why they changed so much, exchanging the metaphorical feel of the book for a more concrete sense of horror. The monster is true to the spirit of the novel, a new form of man that isn't sure what to do with his new awakening and does what any child might do, lash out and make demands. The original novel was in some part a commentary on the perils of modern science, of the risk involved when your reach exceeds your grasp. Frankenstein aims for the bleachers and winds up ruining his life in the process. Bodenland attempts to stop it and maybe wrecks the world. Everyone is caught in courses they can't divert, man and monster, science and scientist, author and novel, and if anything the book teaches you that getting what you want may not make you happy, and in fact could make it very much worse. By inserting his character into the novel, Aldiss succeeds in analyzing our relationship with the book, how it lives despite its warnings, despite its age and while his novel may not filter into history the way Shelley's nightmare has, it certainly deserves a place in the memory, for as long as memory will hold.