This Dark Endeavor

This Dark Endeavor is the first book in a planned young adult horror trilogy by Canadian author Kenneth Oppel. The book follows three friends on a quest to find the ingredients for an Elixir of Life, which main character Victor Frankenstein plans to use to save his twin brother from a terminal illness. With the help of his friends Elizabeth and Henry, Victor hopes to track down an alchemist once known for his death-defying potions to find a cure for brother Konrad. The book, published in 2011, is followed in the series by Such Wicked Intent (2012).

Twin brothers Konrad and Victor are exploring their family home with their cousin Elizabeth. Victor had sprained his ankle in an accident on their tall main stairway, and while Konrad and Elizabeth play with his wheelchair, the three discover a secret bookshelf that opens into a hidden passageway. Inside, the children find a door without a handle. Over the door, there is a riddle that reads, “Enter only with a friend's welcome.” Victor sticks his hand inside the door, screaming when what feels like a mechanical hand grabs his own. Stuck in the door, Elizabeth quickly solves the riddle, urging Victor to shake the hand that grabbed him. Victor does, and the door swings open, letting the children inside.

Once through the door, the children discover a hidden library. They flip through the pages of the books on the shelves, realizing they are full of spells in Greek and Latin. While they are searching the library, Victor and Konrad's father finds the library door open and tracks down the children inside. He is not angry, but he urges the children not to tell anyone else about their discovery.



Later, during a fencing match, Konrad faints. The family calls for a doctor, but the doctor doesn't have an answer for Konrad's mysterious illness – all he can say is that he knows it isn't the plague. Victor is enraged that the family can't find a more capable doctor, and in an attempt to find a cure for Konrad's sickness, he returns to the hidden library. In the library, he finds a recipe for an Elixir of Life, which he believes could save Konrad. Determined to find a man who can make the potion, Victor recruits Elizabeth and a close friend, Henry, to find Julius Polidori, an acclaimed local alchemist.

The children use old newspapers and a land registry to track down Julius Polidori. Once they arrive at his house, however, they are concerned – as they walk up to his shop, a man comes flying through the front window, obviously thrown out by Julius. The children enter the shop anyway, asking Polidori for help. They tell him they know about the little girl he saved from sickness with his elixirs, but Julius denies his own abilities, claiming that it was God and not science that saved the little girl. Finally, in a last ditch effort to convince Julius to help them, Victor shows the alchemist the book from the Dark Library. Curious, Julius finally agrees to help the children, taking them to his basement laboratory where they meet his pet lynx, Krake.

The children search for ingredients to help Julius Polidori concoct the elixir of life. They are attacked by a vulture and experience other strange adventures after taking “The Eye of the Wolf” potion from Polidori. Meanwhile, a doctor tests Konrad's blood and injects medicine into his veins. When the children return from their quest empty-handed, they find Konrad sitting up in bed, perfectly healthy. Despite this, the children decide to continue searching for the Elixir of Life, just in case the illness returns.



The book becomes more complicated as the story continues. It turns out that all the boys – Henry, Victor, and Konrad – have fallen in love with Elizabeth. The boys continue their quest to find the ingredients for the elixir, but their injuries convince their father to lock the library door, so they can't continue. However, after they decide to end their quest, Victor wakes up from a terrible dream that Konrad has fallen dead. When he wakes up, Konrad has passed out on the floor – it seems that his illness has come back. The children return to Polidori to find the last ingredient for the elixir, putting themselves in grave danger. They also discover that their own father, a man who banned alchemy from the local township, is actually a practicing alchemist himself. Polidori, the man whom they thought they could trust, leads the children to the last elixir ingredient but then tries to steal it for himself. Finally, the children manage to give Konrad the elixir, but he dies in his sleep the next evening despite their efforts. At the end of the book, Victor vows to see Konrad again, no matter what it takes to get him back.

Kenneth Oppel is an award-winning author of horror and fantasy books for children and young adults. Canadian by birth, he has also lived in Ireland and England, among other countries. He won the 2004 Governor General's Literary Award, a Printz Honor Award, and The Time's Children's Novel of 2005. His most well-known books are in the Silverwing and Airborn series.