Part Frankentstein, with a heavy dose of the Jewish Golem myth, with murder and personal identity thrown into the mix of Victorian England, and you’ve got Jennifer Giesbrecht’s The Monster of Elendhaven.
Debut author Jennifer Giesbrecht paints a darkly compelling fantasy of revenge in The Monster of Elendhaven, a dark fantasy about murder, a monster, and the magician who loves both.
The city of Elendhaven sulks on the edge of the ocean. Wracked by plague, abandoned by the South, stripped of industry and left to die. But not everything dies so easily. A thing without a name stalks the city, a thing shaped like a man, with a dark heart and long pale fingers yearning to wrap around throats. A monster who cannot die. His frail master sends him out on errands, twisting him with magic, crafting a plan too cruel to name, while the monster’s heart grows fonder and colder and more cunning.
These monsters of Elendhaven will have their revenge on everyone who wronged the city, even if they have to burn the world to do it.
The novella begins with Johann who washes ashore on the downtrodden shores of Elendhaven. Johann, you could say, was metaphorically birthed on that opening page, he had little to no awareness of who he was before, but he soon learns of his own dark inclinations. Fortunately for Johann an accountant named Florian Leikenbloom is not too far from where Johann washes up and the accountant is kind enough to take Johann into his home.
Of course, since this is a horror story, Florian Leikenbloom is more than just a mere accountant, he practices magic. He comes from a long-lived family, once high in stature in Elendhaven. The two men strike up a partnership, Leikenbloom utilizing his powers of persuasion, while Johann’s inclination towards dark acts of violence are put to use in Leikenbloom’s plot of revenge to reclaim his family’s stature. They are the original builders Elendhaven, but in the intervening years, the family’s name no longer has the gloss it once had. Leikenbloom is also desperate to see his deceased sister again, and these interwoven threads of despair and longing drive almost all of Leikenbloom’s actions.
As these two go about their plotting, a third primary character emerges, the mage hunter Kanya. Magic is frowned upon in the London-esque Elendhaven, as it turns out. She isn’t quite as developed as Johann and Florian, but she does hold a place of power.
There’s a strange relationship between Florian and Johann, not exactly co-dependent, but something along those lines. Johann teases Florian throughout much of their time together in the narrative, in playful, sexual manner. Their relationship doesn’t go beyond that, but the uncomfortable tension continues along a tightrope through much of this short novel.
Giesbrecht has a very magnetic voice, whether it is in Johann’s voice or the story as a whole. The Monster of Elendhaven was a tough story to set aside, and despite the relatively thin nature (just over 150 pages), there is quite a punch to everything. She has also built up an interesting, intriguing mythology about the city of Elendhaven with a goddess of the ocean (Hallandrette) playing a central role. In some ways, I was reminded of Dark City or Se7en because of the nature of the setting – it is extremely familiar (Victorian England), but little outside of the city is mentioned. It is almost as if the city of Elendhaven is a world unto itself.
This is a perfect Halloween read with the dark nature of the story, it is a monster story, after all. An impressive debut, without a doubt. There’s a hint of more potential stories featuring Johann, whether Jennifer Giesbrecht decides to share more of his story or any additional dark tales, I will be happy to read.
Recommended
© 2019 Rob H. Bedford
September 2019 | Hardcover | 160 Pages
Sample Chapter: https://www.tor.com/2019/06/04/read-the-first-chapter-from-the-monster-of-elendhaven/
http://jennifergiesbrecht.com/
Review copy courtesy of the publisher
