Mad scientist dangerous or questionable, which can make them accidental villains. The prototypical fictional mad scientist was Victor Frankenstein, creator of his eponymous monster, who made his first appearance in 1818, in the novel "Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus" by Mary Shelley. Though the novel's title character, Victor Frankenstein, is a sympathetic character, the critical element of conducting experiments that cross "boundaries that ought not to be crossed", heedless of the consequences, is present in Shelley's novel. Frankenstein was trained as both an alchemist and a modern scientist, which makes him the bridge between two eras of an evolving archetype. The book
The Modern World (novel) events and frightened of losing his closest friend, he reveals that he has begun to use the drug scolopendium once again. The Modern World (novel) The Modern World is a fantasy/science fiction novel (2007) by Steph Swainston and is the sequel to "The Year of Our War" (2004) and "No Present Like Time" (2005). "The Modern World" is published as Dangerous Offspring in the USA. The first chapter of "The Modern World" is available on Steph Swainston's website The novel is set in the Fourlands, a country in danger of being overrun by large hostile Insects, and follows the exploits