Book review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Go ahead and read the subject of this post again, because the title of the book pretty much says it all.
Seth Grahame-Smith took Jane Austen's classic & added a zombie plague to it. Because of this, the Bennet sisters all had to learn to defend themselves, which is why they were send to China to train with Shaolin Monks. That's right, the girls are kick-ass martial artists.
However, the richer nobility can afford to go to the Japan for their training and take their ninja's back to England with them as bodyguards.
So, we've got zombies terrorizing the country and ninja's to fight them, while the basic Pride & Prejudice story is still the heart of the book.
By this point you're probably either thinking "that's silly & awesome" or "that's silly & horrible". Or, as the book cover says, "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read."
Still, the book follows the original book quite faithfully. The general tone and way of writing is consistent with the old English of Jane Austen. Also, large parts of text remain unchanged by the appearance of zombies in England. Naturally, there are changes here and there, which are fun to read. I particularly liked the fact, that since Elizabeth follows the warrior code, she feels she must kill Darcy in the beginning of the book to defend her honour. Elizabeth always was a woman, who would stood up for herself, and her warrior training has only made her more independent.
I just realize, that while the book is called "and Zombies", I've been talking more about the ninja's. That's because the Zombies are more of a general nuisance. They sometimes attack and kill people and feast on brains, of course. But the Bennet girls' warrior training have more influence on their motivation, which is why I found it more interesting. Plus, ninja's are cooler than zombies.
If you enjoy a Regency romance and think that there can never be too many zombies & ninja's, then by all means I recommend to read the book. However, if you don't like historical romances, then I doubt if the zombies alone will be enough to make P&P enjoyable for you. Because no matter how many people Elizabeth beheads, it is still Pride & Prejudice.
Lonneke
Seth Grahame-Smith took Jane Austen's classic & added a zombie plague to it. Because of this, the Bennet sisters all had to learn to defend themselves, which is why they were send to China to train with Shaolin Monks. That's right, the girls are kick-ass martial artists.
However, the richer nobility can afford to go to the Japan for their training and take their ninja's back to England with them as bodyguards.
So, we've got zombies terrorizing the country and ninja's to fight them, while the basic Pride & Prejudice story is still the heart of the book.
By this point you're probably either thinking "that's silly & awesome" or "that's silly & horrible". Or, as the book cover says, "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read."
Still, the book follows the original book quite faithfully. The general tone and way of writing is consistent with the old English of Jane Austen. Also, large parts of text remain unchanged by the appearance of zombies in England. Naturally, there are changes here and there, which are fun to read. I particularly liked the fact, that since Elizabeth follows the warrior code, she feels she must kill Darcy in the beginning of the book to defend her honour. Elizabeth always was a woman, who would stood up for herself, and her warrior training has only made her more independent.
I just realize, that while the book is called "and Zombies", I've been talking more about the ninja's. That's because the Zombies are more of a general nuisance. They sometimes attack and kill people and feast on brains, of course. But the Bennet girls' warrior training have more influence on their motivation, which is why I found it more interesting. Plus, ninja's are cooler than zombies.
If you enjoy a Regency romance and think that there can never be too many zombies & ninja's, then by all means I recommend to read the book. However, if you don't like historical romances, then I doubt if the zombies alone will be enough to make P&P enjoyable for you. Because no matter how many people Elizabeth beheads, it is still Pride & Prejudice.
Lonneke