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Wednesday, January 6, 2010
title: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!
author: Seth Grahame-Smith
genre: fiction/humor
published: 2009
pages: 319
first line: It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in posession of brains must be in want of more brains.
rated: 4 out of 5
As soon as I heard about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies I knew I had to read it. I'm a Jane Austen fan and i'm picky with Austen related spinoffs, but this book definitely grabbed my attention.
This book starts off just like Pride & Prejudice, with the Bennet sisters living in a quaint little home with thier meddling mother trying to get them married off. However, in this version of the story, there are zombies...a.k.a....'unmentionables', roaming the Earth. Lizzy and her sisters are skilled in the fighting styles of the Kyoto masters in order to kill the undead. Lizzy uses her sword, the Katana, to slay zombies.
She meets the proud Mr.Darcy at a ball, and is turned off by his arrogance. She gets really upset when she overhears him say that she is not handsome enough to tempt him.
As Mr. Darcy walked off, Elizabeth felt her blood turn cold. She had never in her life been so insulted. The warrior code demanded she avenge her honour. Elizabeth reached down to her ankle, taking care not to draw attention. There, her hand met the dagger concealed beneath her dress. She meant to follow this proud Mr.Darcy outside and slid open his throat.
Soon enough Mr. Collins enters the scene and insists on courting Lizzy. Then of course Wickham makes his appearance with his false tales and trash talk about Darcy. And before you know it, the proud and handsome Mr. Darcy, (one of my favorite characters in literature), is saving the day. But not before Elizabeth drop kicks him when he proposes to her for the first time, 'against his better judgement'.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies had me laughing from page one. Who knew that adding zombies to Pride & Prejudice could be fun? I really liked the illustrations throughout the book. The questions for discussion at the end of the book are a riot as well.
I recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a book with a funky twist. Pride & Prejudice is among my favorite classics, and as for myself I didn't mind the zombies added here just for fun. However, I can imagine it's all a matter of taste, some die hard Austen fans might not appreciate this one at all. Some of the scenes were actually really gory.
Here's a few of my favorite tidbits:
To her horror, she was instead met by the grasp of a zombie who had been trapped beneath the carriage. Her leg caught in its bony fingers, she screamed as the creatures's teeth broke her skin. She was able to free herself and continue to Longbourn, but Hell's dark business had been carried out.
"I don't have long Elizabeth. All I ask is that my final months be happy ones, and that I be permitted a husband who will see to my proper Christian beheading and burial."
"I beg your pardon, I will try again. I am a warrior, madam: survivor of the thirty six chambers of Shaolin, beholder of the scrolls of Gan Xian Tan. I do not seek love, and at present, I am not in love with Mr. Wickham; though, he is, beyond all comparison, the most agreeable man I ever saw-in form, character, and musketry."
