Zombies, zombies, everywhere!
As the leader in the newly created literary classics-monster genre, Quirk Books has created a mash-up niche to satisfy fans of all tastes. Following the success of its very first book, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Quirk has released its first original mash-up sequel, or in this case, a prequel.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls returns the reader to zombie fighting in Regency England and the Bennet family, taking place four years before the original book. The town of Hertfordshire hasn’t had a zombie infestation for a number of years and the book opens with a zombie re-awakening… and with zombies come zombie hunters.
The book focuses again on Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Lydia and Kitty, but at this time they are still “ladies” and not brutish thugs (just yet). They struggle with their initial training regimen to fight “the unmentionables,” with supervision from their father, Mr. Bennet. After years of being trained to be prim and proper, the ladies must now become lethal fighters and protect their town from being overrun by the undead. Along the way they find their true character and become battle-hardened warriors.
Several nagging thoughts after completing the book:
– It takes a bit of time to be reintroduced to familiar characters in a second book, but with all-new attitudes this time around. I did not like changing my perception of a few of them.
– The book was not written in proper English style similar to Jane Austen’s (and the original mash-up, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), so it takes the reader out of the story, somewhat. This was my only true criticism of the book, but Steve Hockensmith did a remarkable job nonetheless.
– Mr. Bennet gets a nice little backstory — though incomplete — that I enjoyed unspooling, one that leads to more questions than answers.
– The author attempts to create an epic background for familiar locations and characters, similar to that of “The Lord of the Rings,” just not as detailed.
– The conclusion revolves around a grand event, bringing together all the main characters of the story (something I’d wished happen in the original mash-up book, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies).
– This will surely become a best seller. I’m expecting the sequel to travel forward in time when the girls travel to Japan and receive their official training by Master Liu and could be the best story yet.
Rating: 3/5
This is a re-post from my previous blog. Upcoming reviews: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, Android Karenina and Apocalypse of the Dead.