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Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls

What do you get when you cross Jane Austen with Night of the Living Dead?  Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith (and Jane Austen).  That was the mashup that Quirk books brought to us last year and this year, they are doing it again.  Were you ever curious how the Bennet sisters became such warriors and where they learned to fight the unmentionables?  On March 23rd, you can journey back to England in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls.  PPZ: DotD takes place four years prior to the events in PPZ.  The Bennet sisters are busy filling their days with reading, gardening, and daydreaming about their future husbands when a small outbreak tears their simple and proper lives apart.  Follow the sister’s on their journey through martial arts training in their father’s dojo with Master Hawksworth, their trainer in the deadly art of zombie slaying.

While PPZ was a mash up of the Jane Austen work Pride and Prejudice with added zombie goodness, PPZ: DotD is a novel based upon the mash up.  Written by author Steve Hockensmith, an award winning novelist and reporter, the story is not chained down by Jane Austen’s writing and he is free to traverse throughout the story as he sees fit.  He remains true, however, to the characters and the ideals of the time and the setting.  Readers will enjoy how each Bennet sister comes into her own emerging into the world not only as women but as warriors.  The story is reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and shares similarities to Luke Skywalker’s Jedi training with Yoda in Dagobah in Empire Strikes Back.

Zombie fans can rest assured that there is plenty of zombie slaying goodness throughout the book mixed in with all the comical and tender moments between the Bennet sisters.  They live in a world where traditionally the men go to battle and the women need not worry themselves over such matters.  It simply isn’t proper.  But these girls step up to the challenges ahead, battling not only the undead but also the living, judging society that they live in.

The story is a tad bit shorter than PPZ and is probably going to be a much easier read for some.  Overall, it’s a delightful read and while it may not appeal to everyone it’s definitely worth checking out.  Unlike PPZ‘s 85% Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith’s 15%, PPZ: DotD only takes the spirit of the Jane Austen novels and no where near as seriously.  If you were afraid to read PPZ because of too much Jane Austen, then PPZ: DotD will be a much more enjoyable read.  I think that fans of the first book will still like this one just as much, if not a bit more.

Do you want your very own copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls?
Then check out Quirk’s PPZ: DotD website to sign up for your chance to win on of 50 Quirk Classics Prize Packs!  Each pack includes:

• An Advance copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls
• Audio Books of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
• A password redeemable online for sample audio chapters of Dawn of the Dreadfuls
• An awesome Dawn of the Dreadfuls poster
• A Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Journal
• A box set of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Postcards.

This awesome prize is worth more than $100 and all you have to do is head into the message boards and tell them where you read the review.  Tell them Zombie Watch Network sent you!  Good luck!

Tags: Bennet, Contest, pride and prejudice, pride and prejudice and zombies, Quirk Books, Steve Hockensmith, zombies