I received an advance copy of Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith to review on Fresh Fish and Foolishness. Scroll down, there is a link to a message board where you can post to enter you name to win some Zombie graft.
Billed as a prequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a mash-up version of Jane Austen's PandP, Dawn of the Dreadfuls is a completely original novel, using a few of the characters created by Austen.
As an Austen fan, I wasn't sure I was going to like having one of fiction's most beloved characters become a warrior. I read on though, knowing from the first page that the author wrote it with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek. He hilariously skewers English Society, with a keen eye to poking fun at every last convention of the times. The Bennets' reputation is destroyed the minute they stand against the "unmentionables", to the dismay of their very proper and high-reaching mother. The young Bennet ladies do not do what is expected of them. Balls and Lords, matrons and maidens, warriors and cowards are all easy marks for our intrepid heroine, Elizabeth.
I must admit, to imagine Austen's Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters lopping the heads off zombies is hard to reconcile at first, but Hockensmith has been able to capture a quite bit of the original Elizabeth's personality. The training the Bennet girls receive receive courtesy of their father and the mysterious and handsome Geoffrey Hawksworth is reminiscent of Daniel-son's training in the Karate Kid, or Neo in The Matrix. Hawksworth comes to the girls as the Master and teaches them all the "deadly arts" they will need if they are to face the coming invasion of the Dead.
It's kind of nice to see those nice, English lasses lose the lace and frippery and rise up and fight. The scenes between Elizabeth and her sisters are hilarious and witty - their banter provides some of the best moments in the book. I also enjoyed any chapter that featured Lord Lumpley. As you can tell by his name he is a Baron of exceeding...ummm, gentility and, shall we say, breeding. He also wears a corset.
And who could forget the gallant Captain at Arms...without arms...
Hockensmith is able to move the story along quickly, adding in a few twists along the way. Dialogue is snappy and superbly sarcastic, layered with double entendres and innuendo. He sticks with the language and writing-style of Austen's time. While he keeps most of the action lighthearted, there are a few dark moments and more than a few stomach-turning descriptions of the zombies and damage they do. When all is said and done, the author is able to re-create a familiar pastoral setting, then rip it apart.
In the end, Elizabeth and Jane discover that things are rarely what they seem, and they grow up, become grown women in a way far more humourous and over the top than the Coming-Out Ball they are set to attend. It's satisfying to see these women throw off the oppressive mantle of their time and, sword in hand, perform the graceful Leaping Leopard or the deadly Fulcrum of Doom, and take their place in the worldly ranks of fierce female fighters.
Here is the link to the message board - just post a comment with a link to this blog, and you will be entered to win a prize pack that includes a journal, a poster and other swag from the publisher.
http://www.quirkclassics.com/index.php?q=QuirkClassicsContest_DOD_Reviews
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