Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.

-Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

I am not a zombie person. I know there are some people who really geek out over them, but the only pop culture zombie exposure I can recall is my viewing of Shaun of the Dead (which I enjoyed, but also probably would have benefited from a greater zombie love on my part). Oh, and I believe there was an episode of The X-Files as well.

However, I am definitely a Pride and Prejudice person. I couldn't put down the book the first time I read it, in high school. I own the acclaimed miniseries and even enjoyed, to a lesser extent, the more recent film version (minus the awful ending).

When I first heard about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, I was intrigued - despite my lack of interest in zombies in other situations, I couldn't fight the amusing possibilities of such incongruity. The premise is simple (the title pretty much says it all, no?): it's everything you remember from Pride and Prejudice, with the addition of a plague of "manky dreadfuls" terrorizing the country. Elizabeth Bennet, already one of literature's most independent-minded heroines, is a natural fit as an accomplished warrior defending England against the undead. Mr. Darcy, naturally, is quite an able warrior himself. Their romance plays out much as it always has, except with more mentions of succulent brains. There are also ninjas involved.

This book could have been just a clever concept that lost steam quickly, but I thought it turned out quite well. I was entertained throughout, although I did wince a bit at some of the additions (must Elizabeth relish the idea of holding a still-beating heart so?). I also found that Grahame-Smith was able to establish the premise to such an extent that it flowed rather well, which made his occasional crude jokes a bit confusing: Elizabeth tying modesty strings around her dress when standing on her head = appropriate; Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy sharing knowing looks during sexual innuendo = inappropriate. Or perhaps that's just me. It's just a small point, really - overall, it was quite fun.

Next up: Well, I'm a bit behind as I was out of town for the weekend. (I know, the horror.) I read the 4th Percy Jackson book, so I will try to review that in the next day or so. I have a few choices for my next read, so perhaps it will be a surprise...well, until the Percy Jackson review at least.