No, I've not gone off my rocker. Not yet. I've been reading a new book. A book in, what I consider to be a bold, daring style. It is Steve Hockensmith's new novel, "Dawn of the Dreadfuls". It will likely have all of those stuffy, purist Jane Austen fans sniffing their smelling salts and hurling tea cozies. Technically, this novel has nothing to do with Miss Austen, but rather, serves as a sort of prequel to Seth Grahame-Smith's rousing rendition of an Austen classic, "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies". (Naturally, that last bit is not original Austen.)
Those of you with no imaginations can go ahead and roll your eyes. (I'll wait...) However, I find this idea absolutely brilliant. Just think about how many people will pick these books up when they would never in their lives consider reading Jane Austen, herself. Especially teens. Granted, it HAS been awhile since I was in school, but I remember having to read books of our own choosing for class. How many teenage boys would want to read "Pride & Prejudice"? Exactly, but you add in some zombies and martial arts, and they might actually ENJOY it. Then, there are the movie possibilities! I sense a perfect date movie in the making. Frilly dresses and balls for her. The undead and brain-eating for him. Magical."Dawn of the Dreadfuls" (DOD) is a smashing success, in my humble opinion. What begins as a shocking occurrence at a local funeral quickly turns the Bennet household upside down. Having been blessed with five lovely daughters and no sons, Mr. Bennet worries for his family's future should the "incident" happen to herald the coming of many more "dreadfuls", as they are called in polite society. Having been a veteran of the first battle against such horrors, Mr. Bennet, much to Mrs. Bennet's dismay, decides sacrificing his daughters' position in society is well worth the price if the training he thrusts upon them is successful. Training in the deadly arts.
The girls, being well brought up, initially have a difficult time accepting their fate. When a mysterious man shows up claiming to be a "master" sent to train them, things really begin to change for the Bennet sisters. In spite of lovely Jane's reluctance to partake of such tasks, and Kitty and Lydia's whispering and giggling, the master manages to push them all to become fearsome warriors. It takes skill to fight the dreadfuls in a dress, after all!
When word comes that a mere one hundred men are all the army will be sending, things seem dire, indeed. The living seem too frightened to take up arms, while the dead crawl from the earth in greater numbers each day. Even with all of their training, will Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters be able to put an end to this plague before it wipes out the entire town?
As I said before, I believe this novel is brilliant. Refreshing and original, in spite of the stench of rotting flesh. I look forward to many more of these twisted-classics from Quirk in the future! I wish I could spend an afternoon hanging out with these authors. Now, THAT would be delightful! Keep up the good work! For more information, please click on the title of this post and protect your head (just kidding about the head part). Thanks!
