Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls

When you remove the novelty from a novelty novel, you end up with something akin to "Dawn of the Dreadfuls." Mind you, there is nothing particularly wrong with Steve Hockensmith's prequel to the surprise hit of last year, "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies"--it just seems somewhat unnecessary. I will defend "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" as an ingenious experiment, but its foremost success was to meld actual Jane Austen text with a story of the undead. This is what made the experience unique and daring. Seth Grahame-Smith challenged modern readers, and horror readers at that, to revisit (or in many cases, visit for the first time) Austen's prose in an audacious new way.

As a stand alone volume, "Dawn of the Dreadfuls" is a perfectly readable, enjoyable and pleasant little book. Charting the journey of the Bennet family in the years prior to "P&P&Z," we see the rise of the unmentionables within the sleepy little countryside and the call to arms of the Bennet daughters. From frivolous schoolgirls to lethal warriors, "Dreadfuls" plays as more of a family saga. Headstrong Elizabeth is still at the forefront, but all the characters get their due. Since "Dreadfuls" isn't tied to a particular format as "P&P&Z" was, the opportunity for more zombie mayhem and bloodshed presents itself. The spectacularly staged grand finale is even reminiscent of an upscale "Night of the Living Dead."

Hockensmith does try for the tone of Austen, especially in the romantic dalliances, but not the language. Funny and irreverent as it may be (and that's a good thing), it just lacks the novelty and cleverness factor of its predecessor. In broad strokes, he stays true to the idea of the characters if not their specifics. With the deviations of behavior and this rather gruesome back-story, however, you can't really accept "Dreadfuls" as a true prequel. The two novels don't really mesh as well as one would hope. Linking them together seems more of a financial decision than an artistic one--but that's just the cynic in me talking. All in all, though, I had fun with "Dawn of the Dreadfuls," it just doesn't compel me to fight for it in the way Grahame-Smith's attempt has. And a quick mention on the graphics--as with "P&P&Z," the cover and inner illustrations are top notch!

Elizabeth, Jane, Mary, Lydia and Kitty; names so familiar and beloved to diehard Jane Austen fans. Zombies, too, are becoming quite familiar to readers of Austen prose. In Dawn of the Dreadfuls, the prequel to the popular Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, readers will discover how the girls learned to fight so valiantly, and where the zombies came from (well, sort of, we never really find out the whole story).

Dawn of the Dreadfuls gets off to a quick start. The Bennett family, as well as much of Hertfordshire, are attending the funeral of Mr. Ford, the local apothecary. But Mr. Ford doesn't want to miss out on the ceremony, so he pops up out of his casket. Actually, Mr. Ford can't quite get out because his legs were severed two days prior, thus the reason for the funeral. As Mr. Ford, now a zombie, tries to free himself from the confining space of the coffin, Mr. Bennett jumps into action, slaying the creature.

After the raucous upheaval at the funeral, Mr. Bennett realizes the zombies are coming back. It turns out he was once a member of a secret order sworn to destroy the "unmentionables," but he went astray when he failed to raise his daughters as warriors. With the return of the zombies, there's no time to lose; Mr. Bennett must train his five daughters to fight. While Mrs. Bennett is more concerned with an upcoming party, her husband cleans out the greenhouse and converts it into a dojo. Slaying 101 is about to begin.

At first, the girls, don't have the stomach or desire to fight, but when a mysterious member of the "Order," Geoffrey Hawksworth, arrives, training begins in earnest. Before long, the girls are the pride of Hertfordshire, Jane is ensconced in the house of Lord Lumpley, as protector (and target of Lumpley's lust), while Elizabeth is somewhat beguiled by Dr. Bertram Keckilpenny, a doctor intent on discovering just what zombies are thinking, or if they are thinking.

Although it might, at first, be hard to accept the prim and proper young Bennett ladies as sword wielding warriors, if you can get past that silly premise, Dawn of the Dreadfuls is a lot of fun. The action is almost non-stop, with plenty of zombie slashing, all leading up to a big battle at the end.

While there is talk of Lizzy's coming out party and a bit of old-fashioned wooing, that's about where the similarities with the original story end. Mr. Bennett and his girls stray far from the characters of Austen's pen with only the dotting Mrs. Bennett and Mrs. Hill staying relatively true to form. It is the male characters (based on those from the original book), however, that really make this book shine. From the self-absorbed Richard George Saunders-Castleton Harper-Milford Norman-Stilton-Harrowby Lumpley II, aka Lord Lumpley, to the limbless Captain Cannon, who gets pushed around in a wheelbarrow and uses two soldiers, "Left Limb" and "Right Limb" to do his bidding ("Limbs! Embrace the lady!"), the gentlemen in this story add personality and laughter.

If you're a diehard Austen fan who savors every word she wrote, Dawn of the Dreadfuls may not be the right book for you. If, however, you relish alternative fiction, and like plenty of action, humor, and smart English girls outsmarting their gentlemen counterparts, grab a copy of Dawn of the Dreadfuls before they're all sold out.

Quill says: Quirky, bizarre, irreverent, gory, Dawn of the Dreadfuls is also a heck of a lot of fun!

Let's start off with some reviewer honesty, here. I've never been fond of Zombie stories, or movies. C'mon, who could be afraid of something that walks with the efficiency of a two-toed sloth, while shedding body parts. More than once, I've shouted, 'don't scream---just run.' Now Vampires, my favorite creatures of the night, they're a different story. You can't run from them---and they can be so darn seductive, too. Not so with gooey, smelly, Zombies. Ugh!

Now you know why I've avoided Seth Grahame-Smith's work, to which 'Dawn of the Dreadfuls' is the prequel. Then destiny unfolded and Hockensmith's work was a Vine offering. My curiosity was piqued by the brilliant cover art. I hesitantly made the selection with limited expectations. Zombie's aside, I wasn't quite sure how I'd feel about anyone messing with Ms. Austen's masterpiece, P&P. I was prepared to be the worst critic.

I'm here to confess that, 'Dawn of the Dreadfuls,' was some of the most fun my free-child has had, in a long time. It was nothing like I expected. From the moment that dear Mr. Ford becomes an animated cadaver, at his own funeral, the action starts and there is scarcely a dull moment.

All of the characters are well developed and delightful, but the Bennett girls steal the show, particularly Lizzy. The girls experience many of the societal ills witnessed in P&P---that of a patriarchal society with strict social and moral boundaries. As in P&P, the girls were content to spend countless hours primping, daydreaming and searching for the perfect suitor. Of course, Mrs. Bennett is in typical form, pushing them toward higher social status. Then suddenly, their lives change. They have to put down the embroidery needles, stop preening, and pick up weapons, much to the chagrin of the town locals. Nope, war was NOT a woman's place!

The serene English countryside becomes cluttered with the undead, as the reader is introduced to a host of secondary characters cleverly driving the plot. The dialogue is witty and charming, with some romance and nail-biting moments; some with an accompanying illustration. There are several unexpected twists and turns with the ending culminating in a bloody crescendo. Everyone doesn't get out alive, and, some not all in one piece, so it didn't cop for a saccharine ending.

Grab this one and have fun. I know I sure did. Personally, I think Ms. Austen would giggle, if she could see her girls enjoying such empowerment.

I think I may have enjoyed this prequel even better than Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I think freeing himself from an already well known plot worked well for this author. It had the feel of a Jane Austen book in speech and mannerisms, but lost the expectation of BEING Pride and Prejudice. I could see the original characters clearly in their representation in this book. The only flaw was that it was hard to get emotionally involved with the love interests in the book as we clearly knew the girls would end up with none of them. I must admit, I really liked his backstory regarding the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Bennett and why they treat each other the way they do.

Such a deliciously quirky premise should be deftly handled and true to the original, or it just slides into drivel. Although this promising idea had a pretty solid beginning, it very quickly did the sliding. It's NOT HARD to mimic the voice of a 19th century heroine if you've read more than one Jane Austin novel. To willfully ignore the way people spoke, to flout the courtesies they gave and expected, to use bad grammar and awkward syntax just makes the book heavy going and ultimately impossible to read.

Too bad. Great idea.