P & P and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith ****

The first author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is Jane Austen, as it should be. Imagine Seth Grahame-Smith loaded the classic novel into his word processors and thought, “I’m going to add some zombies.” This is the result: Austen’s plot, characters, setting, words…well…everything…but with some zombies. This fanfiction showcases Austen’s genius. Even with a smattering of zombies, the power and beauty of the original shines through.

Methodology: I had electronic copies of both the zombie version and the original. At various points, I wondered if the zombie version was different from the original. Excepting the obvious (mentions of zombies), the zombie text was copied verbatim from the original.

The Zombies: The zombies were seasonal, increasing during the warmer, wetter times when the earth was soft, and decreasing when the earth was hard. Killing these zombies required beheading and burning. Zombies moved slowly and traveled in herds from a handful to a hundred or more. They ate brains and could be lured into traps with cauliflowers. Zombies were caused by a plague and the condition was contagious.

There some minor changes. For example, Mr. Collins was fat in the zombie version.

The five Miss Bennets were all warriors trained at the Shaolin Temple in Henan Province China. Mr. Darcy and his family were trained in Japan. In one scene Elizabeth vanquishes Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s ninja by strangling him with his intestines. This is not typical. The vast majority of the book has no zombies or violence, sticking to the original.

One nice touch was the introduction of deadly arts to the many sitting room scenes. For example, instead of stereotypical female activities shown in the original, Elizabeth might sit in the corner and sharpen blades or whittle blowgun darts. One hybrid was a scene where Elizabeth demonstrates her strength by walking on her hands. Her skirts included modesty strings to attach them to her shoes when she does this.

There were very few plot modifications. Two major changes added an Old Testament sense of vengeful justice. First Mr. Collins committed suicide leaving the Bennets in control of their home. Second Mr. Darcy broke Mr. Wickham’s legs leaving him a paraplegic.

  

If you’ve never read the original, and the idea of zombies is enough to entice you, read this book and learn why two centuries of readers have been attracted to Austen. So much of Austen’s work remains that you can appreciate her work even with the minor distraction of a few zombie interludes.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations.