Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
| Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters |
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Sense and Sensibility and Sea MonstersI was given a free copy of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by FSB Asociates for review purposes. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is a "thrill-omedy" based on the Jane Austin classic. In this world altered by Ben Winters, the world is " great burbling salt-cauldrons of death." I like my coffee, chocolate, and comedy dark and Winters' humor is dark indeed. While I had not read Winters' earlier novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, I had a good idea of what to expect and I was not disappointed. The Dashwood sisters are looking for wealthy husbands while trying to elude a gruesome death from a myriad of sea life. My favorite part was the Sub-Marine Station Beta in all of its steampunky goodness. " ... a gentle pfffft onto the sea floor, in the vast welcome garden of Sub-Marine Station Beta." The cover art is excellent; however, I am not a fan of the interior art. All in all, it's a fun read. I look forward to the next one ... K'yaloh D'argesh F'ah! Rating:  - Would have been five but...I enjoyed the story very much. There were a few typos and other such errors, but I can ignore those. The only thing that I cannot ignore is that the copy of the book I purchased is missing about 20 pages. For some reason, very near the beginning of a chapter, pages 97-128 reappear. Sadly, the missing pages do not reappear elsewhere in the book. Unfortunately, I cannot return the book to the store where I purchased it, because it was out of state. Aside from that little problem, I thought this was a great read that only a die-hard Austen purist would not enjoy. Rating: - 3.5 stars - A lot more New and a lot less Old - I like this one better than P&P&ZPlot Summary: We all know the story right? Eleanor is the sister with sense, Marianne overflows with sensibility, and in this quirky retelling, the sea monsters are everywhere. Jane Austen's beloved story has been transported to a bizarro world where Barton Cottage sits on the Isle of Pestilence, Colonel Brandon sports a tentacle beard, and the posh epicenter for the British elite is not London, but a man-made city located four miles beneath the ocean. Every creature in the sea is the enemy of mankind, but that doesn't stop the romantic fancies of the Dashwood sisters. When I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! a few months back, my biggest gripe was that too much of the original story remained untouched. I don't read these books to see what stays the same - I read them to see what is changed. I think "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters" succeeds where "P&P&Z" failed. The new plot lines are gracefully incorporated into the original story, and they are meaty enough to keep me guessing. To a reader unfamiliar with Ms. Austen's work I think the blend would be seamless, and I was impressed that Mr. Winters could keep to the spirit of Austen's story while obviously having a grand time poking fun at it as well. In a way, I think Mr. Winters succeeded in making Colonel Brandon an even more pitiable figure than was ever possible in the original. His squid-like affliction makes him an object of derision and disgust, and while his closest friends freely acknowledge his excellent qualities, they're gagging behind their hankies at his gurgling monstrosity of a face. It makes the love triangle between Brandon, Willoughby and Marianne even more believable, and at the same time it forces the story to give Brandon a more heroic task than simply carrying Marianne in from the rain. I won't say what he does, but it's safe to assume that Brandon goes to considerably greater lengths to `save' Marianne in this adaptation. I don't know if these parodies, or satires, or whatever you want to call them, will ever become classics in their own right, but they are undeniably entertaining. With the success of P&P&Z, the floodgates have opened for a host of adaptations that insert zombies, vampires, and monsters into some of our most famous classics. I think this style works particularly well with Ms. Austen's formal romantic stories, and the juxtaposition of seeing her proper regency heroines taking tea one moment and slaughtering a foul beast the next is what keeps me coming back for more. Rating: - "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters" is a winnerI avoided "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" because, well, I'm a grown woman who is scared of zombies. But I loved "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters." The author did a great job of combining the original with fanciful new material. I especially liked the way that Mr. Winters used sea monster attacks to comment on 19th century class structure. The juxtaposition of genteel conversation about marriage with poor servants being torn apart by a rampaging narwhal was priceless. I think Jane Austen would be proud of the way Mr. Winters has re-imagined her book. Rating: - Sense and Sensibility and Sea MonstersWhat happens when you combine a Regency romance with a science fiction book? The outcome surely must be similar to Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. I had a fantastic time reading this book. It has all the romance you would expect in a Regency story but is coupled with giant lobsters, pirates and hideous monsters. This is the story of the Dashwood sisters who are sent to live in a mysterious island. The island is plagued by all variety of sea monsters and strange creatures. During the course of the story, both sisters fall in love in true Regency style and are menaced by all sorts of sea monsters and of course that leads to being rescued by handsome men. This book is truly hilarious and is a fantastic combination of a classic novel and a comedy. Not only did I enjoy it, as soon as my sixteen year old daughter saw it she pronounced that several of her friends had read it and enjoyed it and the book was hers when I was done with it! 
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