Category: monsters

Steampunking Austen

So, I finished Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters a few days ago. I have to say, I enjoyed this even more than Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters has a society that was much more altered from the original (I imagine, not having read it), and which was much more steampunk, and humorous, than I expected. Lots of boats, pirates, monsters, strange chants, various animal attacks, experiments, underground cities, and trained mutant lobsters. With some old-fashioned morality and “proper” behaviour thrown in.

And of course, there’s various mysterious sub-plots, the solution only revealed at the end, which hints about pop up throughout the book.
I don’t want to say much more, so I don’t ruin the fun of discovering the contents. I’d definitely recommend giving this one a go!

The sea monsters, the sea monsters!

You know, I’m really, really enjoying Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. I know even less about the actual story of this than I did about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but I really son’t think it matters. I seriously doubt that homicidal sea creatures, massive domed submarine living quarters, mysterious island-dwelling, mountain-worshipping semi-humans, and regular battles with sealife featured in the original book!

And you know what? I don’t care! On its own, this is a fun, and funny book! I have no idea how the in depth conversations on who feels what for who fit into the original, and whether polite society included women who had been stolen form their native lands in burlap sacks, and forced to be wives to seafaring adventurers were in there (I have a sneaking suspicion not…), but to read about two ladies maintaining the niceties of conversation while being attacked in a canoe by the Fang-Beast certainly amused me!
About half-way through now…oh, who will win the hearts of these lovely ladies? What man will be theirs? And will he have the facial appendages of a squid? Who can tell!

Seamonster time!

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters arrived on Thursday, so I shall be launching into that at some point soon. Have read the first few pages, and am already enjoying it: the final message of a man mauled by a tiger shark, written on a beach with a bit of driftwood while his face is held in place…that’s my sorta Regency romance! 🙂

Oh, and Quirk Books (the publisher) posted a comment on an earlier post, and say they’re announcing the third in this series of mashups at the end of the month…will be keen to see what they have in store next!