Android Karenina Book Trailer

Below is the trailer for Android Karenina! Enjoy!

Android Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and Ben H. Winters

Summary from Quirk Classics.com -

As in the original novel, our story follows two relationships: the tragic adulterous romance of Anna Karenina and Count Alexei Vronsky, and the much more hopeful marriage of Nikolai Levin and Kitty Shcherbatskaya. These four, yearning for true love, live in a steampunk-inspired 19th century of mechanical butlers, extraterrestrial-worshiping cults, and airborne debutante balls. Their passions alone would be enough to consume them—but when a secret cabal of radical scientific revolutionaries launches an attack on Russian high society’s high-tech lifestyle, our heroes must fight back with all their courage, all their gadgets, and all the power of a sleek new cyborg model like nothing the world has ever seen.

Rhia’s Review – I went into this novel with little knowledge of Tolstoy, or the original novel Anna Karenina, so I really didn’t know what to expect from its being mashed with robots.  But it’s a good thing.

I really enjoyed Android Karenina, and I like how Winters was able to use the incorporation of robots to really highlight the society of the times. (Only the well-to-do are presented with their own class III companion robot.)

Without straying too far from the original storyline, Winters includes humorous robots, each with their own idiosyncrasies, despite their programming, and a much darker, conspiratorial plot, which adds some excitement to our story of Russion society. Because, let’s face it, almost all classics are better with some sort of giant monster! (Made of tentacle, rotting flesh, or metal; it doesn’t really matter!)

The Recommendation – If you’re a fan of sci-fi, humor, or steampunk-ish things, you’ll find Android Karenina worth reading! And if you’ve been keeping up with Quirk’s mash-up classics, you won’t want to miss this one!

The Contest! – Once again, the fabulous folks at Quirk are having a contest for our lovely blog readers! Just go to this link, mention RATHER BE READING, and you’ll automatically be entered to win one of 25 Quirk Prize Packs, each with a value of about $100. Each prize pack includes:

• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies:Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith
• How to Survive a Horror Move by Seth Graham-Smith
• Dracula’s Heir:An Interactive Mystery by Sam Stall
• Extreme Encounters by Greg Emmanuel
• How to Tell if Your Boyfriend is The Antichrist by Patricia Carlin
• An Android Karenina poster
• And more!

The Other Books – While I haven’t seen any mention of the next Quirk Classic (which is probably good, because it means they’re not going publish just any crazy mix of classic and monster – keep it fresh, guys!) I’m eagerly awaiting number 5. I, personally, am hoping from something based on Dumas soon. Anyone else?

The Vitals – Android Karenina goes on sale today in paperback for about $12.95.

The Links – Quirk Classics Official Website Android Karenina book page Enter the Contest!

Rather Be Reading and the Loch Ness Monster

I am currently reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, and loving them. Now, you may or may not have previously heard about Little Women and Werewolves, but this third book in the 'literary mash up trend', as it appears to be called, is stirring up some controversy. Take the article below, for example.

‘Little Women and Werewolves’: a step too far? csmonitor.com
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Now, I wouldn’t be so hard on this, and similar, novels. I, personally, am loving them, and I hope they don’t stop anytime soon. (I think it’s be great to remix some Dumas with some evil creatures.)

Okay, so, maybe the concept does have the propensity to get old. But as long as they keep things fresh and unique, it could stick around for a while. Ad if you think about it, it’s the adult equivalent to Children’s Illustrated Classics. The addition of crazy monsters makes the book more accessible to reluctant readers of classic literature, by adding concepts more appealing to them. Maybe after reading the parody, or mash up, or what have you, they’re more interested in reading the original, to compare?

I can see how some people could somehow be offended by this destruction or demeaning of a classic novel. (Which really doesn’t make that much sense, cause they didn’t write it.) It’s how the co-authors (which you notice they call themselves, as well as list their name second) pay tribute to these works. I think that if the original authors of these classic pieces of literature knew about, and understood the motives behind, these works, they would probably think it was hilarious, even appreciate that their novel was famous enough to deserve a parody.

I think this just bight be blown out of proportion a little bit. But, what do you think?

By the way, did I mention that Seth Grahame-Smith, co-author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, is currently working on a new title? Yep. It’s called Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. And I can’t wait to read it.