Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange

Summary – Elizabeth Bennet has just married the love of her life, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Once they embark on their wedding tour, however, Mr. Darcy begins behaving strangely, and Lizzy begins to suspect that he may regret marrying here. But whatever is troubling Mr. Darcy is not as simple as that…

Rhia’s Review – Well, if you’ve read anything else in my blog, you may already know that I love books that are spin-offs or derivations of classic literature. I also love Jane Austen. And I like Vampires. All the criteria is there. This was a really good book, even if some of the big secret is given away in the title., and I think it works very well as an unofficial Pride and Prejudice sequel. There weren’t many action scenes, but it works well for the novel considering it’s supposed to be similar to Austen. It gives a host of characters, and takes place in several beautiful locations (Like Venice. Yay!), and spends a lot of time with the society they come across.

As a historical novel, I personally give it an A, but as a vampire novel, not so much. There are really only a few aspects that give it originality in an over-vampired age, but the book sets a nice tone of mystery so there’s good regency horror ambiance. I’m just thankful Mr. Darcy doesn’t. sparkle.

The Recommendation – I’d recommend Mr Darcy, Vampyre to big fans of historical novels and Jane Austen. And If you really like vampires, you’ll probably enjoy it. If any of those isn’t your thing, I probably wouldn’t bother.

The Vitals* – Mr Darcy, Vampyre is available in paperback for $14.99.

The Links –  Amanda Grange's official website Here's a pretty book trailer

*=All prices are from Borders.com and are subject to change without notice, and without this page reflecting those changes.

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.