Ben H. Winters teams up with Leo Tolstoy (from beyond the grave) to bring us his soon to be classic steampunk novel, Android Karenina, through the publishing house of Quirk Classics. You may recognize Mr. Winters from his previous work with Quirk Classics, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters which he wrote with the assistance of Jane Austen.
Anna Karenina is a woman with an above average life. She has is married to a man of means, has a son, and appears for all intents and purposes to have it all. This is not the case. Anna, though she does not initially realize it, lacks love. Her husband is a good man, but he is undemonstrative, even cold toward her. Enter the handsome Count Vronsky who highlights that lack in her life and even strives to fill it. If it were not for the robots and the aliens, this would seem like a 19th Century romance.
Aren't we glad Ben added robots and aliens?
Android Karenina is Anna's Class III, a robotic companion created to be there for her every waking moment and make her life easier. The android cannot talk, but is programmed to glow to enhance the look of her mistress's outfits and provides emotional support whenever necessary. She is Anna's closest friend and confidante. Every major adult character in the book has a Class III available to them. Count Vronsky has a mechanical wolf. Anna's husband, Alexei, has a very unique Class III in that it is embedded in his face and linked to his brain.
This is not a good thing.
Besides the Class IIIs, which serve as companions to humans, there are Class Is and Class IIs. Class I's and IIs are not so much robots as mechnical devices, like the coffee pot (Samovar) and the electric shaver.
Now as for the aliens...I really do not know what to say about the aliens without giving away too much, so I will say this: Yes, there are aliens and they are important. You will just have to read the book to find out how and why. Pay close attention whenever they start talking about the Honored Guests.
So, to recap, Android Karenina is a sort of romance with robots and aliens. All that adds up to a fun read to me. Probably for you too if you're reading this blog.
In celebration of the book release, Quirk Classics is once again offering prize packs. Each person is eligible to win one of 25 prize packs worth nearly $100. The pack includes:
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith [My review of PPZ:DotD]
How to Survive a Horror Movie by Seth Grahame-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!!
Just check out the Quirk Classics message board and mention my blog [Creative Chaos] to enter to win.
Disclosure: Written in exchange for a review copy of the book
Showing posts with label Quirk Classics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quirk Classics. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls: Regency England with zombies, the prequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I admit to finding myself caught up with just the thought. Jane Austen, provided she is still resting peacefully, is probably rolling over in her grave. No, wait, she did that already when they wrote Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and put her name on it. So undoubtedly she’s done with the spinning and started with the smashing her way out of the coffin to join the others in the search for brains. I must admit, before I go any further, to a personal dislike for Jane Austen fostered by having to read her a bit too often throughout my academic career. This dislike was so strong that I found myself wanting to dislike this book in spite of the promised zombies and my curiosity as to how author Stephen Hockensmith would manage to liven up this dreadfully boring period in history.
Hockensmith makes two promises to his reader in the first two sentences. One: Propriety will be center stage. Two: It will be sharing that stage with a zombie. Personally, I think he keeps both of those promises extremely well. Despite my aforementioned distaste for Jane Austen, I found the book to be irrepressibly funny, capably poking fun in the direction of propriety at every turn and yet managing still not to turn the book into a complete farce. His wit consistently shines through and makes what could otherwise be a dull plodding read into a minor laugh riot.
As with all Jane Austen novels, or those of that vein, a strong female main character is required. For Dawn of the Dreadfuls, that heroine is Elizabeth Bennet, the second of the five Bennet girls. Up until the opening of our story, and the unfortunate events of the funeral of Mr. Ford, these five girls (Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Lydia, and Kitty) lived the expected lives of those of their station. They learned needlepoint and went to dances, ever encouraged by their mother to try and make the best match possible to elevate their family further up the social ladder. Then Mr. Ford crawls out of his coffin and smashes their quiet lives to shambles.
Mr. Bennet is forced to press his daughters into the service he has been avoiding, that of zombie slayers. Or rather, the dreadfuls as no self-respecting English lady would use the “Zed word”. Enter young Master Hawksworth, the teacher who will turn the Bennet girls into the fighters they were meant to be by right of birth and one of the two men who will vie for Elizabeth’s affections. This is a novel based on Jane Austen, you knew there was going to be some kind of romantic entanglement in here somewhere. He is a staunch, hard-headed, and proud fellow who turns out to be less than he appears though manages to redeem himself quite admirably in the end. His opponent, Dr. Keckilpenny, the absent minded professor who wishes to see the Dreadfuls brought down by the keen scientific English mind as opposed to the Eastern barbarism that Hawskworth represents. I would love to tell you how it all turns out, but that would take all the fun out of reading.
Add in the ladies and gentlemen who turn up their noses only to begrudgingly admit they need help and one lecherous nobleman to feed to the brain deprived masses and you have quite a story. One I fully intend to read over and over again until the pages start falling out of the book.
Dawn of the Dreadfuls is brought to you by Quirk Classics.
Don’t go yet, we’re not done. Quirk Classics wants to show their love to those who find their work through bloggers by offering a chance at one of fifty Quirk Classic Prize Packs. Just go to their public forum (http://www.quirkclassics.com/index.php?q=QuirkClassicsContest_DOD_Reviews) and mention my blog [Creative Chaos]. Share your thoughts and you could get:
You give Quirk a few minutes of your time and they give you a hundred plus dollars worth of swag. Sounds like a fair trade to me. Wish I could take part, but I am blogging about it. Go now, go quick, go share!
Hockensmith makes two promises to his reader in the first two sentences. One: Propriety will be center stage. Two: It will be sharing that stage with a zombie. Personally, I think he keeps both of those promises extremely well. Despite my aforementioned distaste for Jane Austen, I found the book to be irrepressibly funny, capably poking fun in the direction of propriety at every turn and yet managing still not to turn the book into a complete farce. His wit consistently shines through and makes what could otherwise be a dull plodding read into a minor laugh riot.
As with all Jane Austen novels, or those of that vein, a strong female main character is required. For Dawn of the Dreadfuls, that heroine is Elizabeth Bennet, the second of the five Bennet girls. Up until the opening of our story, and the unfortunate events of the funeral of Mr. Ford, these five girls (Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Lydia, and Kitty) lived the expected lives of those of their station. They learned needlepoint and went to dances, ever encouraged by their mother to try and make the best match possible to elevate their family further up the social ladder. Then Mr. Ford crawls out of his coffin and smashes their quiet lives to shambles.
Mr. Bennet is forced to press his daughters into the service he has been avoiding, that of zombie slayers. Or rather, the dreadfuls as no self-respecting English lady would use the “Zed word”. Enter young Master Hawksworth, the teacher who will turn the Bennet girls into the fighters they were meant to be by right of birth and one of the two men who will vie for Elizabeth’s affections. This is a novel based on Jane Austen, you knew there was going to be some kind of romantic entanglement in here somewhere. He is a staunch, hard-headed, and proud fellow who turns out to be less than he appears though manages to redeem himself quite admirably in the end. His opponent, Dr. Keckilpenny, the absent minded professor who wishes to see the Dreadfuls brought down by the keen scientific English mind as opposed to the Eastern barbarism that Hawskworth represents. I would love to tell you how it all turns out, but that would take all the fun out of reading.
Add in the ladies and gentlemen who turn up their noses only to begrudgingly admit they need help and one lecherous nobleman to feed to the brain deprived masses and you have quite a story. One I fully intend to read over and over again until the pages start falling out of the book.
Dawn of the Dreadfuls is brought to you by Quirk Classics.
Don’t go yet, we’re not done. Quirk Classics wants to show their love to those who find their work through bloggers by offering a chance at one of fifty Quirk Classic Prize Packs. Just go to their public forum (http://www.quirkclassics.com/index.php?q=QuirkClassicsContest_DOD_Reviews) and mention my blog [Creative Chaos]. Share your thoughts and you could get:
An advance copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls
Audio copies of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies & Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
An online password redeemable for sample audio chapters of Dawn of the Dreadfuls
An awesome Dawn of the Dreadfuls Poster
A Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Journal
A box set of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies postcards.
You give Quirk a few minutes of your time and they give you a hundred plus dollars worth of swag. Sounds like a fair trade to me. Wish I could take part, but I am blogging about it. Go now, go quick, go share!
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