Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters

Book Overview

New York Times bestseller

An uproarious tale of romance, heartbreak, and tentacled mayhem inspired by the classic Jane Austen novel--from the publisher of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters expands the original text of the beloved Jane Austen novel with all-new scenes of giant lobsters, rampaging octopi, two-headed sea serpents, and other biological monstrosities. As our story opens, the Dashwood sisters are evicted from their childhood home and sent to live on a mysterious island full of savage creatures and dark secrets. While sensible Elinor falls in love with Edward Ferrars, her romantic sister Marianne is courted by both the handsome Willoughby and the hideous man-monster Colonel Brandon. Can the Dashwood sisters triumph over meddlesome matriarchs and unscrupulous rogues to find true love? Or will they fall prey to the tentacles that are forever snapping at their heels?

This masterful portrait of Regency England blends Jane Austen's biting social commentary with ultraviolent depictions of sea monsters biting. It's survival of the fittest--and only the swiftest swimmers will find true love!

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1594744424
• ISBN13: 9781594744426
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Quirk Books
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A must read

This book was amazing from start to finish, I highly recommend it!

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

What 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!

"Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters" is a winner

I 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.

Not by the Tendrils on my chinny chin chin

I've never been a Jane Austin fan but I've had to read a lot of Jane Austin books throughout the years. I've also had to take a look at movies made with the Jane Austin feel, and I have always wanted a little bit more. So, when the first of the Austin mock-ups came up, i was happy to see that zombies made the tale better. And now, with the addition of sea monsters, I have found myself enjoying yet another book that adds something new to the classical tales I never really wanted to read. In the Austin books, there were perfect places to add tragedy. Enter a set of writers with a humor streak and you have something beautiful - a book that has depth (or depths - depending on how you want to look at it). I has high praise for the authors that came up with the idea to take something that people have cherished for a long time and add in some strange times that make a person laugh. A captain that has a little stubble in the form of Cthulhu-like goodness, illustrations that show how the waters have a personality of their own, and a love story that is, in many ways, a mix between a create-feature and the Jane of yore. I enjoyed the way the book strove to give me a lot of what like in books, too, with monsters popping up here and there and terrors that are more like little jokes that something truly horrific. I'm not sure how this would set with an Austin fan - this or the zombie tale - but that wasn't the target audience so it doesn't matter. What matters is that monster lovers would like this, and they can be given a break from all the things that they were handed down in the English classes that admonished tales that omitted other classics like those from Lovecraft, Clark, and a myriad of others. For people looking for a classic with twists, this is a good place to journey. Granted, it certainly isn't the book that started out like it was intended, but those books really weren't for me. Many people would think this way as well, taking their skills and making something that is good for laughs and that adds in something that I personally enjoyed a lot. For fans of mock-ups like this, this books would be one that you might well enjoy. you can always find portions of it to look over all around the electronic ether, so see what you think and decide from there. It does have its flaws, most things do, but this book does a great job in accomplishing what it set out to accomplish. Either way, I recommend the read as something that will keep you reading and laughing, wondering all-the-while if Austin would see the humor in what the authors have created.

AAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaargh!

Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters takes the only Jane Austen novel that kind of drags, and interweaves all of her tidy prose with really imaginative and silly horror. The conceit is that every sea creature, from minnows and oysters on up to lobsters, tuna, and the great Leviathan, is homicidally carnivorous. Bath is deliciously recast as a steampunk undersea domed city. The interpolations come mid-scene and mid-sentence, riding along with the plot without changing it. It's gory and gross and scary, but in a totally comfortable way: you know in advance that no one will die (liberties are taken with a couple of very minor characters), and everyone will be married off in the end.

awesome!

well i didn't finish the book as of yet, but so far its a book that i can not put down. How they mix all the sea monster into the classic jane austen book are fantastic.