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    Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
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    Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
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    Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
    Ebook499 pages7 hours

    Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

    By Jane Austen, Ben H. Winters and Eugene Smith

    3/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    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!
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRandom House Publishing Group
    Release dateSep 15, 2009
    ISBN9781594744655
    Unavailable
    Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
    Author

    Jane Austen

    Jane Austen was born in 1775 in rural Hampshire, the daughter of an affluent village rector who encouraged her in her artistic pursuits. In novels such as Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma she developed her subtle analysis of contemporary life through depictions of the middle-classes in small towns. Her sharp wit and incisive portraits of ordinary people have given her novels enduring popularity. She died in 1817.

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    Reviews for Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

    3/5

    366 ratings42 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This book wonderfully combined sea monsters with an Austen classic. I loved it and enjoy the entire series of Quirk Books new spin on the old favorites.
    • 4/5
      In Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, Ben H. Winters reworks Jane Austen's classic novel into a tale with monsters, steampunk elements, and a touch of H.P. Lovecraft. The basic plot follows that of Austen's novel, focusing on the Dashwood sisters, but they find themselves living in England after the Alteration, when all the life of the sea has grown hostile to humanity and giant mutations of common sea creatures stalk the ocean and the shore. Some of Winters' more interesting additions include Sub-Marine Station Beta, a giant undersea domed city in which British scientists work to tame the newly-aggressive denizens of the deep while the more cosmopolitan members of English society enjoy a higher standard of living than those on land. The city evokes aspects of Jules Verne and Eugene Smith's interior illustration is magnificent. Recalling H.P. Lovecraft, one of the Dashwood sisters finds herself attracted to a mystery on the island on which the family vacations and begins chanting in a strange, guttural language. She joins a group living in caves that worship "a pantheon of cruel and hidden monster-gods called the K'yaloh. The K'yaloh were an ancient race, older than man, older than beast, older than the Alteration, older than time itself. They laid in slumber, waiting for the day of waking. When they woke, all that we know would be destroyed" (pg. 331). These elements notwithstanding, Winter's Austen-pastiche retains less of the original compared to Seth Grahame-Smith's Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Due to that, it seems a parody of itself. Fans of the first Quirk Classics book will likely enjoy this, but it newcomers may not want to read this one first.
    • 3/5
      I absolutely loved Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but I didn't feel the same way about Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. I feel like SSS strayed too far from the original story line and that the characters didn't stay true to the originals. The world created in this book should honestly be it's own story, with original characters instead of Austen's. There were a lot of scenes with crazy things going on where people flat out ignored the danger around them and it made the scenes feel half finished. Still worth reading if you're a big Austen fan, but I'd recommend PPZ instead.
    • 4/5
      This is a very silly book and I must have been in the mood for silly because I enjoyed it all very much!
    • 1/5
      With much effort, made it about halfway through... just couldn't see the point of wasting my time anymore listening to this story. If I could give it zero stars, I would. I am very open to reading fan fiction of Jane Austen's P&P, but couldn't handle potential abuse of such a good story, so, in an effort of dabbling in shallow waters, I tried this S&S version. YUCK!
    • 5/5
      If you are a Jane Austen fan, and a fan of cheesy sci-fi, this book was essentially written for you. The book stays fairly true to the overall plot of Sense and Sensibility, following the displaced Dashwood sisters on the ultimate quest for marriage. Only with killer sea creatures.
    • 1/5
      Gave up on this one about 1/3 of the way through. I enjoyed PP&Z but this is just not good.
    • 1/5
      Found this on the library's OverDrive system (under non-fiction, bizarrely) and thought I'd give it a go, even though I generally shy away from the Jane Austen-sequel sort of books with which the market seems to be awash. I'm at page 171 out of 300-odd and I don't think I'm going to be able to get to the end of it. The only bits I'm enjoying are the original bits of Sense and Sensibility - so I'd really be better off going back to read that. Just not my thing.
    • 3/5
      Great twist on Sense and Sensibility; the humor and horror were greatly appreciated. There were some very slow parts that I almost couldn't make myself read, but most of the novel kept my attention. Good book to get a laugh from, but not for fans of the classics who enjoy a more serious tone. Would recommend to friends.
    • 4/5
      It's really hard to appropriately review this book. There is just too much crazy here! Much like I found with "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies," there is just so much bizarre that it works. I love the originals and thus you'd think I'd find these offensive, or at least too weird to enjoy, but I don't.Somehow, the author managed to seamlessly weave sea monsters into it. I can't like what he did to Brandon, precisely, since Colonel Brandon is my favorite character but he made up for it, both for Brandon and to others.So, despite being ridiculous beyond ridiculous, I thoroughly enjoyed this story.
    • 3/5
      While I generally enjoy the historical lit/horror mash-up genre, I was a little disappointed in this book.I didn't really understand the back story of why the sea creatures were suddenly evil and out to kill humans. And I especially didn't get why humans would still go around them like it wasn't a big deal. In P&P&Z the Bennett sisters are trained to kill the Dreadfuls, but in S&S&SM no one seems to know how to handle these foes, and their attacks seem comical to me.By the end I was just skipping the bits that dealt with sea monsters just to finish it once and for all!
    • 3/5
      After reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and loving it, I was really excited to get my hands on this book. It's not quite as good as P&P&Z, but that may be because I like zombies better than sea monsters and I like P&P better than S&S. Winters does a good job of mixing the new Sea Monster parts with the classic Sense and Sensibility. In both this book and P&P&Z, I've been amazed with how easily the two aspects (the classic Austen and the added weirdness) mix. I thought there were a few interjections that were a bit over done with this book (the sub-plot with Margaret was a bit too much), but over all I thought it was a fun read.
    • 3/5
      I loved Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It was done with some subtlety, the main story shining through the occasional zombie attacks. It really was the original with added zombies.So why is this slightly disappointing?Because the trick has already been done, and a joke can rarely be repeated?Because the underlying story isn't as engaging as P and P?Or is it because this author tried a bit too hard? It's as if he wanted to tell his own story in addition to that of S and S. The underlying story is still there, but it needs to be searched out through the added extras. There are slightly grating errors too: when were there any piranha fish in the east indies for instance?But who would be silly enough to expect accuracy in a book which quite rightly is based on a crazy notion in the first place? I would.Perhaps I shouldn't be so picky.
    • 4/5
      "Sense and Sensiblity and Sea Monsters" has fixed all the problems that "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" had. It has smooth transitions between authors and Winters actually seems to respect the original material where as "Zombies" often stepped over the line between parody and ridicule. Winters gives the story a very Vernesque feel which helps to keep the narrative in approximately the proper time period and mindset. Overall, I think this was a very well done parody which any light-hearted Janite will enjoy.
    • 3/5
      Very funny in places, especially wherever tentacle-faced Colonel Brandon makes an appearance. But, in my opinion, this is not as good as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
    • 5/5
      I think this book is an improvement on the previous one in the series, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The zombies in the first book were really just window dressing. On the other hand, the sea monsters in this book were actually a major part of the plot and really livened up the story. (I cannot help but find Jane Austen's stories to be dull, dull, dull.) I look forward to see what classics they warp next!
    • 1/5
      Hmmm, how do I put how I feel about this book. I know - dreadful. It was truly tedious to read and took sheer determination to turn each page. I have read 'Sense and Sensibility' and I thought this was going to be a fun take on a 'classic' book. It wasn't. I didn't expect to see the whole book used, instead I thought it would be used to extend the story into a new genre. Sadly it just went on and on and by the time I had reached the end I'd even lost my sense of humour for the reading guide questions. I really did expect this to be a book for me and was very excited when this came up on Amazon Vine. I can't recommend it to anyone, it's just not good. I do have to say that Ben H Winters has blended the two different genres together well but that is about the only thing going for it.
    • 4/5
      Having read and enjoyed Pride and prejudice and Zombies I was eager to start Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. To my delight it was even better than PPZ, with the added material seamlessly blended to such an extent that the aquatic aberration that gives rise to the Sea Monsters was central to all aspects of the novel. The novel is done with humour throughout but still manages to address such issues as the arrogance of British colonialism and the blindness of the upperclass to the suffering of the lower classes. I heartily recommend this to all readers. 4 stars.
    • 5/5
      I was so very excited when this book went on sale on Tuesday. I ran to the store, got my copy, and started reading as soon as I got home. Sense & Sensibility is one of my favorite books and I wondered if the addition of sea monsters would alter my view.I'm happy to report it didn't. I'm not rating this book as high as the original but that's just because I don't really think of this as the same book and I will admit to being extremely partial to the original. It's fresh and fun but the original it's not, which is a good thing in this case.The story is much the same. Mr. Dashwood dies; Mrs. Dashwood, Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret move to the Devonshire coast; Marianne falls for Willoughby; Willoughby leaves Marianne; Elinor and Marianne go to London; a meeting with Willoughby goes bad; Marianne is heartbroken; Elinor suffers heartbreak silently; Marianne get sick and recovers; Elinor reunites with her love; Marianne finds love and a life she never imagined for herself. Oh, yes, don't forget the letter writing --- there's a lot of it.Sea monsters, yep, there's a lot of them too in the new version. Mr. Dashwood is eaten by a shark; Mrs. Dashwood kills a sea monster on the way to the Devonshire coast; Willoughby, the treasure hunter, saves Marianne from a huge octopus; Elinor escapes the fang beast; Elinor and Marianne visit Sub-Marine Station Beta (AKA London); Sub-Marine Station Beta is attacked by sea monsters; Colonel Brandon is part sea monster thanks to a curse by a sea witch (descriptions are amusing and somewhat disgusting); a lot of talk about underwater gear and, of course, fish stories. Also, there is an interesting explanation for the sea monsters --- the Alteration which no one knows the cause of.After reading it, I have to say that I truly enjoyed it. I also think this can be a love it or hate it book. If you're not willing for liberties to be taken with the original text then you might want to skip it. Me, I like parodies and found the characters and situations with the addition of sea monsters to be entertaining. Enjoy it for what it is.
    • 4/5
      I started this book a little apprehensively. First of all, Sense and Sensibility is my least favorite book by Jane Austen and secondly, I was thinking the fad of these mash ups had been run its course with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. However, I was actually pleasantly surprised with how interested I got into the mystery of the 5 pointed star that Elinore keeps seeing and Margaret's findings on their small island.So, I guess I should explain a little. The story does, pretty much, follow the original storyline but with some added mysteries and interesting sea creatures. I love poor Colonel Brandon and his tentacled face. (Just look at that cover!) Poor guy doesn't catch a break in this book. Also, Margaret has more of a part in this one but still in the background up until the end. The twist with Lucy Steele was also quite interesting and fun. It took me surprise on page 130 to find that Lucy has a tramp stamp! I am sure you are wondering how that gets found out, huh? An interesting twist that works in the end.This was really a fun book. Glad I gave it a chance.
    • 1/5
      Do Not Waste Your Time. While at first I thought this could be an interesting and amusing mash-up of Steampunk tropes and Austen's cynical yet understanding story, it was just an excuse to be...stupid.

      Ben Winters did an amazing thing when he wrote this particular mash-up. He managed to turn Elinor Dashwood, one of the more admirable of Austen's characters, into a spineless, obtuse, and brain-dead spinster in a bonnet. Elinor's turn for accepting the realities of life, her ability to acutely assess the characters of those around her, and her awareness of herself and others was surgically removed so that assorted gruesome deaths, characters who are introduced so they can be killed off, and nifty tech seen only so we can watch it blow up can be introduced. By the time I was a third into the book, I'd determined Winters not only hated Austen with a deep passion and undertook this project because he needed beer and condom money, but he might not be very keen on the female of the species. The venom practically makes the pages sticky.

      Extremely disappointing to anyone who either likes sea monster stories or who has the least little liking for the Austen original. Mr. Winters should be forbidden access to bookstores, computer keyboards, pencils, and chocolate for life.
    • 1/5
      Eh, I like the originals too much I guess to get into this. It was just silly to me. I only made it to page 64 and decided I had better things to do. It took 2 weeks to get that far.
    • 4/5
      A funny retelling of the Austen classic, you won't want to miss it. If you've read the original, this is worth the read. And if you haven't, go read it and then read this one right after! It's one of those books you want to reread right after because of how entertaining it was. I laughed a couple of times out loud and I am not normally one to do that!After the Dashwood sisters' father is eaten by a shark, the Dashwood sisters move away from their home and to a creepy island. But they have to be careful, because in the water is killer sea creatures with an appetite for humans.I loved the twist with Marianne. The Colonel falls in love with her as he does in the original, but has been cursed with tentacles on his face and the poor guy is miserable because of it. I felt so bad for him, and I loved him just as I did in the original and maybe...a little more.With underwater cities, lobster men, water attacks, and romance with sea creatures, this book is creative, fun, and hilarious. I loved the changes, and and the fact it reminded me some H.P. Lovecraft made it more worth while.If you like the new remakes that are coming out, buy this one. It's worth the excitement and action. Think Pirates of the Caribbean with historical romance!
    • 2/5
      Audio version nearly impossible to follow. Will try again with print.
    • 1/5
      I was eagerly anticipating reading this book, and I gave it as fair a shot as possible, but I found I couldn't finish it (nor even get past the first couple of chapters). I enjoy Austen's work, and I like both science fiction as well as this type of ironic humor, so I was very much prepared to enjoy the work. I found, however, that Winters has a hard time keeping in Austen's tone and style with his embellishments to the story. It would be all too easy to go through this book and literally highlight all the words that are his rather than hers, and this dampened (so to speak) my enjoyment of the novel. I was hoping for the writing to be convincingly authentic Edwardian, so that the reader can truly suspend disbelief that Jane Austen wrote a grotesque and squid-filled adventure story, but the result is just anachronistic, awkward, and un-funny. One would think that the publishers could rather have found someone who could mimic Austen's writing more accurately. I am disappointed by the waste of a potentially brilliant idea.
    • 4/5
      Really enjoyed this book, written in the same style as the original. Fantastic take on the classic.
    • 2/5
      I thought this book was excruciatingly slow and hard to follow. Many times I stopped and thought, "...wait...what's going on?" I loved P&P&Z and Dawn of the Dreadfuls amd Little Women & Werewolves, but this one...I just had to force myself to finish, and I'm still not 100% sure what happened. Too. Slow.
    • 4/5
      I have never read Sense and Sensibility, nor did I ever have any plans to. But throw in a few sea monsters and.......... I must say, I really enjoyed this book. Rarely, if ever, am I able to leave a story line for a week or more and come back to it and feel as though I were picking up where I left off. Chock that up to the slow steady pace and rich character development if you must. It was just fun to read, plain and simple. I feel as though, if I were to read it again, I would come away with even more that I didn't get the first time. The language was somewhat complicated, but not old-timey with all the "hithers" and "thithers" I expected to find. The ending did not disappoint, though I found myself getting tired of wondering who would wind up marrying who. At times, it felt like a ping pong ball bouncing back and forth. In the end, it wound up being a very good read.
    • 2/5
      I tried to read this book, really really tried. It just didn't hook me in. I read a few chapters and I couldn't keep with it. The sea monster angle just seemed so ludicrous. Yes it is loosely based on the plot of Sense and Sensibility, but it seemed like so much nonsense. Maybe someone who has not read Sense and Sensibility will find the charm in this book, but I could not.
    • 5/5
      A hilarious rendition of the favorite classic. I think because I know the original so well I enjoyed this mash-up even more. It was ridiculous! Just one suggestion, this is not a book to read whilst eating!