Jane Austen is often called the first feminist fiction writer, and a new take on her most popular Regency romance — coauthored by Austen, Seth Grahame-Smith, and Kenneth Grahame — puts the POW in Girl Power. Seeing subtle wordplay and complex psychological portraits as insufficiently entertaining, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is exactly that — the story, as we know and love it, with massive hordes of the damned undead causing almost as many difficulties for the sisters Bennet as jockeying for social leverage. P&P has been a long-standing object of veneration by women and derision by men. However, this text may be a way to close the gender gap with its claim to have turned the “masterpiece of world literature into something you’d actually want to read.”

P&P&Z is far from perfect, but it is spectacular fun. If you are even remotely familiar with Jane Austen’s work, there are laugh out loud moments on almost every page. The classic tale is given a fantastic reboot with the addition of “ultraviolent zombie mayhem” along with ninjas, weapons, and more physical interpretations of Elizabeth and Darcy’s famous sparring sessions. The authors are saucy and tongue-in-cheek from cover to cover, using a very funny altered Regency portrait on the cover in the style of common editions of the book, and concluding with a hilarious “questions for discussion” section at the end in the style of editions of classic works intended for students.

Like Shaun of the Dead, this is a story that is really a romantic comedy, but just happens to take place against the backdrop of a zombie uprising in England. Darcy, Elizabeth, and their relations are fundamentally the same people, but in this parallel universe the necessities of the day have left them altered. Everyone is more blunt when provoked. Ladies are admired for their skills in music, art, fine conversation — and kung fu. And yet, despite the nuisance of “unmentionables” that plague the highways and byways, financial status, social order and family expectations must be overcome to allow true love to find its way.

The text is illustrated, but the images are unremarkable and show no familiarity with Regency fashion, vanishing points, or perspective. The people who will really enjoy this work will be Austenite snobs, and the line-heavy scribbles featuring late Victorian waistcoats and sophomoric perspective will not impress readers. If the authors didn’t have the budget or connections to pull in first rate illustration, they should have left the book as a text-only work. Come to think of it, this book would have really been spectacular as a graphic novel, done in a Frank Miller style. Ah, if I only ruled the literary world . . .

Any problems in the text are squarely due to a lackluster editing job. Before the zombie bits were added the text was abridged and most of it is done deftly enough, but every now and then the gaps left from removing paragraphs remain obvious with little blurring to mask the deletion. There were also several typographic errors in the text. Either the author attempted to proof and edit their own work (a major mistake) or it wasn’t allocated in the budget (also a mistake). While the errors aren’t the kiss of death for this very entertaining read, it really would have benefited from a little more polish.

But despite the insufficiencies, this is a rollicking good ride. Whether the text takes a detour by adding rock-em-sock-em scenes that have nothing to do with the original story or improves well-loved plot elements with ninjas, boots to the face, or sloppy gore, the story holds together and the addition of zombies avoids simply being a gimmick that wears thin after a few chapters. Crowning the story’s action are Elizabeth’s two major confrontations — the first when Darcy proposes to her, and the second when Lady Catherine comes to Netherfield to warn her away from her nephew. The alterations to the text are substantial enough that the tale becomes new again. Pride and Prejudice is a work that holds up to multiple readings, but it certainly is fun to pick it up and really be able to wonder exactly what will happen next.

Whether you are a hardcore Austenite or someone who’s shunned her work for fear of having your Man Card pulled, this is a highly enjoyable text that is well worth the purchase price. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is an epic work of mashup fiction, and if Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright don’t do the screenplay for a CG-animated film adaptation starring the voices of Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth I will be sorely disappointed.