I have a healthy respect for, and appreciation of, fan fiction. So I was quite happy to pick up Pride & Prejudice & Superheroes, expecting something stupid, silly, and fun. It was stupid and silly, but unfortunately went on far too long to sustain the fun.
The central premise here is that Elizabeth Bennet and all four of her sisters, Mr Bennet, Mr Darcy, Mr Wickham, Mr Bingley, Caroline Bingley, Mr Collins, Charlotte Lucas, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and King George III (who has been feigning madness) are all granted a variety of superpowers to fight off an alien invasion. So far so good. It’s a wonderful premise for a fan fiction, and it starts off being ridiculous fun.
But it just keeps going. And going. The premise was running thin very quickly, but the story carries on for almost 400 pages. The first hundred or so were enjoyable, because I absolutely adore Pride & Prejudice, and that section was P&P with an absurd twist. But then it becomes a frankly bad science fiction story, where the protagonist happens to be named Lizzy Bennet.
I pushed through to the end, but I do not recommend. There are many, many more worthy fan retellings of P&P, both in print and on AO3. Try one of them instead.
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