A debut historical fantasy that recasts Jane Austen’s beloved Pride & Prejudice in an imaginative world of wyverns, dragons, and the warriors who fight alongside them against the monsters that threaten the kingdom: gryphons, direwolves, lamias, banshees, and lindworms.
They say a Rider in possession of a good blade must be in want of a monster to slay—and Merybourne Manor has plenty of … has plenty of monsters.
Passionate, headstrong Aliza Bentaine knows this all too well; she’s already lost one sister to the invading gryphons. So when Lord Merybourne hires a band of Riders to hunt down the horde, Aliza is relieved her home will soon be safe again.
Her relief is short-lived. With the arrival of the haughty and handsome dragonrider, Alastair Daired, Aliza expects a battle; what she doesn’t expect is a romantic clash of wills, pitting words and wit against the pride of an ancient house. Nor does she anticipate the mystery that follows them from Merybourne Manor, its roots running deep as the foundations of the kingdom itself, where something old and dreadful slumbers . . . something far more sinister than gryphons.
It’s a war Aliza is ill-prepared to wage, on a battlefield she’s never known before: one spanning kingdoms, class lines, and the curious nature of her own heart.
Elle Katharine White infuses elements of Austen’s beloved novel with her own brand of magic, crafting a modern epic fantasy that conjures a familiar yet wondrously unique new world.
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I fell in love with this book! It gave me the Jane Austen PRIDE AND PREJUDICE feel that I love plus dragons and wyverns–another love of mine. White gave the old story new twists, making some of the characters likeable who weren’t in the original story. I liked the surprises. Inviting dragons to a banquet hall large enough to accomodate them and their meals was a nice touch. The big battle at the end was appropriately near-impossible to win, and I found myself staying up into the wee hours reading it. Worth every zzz I missed!
Retellings can be tricky; this one is wonderful!
Faithful enough to P&P to be fun, with enough original twist and turns to keep me engaged.
This book is just amazing. This might very well be the best book I have ever read in my life. The world building is absolutely wonderful and detailed, the characters have tremendous depth, and it combines Pride and Prejudice with fantasy elements (dragons, gryphons, etc). Beautifully written, I flew through it, carrying it with me as I ate lunch and cleaned the house. I was loath to put it down, it is that good. In my opinion, if you have not read this book, your life is not yet complete. Please read it, literally I cannot praise it enough.
I wanted desperately to love this but I just couldn’t get into it. I honestly think Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies was running through my head as a comparison the whole time which impacted my ability to get into this.
I love the original Pride and Prejudice and have seen many adaptations on the theme. I love this one. Fantasy added into the basic story is so much fun. I like how the author takes the basic premise and some memorable moments in Jane Austen’s book and incorporates them here without just retelling the story scene by scene. I am reading the second book in the series and loving it so far.
Elle creates this really fun version of Pride and Prejudice that has dragons and magic. It’s fantastical, but still set in a Jane Austen-esque world!
It’s the magical conventions and culture you want in a YA fantasy mixed with the Pride and Prejudice you know and love.
I loved it SO much.
Not only are there dragons, but there are gryphons. It’s delightful to see those two fantasy elements interact. I’ve alluded to gryphons in my books, the Dragonmaster Trilogy, but I haven’t yet included them.
I highly recommend this novel! And, there are more in this series that come after it, don’t you fret.
The cover is stunning (that dragon though) and the tagline gave me goosebumps.
“All’s fair in love and dragonfire.”
I feel like this was not similar enough to Pride and Prejudice to be calling it a “recast” in a world with dragons, ect. It’s also too similar to Pride and Prejudice to be considered its own novel. It’s almost as if the author was trying to write her own novel- she changed the names and fates and even birth order of characters and some even had new personalities, but also there was just enough that was too obviously from P&P to be able to say it was truly an original work rather than a revamp of Austen. When I’m looking at a “recast” in a new world, if there is a change to plot or character’s core personalities, I want it to be an obvious consequence of the change in setting. There was no obvious reasons behind many of the changes done to Austen’s characters here, and often the plot that had been added felt more like a whim than an actual thought-out progression of storylines. The changes in personalities bothered me the most. The “Jane” character had no resemblance to Jane Bennet aside from the fact that she falls for a man whose name begins with “B” and then proceeds to be seperated from him at the hands of others and eventaully they are brought back together. The “Darcy” character was similar to Darcy in personality, but when it came time for the inital confrontation with the “Elizabeth” character, there was a very large disconnect on his errors. Because he was innocent in the “Wickham” character’s issue, and somehow was also completely innocent when it came to the “Jane” character’s problems (something he was not in Austen’s novel, and there’s no real reason for the change in this one), we are apparently supposed to ignore that he was arrogant, disdainful, and clearly thought much less of those who he considered “beneath” him with no kindness shown to the woman who he claimed to love. At least the “Darcy” character still changed his personality, but the author includes the “Elizabeth” character’s realization that she was wrong about him in some respects while completely ignoring the continued realization that in others she was very much justified. This is an important part of the novel- they are both wrong. We can’t skip over that. The world building I think was pretty well done- I was able to understand the mechanics of their world very quickly and follow along. But for what I was looking for, the characters and plot left a lot to be desired.
Lesson learned, Brittnay over at Perfectly Tolerable has amazing taste when it comes to books. She said I would love this one and she was right.
This book is sold as Pride and Prejudice with Dragons, and that is exactly what you get. You do not need to know anything about the original story to enjoy this one. Which is great since I know not everyone has read Pride and Prejudice. My favorite thing about this book is that the author was able to take the essence of Pride and Prejudice and make it completely her own. So if you are a fan of P&P you are not just getting another rehashing of the story but an all-new story to love.
So if you like hate to love romance, broody males, independent females, and a fantasy setting with magical creatures you need to pick this book up.
Clever twist on “Pride and Prejudice,” but this is just the entry novel into the author’s world. The SECOND novel, which continues the characters’ stories, is FAR more inventive and original, and outshines the first novel by far. Looking forward to vol. 3 of the story to be published in November 2019!
Very enticing storyline
Definitely not original in plot but very good.
I very much liked the premise of the book and the original idea behind it – I think I would have enjoyed it more if the author were not channeling Jane Austen. The idea could stand on its own.
Take Pride and Prejudice to an enchanted world and pump Elizabeth with heroism and this is what you get. I love what the author did with some characters like Lady Catherine, Mister Collins, Charlotte Lucas and Caroline Bingley.
Just a great read
A wholistic world of fantasy filled with a swashbuckling hero and artistic heroine is a fun, unexpected ride through the classic Jane Austen tale of Pride and Prejudice. Delightful!
This was a fantasy remake of Pride and Prejudice but with enough twist keep it interesting
I was disappointed that her 2nd book won’t come out till next month. I wanted to read the next in the series. I like her writing-she has developed characters that you would like to meet in real life.
I loved this book!! I could not put it down! I am waiting on tenterhooks for the second book. Really well written. Gripping, that is for sure.
Cleverly done, well-written — recommended!
Two of my favorite things combined. Dragons and Jane Austen. Need I say more!