This week’s Fantasy with Friends discussion (hosted by Pages Unbound) is about adaptations:

What are your thoughts on fantasy adaptations of classic literature that originally had no fantasy elements? (Ex. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, A Far Better Thing, Kindred Dragons)

I’m fairly ambivalent, I guess? The only one of those examples I knew about is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which I thought was a funny concept at the time, but there were a few copycats of that stretched the joke too far (basically just trying to cash in). I think in general I’d judge each book on its own merits, rather than the idea of adapting a classic alone… but I probably wouldn’t actively seek out such books.

One example I can think of that I did enjoy is Jo Walton’s Tooth & Claw, which was spawned (according to her story) when she was reading Trollope and Le Guin at the same time. I haven’t read any Trollope, so I read it as a standalone fantasy novel on its own merits, and had a great time. It’s been quite a while since I last read it, but I view it pretty fondly.

So overall, not something that calls to me greatly, but I wouldn’t say no to trying it either in the right circumstances — mostly, I think, when it adds something genuinely transformative, rather than just using a popular novel as a shortcut for getting people truly invested.