The combination of Victorian manners and the more "radical" attitudes of characters like Alexia and Lord Akeldama make for a perfect mix of humor and adventure in The Parasol Protectorate series. This second installment is just as entertaining as the first and has wit for days. A plague of humanization has infected the supernaturals of London, and Alexia, as the Queen's employed preternatural, is doing everything she can to solve the mystery of who or what is behind it. When her husband disappears, she knows exactly where to go to find him- but a woman flying on a dirigible all alone? The scandal! Victorian manners and the insistence of her mother land her with an annoying sister and an air-headed best friend to accompany her to meet with the werewolves of Scotland- hence the quote from the scandalized Ivy Hisselpenny upon seeing kilted men. Also in her flying group is a beautiful woman inventor from France with a penchant for wearing men's clothing who seems to have a few secrets of her own. 

Alexia is probably my favorite female character since Hermione. She's very much her own woman, but she's also very much a Victorian Londoner which makes for very entertaining inner dialogue. She's got more sass than anyone in her time can handle and she's not afraid of anything or anyone. 

Alexia's relationship with her werewolf husband is adorable and also pretty hot. They're both hardheaded and full of sass and do that sort of thing where they're always annoyed with one another but at the same time can't keep their hands off each other. They're the only couple that pulls it off, to be honest- in reality or in fiction. 

I love the world that Gail Carriger has created. She did a truly wonderful job of tweaking what we already know about 1800's London into an alternate reality where the government works with vampires and werewolves to keep the peace. It's very believable, and for this sort of fantasy story that's very important to me. I think it's interesting that Gail chose to make Alexia's best friend a gay vampire and that this new woman she meets is a lesbian. I think Gail does a really good job of showing realistically (for the most part) how a very forward thinking person like Alexia would look at homosexuality at this time period, and how others would as well. 

I don't want to give anything away but the ending was a total surprise! I can't even tell you why or how or what without spoiling it but it just left me like "WTF!?" 

Anywho, if you have any interest at all in steampunk, or werewolves (vampires exist too but so far have been more of side characters), if you love witty writing, and if you're looking for a creative new world to get lost in, you HAVE to start this series! 

Here are a couple of passages that I thought reflected the quirkiness and writing style fairly well- it was actually really hard to find quotes and stuff that wouldn't give anything away or that would make sense out of context. 

(Alexia dealing with a creepy dickhead)
"Are you philandering with me, sir?" She was imprudently startled into asking.
"Would you like me to be?" he replied, grin widening. 
Well, that certainly settled that. This was no gentleman. 
"Uh-oh," said Tunstell very softly, backing away slightly.
"What a nauseating thought," said Lady Maccon.
"Oh I don't know," said Major Channing, moving in closer "a fiery Italian thing like you, with a nice figure and not too old, might have a few lively nights left. I always did fancy a bit of the foreign."
Alexia, who was only half Italian, and that only by birth, having been raised English to the bone, could not decide which part of that sentence had offended her most. She sputtered. 
The repulsive Channing person looked like he might actually try to touch her.
Alexia hauled off and hit him, hard, with her parasol, right on top of his head. 
Everyone in the courtyard stopped what they were about and turned to look at the statuesque lady currently engaged in whacking their third in command, Woolsey Pack Gamma, commander of the Coldsteam Guards abroad, with a parasol. 
The major's eyes shifted to an even icier blue and black about the rim of each iris, and two of his perfect white teeth turned pointed.
Werewolf was he? Well, Alexia Maccon's parasol was tipped with silver for a reason. She walloped him again, this time making certain the tip touched his skin. At the same time, she rediscovered her powers of speech. 
"How   dare   you!   You   impudent" --whack-- "arrogant" --whack-- "overbearing" --whack-- unobservant dog!" Whack, whack. Normally Alexia wasn't given to such language or unadulterated violence, but circumstances seemed to warrant it. 

*
Alexia disembarked... she spearheaded a parade of bustle-swaying ladies, like so many fabric snails, onto firm (well, truthfully, rather squishy) land...The snails were followed by Tunstell, laden with a quantity of hatboxes and other package; four stewards with various trunks; and Lady Maccon's French maid. 
(I just thought that was the most perfect description of those ridiculous Victorian dresses with the big bums, they really do look like snails!) 

*

"Efficient female, aren't you, Lady Maccon?"
Alexia was not certain whether she should be pleased or offended by the statement, so she chose to ignore it. 

*
"How does one determine one's own state of enamorment?"
Lady Maccon snickered. "I am hardly one to elucidate. It took me ages to realize I had feelings for Conall beyond abhorrence, and quite frankly, I am still not certain that feeling does not persist unto this very moment." 
Ivy was taken aback. "Surely you jest?" 
Alexia cast her mind back to the last time she had engaged in a protracted encounter with her husband. There had been a good deal of moaning at the time, if memory served. "Well, he has his uses."


Thanks for reading!! 
xoLuna

"Soulless" did not live down to its title. It is, in fact, a book that demonstrates remarkable spirit and significant amounts of pluck under pressure.

 

Set in an alternative Victorian London, in which vampires and werewolves have been Establishment figures for centuries, dirigibles fill the sky and respectable young ladies do not move about town without a chaperon, "Soulless" tells of the trials and tribulations that befall the remarkable Miss Alexia Tarabotti after she unintentionally kills an impertinent vampire with the aid of a hair stick and a parasol.

 

Miss Tarabotti is remarkable not because of the stain of having had an Italian father from whom she has inherited unfashionably tanned skin and an over-proud nose, nor because, at twenty-seven she is still  a spinster, nor even because of a regrettable tendency to read science and ask inconvenient questions, but rather because she was born without a soul. Being soulless gives her the ability to neutralize the powers of supernatural beings, cancelling out the over-abundance of soul that is believed to explain their existence.

 

"Soulless" is witty, fast-paced, and complex: It is delivered with a deftness of touch that keeps it from plummeting into the horrors of pastiche. It is far from simple to create a Victorian feel to a book while introducing supernatural beings and an alternative political history but Gail Carriger does it with an ease of execution and flair for linguistic nuance which enables me almost completely to overlook the misfortune of her having been born in America. This is, after all, not her fault.

 

"Soulless" provided me with a splendid diversion from its first page to its last. It was aided in this by skillful and playful narration by Emily Gray, who mastered not only the rhythm of the language and the pace of the humour but the wide variety of voices and accents that the book calls for.

 

If you feel the need, or simply are privileged enough to have the opportunity, to spend a few hours away from the cares and traumas of the early twenty-first century, then this reader recommends an excursion into a supernatural Victorian London in the company of Miss Alexia Tarabotti.

 

Timeless was a good wrap-up to the series, though it wasn't my favorite of the five.

I appreciated that Carriger addressed the issue of Alexia's mortality and Conall's immortality, I haven't seen many paranormal romances that take that into account without converting the other one to immortality - so it was refreshing.

I'm sad that it's ending but am looking forward to The Parasol Protectorate Abroad series and hope that even though PPA doesn't appear to be staying in London that we get to see a glimpse of where some of our favorite characters have ended up (*cough*biffy*cough*).

A great ending to a great series. I even grew to like Prudence and Ivy in the end.

Alexandria, Egypt


I found this Victorian dress on Pinterest, pinned from “Old Rags” website.
Its practical nature would surely appeal to Alexia Tarabotti, Lady Maccon.


★★★★½ (This is a review of the audiobook.) Ah! My little kumquats, I do so love this series. Sorry to see this fifth and final book in the Parasol Protectorate.

Emily Gray does an excellent job with all the various paranormal – and soulless – voices, but she does her best with Prudence, who is now a toddler, making her sound like the “puggle precious” Lord Akeladama dubs her; but, not to worry, she’s not too precocious! In fact, Ms. Gray is so good at delivering Ms. Carriger’s alternate historical version of Victorian England that I wish I’d know about her sooner. Now I’ll end up buying this series in audio as well. Yes, she’s that good.

If you have NOT tried steampunk before; if you like the Victorian era; if you get off on Etiquette & Espionage; and if you like paranormal worlds filled with werewolves, vampires, ghosts, and a preternatural or two, this is the series with which to start.

Maybe I did not laugh as much as I did in Heartless, and I certainly did NOT see... Professor Lyall and Biffy becoming an item! Shocker, that. But, I must say I quite liked it. And Lord Akeladama wasn’t too heart-broken. However, I still enjoyed every minute of it.



Alexia is called to Egypt this time, and she’s having a hard time finding any tea!

Alas, Gentle Reader, it is impossible to review this book without spoilers! All I can say is that I am impressed and surprised at the all-encompassing arc of the series, with details planted early on and things neatly tied up, for the most part. Or, at least, we know that they’ll most likely reappear in the spin-off series The Parasol Protectorate Abroad which doesn’t come out until Fall, 2013!

Archaeologist and author Ms. Carriger’s avatar showing her hard at work on her laptop.


Soulless Changeless Blameless Heartless Timeless