Friday, November 12, 2010

Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate Book 1) by Gail Carriger

Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 473 KB
Publisher: Little Brown (September 2, 2010)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B0043VDIK6

First Sentence: "Miss Alexia Tarabotti was not enjoying her evening."

It's the 1800's and Alexia Tarabotti is soulless. A rare being born with out a soul and the natural enemy of the supernatural. If this was not enough to make her an outcast, in a world where Vampires and Werewolves are accepted, then being 26 and single with a large nose is. Strange new vampires are appearing on the scene, and old vampires and werewolves are disappearing. Can Alexia solve the mystery and save her friends?

A mix of various genres. A drop of action, a sprinkle of steam punk, a dash of supernatural, a dollop of romance, and a spoonful of mystery. Mixed together to make an interesting historical fiction story.
Carriger has done a wonderful job building this alternate world where supernatural beings are openly part of society. I enjoyed how she tied some of world history into events that happen with the supernatural beings. Also her interpretation on souls is interesting.

The book is quite humorous. Most comedy moments stemming from the rigid formality of 1800's England. Alexia is also a product of her up bring on one hand she is very rigid, conforms to societies view of her and fashion conscious, on the other hand she is intelligent, sharp tongued and brave.

My main criticism is the use of really big words. Most of them I could guess the meaning of but some had me reaching for a dictionary. This tends to frustrate me as I have to stop reading to find out what the word means. Its a minor quibble but there it is.

I couldn't stand Alexia's family. However they were not written in a particularly nice light, and to be honest I think they were in character with Victorian high society. Lord Akeldama was a delightful and flamboyant.Lord Maccon had the whole dark, dangerous going on.

An enjoyable first book in the series. Will try and see how the next book goes in the series.

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From My Bookshelf
Truth Beauty Freedom and Books

2 comments:

  1. That was much more positive than I expected! I liked Lord Akeldama too, but I really can't work up any interest in reading the rest of this series.

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  2. I really enjoy the story its self. So I am curious to see where it goes. I do see your point though about Alexis being so critical of her sisters shallowness and yet always picking on her best friends fashion sense. I think if it continues into the second book it would get old fast.

    Dont know when I will get to read the second book though. At the moment I am not getting any new books. Im diligently working through the ones on Mt TBR, espcially the loaned ones.

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