Published: April
1st, 2010 by Orbit
Source:
Library
Format: Audio
book, narrated by Emily Gray
Genre:
Steampunk, paranormal
Age group:
Adult
Challenge(s):
none
Grade rate: A-
Alexia Tarabotti,
the Lady Woolsey, awakens in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find her
husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, yelling at the
top of his lungs. Then he disappears - leaving her to deal with a regiment of
supernatural soldiers encamped on her doorstep, a plethora of exorcised ghosts,
and an angry Queen Victoria. But Alexia is armed
with her trusty parasol, the latest fashions, and an arsenal of biting
civility. Even when her investigations take her to Scotland, the backwater of
ugly waistcoats, she is prepared: upending werewolf pack dynamics as only the
soulless can.
She might even find
time to track down her wayward husband, if she feels like it.
My Review
The Parasol Protectorate is quite possible
the best adult series that I follow.
It falls in a category on its own, being a combination of
steampunk-paranormal-mystery-romance.
I read Soulless, book one of the series a while ago (see
my Goodreads review here);
I’m not sure why it took me so long to keep reading, but I intend to rectify my
mistake and get caught up. Wow! How I missed Alexia’s world! It is absolutely amazing. It takes place in Victorian London where
supernatural beings, such as werewolves, vampires and ghosts, are accepted into
society. In addition to that, it’s a
world of scientific progress and advancement, while maintaining some of the
strict views of the society of that time (namely attire and class).
Besides the wonderful characters (I’ll get to that in a
second), and setting, there are two other outstanding aspects of this book (and
the series): the plot and the writing. The plot of Changeless is surprising,
ingenious and altogether amazing. It’s full of twists and turns, of flying
machines, armed parasols, poison, and even mummies! I wish I could find the right words to
describe it all. The book is called Changeless, because there is something
preventing the werewolves from ‘changing’ and turning them human.
The writing is
another wonder. Honestly, I don’t
know how Ms. Carriger is able to create such an amazing world, characters, plot
and do it all with such a quirky sense of irony and practicality. It’s pure awesomeness. At this point you might be asking why isn’t
my review an A+; well because the ending had me gasping out loud in my car
(remember I was listening to the
book). I was so mad I wanted to do
something on behalf of Alexia :(
Note about the
audio book: One of the best ones ever!!! The voices, the inflection, oh my! I can hear them in my head now when I read
the books. Yep, is that good :)
Lastly, I come to the characters. By now you know what I’m going to say,
right? They were awesome! Besides some of the characters from Soulless, we are introduced to a few new
ones, such as Madam LeFoux and her family, and Lord Maccon’s old pack in
Scotland. We also get to see more of the
characters introduced in Soulless, like Ivy Hisselpenny, and Felicity (Alexia’s
sister), Lord Akeldama, Professor Lyal and Biffy. Alexia is such a jewel; her preternatural
state, her marriage to Lord Maccon and her appointment as Muhjah, turns to be
the perfect recipe for disaster. She is
one of my favorite characters, and she can probably share that honor with a lot
of other characters from this series!
Some quotes for you:
“Ah, Lady Maccon, how lovely. I did wonder when you would
track us down.”
“I was unavoidably delayed by husbands and Ivys,”
explained Alexia.
“These things, regrettably, are bound to occur when one
is married and befriended.”
“She reached inside the wide ruffle and pulled out a
little vial.
“Poison?” asked Lady Maccon, tilting her head to one
side.
“Certainly not. Something far more important: perfume. We
cannot very well have you fighting crime unscented, now, can we?”
“Oh.” Alexia nodded gravely. After all, Madame Lefoux was
French. “Certainly not.”
“Ivy waved her wet handkerchief, as much as to say 'words
cannot possibly articulate my profound distress'.
Then, because Ivy never settled for meaningful gestures
when verbal embellishments could compound the effect, she said, "Words
cannot possibly articulate my profound distress.”
About the cover:
This is the picture of Steampunk awesomeness! This is Alexia with her unique way of
dressing and a dirigible in the background. Stunning.
Have you read these series? Do you like steampunk?
