Book recommendation: The Parasol Protectorate series
Series: The Parasol Protectorate
Author: Gail Carriger (please check out her awesome website!)
Titles: Soulless, Changeless, Blameless, Heartless, Timeless
Status: ongoing - currently 4 books published, fifth and last one due on March 1, 2012
Summary:
London in the Victorian Age with one tiny difference - supernatural beings exist and are integrated into modern society, e.g. werewolves serve in the British military, vampires keep volunteers (drones) to give them blood and in return receive social upgrading and all are controlled by the „Bureau of Unnatural Registry“ (BUR). Alexia Tarabotti, however, is unique. Not only is she a 26 year old spinster with more interest in sciences than in finding a husband and half-Italian, she also has no soul and therefore the ability to negate any supernatural effects: The fiercest werewolf turns human again at one touch of hers. When she gets involved in the schemes of a secret society that has very strange views regarding experiments on supernaturals and during the course of investigation meets charismatic, yet somehow annoying Lord Maccon (chief inspector of BUR and werewolf), only chaos can follow.
Review:
The summary may sound like your average paranormal romance, but thanks to the smart writing full of dry British humour and especially thanks to many, many lovingly created details, the “Parasol Protectorate” is an extremely recommendable series. Alexia is a very likable protagonist, down to earth, curious and willing to face all sorts of trouble armed only with her parasol (which gets upgraded with lots of useful features in the course of the series) and common sense. Her London is full of peculiar and distinctive characters; from her best friend Ivy Hisselpenny with an obsession for (and a remarkably bad taste in) hats to fashion-crazy centuries-old vampire Lord Akeldama and whole companies of werewolves. All characters manage to make a lasting impression even if only appearing for a couple of scenes and one always looks forward to seeing more of them.
The world itself is very carefully crafted, the alternate history and society being given lots of thought and linked well with Victorian Britain. A nice gimmick are the many technical gadgets which are of course mostly steam powered (this is Steampunk after all). After the first volume which concentrates in large parts on a Jane Austen style romance between Alexia and Lord Maccon, the plot speeds up considerably and suddenly the romance is turned into an adventure (and even mystery and detective) story with a number of surprising twists. This makes the books a fast and very amusing read although one should take the time to appreciate all the small details which are the reason this series is truly outstanding.
Recommended for fans of:
London in Victorian Age, Steampunk and technical gadgets, urban fantasy, Jane Austen style romances (especially regarding the first volume), secret societies, general Britishness (including tea, proper manners and service for Queen and Country), intelligent women’s literature, underlying humour and well-written dialogue, supernatural beings that do not sparkle, extraordinary and memorable characters, detective, adventure and mystery stories (especially in later volumes)
Note: Just saw, gailcarriger is on lj as well!
Author: Gail Carriger (please check out her awesome website!)
Titles: Soulless, Changeless, Blameless, Heartless, Timeless
Status: ongoing - currently 4 books published, fifth and last one due on March 1, 2012
Summary:
London in the Victorian Age with one tiny difference - supernatural beings exist and are integrated into modern society, e.g. werewolves serve in the British military, vampires keep volunteers (drones) to give them blood and in return receive social upgrading and all are controlled by the „Bureau of Unnatural Registry“ (BUR). Alexia Tarabotti, however, is unique. Not only is she a 26 year old spinster with more interest in sciences than in finding a husband and half-Italian, she also has no soul and therefore the ability to negate any supernatural effects: The fiercest werewolf turns human again at one touch of hers. When she gets involved in the schemes of a secret society that has very strange views regarding experiments on supernaturals and during the course of investigation meets charismatic, yet somehow annoying Lord Maccon (chief inspector of BUR and werewolf), only chaos can follow.
Review:
The summary may sound like your average paranormal romance, but thanks to the smart writing full of dry British humour and especially thanks to many, many lovingly created details, the “Parasol Protectorate” is an extremely recommendable series. Alexia is a very likable protagonist, down to earth, curious and willing to face all sorts of trouble armed only with her parasol (which gets upgraded with lots of useful features in the course of the series) and common sense. Her London is full of peculiar and distinctive characters; from her best friend Ivy Hisselpenny with an obsession for (and a remarkably bad taste in) hats to fashion-crazy centuries-old vampire Lord Akeldama and whole companies of werewolves. All characters manage to make a lasting impression even if only appearing for a couple of scenes and one always looks forward to seeing more of them.
The world itself is very carefully crafted, the alternate history and society being given lots of thought and linked well with Victorian Britain. A nice gimmick are the many technical gadgets which are of course mostly steam powered (this is Steampunk after all). After the first volume which concentrates in large parts on a Jane Austen style romance between Alexia and Lord Maccon, the plot speeds up considerably and suddenly the romance is turned into an adventure (and even mystery and detective) story with a number of surprising twists. This makes the books a fast and very amusing read although one should take the time to appreciate all the small details which are the reason this series is truly outstanding.
Recommended for fans of:
London in Victorian Age, Steampunk and technical gadgets, urban fantasy, Jane Austen style romances (especially regarding the first volume), secret societies, general Britishness (including tea, proper manners and service for Queen and Country), intelligent women’s literature, underlying humour and well-written dialogue, supernatural beings that do not sparkle, extraordinary and memorable characters, detective, adventure and mystery stories (especially in later volumes)
Note: Just saw, gailcarriger is on lj as well!