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Recommended Fiction: Soulless by Gail Carriger

by Pamela Tarajcak on 2022-01-27T11:50:00-05:00 | 0 Comments

"Miss Alexia Tarabotti was not enjoying her evening.  Private balls were never more than middling amusements for spinsters, and Miss Tarabotti was not the kind of spinster who could garner even that much pleasure from the event.  To put the pudding in the puff: she had retreated to the library, her favorite sanctuary in any house, only to happen upon an unexpected vampire.

She glared at the vampire.

For his part, the vampire seemed to feel that their encounter had improved his ball experience immeasurably. For there she sat, without escort, in a low-necked ball gown.

In this particular case, what he did not know could hurt him. For Miss Alexia had been born without a soul, which, as any decent vampire of good blooding knew, made her a lady to avoid most assiduously."

Cover ArtSoulless by Gail Carriger; Jensine Eckwall (Illustrator)
Call Number: FIC CAR (Youngstown)
ISBN: 9780316438957
Publication Date: 2018-09-18
In an alternative version of Victorian England, vampires, werewolves and ghosts are not only real but accepted and allowed to "come out of the closet." Vampires Queens sit in their town houses, surrounded by their hives, and dictate the turn of fashion and the arts.  Werewolf packs, headed by their Alphas, militarily serve Her Imperial Majesty Victoria at home and abroad.  Vampire Roves and Werewolf Loners also have a place in society.  Because of this alternative version of events, steam technology and the use of dirigibles as a means of travel become popular.
 
Then there's Alexia Tarabotti.  She who was born without a soul, a preternatural.  You see, those born with too much soul can be turned into vampires and werewolves or after death become ghosts with ease.  But she, a rare person indeed, is born without one, so whenever she touches a vampire or a werewolf, she negates their status, for a short or a long time.  Ghosts, she can permanently send to the next life.  This leads to certain qualities of her life.  One, she is a spinster, as her abrasive soulless personality turns people "off" sometimes.  Two, she lives with her incredibly silly Mother and step-sisters who drive her nuts with their inane chatter and social butterfly natures.  Three, she is shocked that the vampire at the ball would even dare try anything with her, as most of British Supernatural Society knows about Miss Tarabotti's soullessness. Four, since her self-defense against the vampire ends in his death, the Bureau of Unnatural Registry sends out their best agent, Lord Connell Maccon, which incenses Alexia, because her and Lord Woolsey have history (something to do with a hedgehog). 
 
Through the story, Alexia, Connell and Alexia's fey vampire friend, the prominent society rove (a vampire without a hive) Lord Akeldama (he of the "cream puff" nicknames), have to unravel why this vampire was acting unnaturally (for a vampire), and what an octopus has to do with it.  Meanwhile, Alexia is receiving a charming if imperious suitor from America.  Her best friend Ivy Hisslepenny acquires increasingly ridiculous hats.   And Lord Maccon becomes more and more unbearable and more and more irresistible to Alexia.  
 
This first book in the Parasol Protectorate series is a delightful romp filled with intrigue and treacle tarts (seriously, Alexia has a sweet tooth).  The humor is sprightly, fizzy and fun.  The romance between Maccon and Alexia is zingy and chemistry laden.  The side characters are a delight.  The plot twists and turns yet leaves you satisfied.  You may be afraid to read this as it's the first book in a series, but it works as a stand-alone too. 
 
Now the humor and some of the light and fizzy way that Carriger writes may not be for most readers and the romance side of things may get a bit steamy at times.  But give them a shot, you may find them delightful.  
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