Changeless Review by Misty B.

Changeless by Gail Carriger

Rating: ★★★★★

This book was one of my most eagerly awaited books of 2010, and with good reason.  When I read Soulless, Alexia Tarabotti quickly climbed pretty damn near the top of the heap of my favorite characters.  I was in love, a smitten kitten.  But Gail Carriger didn't stop there, because she gave me Lord Akeldama and Lord Maccon, Professor Lyall and Ivy Hisselpenny.  And Biffy!  Spiffy Biffy, I adore you, too.  Could it get any better?
Yes, it could, because she added to the bunch Madame Lefoux, yet another character after my heart.  Carriger excels at writing not only exceptional characters, but exceptionally, deliciously eccentric ones, and you know I love me some eccentric.  For all of their forward, anachronistic tendencies, they still seem somehow at home in Carriger's Victorian steampunk world, and I appreciate that.  I also appreciate that she had a character named Featherstonehaugh, which is very fun to say in my head.  (Festenhew, if you were wondering.  No joke.)

But I really didn't mean to start this review on a tangent.
So.

In Changeless, Alexia Tarabotti is a Tarabotti no more; she has married Lord Maccon and stepped into her role as Lady Maccon and the Queen's muhjah , and seems to have everything under control.  But when something goes wrong with her husband's former pack in Scotland, Alexia, with an impressive -- if univited -- entourage in tow follows him to Scotland where she finds herself perhaps a little more out of her depths than she's used to.

It was fun to see Alexia sleuthing again, and making the most of her scientific mind (with a plethora of new toys at her disposal AND another forward-thinking though slightly suspect woman as her companion).  The mystery was fun, but more fun, as always, was the interactions between the characters.  Even though Ivy started getting on my nerves a little bit (gasp), she had some of the best lines, ever.  Take:

(Upon seeing men in kilts)
Miss Hisselpenny did not seem to know where to look.  Finally she settled on staring up at the candelabra in abject terror.  "Alexia," she hissed to her friend, "there are knees positively everywhere!  What do I do?"

Or:

"Oh dear.  Has something untoward ensued?  Everyone is gesticulating."

 She's just the perfect foil for any seriousness or...how to say this?  intelligent conversation that may go on from time to time.  She's the fanning upper-class version of slapstick.  I can't stay mad at her, even when she is annoying.  And she's on the bottom of the totem of favorite characters, so it just gets better from there.  These are the types of "people" you want to invite into your brain [readthisreadthisreadthis:] and keep there [loveitloveitloveit:].  If you haven't picked up the first book in the Parasol Protectorate, kick yourself and then go get it.

I feel, though, like I need to address the end of the book, and I'm really not sure how to do that, so I'm going to tiptoe and talk in circles here a bit.  Excuse me.  There's a part of me that is so damn frustrated with the way this book ended (I wanted to reach through the pages and shake a certain character.  Hard.  Teeth-rattlingly hard), but at the same time, I don't think it could have ended any other way, and I would have felt like it was a cop out not to have ended the way it did.  So as much as I want to be frustrated and angry with Carriger, I can't, because I think she wrote the ending that was supposed to be there.  I respect that; not enough authors do that.
But it also means that I am tearing at my skin like a mental patient with the anxious need to get my hands on book three.  Like you have no idea.  I keep looking at Changeless like it's going to morph into the [stunning:] cover of Blameless.  I neeeed it.  It's like I'm turning into Gollum: I just want to hold it and stroke it and call it my preciousss.  But first I want to read it.
I need to read it.
I don't think there's any better endorsement.

Changless Review by Elizabeth L.

Changeless by Gail Carriger

Rating: ★★★★★

Gail Carriger has added the one thing these books needed to be perfect, a little Egyptian mysticism. Though I find it cruel to put the sample for Blameless in the back and then make us wait till September!

Marital bliss can't last long when a surly regiment of werewolves shows up on your doorstep, your husband disappears to the wilds of Scotland and a bizarre plague of humanization strikes London, making werewolves and vampires alike mortal, and shuffling off the ghosties. But Alexia would not be Alexia if she didn't set right to figuring out what's up. After stopping off at a milliner's, always a trying experience with Ivy in tow, Alexia makes the acquaintance of Madame Lefoux, a dashing haberdasher prone to wearing male attire who happens to be a great inventor on the side. In fact, she's invented the parasol to beat all other parasols, making this umbrella indispensable to Alexia. After an explosive attack while leaving Madame Lefoux's establishment, and rumors that the humanization proceeded her husband to Scotland, Alexia decides that the safety of the supernaturals as well as her husband are at stake and to Scotland she must go. Of course, if she must go by dirigible, her long held wish, well then she must. She didn't count on the entourage of a love sick claviger, an engaged Ivy, one of her sisters and Madame Lefoux.

Attempted poisonings and dangerous dirigible daring do lead to a welcome return to Terra Firma. But if Alexia thought the troubles before where anything to the troubles to come she was mistaken. Her husbands old pack are not all that welcoming, and they seem to have collected a lot of Egyptian antiquities on their way home for being stationed in India. But if it's the last thing she does Alexia will get to the bottom of everything, little knowing of the shock in store.

Gail Carriger has outdone herself in creating a rollicking good read, with a tighter more thrilling mystery and even more memorable characters than in her first book, Soulless. From creating a proto telegraph telephone to dirigibles riding on aether, she has not bogged down her book with too much unintelligible speculative steampunk gadgetry. She has made an accessible world that you never want to leave and makes the wait for Blameless excruciating. Plus, delving deeper into the mysteries of what exactly a preternatural is, and unearthing Egyptian myths, sheer perfection. There's nothing I love more than Egypt, and while, throwing Egypt in delights me, I find it truly satisfying when it works so well with the plot and advances the narrative. Egypt for Egypt is all well and good, Egypt for a purpose, all the better. If there was one complaint I could make, aside from the cliffhanger, it is not enough Lord Akeldama. But I can't in good conscious make this complaint with the arrival of Madame Lefoux. She is so mysterious and kind of glamorous, and her openly defining the stereotypes of the day is just wonderful. I hope she continues to play in important part in the story. Also, am I the only one who instantly saw Emma Fielding as Miss Galindo from Cranford as Madame Lefoux? Maybe it's the hat thing, maybe it's the cravat thing, but I think she would be perfect.

Changeless Review by JG

Changeless by Gail Carriger

Rating: ★★★★

Alexia Maccon, née Tarrabotti, is awakened one morning by her husband bellowing out orders and questions. He doesn't take time to answer her questions, but of course she finds out what's going on later. Something or someone has found a way to completely negate whatever magic makes supernatural beings, well--supernatural. This has London in an uproar. When the phenomenon seems to be traveling north to Scotland, Lord Maccon sets out in that direction too. He wants to investigate further, plus he needs to check in with his old pack. Alexia just can't be left behind, so one dirigible ride later, she joins him up there to find the pack in disarray.

Another fun entry into The Parasol Protectorate! I swear I smiled and giggled the whole way through. Alexia is just as hardheaded and Lord Maccon is just as Alpha. Yum-mmmeeeee. *Waggling eyebrows lasciviously* Alexia is settling into her role as the Woolsey pack's Alpha female with ease. It's a role she was practically made for. There's one confrontation with a member of the pack who has just returned from India that left me laughing. She handled him as only Alexia can. She manages to get herself into even more trouble this time around, believe it or not.

A strange French inventor, Madame Lefoux, makes an appearance too. We're never quite sure what her role is in everything, but she had me hopelessly intrigued. She is to Alexia as Q is to Bond. Talk about a tricked-out parasol! She hooks Alexia up! MacGyver would be jealous of this thing! She's wonderfully eccentric and I couldn't help but love her even as I wondered about her loyalties.

Ivy Hisselpenny and Alexia's sister Felicity have a much-larger role in this book, and all I have to say about that is, "Poor Tunstell. He didn't stand a chance." Ivy's hats are even more garish, Felicity is even bitchier, but their catty spats with each other and Alexia are priceless.

I had an idea what was going on with the mystery and wondered why no one even thought to consider it until the end.

Speaking of the ending...

That's really what knocked this back a star. It's a cliffhanger, it came out of the blue, (Well, sort of. I knew part of what was going on), and it relied heavily on miscommunication. I know miscommunication happens but it irritates the heck out of me when a whole new plot turns on it.

Still, highly recommended for fans of this kind of funny, character-driven, supernatural mystery. I'm anxiously awaiting Blameless. Darn cliffhangers

Soulless Review by Misty B.

Soulless by Gail Carriger

Rating: ★★★★★

Briefly: Read it. Soulless is exactly what I wanted and didn’t get from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It’s a pithy, funny, tongue-firmly-in-cheek mesh of Victorian manners and morés, and absurd occult occurrences. Alexia Tarabotti is an intriguing and amusing MC, completely un-Victorian and yet somehow not out of place. Carriger’s take on Victorian London high society shows a real knowledge of it, while not taking it too seriously. And, man, talk about cover appeal! Love it!
Highly recommended if you like historical, paranormal, satirical, and/or sexy-silly fiction.

Not-so-briefly: let's get down to business --
Characters: The characters of Soulless, including many of the secondary ones, are vibrant and fleshed out. The main characters are engaging and charmingly flawed. The two main characters, Alexia and Lord Maccon, are irresistible. Seriously. Just try to resist them; I'll wait.
Alexia is sassy and smart, with a strain of Victorian sensibilities that is unfettered by any sort of wallflower-ness. She is not shy or coy or retiring. She is a feisty heroine with modern inclinations, who just happens to expect to be treated like a Victorian lady, smart spinster, some-time sex object, and fan of treacle tart; she doesn't ask much. She's a perfect little bundle of contradictions.
Lord Maccon is every bit the Alpha werewolf, posing as a highly desirable bachelor Lord. He is constantly on the verge of bursting out and doing something deliciously indecorous. The fireworks between Lord Maccon and Alexia are blinding (and plenty exciting -- and loud, as fireworks tend to be). It's a classic love/hate relationship with the added fun of Victorian etiquette and supernatural elements tossed in.

Setting and Plot: The steampunky goodness of Carriger's Victorian England is almost as much a character as Alexia and Lord Maccon. Carriger did her research, and a London slightly different than we may have expected comes to life on the page. The Victorian obsession with the fledgling field of genetics plays a prominent and brilliant role, and the exploding obsession with science in both the working and moneyed classes makes for a suitable, smart and intriguing background to the story. Carriger's idea that these great advancements (logically) are the result of supernaturals is fun and playful, while making perfect sense. There's good conflict, great tension (plot tension and sexual tension *waggles eyebrows*). All said, she has set up a great stage-set to play on for the remainder of the series. Long may it live

Soulless Reviewed by Becky

Soulless by Gail Carriger

Rating: ★★★★

In the words of Allison, this book kicked ass. I immensely enjoyed it, and have added it to both my "wishlist" and "to buy" shelves. Maybe someone will want to part with their copy, but I won't hold my breath.

First, let us get the bad stuff out of the way:
1) The main character's name: Alexia. This is a kind of disorder that causes word blindness, or the inability to read. TERRIBLE choice for an exceedingly smart and well-read main character.
2) There were some annoyingly errors in the text, things like saying that the time between sunrise and the moon rising is "twinight". Umm, no, that would be the time between sunset and the moon rising. The time after sunrise is called "day".

Ok, that's all I got for bad stuff. Other than that, I really loved the book. It was humorous, witty, unique, tied in one of my favorite eras to read about, had wonderful characters and was just an all around fun read. Miss Tarabotti reminded me quite a lot of Amelia Peabody from that series of books, and Lord Maccon reminded me of Emerson, again from the Peabody books, but in this there is a supernatural bent. I like that vampires and werewolves are "out" and accepted, mostly, and I like the subtle political "fear mongering" nod in the book too. Very smart.

I have to say that I am immensely glad that this book does not seem to be the start of a series of revolving beds, like the Sookie Stackhouse books. I like that there is a good amount of romance in the stories, but I don't like books that bed-hop just for the sake of stirring things up. I like that this book seems to have more substance than that, although it does seem to follow the trend of "unusual girl meets very unusual guy and drama ensues, then relationship bliss..."

I really enjoyed this book, and look forward to the rest of the series. Which I now have to wait for. BLAST!

Soulless Review by JG

Soulless by Gail Carriger

Rating: ★★★★★

I have waited entirely too long to write this review and gotten too deeply involved in the world of Ken Follett's World Without End, so this review is going to suck a little. Which is a pity because I had thought of all kinds of witty things I was going to write and now I've lost them.

Miss Alexia Tarabotti is soulless. When she touches supernatural beings, she neutralizes their abilities and they become human for a moment. That could be useful to the Bureau of Unnatural Registry if she weren't a lady of good breeding. She refuses to be treated as a wilting lily and goes about, wielding her tricked-out parasol and assisting in any way she can, as new vampires who appear to be entirely clueless about supernatural laws go about wreaking havoc on society.

I loved the chemistry between Alexia and Lord Maccon from the moment he threatens to bring her out of a faint with something stronger than smelling salts. He's an Alpha werewolf, but Alexia has enough alpha personality to hold her own against him. Their subtle yet pointed verbal sparring made this book for me. And can you say steamy? It wasn't too graphic, but oh my gosh. *Fanning*

Alexia herself was a fantastic character. At twenty-six, she's firmly on the shelf in Victorian society, but she's okay with that. Better to be on the shelf than married to some half-wit who can't keep up with her own intellect and curiosity. She gets enough of that from her family. They don't know she's soulless and put all of her quirks down to the fact that her father was Italian. But they've left her just a little insecure about her appearance and desirability. Just enough to make her feel real.

And Lord Maccon. Yum. That's all there is to say about him. But you know I can't leave it at that. Sexy, Alpha, protective, strong, and with a Scottish burr, who can resist him? I kept having an internal battle over his name. There's a Macon County near where I live and Lord Maccon kept sounding like bacon. As a carnivore, I'm sure he wouldn't object, but it kept distracting me.

I liked the way that some curious turns in history can be put down to supernatural intervention. I won't give anything away, and it was only a very small part of the book, but it amused me.

I really liked the cover until I read the book. I kept picturing Alexia as Nia Vardalos and that bony female on the cover just didn't cut it anymore.

I don't think I've read any steampunk before, but if this book is at all indicative of the genre, I am hooked. I'll be actively searching out more of this kind of thing as I eagerly await the sequel, Changeless.

Honestly, if you think that the only way The Pink Carnation series could be improved is by throwing in some supernatural beings, you will love this. If you don't know what I'm talking about but you would like a new take on the whole vampire thing, you'll probably like it too. It was just a hugely fun novel that I read with a smile on my face.

Soulless Review by Elizabeth L.

Soulless by Gail Carriger

Rating: ★★★★

It is the reign of Queen Victoria and the British Empire is vast and ever expanding, thanks in part to the Werewolves and Vampires. The supernatural are acknowledged the world over, but only England has truly accepted them into their daylight world and even into Victoria's government. They even have their own watchdog agency, BUR, the Bureau of Unnatural Registry. This revelation has resulted in technology exploding in the industrial era to harness the power of steam and create a veritable Wellsian world. Now Alexia Tarabotti enters into our story. Alexia deftly straddles these two worlds, not supernatural and not fully human, she is preternatural, soulless, and can cancel out supernatural powers. Preternatural's being used for centuries, particularly by the Templars, to hunt and kill supernaturals. But these are not Alexia's concerns...she's more worried about finding a nice cup of tea and a little something to eat...if a party says that there is to be food, food there should be! What else is a spinster who tragically takes after her dead Italian father in looks and is extremely outspoken to do at parties specifically designed to marry off her two step sisters? But her peace, and the treacle tart, are destroyed by a surprisingly ignorant vampire. She prevailes with her trusty parasol and BUR, in particular, Alpha Lord Maccon and Beta Professor Lyall, arrive on the scene to tidy up the loose ends.

The next day dawns surprisingly normal, till out on a walk with her best friend, and fashion victim, Ivy Hisselpenny, Alexia is invited to the hive of the Vampire Queen, Countess Nadasdy. From there everything goes pear shaped and it's up to Alexia to sort it out, despite Lord Maccon's interference, in more ways then one, some of them surprisingly intimate. There are disappearing rogue vampires and werewolves, and not even her trusty go to gossip, the vampire dandy Lord Akeldama knows what to make of it. With the full moon fast approaching will Alexia be able to keep her overly large nose out of this supernatural business? Or will she storm into the fray, trusting parasol (made to her specifications) in hand And will she get the man even though she has been a resigned spinster since the age of 15?

Soulless is the author Gail Carriger's first published work. I have to say I'm surprised and impressed. Surprised in that it is such a well written polished piece with great Victorian vernacular and lots of wit. Plus as an aside, I only found maybe two typos, it's unheard of for a book to be that well copy edited! But what impressed me was the author's world creation. The England of dirigibles and dandys is wonderful. I found the science and the history she created to be easy to understand, despite it's complexities, and I can't wait till the next book to re-immerse myself in this world...too bad I have to wait till March! The interaction of science with the supernatural was also so well done and logical, you never once felt that she was trying to force one or the other on a preexisting history of the British Empire, but was explaining the oddities of the British Empire itself with the world she created. If only Prince Albert were still alive...I can picture him with Professor Lyall, both equipped with Glassicals and studying the latest scientific aspects of chloroform while waiting to give a presentation to The Royal Society.

Overall the book was able to work on many levels, one of which was to overcome typical romance genre stereotypes. I don't think I'll ever really like Ivy Hisselpenny, she is too, wide-eyed innocent best friend who Alexia will endeavor to find a good match for in subsequent books. Also the throwing together of the heroine with the gruff hero so early in the novel was surprising to me, usually they wait till the very last moment. But Carriger made this work in the end with not the least bit of diluted suspense and the conclusion made me wish I hand Changeless right away to dive into to read of Maccon and Alxia's further adventures. Alexia herself is so wonderfully abrasive and forthright and knowledgeable with such a love of food you can't help embracing her instantly. Who cares that she's the typical spinster stereotype, because when you get down to it, there is nothing stereotypical about her. She is a woman who takes after Victoria herself, not those insipid heroines always needing a man to save them.

But now I must get to my favorite character, Lord Akeldama. He's a dandy to be sure, and a rogue vampire due to a mysterious disagreement over waistcoats, but he's so much more. He's a complex little spy who loves Alexia because she makes him feel human. But his spy network is really where it's at. His trusty Drones, led by Biffy. These dandy's are everywhere and hear everything, but at the same time are so stereotypical and a product of their time that they are a part of the scenery. They are perfectly calculated by Akeldama to be his eyes and ears lending him the appearance of omniscience. Also lets not forget they are great little helpers, in every sense of the word. Do to their cackling dandy herd mentality and the name of Drones and knowing that the author is a fan of P.G. Wodehouse, I can't help myself envisioning a whole different take on the Drones Club. This one would be more stylish, with lots more purple silk and more overt Wildean overtones. I would pay to read about that...really I would. Perhaps in an upcoming sequel by Gail Carriger...