quippe | Entries tagged with gail carriger

The Blurb On The Back:

Alexia Tarabotti has settled into domestic bliss …

Of course, being Alexia, such bliss involves integrating werewolves into London high society, living in a vampire’s second best closet, and coping with a precocious toddler prone to turning supernatural willy-nilly. Even Ivy Tunstell’s acting troupe’s latest play, disastrous to say the least, cannot put a dampner on Alexia’s enjoyment of her new London lifestyle.

Until, that is, she receives a summons from Alexandria that cannot be ignored. But Egypt holds more mysteries than even the indomitable Alexia can handle. What does the vampire Queen of the Alexandria Hive really want from her? Why is the God-Breaker Plague suddenly expanding? And how has Ivy Tunstell suddenly become the most popular actress in all the British Empire?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The conclusion to Gail Carriger’s bestselling Parasol Protectorate series is a return to form – a charming, frothy story that ties up loose ends but leaves the way open for a new series revolving around Prudence. I loved some of the developments (particularly the relationship between Alexia and her daughter) while others left me gutted (I’m thinking of getting a tee-shirt ‘Still Mourning For Floote’). It is great to see an author who knows when to go out on a high and I can’t wait to read Prudence’s adventures.

The Blurb On The Back:

Lady Alexia, Soulless, is at it again – only this time the trouble in the air is not her fault.

When a mad ghost threatens the queen, Alexia is on the case, following a trail that leads her deep into her husband’s past. Top that off with a sister who has joined the suffragette movement (shocking!), Madame Lefoux’s latest mechanical invention and a plague of zombie porcupines – and Alexia barely has time to remember she just happens to be eight months pregnant.

Will she be able to figure out who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it’s too late? Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf’s clothing? And do they really have to take up residence in Lord Akeldama’s second best closet?

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The Verdict:

Having greatly enjoyed Gail Carriger’s previous three books in the Parasol Protectorate series, I found this a bit of a disappointment. There’s a lot of set up here, which made for a plot that meandered a little too much but my main problem was the Madame Lefoux sub-plot which just seemed entirely out of character for her based on the previous books. I think that the changes that are in place by the end of the book are interesting and I’ve got high hopes for the next book, TIMELESS, but this book never rose above okay and it left me a little disappointed.

The Blurb On The Back:

Quitting her husband’s house and moving back in with her horrible family, Lady Alexia becomes the scandal of the London season.

Not only does Queen Victoria dismiss her from the Shadow Council, but the only person who can explain anything, Lord Akeldama, unexpectedly leaves town To top it all off, Alexia is attacked by homicidal mechanical ladybugs – indicating, as only ladybugs can, the fact that all of London’s vampires are now very much interested in seeing Alexia quite thoroughly dead.

While Lord Maccon elects to get progressively more inebriated and Professor Lyall desperately tries to hold the Woolsey werewolf pack together, Alexia flees England for Italy in search of the mysterious Templars. Only they know enough about the preternatural to explain her increasingly inconvenient condition, but they may be worse than the vampires – and they’re armed with pesto.

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The Verdict:

The third in Gail Carriger’s series is another light-hearted romp of an adventure that’s told with wit and verve. Alexia Maccon is shaping up to be one of my favourite female characters with her sound common sense and hefty way with the parasol. This book resolved the cliff hanger from CHANGELESS to satisfying effect and it has confirmed me as a Floote fangirl. I am now very impatient for the release of HEARTLESS on 28th June 2011.

The Blurb On The Back:

Lady Alexia is rudely awoken in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find rather peculiar events transpiring.

Her husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, is 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 – pending werewolf pack dynamics as only the soulless can.

She might even find time to track down her wayward husband if she feels like it.

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The Verdict:

A witty sequel packed with interesting characters, steampunk elements and some steamy romance, this was an entertaining story full of twists and turns. Although there are some Americanisms in the text, there weren’t so many as to spoil my enjoyment and my main criticism relates to the cliffhanger ending, which didn’t work for me but has ensured that I will read the next book in the series, BLAMELESS.

The Blurb On The Back:

Alexia Tarabotti is labouring under a great many social tribulations.

First, she has no soul. Second, she’s a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.

Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire – and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.

With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia is responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London’s high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?

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The Verdict:

The first book in a witty and engaging historical fantasy series with steampunk elements, this combines an original premise, good world-building and a strong-willed heroine armed with a deadly parasol to entertaining effect. It’s not a perfect book (and the depiction of Canterbury as a port was a particularly needless mistake) but it is amusing and well paced and I will be reading the sequel, CHANGELESS.