Title: Soulless
Author: Gail Carriger
Year of publication: 2009
Genre: Mixed — Steampunk paranormal romantic comedy
My rating: 4 stars or B+
Given it features both vampires (boo!) and werewolves (slightly smaller boo!), and is the first in a new series (biggest boo of all!), it took a bit for Soulless to make it on to my reading list. However, a romantic comedy with an overbearing spinster lead set in the steampunk Victorian age was too much to resist.
Alexia Tarabotti is soulless, but that’s the least of her problems: she’s also past the age of marrying, an outspoken trial to her family, and descended from the wrong father (he’s Italian. At least he wasn’t Scottish, how appalling). Also, she just killed a vampire who very rudely tried to feed on her, which forces contact with werewolf Alpha Lord Maccon, who is investigating and who becomes increasingly irritated (and intrigued) as the mystery deepens and Alexia’s right in the thick of it.
This is enjoyable, funny read. There’s lot of snappy dialgoue and interplay between Alexia and Lord Maccon, as you would expect from a romantic comedy (though it gets somewhat repetitive in the middle with the endless discussion between different characters of how werewolf and human courtships differ), and the mystery is satisfying, with a bit of tension and a nice resolution. I found some of the secondary characters very attractive too, including the gentle, competent Professor Lyall, Lord Maccon’s second-in-command, and Alexia’s friend, the camp vampire Lord Akeldama, with his endless font of pet names (my favourite being “fluffy cockatoo”). I also liked the way Carriger interwove vampire and werewolf history into our own to change the interpretation of things like the Dark Ages, the Enlightenment and the settling of America.
Even in my light reading, though, I like to see depth, and this was somewhat missing in the first outing of this new series. Alexia is soulless, after all, and yet it bothers or affects her no further than that she has trouble appreciating beauty in art and fashion. The characters are pretty much playing out stock-standard roles, though they are very well done within those roles; I like to see little twists within the roles. And one of the characters is tortured horribly for several hours near the climax of the book (I felt it lacked depth, not darkness), and yet suffers no lingering ill effects. I don’t care if you’re supernatural, that’s gotta leave a shadow.
So as much as I enjoyed this book, I can’t see myself seeking out the next in the series, though I would read it if it was handed to me. Unless the romance in the next book centres on Professor Lyall. And Akeldama.
Verdict
This is lots of fun, an easy quick read with well-drawn, if a little over-familiar, characters. Well worth a read if you enjoy historical romantic comedies with a paranormal twist (or steampunk paranormal comedies with a romantic twist, of course).
The next book in the “Parasol Protectorate”, Changeless is out now.
Interested in Soulless? Buy it from Fishpond.com.au, Australia’s biggest online bookstore. All their book prices are guaranteed better than Amazon and they do free delivery for orders over $49.
