Ratings19
Average rating3.2
After she leaves her husband, the pregnant Lady Maccon is dismissed from the Shadow Council, attacked by mechanical ladybugs, and becomes the target of vampires, forcing her to escape to Italy in search of the mysterious Templars.
Featured Series
5 primary books8 released booksParasol Protectorate is a 8-book series with 5 primary works first released in 2009 with contributions by Gail Carriger.
Reviews with the most likes.
Pros: quirky characters, action
Cons: soap opera feel
As this is the 3rd book in the series, the synopsis contains spoilers. This is not a book you can pick up without having read the previous two.
Alexia, Lady Maccon, begins this book at her mother's abode, being estranged from her husband due to the ‘baby inconvenience'. Though faithful, her husband's werewolf state ought to make him unable to father a child. The vampires aren't happy about Alexia's pregnancy, and without the protection of the Woolsey Pack she's in trouble.
So she does what any self-respecting soulless would do while under attack - take a trip to the continent to see if anyone there can explain how she conceived.
While the characters are still quirky, their personalities are toned down a bit in this novel so at no point do they grate on your nerves (which happened a few times in Changeless).
The plot, while organic as per the other books in the series, feels a bit tighter in this book. Carriger's writing, already good, has improved.
The only ‘negative' I had was that the story is starting to feel like a soap opera. Which can be fun, but can also go too far. It's worked so far, I hope Carriger can keep the books from becoming farcical rather than pleasantly campy.
The Parasol Protectorate is becoming one of my favorite new series. It's comedic historical fantasy set in a steampunk version of London populated with both humans and the supernatural (vampires, werewolves and ghosts). The first book in the series, Soulless, was also somewhat of a romance, but the next two books are not. In my opinion, this latest installment is about as enjoyable as the previous book and both are more polished than the first one.
Blameless is full of clever, whimsical humor and it struck me a couple of times while reading it that nearly every sentence is hilarious. There are so many well-worded phrases, but while there are plenty of funny situations the book doesn't compromise characterization just for the sake of being amusing. Alexia has become a character I really care about; she's so logical and courageous it would be difficult not to like her.
Full Review
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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... a pitcher of some dark liquid that smelled like heaven. Floote poured a portion for her into his cup
Alexia took a tentative sip and was quite overwhelmed by an acute sense of betrayal. It was absolutely
vole tasting, a mixture of quinine and burnt dandelion leaves.
“That, I am to assume, is the infamous coffee?”
Madame Lefoux nodded, pouring herself a splash and then adding a good deal of honey and milk. Alexia could not believe a whole hive of honey capable of rescuing the foul drink. Imagine preferring that to tea!
Changeless
Soulless