Soulless by Gail CarrigerMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I would have actually given this book 4.5 stars -- it was really good and I wasn't able to tear myself way for long from the second half but it just wasn't --quite-- 5 star material. However, given my suspicion of popular series featuring the supernatural, I was really surprised by how much I liked this! Give me anything Victorian era and I'm a happy lady and put a strong-willed, no-nonsense heroine in the mix... well werewolves and vampires aren't enough to keep me away and thank goodness they didn't this time around! This book was fun and light and had lots of laugh out loud moments.
What really kept this from being a 5 star book was how forced some of the setting felt. It seemed like the author decided to write a steampunk novel and then poured in the staples of the genre without them really being necessary. Dirigibles flying overhead were mentioned often enough but had absolutely nothing to do with --anything-- that went on in the course of the novel not to mention the deliberate, multiple mentions of brass octopi all over the bad guys' stuff... it's never explained or anything, it just seems to be one of those details thrown in not-too-subtly to remind you that this is A Steampunk Book. These are just minor nitpicks but I found them somewhat irritating in my reading, it was like the author didn't trust you to comprehend the setting organically.
Not to linger over the negative bits I will say that anyone who has any sort of fondness for Jane Austen as well as fantasy or paranormal should add this to their collection immediately! I plan on continuing the series as soon as I can get my hands on a copy of book 2 -- where I'm hoping the purpose of octopi and dirigibles in the plot will become apparent! This was one of the few first books in a fantasy series that made me feel like I needed continue it immediately. I usually will put it off for a while til I forget about the series entirely. Alexia Tarabotti was a terrific main character and I'll definitely enjoy reading more about her.
View all my reviews
Get Steampunked! | Mandroid's Sci-Fi Reader Challenge | 1st in a Series Challenge | Historical Fiction Challenge
I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Soulless! It was my gateway into science fiction and I love how Gail Carriger melded together supernatural creatures with a Victorian time period.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the octopi go, if I remember correctly, it's just the secret society's logo. The octopus is a symbol in a number of steampunk books, I think because of it's connection to Jules Verne novels (Verne being sort of the first "steampunk" writer).
I hope you've been enjoying the rest of the series! I can't wait for the last book to come out in March.
Me neither! I'm on the fourth one right now and have definitely become hooked -- even passed on the first one to my mom already :).
DeleteI have been meaning to read this book for a really long time. I hope I get to it soon, it sounds great.
ReplyDeleteIt is! Definitely a few new author aggravations in the first couple there but nothing that'll take away from the really fun plot and characters :)
ReplyDelete