Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Soulless by Gail Carriger



I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book. It's gotten great reviews but I was a bit hesitant as I had decided I wasn't a fan of Steampunk. Not that I'd ever read any, but just like I know I don't like bungee jumping despite it's popularity, I was pretty sure I didn't like Steampunk.

Boy was I wrong! I did enjoy this book. In this world Ms. Carringer created (during the 1800s), supernaturals are considered to be so because they have an excess of soul. It's difficult for humans to try to cross over to become vampires or werewolves because you must have a lot of soul to survive the transfer. Alexia Tarabotti is a 25-year-old spinster who is considered, by other paranormals, to be soulless. What this means is she negates other supernatural's powers. For example, if a vampire attacks her, when she touches it it loses it's vampiric abilitis and for all intents and purposes is human while in physical contact.

As the book opens, Alexia is at a dance, in the library trying to get something to eat (her appetite is a running joke throughout the book), when she is attacked by a vampire and ends up killing it. We meet Lord Maccon, an alpha werewolf, who is in charge of the supernatural police force. He and Alexia drive each other nuts....which turns to romance. Watching these two attempt to court each other was pretty funny. Between his alpha tendencies and her victorian sensibilities (to a point, she is what would be considered a bluestocking) they bumbled along nicely, the whole time trying to solve the mystery of disappearing rogue vampires and werewolves.

I liked the secondary characters, especially Ms. Histlepenny and Professor Lyall (Lord Maccon's Beta wolf); they were quite entertaining in their own rights.

One of the funnies things that caught my attention (I have a teenage boy's sense of humor) was Alexia thinking about how wolves mark their territory and wondering if Lord Maccon marked his territory around his castle!

I give this book two thumbs up!

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