Soulless
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4.4 • 252 Ratings
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
Buffy meets Jane Austen in the first book of this wickedly funny NYT bestselling series about a young woman whose brush with the supernatural leads to a deadly investigation of London's high society.
Alexia Tarabotti is laboring 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 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?
Soulless is the first book of the Parasol Protectorate series: a comedy of manners set in Victorian London, full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Carriger debuts brilliantly with a blend of Victorian romance, screwball comedy of manners and alternate history. Prickly, stubborn 25-year-old bluestocking Alexia Tarabotti is patently unmarriageable, and not just because she's large-nosed and swarthy. She's also soulless, an oddity and a secret even in a 19th-century London that mostly accepts and integrates werewolf packs, vampire hives and ghosts. The only man who notices her is brash Lord Conall Maccon, a Scottish Alpha werewolf and government official, and (of course) they dislike each other intensely. After Alexia kills a vampire with her parasol at a party how vulgar! she and Conall must work together to solve a supernatural mystery that grows quite steampunkishly gruesome. Well-drawn secondary characters round out the story, most notably Lord Akeldama, Alexia's outrageous, italic-wielding gay best vampire friend. This intoxicatingly witty parody will appeal to a wide cross-section of romance, fantasy and steampunk fans.
Customer Reviews
Genre-defying Victorian Steampunk Comedy-of-Manners that’s as Funny as it is Fantastic
One of my favorite authors that I entirely picked up because the back synopsis & author bio made me laugh out loud. Originally found as I was shelving books while working at Borders.
This book is hard to put into a genre. It’s an Austen comedy-of-manners set in an alternative Steampunk Victorian Britain (so a mix of SciFi & Fantasy) with Romance. It’s also pretty queer, though the first book is a bit more understated in that regard. The queer characters become more prominent though.
A wonderfully entertaining book that puts a different spin on Vampires, Werewolves, Ghosts, & Alt History / Steampunk. It’s unambiguously fun & I’d recommend to just about anyone who likes the multitude of genres it transverses.
Full of soul
This was such a delightful read. I love how it had vampires and werewolves. I would like to know more about Ms Terribotti and her condition. Her mother was dreadful. She should be put in her place. The hero of the story was so dreamy! This is now one of my most favorite steampunk books. I'll be sure to read the next.
The narrator was perfect for this. I would like to hear more of her. I really hope she does this whole series.
Yes. Buy it.
Fun. Really. Just fun. I read usually 2-3 books a week, and I've really enjoyed this.
I'm not going to go on about plot or characters or romance. All you need to know is that this novel is FUN.
Do yourself a favor. Enjoy.