Book Review: Prudence

Prudence (The Custard Protocol #1) 
By Gail Carriger
*****

“If that Alpha wanted to dash off into the jungle with a mysterious goddess on her back on a whimsical evening run in the middle of a prospective battle, they would go with her.” 
― Gail Carriger, Prudence

Another great lark from the amazing Gail Carriger! Fast forward from the Parasol Protectorate series about 20 years, and join the offspring of several of its main characters in this new series. Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama is the daughter of a werewolf and a preternatural (a "soulless" able to cancel-out the super in the supernaturals), making her the first metanatural (being able to "steal" the super from the supernaturals) in hundreds of years. She was also adopted and raised by a fashion-forward vampire and his pretty-boy drones. This combination of parentage has lead young Rue (she hates her name), to be rather daring and fearless, particularly in terms of undergarments, much to the dismay of her family.

Lord Akeldama, Rue's adopted father, sends her to India on a mission: someone has stolen the tea he was intending for an importing venture. Armed with a dirigible decorated like a ladybug, the twin offspring of the London vampire queen, the son of a brilliant inventor, and relatives stationed at her destination, and Rue dives full steam ahead into adventure. 

The first book in the Custard Protocol series is light and frothy and full of fun. There is certainly a mystery and the occasional daring-do, but the story never loses its sense of humor. Old characters grace the pages occasionally, and I was delighted to see them again. And the new characters were equally lovely. Miss Sekmet became an instant favorite. In addition, Carriger expanded her world building, introducing not only new characters, but new creatures as well. That was unexpected, but completely delightful! I can't wait to see what  else she has in store for her readers in future books.

This book can certainly stand on its own, but I'd recommend starting with the Parasol Protectorate series and possibly even the Finishing School series first, if you're new to the author. Her characters float between the series, and I find certain scenes more meaningful when I know the backstory. Either way, I highly recommend this book if you're looking for a clever romp with a healthy dollop of silliness.

Audio Book Review: Finishing School Series

Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School #1)

By Gail Carriger

Narrated By Moira Quirk
Story: *****
Narration: *****

“It's no good choosing your first husband from a school for evil geniuses. Much too difficult to kill.” 
― Gail Carriger, Etiquette & Espionage

From Goodreads:
It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners--and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. 

But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's, young ladies learn to finish...everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but the also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage--in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education.

From Me:
This book is utterly delightful! Our heroine is clever, a Hermione without the wand, and fearless, but not in a "too stupid to live" way. Having read Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series, I got a kick out of meeting characters in their youth that I knew as adults from Alexia's story, particularly the nine-year-old french girl who dressed as a boy. My fingers are crossed that Sophronia one day meets Akeldama - I think he'd like her.


Curtsies & Conspiracies (Finishing School #2)
By Gail Carriger
Narrated By Moira Quirk
Story: ****
Narration: *****

“Ah. And how many ways do you know to kill me, while we dance?”
“Only two, but give me time.”  ― Gail Carriger, Curtsies & Conspiracies

Another great story by Gail Carriger! I truly love her Steampunk world and Sophronia's place in it. I had a hard time in the beginning of the book with the way the other students were treating our heroine, but it was explained well and made sense with the plot...I was just glad when that particular part of the story ended. 

Can't wait to find out what happens next!


Waistcoats & Weaponry (Finishing School #3) 
By Gail Carriger
Narrated By Moira Quirk
Story: *****
Narration: *****

“Lady Linette has been teaching us seduction techniques.” She lowered her eyes and then looked off across the gray moor, presenting him with her profile, which was rather a nice one, or so Mademoiselle Geraldine told her.
That statement successfully shocked Felix. He swallowed a few times before saying, his voice almost as high as it had been a year ago, “Really?” 
― Gail Carriger, Waistcoats & Weaponry

Sophronia and company take on another adventure, this time helping Sidheag with family issues (notable background info in the Parasol Protectorate series). The ladies are terribly clever, and not much can stop them. Mixed with the action and a masquerade ball, Carriger deftly weaves in incredible humor - the girls may have started their training in seduction techniques, but it's clear they're still naive about some aspects of the opposite sex. Suffice it to say that these parts of the story brought out the giggles.

Now I need to go back and read the Parasol Protectorate series and get a refresher before diving into the Custard Protocol! Highly recommended.

Book Review: Timeless

Timeless (Parasol Protectorate #5)
Gail Carriger
(20 stars out of 5)

I'm a little sad. I love this series, and alas, it is over. Alexia has completed her journey (though her daughter's journey will be beginning in a new series coming out sometime in the nearish future SQUEE!).

Ok, so those of you who aren't familiar with the series (OHMYGOSHWHATISWRONGWITHYOUGOREADITRIGHTNOW!!!) Alexia lives in a world of vampires, werewolves, and ghosts. The common theory is that people with an excess of soul are able to be turned into a vamp or a wolfie, and if they aren't turned in life, they may stick around as a ghost. Alexia is an even rarer creature - she's a spinster without a soul. When a Soulless touches one of the vampires or werewolves, they revert to their mortal form: vamps can see the sun and lose their fangs, werewolves in wolf form are instantly changed back to (naked) humanity. And if a Soulless were to touch the dead body that used to house the ghost, the ghost is no more.

The world Gail Carriger created is set in Victorian England and is a lovely mix of Steampunk and Paranormal (with a bit of Romance thrown in). Alexia is the straight (wo)man surrounded by a colorful cast of characters: her love interest and head of BUR (a sort of supernatural affairs division of the government) and werewolf pack leader, Conall Maccon, who growls a lot and doesn't seem to mind that Alexia is too old (she's in her mid-to-late twenties while he's over 200 years old), that she's part-Italian, or that she has more curves than is considered popular (he really doesn't mind that bit). Her vampire friend, Akeldama, who is a rove (or loner) vampire, dresses with 18th century flair, and has a house full of pretty young men who act as his household staff and gossip collectors (called drones). There's also Lyall, Conall's second in command; Ivy Hisselpenny, Alexia's friend and wearer of atrocious hats; Biffy, Akeldama's head drone; two awful half-sisters and a flighty mother; and the ever present and effective butler, Floote.

Timeless neatly ties up all the loose ends in this five book series. I enjoyed every chapter, every page, and every word of each of these books. I can't wait for her new YA series, which begins with Espionage and Etiquette, and will be coming out in February.

Anyone who can turn a parasol into a multi-layered weapon, whose heroine believes that anything can be made better with liberal application of tea, and can slip in a "llama, llama, duck" reference into a book taking place in Victorian England, will always have me as a loyal reader!

Book Review: The Peculiars

The Peculiars
By Maureen Doyle McQuerry
(2 out of 5 stars)

"Maybe it was only goblin women who were restless and wanted to see the world. She didn't know.”

Description from Goodreads:
This dark and thrilling adventure, with an unforgettable heroine, will captivate fans of steampunk, fantasy, and romance. On her 18th birthday, Lena Mattacascar decides to search for her father, who disappeared into the northern wilderness of Scree when Lena was young. Scree is inhabited by Peculiars, people whose unusual characteristics make them unacceptable to modern society. Lena wonders if her father is the source of her own extraordinary characteristics and if she, too, is Peculiar. On the train she meets a young librarian, Jimson Quiggley, who is traveling to a town on the edge of Scree to work in the home and library of the inventor Mr. Beasley. The train is stopped by men being chased by the handsome young marshal Thomas Saltre. When Saltre learns who Lena’s father is, he convinces her to spy on Mr. Beasley and the strange folk who disappear into his home, Zephyr House. A daring escape in an aerocopter leads Lena into the wilds of Scree to confront her deepest fears.

My Review:
I had such high hopes for this book. I really like the steampunk genre, which this fits into, and the cover art was pretty great. However, I didn't get into the story. The main character, Lena, thinks she's a Peculiar. Her father was rumored to be a goblin, though most people in the city didn't really believe in that sort of thing. Lena is sure she is, though, because she has super long hands and feet, which both have a third joint. Lena has been told all her life by her grandmother that goblins are no good and implying that Lena has the same wild nature as her father (even though she's actually pretty meek and compliant). So Lena is never sure if her urges to see the world and find her father are normal or if they're part of her wild side.

Which would have been fine...except she's so whiny about it! And despite the fact that she's the heroine and you're supposed to like her, she did so many stupid things and acted so pathetically that I really couldn't stand her.

My other issue with this story is that the author was too heavy-handed with any element related to her brilliant inventor character - basically, he's so smart that he's figured out medicine, mechanics, etc, before their real 20th century inventors, and the same goes for the steampunk elements. I think it goes back to the first rule of writing: show, don't tell. And McQuerry did an awful lot of telling. I really don't know how to explain it any better than that, but suffice it to say, it took me out of the story and caused me to roll my eyes several times.

All that being said, this was an easy and quick read, and if you're into steampunk or fairy stories it may be worth it to give it a shot.

P.S. The character on the cover is not Lena. Lena has long hands and feet, not wings. The winged girl is a minor character who isn't in the story too much.

Review: Heartless

Heartless (Parasol Protectorate #4) (*****)
by Gail Carriger

From Goodreads:
Lady Alexia Maccon, soulless, is at it again, only this time the trouble is not her fault. When a mad ghost threatens the queen, Alexia is on the case, following a trail that leads her deep into her husband's past. Top that off with a sister who has joined the suffragette movement (shocking!), Madame Lefoux's latest mechanical invention, and a plague of zombie porcupines and Alexia barely has time to remember she happens to be eight months pregnant.

Will Alexia manage to determine who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it is too late? Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf's clothing? And what, exactly, has taken up residence in Lord Akeldama's second best closet?

From Me:
I can't tell you how much I adore Gail Carriger's books. I love her pragmatic heroine, her flamboyant supporting characters, her sense of humor, and the paranormal world she created.

In this installment, Alexia is attempting to solve a mystery and put the Empire to rights, again, but this time she's 8 months pregnant, which makes things a touch more difficult.

This is such a fun read, and I can't wait until the next installment is released in 2012. That, and a new series was just announced centered on a character introduced at the end of Heartless. So excited!

Waiting on Wednesday: Timeless

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Timeless
by Gail Carriger
From Goodreads:
Alexia Tarabotti, Lady Maccon, has settled into domestic bliss. Of course, being Alexia, such bliss involves integrating werewolves into London High society, living in a vampire's second best closet, and coping with a precocious toddler who is prone to turning supernatural willy-nilly. Even Ivy Tunstell's acting troupe's latest play, disastrous to say the least, cannot put a damper on Alexia's enjoyment of her new London lifestyle.

Until, that is, she receives a summons from Alexandria that cannot be ignored. With husband, child, and Tunstells in tow, Alexia boards a steamer to cross the Mediterranean. But Egypt may hold more mysteries than even the indomitable Lady Maccon can handle. What does the vampire Queen of the Alexandria Hive really want from her? Why is the God-Breaker Plague suddenly expanding? And how has Ivy Tunstell suddenly become the most popular actress in all the British Empire?

From Me:
I just finished Heartless, the fourth book in the Parasol Protectorate series, and I can't wait for the next installment! Love these books! And Carriger is also planning a YA series and a spin-off series. I love discovering an awesome author when they're just starting out, but at the same time I kinda wish I came in late to her writing because I HATE having to wait for the next book! Le sigh.

Book List: Steampunk

Book List: Steampunk
I'm still new to the Steampunk sub-genre, but I am so intrigued by it. I love the aesthetic of Victorian England mixed with technology that wasn't. Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series got me hooked on the genre, and one day I hope to do a library program around Steampunk. But until that day, here's a book and media list regarding this awesome genre!


Anthologies and Non Fiction
The Steampunk Bible: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Imaginary Airships, Corsets and Goggles, Mad Scientists, and Strange Literature, Jeff VanderMeer - ***If you really want to know about Steampunk, not just read or watch something Steampunky, then this is the book you need!***
Steampunk, Ann VanderMeer, Jeff VanderMeer
Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded, Ann VanderMeer, Jeff VanderMeer, et al
Steampunk-Style Jewelry: A Maker's Collection of Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Designs, Jean Campbell
Steampunk Prime: A Vintage Steampunk Reader, Mike Ashley
Corsets & Clockwork: 13 Steampunk Romances, Anthology
Extraordinary Engines: The Definitive Steampunk Anthology
The Art of Steampunk: Extraordinary Devices and Ingenious Contraptions from the Leading Artists of the Steampunk Movement, Art Donovan
Steampunk!: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories, Young Adult Anthology

Movies and TVs
Wild Wild West (1999)
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Steamboy (2004) – animated movie
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
Hellboy (2004)
Van Helsing (2004)
The Prestige (2006)
The Golden Compass (2007)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
9 (2009) - animated movie
The Three Musketeers (coming 10/21/2011)
Hugo (coming 11/23/2011)
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (coming 12/16/2011)
Sanctuary (2008-present) – television show on SYFY
Warehouse 13 (2009-present) – television show on SYFY

Children/Tween/Young Adult
The Girl in the Steel Corset (The Steampunk Chronicles #1), Kady Cross
The City of Ember (Books of Ember #1), Jeanne DuPrau
Leviathan (Leviathan #1), Scott Westerfeld
The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick
Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices #1), Cassandra Clare
The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials #1), Philip Pullman
Howl’s Moving Castle (Castle #1), Dianna Wynne Jones
Airman, Eoin Colfer
Incarceron (Incarceron #1), Catherine Fisher

Classics
The Time Machine, H. G. Wells
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson

Fiction
Boneshaker (The Clockwork Century #1), Cherie Priest
Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate #1), Gail Carriger
The Affinity Bridge (Newbury and Hobbes #1), George Mann
The Iron Duke (Iron Seas #1), Meljean Brook
The Steampunk Trilogy, Paul Di Filippo
The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi
Whitechapel Gods (Whitechapel #1), S. M. Peters
Steamed (Steampunk Romance #1), Katie MacAlister
The Native Star (Native Star #1), M. K. Hobson

Anime/Graphic Novels/Comics
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1, Alan Moore
Girl Genius Vol. 1: Agatha Heterodyne & the Beetleburg Clank (Girl Genius #1), Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio, Brian Snoddy
Rapunzel's Revenge (Rapunzel's Revenge #1), by Shannon Hale, Nathan Hale, and Dean Hale (Thanks to christy27204 for the recommendation!)
Last Exlie, animated Japanese television series (Thanks to Doug for the recommendation!)

For More:
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/618.Best_Steampunk_Books?format=html&page=1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_steampunk_works

Review: The Girl in the Steel Corset

The Girl in the Steel Corset (Steampunk Chronicles, #1), by Kady Cross (*****)

From Goodreads:
In 1897 England, sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne has no one except the "thing" inside her.

When a young lord tries to take advantage of Finley, she fights back. And wins. But no normal Victorian girl has a darker side that makes her capable of knocking out a full-grown man with one punch...

Only Griffin King sees the magical darkness inside her that says she's special, says she's one of them. The orphaned duke takes her in from the gaslit streets against the wishes of his band of misfits. Emily, who has her own special abilities and an unrequited love for Sam, who is part robot; and Jasper, an American cowboy with a shadowy secret.

Griffin's investigating a criminal called The Machinist, the mastermind behind several recent crimes by automatons. Finley thinks she can help-and finally be a part of something, finally fit in.

But The Machinist wants to tear Griff's little company of strays apart, and it isn't long before trust is tested on all sides. At least Finley knows whose side she's on, even if it seems no one believes her.

From Me:
I REALLY wanted to like this book. I loved the cover art and I was intrigued by the book description - I love a good tough-chick story. I even really enjoyed the characters and the world Cross created. I just couldn't get into the story. It felt like the author was trying to shove all the cool stuff she thought of into this one book rather than saving some of it for the next one (this is the first in a series). It wasn't that what was in the story was bad, there was just too much of it.

That being said, I'll still read the follow-up novel. I loved the Steampunk world and I want to see how the characters develop, particularly Finley Jayne (the girl in the steel corset). I would recommend this book for someone looking to test the waters of Steampunk, but who may not be ready to go into the full blown, hardcore Steampunk world. Though I would suggest Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate first, unless they really just wanted a YA read.

Question for those who have read the book: what in the world is "ropey hair"?

Book Review: Leviathan

Leviathan
by Scott Westerfeld
illustrations by Keith Thompson
(*****)


From Goodreads:
Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.

Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.

With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.

From me:
While Leviathan may be hard to categorize, it's a great example of a different type of science fiction - one that doesn't meet anyone's definition. Westerfeld's creation is strange and wondrous while being filled with war and danger. Deryn, the middy hiding her gender, doesn't let her deception hinder her (or her storyline); she takes risks with her get-it-done attitude, but she does so intelligently, making her one of the best crewmen on the Leviathan. Alek is a prince who has been looked down on most of his life, makes many blunders, and has little confidence, and yet he proves to be both skilled and able with a heart for people. These outside-the-box characters fit excellently with an outside-the-box story.