Soulless

Soulless is the first in the genre-mashing Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. It's a whimsical steampunk paranormal romance comedy of manners set in Victorian London where werewolves and vampires have integrated into society. Fair warning, the romance gets explicit in spots. Other reviews I've seen calling this style as Buffy meets Jane Austin is a fair description. All of this turned out to be one highly entertaining read with a story that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Alexia Tarabotti is a self described spinster. The daughter of a dead Italian father yet still attending society parties to keep up family appearances. If only this current one wasn't so boring! Then perhaps she wouldn't have been rudely attacked by a show more vampire who should have known better. Alexia is soulless after all, a preternatural who can turn the supernatural temporarily human at a touch, who most of the supernatural know to avoid. The only thing worse than having to deal with an ignorant vampire is being involved in an investigation when Alexia accidentally kills him with her parasol.

I'm not sure which I ended up loving more, the world with an integrated supernatural and natural society or the witty wordplay the author used. The world concept is absolutely fascinating and I quite enjoyed how Alexia's soulless state fit in. I am definitely looking forward to how that plays out more as the series progresses. I also greatly enjoyed the use of modernized proper English as the character's bantered back and forth. Perhaps it's time to reread Pride and Prejudice or another Austin later this year.

As I mentioned earlier the romance is a big element of the story. If you don't like much romance in your reading you may want to think twice about trying this book. Given the set up in the first chapter I think it was fairly predictable where the romance ends up yet it still made me grin.

There is a lot of silliness in the story. Most of it I found entertaining but some just didn't work for me. I had a problem with some of the names in the book, including the main character. I kept calling her "Alexa" in my head. In fact I had to use find and replace in this review to make sure I got it right! Some of the other family names, such as Hisslepenny and Loontwill, made my eyes roll. Maybe it's a joke I just didn't get. I was also disappointed in the reveal of the main bad guy. After such a mysterious set up it was such a let down to have him just be a normal person out to "protect" society by eradicating the supernatural "menace." With all of Carriger's other creativity I think she could have done better.

I was entertained enough and definitely curious as to what is in store for Alexia next. I'm looking forward to continuing the series. show less

Alexia Tarabotti is a young lady living in Victorian London – but it’s a Victorian London where supernatural creatures are publicly recognized and integrated into society. Vampires and werewolves are the most common types of supernaturals, and their special powers arise from an excessive amount of soul. Alexia herself is rather unique; she has no soul at all and is therefore a preternatural, capable of neutralizing a supernatural’s powers through touch. In addition to this social handicap, Alexia also has an unfashionably dark complexion and is considered, at 25 years old, to be a spinster. As if these hardships weren’t enough, a vampire rudely attacks her in the middle of a ball, an unknown creature keeps trying to kidnap her, show more and the handsome werewolf Lord Maccon is constantly picking fights with her. What’s a soulless girl to do?

This book is just tons of fun. It’s a mixture of historical fiction, urban fantasy, romance, and steampunk, with some rollicking humor thrown in. One thing I really appreciated was the manageability of the plot: it was complex enough to hold my attention, but I managed to remember all of the key threads so that I wasn’t hopelessly confused at the end. Alexia is a great, fun character, and her interactions with Lord Maccon are especially entertaining. My favorite aspect, though, was the world-building; I think it’s a unique and creative universe with lots of potential, and I especially liked the treatment of vampires and werewolves. Aside from a little head-hopping and a few completely unnecessary references to the Templars, I have no complaints about this book. I’m very pleased that a sequel is coming out next year, and I definitely plan to continue with the series! show less

From the book:
"Miss Alexia Tarabotti was not enjoying her evening. Private balls were never more than middling amusements for spinsters, and Miss Tarrabotti was not the kind of spinster who could garner even that much pleasure from the event. To put the pudding in the puff: she had retreated to the library, her favorite sanctuary in any house, only to happen upon an unexpected vampire."


Soulless by Gail Carriger is a fun and quirky book right from the first paragraph. My first foray into steampunk transports me into an unlikely world of gadgetry, flamboyant vampires, authoritarian werewolves, not to mention a preternatural minx with devilish wit and impeccable fashion sense as well as a penchant for getting herself into awkward show more predicaments. Alexia Tarabotti is a dynamo that literally leaps off the pages, armed with her parasol and her cunning intellect, ready to face down rude vampires and overbearing werewolves, and anyone else who gets in her way.


Carriger's writing paints a vivid picture of Victorian London populated with supernatural, preternatural, and ghostly residents. Soulless is entertaining from start to finish, each of the characters were original, the plot was fast-paced and exciting, and I found myself laughing or gasping out loud several times throughout the audio.


I want to add here somewhere that I'm generally not a big fan of vampire/werewolf romance so I was a little hesitant to follow MadScientist's recommendation to read Soulless as an introduction to Steampunk. I'm SO glad that I did though. I was thrilled with the unique way Carriger brought her characters to life. Lord Akeldama, rove vampire, head of a harem of handsome drones, and owner of an impressive rococo themed home is one of Alexia's closest friends and and his peacockish ways was a source of hilarity for me. Lord Maccon, Earl of Woosley, alpha werewolf and head of the B.U.R. is alternately besotted and annoyed with Alexia's antics. Listening to those two bickering between kisses was another thoroughly enjoyable highlight. One of my favorite aspects was the fashion which was a frequent topic of discussion. Bustles, corsets, gaudy feathered hats, and glorious confections of taffeta and ruffles almost makes me wish I lived in that time period.


This review is for the audio book from Audible.com narrated by Emily Gray. Emily Gray was a wonderful narrator and did an amazing job of bringing these outrageous characters to life.


I want to thank MadScientist for recommending this book, and I, in turn, would recommend it to anyone else who wants to know about Steampunk.


Overall, I would rate this a 5, this series will undeniably become one of my favorites. show less

I have to commend Carriger for the way she managed to blend so many contrasting elements into one book; who would ever have thought that supernatural creatures and prim Victorian writing style and culture could go together like this?

Alexia Tarabotti is hindered by several terrible social mishaps...the fact that she is a spinster, is half-Italian, and most of all the fact that she is preternatural, with the ability to neutralize the powers of werewolves and vampires. But Alexia's powers, not to mention her sharp wits and sharper tongue, are about to land her in a world of trouble with a strange new group that becomes interested in her powers.

The story was good and imaginative, and I cannot deny that some of the characters were fun and show more well-drawn (Lord Akeldama and his drones being my hands-down favorites, though I also loved Professor Lyall). But I've never been a fan of Victorian era lit or its style, so I couldn't get fully into this. It made everything seem unintentionally silly or humorous...it was hard to take even the intense parts seriously because of constant off-handed comments on fashion or decor, or prim and outdated ways of wording things. And in some ways it just clashed a little too much with the vampire and werewolf concept.

I also didn't care for the romance which took up a goodly amount of the storyline. It was too physically-based for my tastes, with most of the emotional buildup sacrificed for "canoodling," and the werewolf Lord Maccon wasn't the type of man I could appreciate.

I liked many aspects of the novel, but as a whole it didn't capture me as other supernatural fantasies have. People who like Jane Austen and other Victorian era authors will probably love it though. show less

This was delightful and I can see why so many of my friends have enjoyed it! Alexia reminds me of a young Amelia Peabody (from the Egyptian mystery series by Elizabeth Peters) if you put her into a supernatural setting, with her scientific interests and no nonsense attitude. I loved her curiosity of the biological processes during the romantic interludes. I loved Lord Akeldama, with his cultivated foppish personality and his entourage, embodying don't judge a book by it's cover. I can tell that Alexia and I will have a lot more fun together, in defense of the realm of course! Poor Lord Maccon!

“Soulless” did not live down to its title. It is, in fact, a book that demonstrates remarkable spirit and significant amounts of pluck under pressure.

Set in an alternative Victorian London, in which vampires and werewolves have been Establishment figures for centuries, dirigibles fill the sky and respectable young ladies do not move about town without a chaperon, “Soulless” tells of the trials and tribulations that befall the remarkable Miss Alexia Tarabotti after she unintentionally kills an impertinent vampire with the aid of a hair stick and a parasol.

Miss Tarabotti is remarkable not because of the stain of having had an Italian father from whom she has inherited unfashionably tanned skin and an over-proud nose, nor because, show more at twenty-seven she is still a spinster, nor even because of a regrettable tendency to read science and ask inconvenient questions, but rather because she was born without a soul. Being soulless gives her the ability to neutralize the powers of supernatural beings, cancelling out the over-abundance of soul that is believed to explain their existence.

“Soulless” is witty, fast-paced, and complex: It is delivered with a deftness of touch that keeps it from plummeting into the horrors of pastiche. It is far from simple to create a Victorian feel to a book while introducing supernatural beings and an alternative political history but Gail Carriger does it with an ease of execution and flair for linguistic nuance which enables me almost completely to overlook the misfortune of her having been born in America. This is, after all, not her fault.

“Soulless” provided me with a splendid diversion from its first page to its last. It was aided in this by skillful and playful narration by Emily Gray, who mastered not only the rhythm of the language and the pace of the humour but the wide variety of voices and accents that the book calls for.

If you feel the need, or simply are privileged enough to have the opportunity, to spend a few hours away from the cares and traumas of the early twenty-first century, then this reader recommends an excursion into a supernatural Victorian London in the company of Miss Alexia Tarabotti. show less

Soulless is the book that launched Gail Carriger’s career. It blends Victorian comedy of manners, a marriage plot that would be at home in a Jane Austen novel, steampunk, a paranormal mystery with plenty of blood, some lovable vampires and werewolves, some not-so-lovable vampires and mad scientists, and a big dollop of steamy romantic sex. Heroine Alexia Tarabotti is an upper-middle-class woman with a few social challenges. She has a sharp wit and a no-nonsense-please personality that strikes some as unfeminine. At the ripe age of 26, she considers herself a spinster too close to her sell-by date. Worse yet, her father was Italian, giving her a complexion darker than those of most of her social class. Finally, she has no soul. In show more Carriger’s universe, soul is a measurable quality. Those with more soul can be turned into vampires, werewolves, and the like. The bite will kill those with less soul. But Alexia has no soul, which makes her a "preternatural" whose touch will return the vamp or were-whatever to human form. Handy, since society is being plagued with some untrained vampires who don’t know their place. She and a hunky werewolf aristocrat must solve the mystery. Their meet-cute involves a "hedgehog incident," which will cool the doggy ardor with dispatch, but not for long. show less