Guest Review from EggJosh: Soulless

Alrighty, so this time around, I'm talking about the manga adaptation of Soulless by Gail Carriger. I'm not a huge manga guy, but it still appealed to me on some level. So, let's get to it, and break down what did and didn't work in this book.

The Art
Being in the style of a Japanese graphic novel, I shouldn't comment on how it looks visually. Personally, I liked it. Being that the intended audience is clearly female, the art style tends to lean towards some of the "pretty boy" manga I'm at least slightly familiar with. There are plenty of effeminately drawn male characters; not typically my thing, but it fits with the paranormal romance feel of the story. The characters all looked very nice, and I liked the simplistically drawn 1-page side story at the very end as well. I feel that I have to mention the sheer amount of man-ass in this book. Since there's werewolves involved, there's plenty of male nudity, with strategically placed items to cover up dangly parts. Its accidentally kind of humorous the lengths they go to in order to cover up naughty bits.

"Yes, Basil! Nice rack!"

The Characters
The main character, Alexia Tarabotti, is a preternatural, meaning she has the unique ability of nullifying supernatural powers. She's a decent protagonist. Nothing really stands out about her. She's considered a "spinster" for being slightly too old to be single by Victorian standards, and has to try to keep up appearances while being wooed by the far more interesting Lord Conall Maccon, a werewolf who heads up a paranormal task force. Maccon and his sidekick have all the best lines, and his efforts to get Alexia are the best part of the story, compared to the murder and kidnapping plot.

The StoryAs I mentioned, the plot revolves around the appearance and murder of a rogue vampire. The story is nothing special, but the complications that arise from Alexia's efforts to "act normal" while still being a super useful, bad-ass vampire-killer are quite entertaining. There's also a humorous running gag about a hedgehog. The best part of the story is the interactions between the characters. Yes, there is plenty of action, but Maccon trying to court Alexia, as he would a female werewolf is great.

Final VerdictObviously I'm not the intended audience for this book, being a heterosexual, male non-manga-fan, but it didn't bore me. I read it in one sitting, and didn't regret doing so. If you can get it from the library, or borrow it from a friend, I say go for it. 3 stars

Musings From Atop the TBR Pile

Here with *Duff the penguin to discuss our ongoing mission: concurring the TBR pile. This is only a small representation of my collection, but I didn't want to stack Duff to high (he tends to roll).

My pile is born from many sources. As penguins on a budget, we do what we can to cut costs. That means second hand stores, sales, coupons, borrowing, and trading. Paperbackswap has been a particular life saver. I can't recommend that site enough. With their give a book, receive a book system I satisfy my book cravings without taking up more space (which is definitely an issue).

The selections range from random to systematic. Sometimes I pick up a book simply because I like the cover art. More often I'm encouraged by positive reviews from trusted sources. And when I find a book I like, I compulsively search out every book in that series or by that author. This happened with Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels books, Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate books, and of course Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson books.

My main problem is deciding what order to read in. I try to mix it up, not read to many urban fantasy or historical romances in a row. I used to have a strict system, but I cheated so much that it wasn't worth it. These days I kind of select at random. Spontaneous reading is happy reading



*I feel obligated to mention that Duff (Dougal Ulfric Fergus) was a random gift from my sweety. He was left at work for me with a very nice love note. Five years and he's still a sweetheart. I'm one lucky girl!

On Parasols and Octopuses

On this lovely Memorial Day morning I'm enjoying a breakfast of coffee and treacle tart. While this is both a decidedly un-American and un-breakfest-like meal, it is ideal when it comes to at last completing Soulless
 by Gail Carriger!


I found this book to be completely delightful and wholly deserving of the high praise and many recommendations that lead me to read it in the first place. If I were grading on personal enjoyment alone I would give it five stars, but I try to be a bit more critical than that. So, on to my review.

Plot Summery! (SPOILERS): This is the story of Alexia Tarabotti, a spinster half-Italian Englishwoman and person lacking a soul. Her soulless state renders her capable of canceling out the supernatural powers of vampires and werewolves. Together with her inquisitive nature and incurable stubbornness, this often gets her into a great deal of unladylike trouble. For example, they lead to a series of encounters with Lord Maccon, the local werewolf alpha. Lord Maccon is investigating a series of mysterious vampire appearances and disappearances, which poor Alexia keeps getting mixed up in. He also takes an intense personal interest in Alexia.

Now, I found this book listed under fantasy and seem to always find the series in the fantasy section. However, I think it would appeal equally (if not more so) to romance fans. A decent amount of time is spent on the budding relationship between Alexia and Lord Maccon. Their banter is quite amusing. The actual fantasy bits have a steampunk feel--a lot of wacky yet menacing science. So I feel this book would appeal to a fairly diverse audience.

Alexia is a wonderful character. She's intelligent and forcefully independent, is blunt and honest in her mannerisms, and carries a weighted brass parasol as both weapon and accessory. Essentially she's a loveable miss-fit. Lord Maccon is equally appealing but a bit less well developed. He is similar to many alpha wolf characters that I've encountered in my reading expeditions--commanding, willful, loyal, and of course very attracted to our heroine. The secondary characters were also amusing and very appealing. Those that stand out most to me are Ivy Hisselpenny of the horrible hats, Lord Akeldama the gay vampire, and Professor Lyall the pack beta. All distinct, memorable, and likeable.

As for the plot, it has it's flaws. It flows all right, but gets a bit slow at times and relies pretty heavily on coincidence to progress forward. Alexia doesn't precisely save the day, but she is present for all of the action and helps a great deal. I've grown used to the alpha females of urban fantasy who run in guns blazing and fix everything themselves, and this wasn't like that at all. But at least she's not helpless. Furthermore, I found the ending satisfactory, is just a touch sugary sweet. There is also a notable amount of sequel baiting including the unexplained mystery of the brass octopuses.

As I mentioned, this was a five star book for personal enjoyment. It would be a four star book after honestly evaluating it's flaws. So I'll split the difference and give it a 4.5.

Incidentally, on of the ways I first heard about this book was the this cool little promotional link: behold, paper dolls!